50 great things about Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk"

The part where Lindsey's voice goes up and you can't tell where his ends and Christine McVie's starts. Or maybe it's all Lindsey overdubs. Either way, that song RULES.

I have no problem with it at all, but you know.. some might.

32. The distorted power chords in "Sisters of the Moon," which sound like they're being played through a broken practice amp.

Everyone else pretty OTM.

dude, where ya been?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=rhino+fleetwood+mac+tusk&btnG=Google+Search

So...

34) It reminds me of the delicious hot dog I ate at the one college football game I ever went to, which I think was USC vs. Notre Dame ("we" lost).

Fuck! Major x-post with Todd!

TS: A-Claps vs. Tusk

So, 15 more to go?

I sort of like to think it's the 70s rock-queen version of "Turn the music up in the headphones!"

Let's be clear that it's not Mick's hair that's being raised. More like "razed"...

52. When Stevie gives it up for Joe Simon on "Sara." Too bad she didn't learn as much from him as she did from Jimmy Webb.

53. That I now so love a record that lets Stevie Nicks thank "the poet in my heart," when that kind of shit made me gag in the fall of '79 (when I lived and died by 'Rust Never Sleeps' and 'Repeat When Necessary').

54. Imagining the rest of the group listening to something like "What Makes You Think You're the One" and going, "We have to stop Lindsey from bringing in demos!"

Is this the soundcheck version from the live album? or a different recording?

-- the surface noise for the sake of noise (electricsoun...), June 4th, 2004 10:44 PM.

this happened *again*!! cunce

Actually I was going to revive it anyway, that just happened to be the last post so I was amused. As for everything else, decaf, dude! You'll find it helps you avoid your imminent coronaries.

I didn't know about the 2CD reissue until just now. Will acquire toot sweet.

also, "What can they say / It's not against the law"

Anyone else think "Angel" is the best Stevie Nicks song?

Huh? How do you mean returned?

But Mac has a tracksuit of some kind on!

1 inspired eric prydz "call on me "
2 soundtrack contains the brilliant - jermaine jackson / pia zadora "when the rain begins to fall"

im so glad i have this album. are s/t and rumours anywhere near as good?

i think ill check out the rest of the "classic period" pop albums, but maybe then ill move back to some of the peter green/blues/etc stuff.

thanks amst! that one looks really good, too. "transitional albums" pwn.

Which is why I defend "Mirage," Peter.

And yeah, I probably will buy it one of these days, since you've all made it sound most intriguing; and I do own & enjoy its two predecessors after all. I honestly don't think I've heard "Tusk" itself since it slipped off the charts 25+ years ago!

68. It made my afternoon.

70. the fact that most of the non-lindsey songs are less good, makes lindsey's songs shine even better,comparing to the others.

is this really true? i'm so excited!

Trojan Marching Band
The history of the "Spirit of Troy," the USC marching band, goes back to the inception of the university in 1880. The contemporary Trojan band began in 1970 with the arrival of Dr. Arthur C. Bartner and his unique "drive-it" style of marching. The band has performed at the Academy Awards, the Hollywood Bowl, the Rose Parade, and in numerous film and television productions. In 1979, the Trojan Marching Band recorded the title track for the album "Tusk" with the rock group Fleetwood Mac, which resulted in a platinum album for that song; no other collegiate marching band has ever been so honored.

http://fleetwoodmac-uk.com/articles/Images/mojo_dec2003/stevie1.jpg

The one dud is "Honey Hi."

its the same one. and you should reaslly check out the live album, it's fantastic, for so many reasons... the coked out portraits on the inner gatefold, the noticeable lack-of-audience-reaction when Christine McVie introduces 'Over And Over' with a sort-of-mumbled "Well, we haven't played anything from Tusk yet... So..."... and the version of 'over and over' slays the album take, and there's a killer 'i'm so afraid' with this absolutely torturous guitar solo (lindsey goes shred!), and 'never going back again' and 'not that funny' and 'landslide' are all sublime in their own, wildly different ways...

And it likely is. But without her delivery...

The place I had lunch at the other day has "Live" on their jukebox. I played this track, and MAN OH MAN was it great. Love the the drawn-out ending.

Children of God=title of Swans album, cult that Jeremy Spencer joined
Beautiful Child=song on both albums
Sha la la la on "Brown Eyes" and on "Like A Drug (Sha La La La)"
Chord progression of Children of God is awfully close to a part of the marching band bit on Tusk, both songs founded on a drum motif.
Palindrome song title = "Sex, God, Sex" and "Over & Over"

...which is starting to stretch, but seriously, there's something about the plodding rhythms of much of Tusk and the ethereal backing vocals and the way tracks build up without much melodic development that makes me wonder if Gira spent some time listening to this when he was trying to figure out how to take Swans pop.

This is my new favorite song for this week. I'm also beginning to think this is one of the greatest albums ever made.

"Over & Over," btw, is a PERFECT way to begin the record. Gorgeous, reflective, amazingly well crafted ... and completely sane. Thereby making it completely misleading, as Lindsay and Stevie proceed to take the album into alien territory. Christine McVie ... sorely underrated. Pop genius to (almost) rival Lindsay's.

And a TS: "What Makes You Think You're the One" as is vs. the Christine-sung ballad arrangement I hear in my head.

I used to think rumours was better, but i was wrong. side 4 of tusk is unstoppable brilliance of the highest order.

HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN 4 INNER LP SLEEVES HMMMM?

Somewhere in my busy day today I heard at random "Never Make Me Cry" in my head, more and more repeatedly and incessantly as the day/night wore on. It seemed to be the only thing that summed up my feelings about the day. When I was finally able to play that of my own free will at home...ah god, the release.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44189000/jpg/_44189972_donaldtuskwinafp203b.jpg

?

Anyway, I love this album and this thread is nice to read.

76 (or whatever). How the humming at the end of "What Makes You Think You're The One" sounds like the melody of Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes"

? = http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/10/22/poland.elections/index.html?iref=newssearch

ah, okay.

Astral Weeks is an incredible album, but I'm not sure what the heck heck it has to do with Tusk? anyway, cute to see upthread that Ragget discovered Fleetwood Mac's Tusk, an album readily available in dollar bins across the nation for 20 odd years, in calendar year 2004. What kept you away Ned? Those scintillating Gene Loves Jezebel and Alien Sex Fiend deluxe CD editions?

-- Stormy Davis (diamond), Thursday, October 28, 2004 11:14 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Link

God, this guy was such a douche.

Jaymc, I think reviving a thread just to pick on somebody (who still posts) is a pretty douchey move itself.

You mean-spirited little twerp.

Also, I like Ned, but the Gene Loves Jezebel zing was LOLs.

my record store had three copies of tusk in the $0.50 bin this week.

Very common record. I personally have two copies. One for emergencies.

I haven't seen Stormy post in months. Anyway, I was talking about Tusk on the Britney Spears thread, so I opened this thread up to read about the album in more detail and was disappointed to find another one of Stormy's weird chip-on-his-shoulder routines.

haha Stormy had a go at me on some random thread for being a macroeconomics auto-didact or some such shit, this was last week I think

I was disappointed to open up this thread and read one of your weird chip-on-your-shoulder routines as well, so it's a good thing you kept that going.

<I>I haven't seen Stormy post in months. </I>
So he must have stopped reading ILX entire, I'm sure.

xp

Seriously, Alfred, what is wrong with Honey Hi? It is a great great track. If there is a dud, for my money, it is Storms

RIP. Heaven needed a guy who was smug about living on the South Side and wasn't afraid to get down with some sweet classic rock.

Honey Hi is one of my faves. The dud is Sister of the Moon.

Man, Jaymc, you're just a really bitter prick aren't you?

xp Sorry, Ian.

I don't mind "Honey Hi" anymore.

BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT "NEVER FORGET." OMIGOD.

Haha, I'm not bitter! I think you're just friends with all of my ILX enemies. :/

the build at the beginning is pretty epic

it is a great driving song, maybe one of the best

"Enemies" is strong: just people that seriously rub me the wrong way.

If I had a nickel for everyone on ILX who rubbed me the wrong way...

I'm with Ian on Sisters of the Moon, and I'm a huge Stevie apologist. I really don't get all the hate for Storms.

I'm not fond of it either, although the fadeout is cool.

Amazingly there are no duds on this album. Just things you get into now and things you get into later.

Storms is AMAZING but you really have to listen to it really loud to get all the crazy interplay with the bass and lyndsey's 15 guitar tracks. seriously its some next level shit.

The Ledge. It's my all time favorite Mac song.

Alfred! You share my "Never Forget" love!!

I got a Lindsey song from this album in my head the other day which was weird as I'm really not a big fan of him.

912: the backing vox on 'know i'm not wrong'

913. Mick is so fucking awesome on "What Makes You Think You're the One".

DONK!-DONK!-DONK!-DONK!-DONK!-DONK!

yes

are we sure it's even Mick drumming?

my record store had three copies of tusk in the $0.50 bin this week.

I couldn't find this disc anywhere in Miami for the longest time. Then, one day -- totally at random -- I spotted it in a Spec's store, used and priced at maybe $5. I grabbed it immediately and just love it.

The part where Lindsey's voice goes up and you can't tell where his ends and Christine McVie's starts. Or maybe it's all Lindsey overdubs. Either way, that song RULES.

OTM. Also, there's that ghostly college marching band vibe in this song, just like in Tusk, which makes them a compelling one-two punch.

I should add this here, really: Penny Drops! "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac - or is it?

Okay, wait a minute. "Beautiful Child" has just put its hook in me like never before. I crave more Stevie on this. "Angel"..."Storms"...I think I've really looked over this stuff in favor of McVie.

are we sure it's even Mick drumming?

Found it -

Paul Zollo: I was listening to his part on "What Makes You Think You’re The One" from Tusk.

Lindsey: Oh yeah, that’s one of the classic drum tracks. I love that. That’s one of the great drum tracks that I’ve ever heard. That’s up there with "Instant Karma." That was a great moment. That was just Mick and myself late at night in the studio, me at the piano. We put a cassette player that has one of those really cheap mikes in it, we put that right under his snare, and it was so explosive the way he heard it in the cans, he got off on it, and he just turned into an animal. And it was just two-piece, there was no Christine or anybody putting any constraints on what could or couldn’t be done. That has to rate as one of my top-five moments with the band.

from "Songwriters on Songwriting"

<3 <3 <3

there was no Christine or anybody putting any constraints on what could or couldn’t be done.

ouch!

That has to rate as one of my top-five moments with the band.

what band?

You know, "The Weight"... "King Harvest"....

..."The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down" - wasn't that one of his?

I didn't hear Tusk until 2007. I don't look at dollar bins.

Well I can't seem to find whatever thread it was that was most recently revived about them where someone mentioned the second bonus disc that came with Tusk. I was aghast because I only had my old single disc copy I bought in like...I dunno, 2001, probably. So I was like "why the hell don't I have the bonus disc version?" But then I thought about it - "how essential would a bonus disc of Tusk songs really be to my life?" and I decided "not very". Thank GOD I changed my fucking mind and got drunk enough one night to order the damn thing like a good boy should, cause I am eating this shit UP!!! See, I thought I'd heard that version of Sara, but I hadn't at all and I was like "um...wow" also the "Lindsey's Song #1" sounded so wonderfully olde Englishy folky yummy!

I also like the other versions of Storms & Sisters of The Moon and I'm going to try very hard not to post here every time I hear another song.

If anyone knows a more appropriate thread I can post on than this one, do let me know. Thanks. I really wish I knew what that thread was where someone mentioned this bonus disc. It was only a month ago or something.

Okay so NO ONE wants to comment on this bonus disc? No one? Wow. I'm insulted. ILM can do better, I know ya'll can.

the bonus disc is very good, the sara outtake is to me just as amazing as the album version, but in different ways (the spoken bit at the start and the ooh-wahs near the end..)

Alternate version of Sara, that's damn right. Thanks, electricsound. I mean thanks, Jim.

"I wanna be a star/I don't wanna be a cleaning lady..."

Very common record. I personally have two copies. One for emergencies.

― ian, Friday, January 25, 2008 4:55 PM (7 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^^ good idea

"don't know why i have to work/don't know why i can't play"

77.

Real savage-like

ಥ﹏ಥ (cankles), thanks! That just roolz!

78. Lindsey, on the reaction Warner Bros. execs had after hearing the finished album: "They could hear their Christmas bonuses flying out the window."

79. Lindsey again, on the mode of transport employed by the Mac on the European lag of the Tusk tour: "It's not like we asked for Hitler's train."

Sometimes I think I play this album TOO often. It's a good one for breakups, that's for sure.

80. ..a nearly-chorusless mix of tribal (but not danceable) drumming, marching bands and monkey yells over a bed of what sounds like thousands of dogs sneezing very far away...

Suggest Ban Permalink
― Hideous Lump, Friday, April 11, 2008 8:51 PM Bookmark

81. The fact that when this album was issued, it was quite expensive, and now you can get pristine copies in any well-stocked Music-themed charity shop for £3 tops.

82. The fact that -- despite two or three cd reissues of it -- vinyl is still the way to go on this one.

It's a good one for breakups, that's for sure.

Maybe too good that it's bad... :-(

Bump.

i run across a fair number of (people with traditional and boring musical tastes) who still think this album is awful and prefer Tango in the Night.

83. Becuase the final score is Buckingham 9, McVice 6 and Nicks 5 ... and that balance is just perfect.

84. Dennis Wilson photo on the inner sleeve

Tango In The Night Is pretty great but its :

Tusk>Rumours>Mirage>Fleetwood Mac>Say You Will>Tango In the Night

Just bought this on vinyl for 3 euros... Awesome packaging!

also bought rumours for 3 euros too..

I wish I was back where you are!

Mirage over Fleetwood Mac?!?

Just bought this on vinyl for 3 euros... Awesome packaging!

also bought rumours for 3 euros too..

― Jack Battery-Pack, Tuesday, October 21, 2008 9:28 PM (2 months ago)

I want an update on this

i listened to this at work tonight, and i now know the single greatest thing about tusk is the amazingly cute girl in a short skirt and boots who got up and began dancing (in a kinda sexy line-dance fashion) and singing along to "angel"

See the thing is I KNOW I love Kate Bush more than her, and I know I love Christine McVie more than her, too. But I'm on this trip right now with Stevie, she is the queen of my world right now. I can't shake her magic. And I know I've got to get over it. But I can't stop.

I occasionaly wonder if there's a Fleetwood Mac/Swans connection

Other week I played music trivia onstage at a bar, and a question was "What Fleetwood album is the song 'Tusk' on?" Nailed it.

HAHAHAHHA

in the sea of love

She's the goth queen, you know she is. Her and Nico are gonna have to fight it out in the pub.

Stevie & Nico, fighting it out in a pub for queen of Goth. God, that's ugly. I don't even want to see that.

MMmmmmmm never going back again.

flamingcrystal (4 months ago) Show Hide
Very sexual song. Gotta love it!

davidgarrick (6 months ago) Show Hide
It is easy to think dont make me wait 4 sex but after seeing Lindsey act it out is his issues with wimen needing a longer time to 'O' and some times a man simply just wants to let er rip! I am sure the sex and make uo sex were often but maybe thei is a tune about being 'pressured' kindof the sounds one makes when things dont go as "planned". am I wrong could Stevie have been a uptight twice a week woman? imho I think more like expectations. Sure is fun to watch and wonder...Mic does look Ripped!

sure is fun to watch and wonder.

I like this remix Cut Copy did of "Never Forget"
Fleetwood Mac - Never Forget _Cut Copy Lifelike Remix_.mp3 - 3.85MB

i think that's just a portion of a cut copy mix, where 'never forget' goes into 'so electric' by lifelike

The best thing is that they will never need to re-issue the vinyl.

89. Lindsey's harmonies on "Beautiful Child"

90. First "flop" LP whose flopness I became decisively aware of ('79 was the year I'd started reading music magazines.)

yep that's definitely the 90th greatest thing about fleetwood mac's "tusk"

250,000. The ultimate ILM album

a friend finally sent me this album, and somehow it has that sound that i love, of wind passing through an empty house

<8

90th place on a list of 50 could definitely be improved upon, obv

xxxpost

This album is so amazing that I've bought and given a lot of time to all their subsequent full band and solo releases.

(91?)

no

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/s/stevie-nicks/album-rock-a-little.jpg

TUSK SIDE D

91. the durutti column-esque guitar in brown eyes

92. the spacemen 3 ("ode to street hassle") guitar in "storm"

me: 'you're the poet in my heart"!?!>!>! puh-leaeze
Pete: aww but it's lady-to-lady
thats how ladies talk to each other

93. The title track is the only Fleetwood Mac song I like.

Get outta this thread.

seriously.

i don't think i've ever heard such a perfect frisson of sadness and wonder as is Beautiful Child. my boyfriend put it on at a sleepover the other night. i was standing on a chair, singing, and my girl Marissa was swaying on the floor, passing me a bowl. "and i'll do as i'm told | even if i never hold you again" broke my heart into pieces.

^^^

it took me a long time to get beautiful child, and it's still one of my least favorite songs on the album (which is undoubtedly my favorite album.) i think at first brush the lyrics were over the top ('i'm not a child anymore'-- 'women usually are') and almost painful to listen to (not in a good cathartic way, in a cringey-smiley way.) part of it may have also been that it comes smack between my two fave songs on the lp--'walk a thin line' is so great and i never wanted to wait for it to start.

ALL THAT SAID, i love it unreservedly, but it's been problematic for people i want to introduce to TUSK. most people don't seem to like it so much at first.

that's kind of shocking to me. it was definitely my first wow moment on the album.

I think it hit me immediately - "I'm not a child anymore" is not at all a simplistic or over-the-top statement in context I think.

The entire concept of childhood is framed quite sensitively I think. What Stevie finds attractive in Mick Fleetwood is his childlike nature, his innocence, presumably a certain kind of "in the moment" simplicity w/r/t love (the irony of course being that fleetwood is much older than her), but it is her distance from these qualities which also makes the relationship doomed. The freedom implied by the statement "I'm not a child anymore" includes the freedom to make moral decisions w/r/t how your actions might affect others adversely, regardless of their own wishes and yours. Hence the seeming contradiction of "I'm not a child anymore / I will do as I'm told..."

Stevie Nicks' delivery of the lines "I still look up... when you walk in the room. I've the same wiiiiide eyes" in "Angel" could (could) be her finest moment.

― my name is john. i reside in chicago. (frankE), Monday, November 14, 2005 6:51 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark

had to put this on

can't wait for this to blow the 70s album poll sky high

Tim F's excellent post just made that song click for me...thanks!

Sometimes 'The Ledge' is my favourite song ever - I just checked out some rhearsal footage on the youtube, and today's surprise is that Christine's playing guitar. I didn't know she could stand up.

I'm getting Beatles Rock Band for my christmas, but secretly I wish there was a Fleetwood Mac one I could have.

I think it hit me immediately - "I'm not a child anymore" is not at all a simplistic or over-the-top statement in context I think.

The entire concept of childhood is framed quite sensitively I think. What Stevie finds attractive in Mick Fleetwood is his childlike nature, his innocence, presumably a certain kind of "in the moment" simplicity w/r/t love (the irony of course being that fleetwood is much older than her), but it is her distance from these qualities which also makes the relationship doomed. The freedom implied by the statement "I'm not a child anymore" includes the freedom to make moral decisions w/r/t how your actions might affect others adversely, regardless of their own wishes and yours. Hence the seeming contradiction of "I'm not a child anymore / I will do as I'm told..."

― Tim F, Thursday, December 24, 2009 5:12 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

do you mean, Tim, that the freedom of adult morality is actually binding, insofar as she simply wishes to do as she is told, as a child would?

or maybe that she will do as she is told in terms of the rules of grown love -- that she can no longer just be in the moment. even if she'll never hold him again. :*( gahh

I'm getting Beatles Rock Band for my christmas, but secretly I wish there was a Fleetwood Mac one I could have.

― Ismael Klata, Thursday, December 24, 2009 1:59 PM (54 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this imo

the rehearsals to which Ismael alluded -- and we do see Christine on guitar!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNanT533pQ0

In her own mind Stevie has the choice between doing what she wants and doing what she knows is "right" (which happens to be what society tells her is right, in this instance at least) - she chooses to do the latter, her freedom to choose thereby entailing submission to social standards.

i.e. Stevie had obv just finished reading Kant's Critique of Practical Reason.

UR NEVER GONA MAKE IT BABAY

My take on the McVie songs.

Lovely piece...I didn't know you wrote for Popmatters.

Great article. I pulled the Cut Copy 'Never Forget' off the link upthread recently, which is a lovely track.

does anyone remember when bill wyman was rock critic for the reader, before peter margasak. anyway, bill wyman sucked. anyway, one year he had "best 50 moments in rock" or something like that. one such "moment" was "the production on 'tusk.'" huh?

problems with that:

(1) production of an entire album is not a "moment" by any stretch

(2) idea that "production" is this added _thing_ on an album, like a layer of frosting

chicago reader btw

Lovely piece...I didn't know you wrote for Popmatters.

Thanks. First article for'em.

Sorry, I'm gonna dissent as to the quality of that article.

From admissions of (zmg shocka!) deliberate contrariness to clumsy analogies to pathetically RONG mishearings of lyrics* ... sorry, not feeling it.

*"just remember that love is GOLD"

nothing personal, just sayin. we cool lordsotosyn.

Just bought Tusk on CD finally. Criminally, Warners didn't have it in the shops when FM were over in the UK last autumn. It's not the deluxe edition cos that was stupid price, but the single CD. Sara is billed as an edit. Is this an edit I should give a shit about?

x-post Looks like McVie is on guitar here, too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Pe9X5Lp90&feature=related

And Lindsey is sweating cocaine.

not familiar w/the "sara" edit, but jeez, it's one of the best songs on there...

Pretty sure I like the edit better

it's billed as an edit on the original album iirc... the most familiar version is the edit

i think its just billed as an edit on the original CD, to squeeze the double-LP set on what was then the max-length CD. now you can fit more music on there, the full version is on the rerelease from several years back. i mean, its more 'sarah' than the edit, which is great, but - despite what simon reynolds wrote in 'unknown pleasures' - the edit isn't heinous by any means.

Thanks for that. Would have bought the more recent reissue, but it was twice the price and I didn't feel the need at this stage to have all the demos. God knows I never listen to the Rumours demos. Presumed it was a squeeze-for-CD, but I was intrigued they'd edit one of the best-known songs on the record. Guess that's where the surplus instrumental breaks were ...

i think they edited that song more because it was longest, and had instrumental longeurs that were emininently editable... i do love the bonus tracks though, in fact the version of sarah on disk 2 i prefer to the lp version. but yeah, its a big invest if you've not heard tusk already...

Are there different mixes from vinyl to CD? The version of I Know I'm Not Wrong on the LP is substantially different to that on the CD. I think I prefer the latter actually - it's a bit fuller sounding, more rockin', with slightly different lead guitar breaks.

'Tusk' is such a brilliant, excentric song. I love the contrast between the thin, whispering vocals in the verses... slightly menacing in their lines and delivery... and the vibrant, cheerful tone of the chorus. Kind of like a funeral dirge arranged to be played by marching bands and cheerleaders.

All the Buckingham demos on the 2cd version are worth owning imo but I way prefer the Buckingham tracks.

Whenever I hear the Rhodes piano introduction to "Never Forget" my heart drops. It's so melancholy...

too drunk to go through 378 messages.. just want to say

sha la la sha la la sha la la who hoo hoo-oo

7. lindsey buckingham's lo-fi home production.

― fact checking cuz (fcc)

Does it sound lo-fi home production to anyone else asides 'fcc'? I'm listening to the vinyl copy right now and quite contrary I think it sounds very deep and detailed for it to be simply described as 'lo-fi home'. Not a producer myself though so what do I know.

lindsey girlfriend at the time, carol ann harris, wrote about how he setup a home recording studio and basically recorded all of his songs at his house in her autobiography "storms: my life with lindsey buckingham and fleetwood mac"

he might have recorded it at home, but it sounds incredibly HIFI to me

from what i understand certain parts were recorded at his home.. i heard the anecdote about setting up mics on the floor of his bathroom and just having the singers belt out the tunes, i believe you can hear this on the backup vocals during the chorus on 'the ledge'

The story I read was that he demoed a lot of the songs at home, in the bathroom, and then rebuilt the bathroom (the floor and walls, at least) in the studio. It sounds nuts until you think about it, and then it makes perfect sense. Like, of course he did!

ok, not lo-fi like pavement or guided by voices. but lo-fi compared to rumours, or the eagles, or jackson browne, or most anything else that was going on in LA or on rock radio at the time. a lot of the songs, like "the ledge" or "not that funny" or "what makes you think you're the one," sound like demos to me, like he's screwing around with sounds and ideas, like he's just laid the floor but hasn't yet applied the wax. the arrangements seem relatively stripped-down, too, a conscious step away from the previous two fleetwood mac albums. it's a multimillionaire's take on home taping, but it's still home taping, and it still sounds as fresh as that.

it's a multimillionaire's take on home taping, but it's still home taping, and it still sounds as fresh as that.

i can totally get behind that

Curious that he went from "Tusk" to the anti-septic (proto-digital?) production of "MIrage" and "Tango." For that matter, just about everything Buckingham has produced from "Mirage"-on seems very much of a piece, sound-wise. I mean, I like it all, but his solo albums in particular make my ears hurt in large doses, esp. with all the sped-up guitars and pitch-shifting that abounds. Almost as if, as far as Lindsey's concerned, e strings don't get high enough.

That I now so love a record that lets Stevie Nicks thank "the poet in my heart," when that kind of shit made me gag in the fall of '79 (when I lived and died by 'Rust Never Sleeps' and 'Repeat When Necessary').

This is a really lovely sentiment. Seriously.

Interesting tidbit about Colbie Calliat:

Her father, Ken Caillat, co-produced Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (1977) and Tusk (1979) albums.

Dudes production resume goes directly from coproducing Fleetwood Mac directly to coproducing his daughter. I'm going to have to delve deeper into her records.

I've been caning the extra demos disc of Tusk the past few days and it's really quite satisfying. 'Storms' is unutterably lovely.

"tusk" documentary on youtube in 8 parts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2j5cr_XJvc

nice! will watch.
I've been caning the extra demos disc of Tusk the past few days and it's really quite satisfying. 'Storms' is unutterably lovely.
for awhile i thought the bonus disc was kinda a waste of time, but i have learned the error of my ways. none of the alt versions are better than what's on the actual album, but they are still super rad. and farmer's daughter is esssssential.

i guess this was only available on laser disc

are there still people out there with laser disc players? i saw some for sale at a thrift shop last weekend.

i remember seeing portions of this doc on youtube. looking forward to watching. i can't remember if it was at this period that their manager limited them to one heineken beer cap of cocaine before each concert. such a strange story.

are there still people out there with laser disc players?

― tylerw, Monday, December 6, 2010 9:49 PM

:)

And I have the Tusk disc. Which has laser rot, so I'm glad it's on YouTube.

I may have asked this question before, but if so I forget on which thread or what the answer was. Anyway, here goes: the other day "Tusk" (the track) was played on BBC Radio 2 but it was completely different to the album and single version I know. Where the opening two verses should have been there was an extended instrumental section with lots more of the UCLA marching band.

What is this? (And why wasn't it on the deluxe version of the CD?)

is it "Tusk" (USC intro mix)?

(i havent heard this other version, just saw something abt it while i was googling)

could be a different marching band?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B000060P4U/ref=pd_krex_dp_002_003?ie=UTF8&track=003&disc=002

xp

duh I meant USC of course. Thanks for the tip, just sayin, I'll investigate!

daddy all I'm trying to tell you / oh I'm far away from home

i just purchased tusk for the first time

this is an amazing record:

13. lindsay buckingham getting thanked as if he isn't in the band wtf?

― The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Sunday, February 22, 2004 6:13 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^i totally noticed that, best credit ever in the history of music

yeah always figured that was some kind of inside joke? like, thanks for being an asshole while we were recording this, asshole.

seriously though, this album! wow! it's really amazing.

i totally get the white album comparison, that same sense that "the band" has ended and everyone has retreated to their respective corners

lindsay is one harsh motherfucker on this huh?

i listened to this once when i was having ~relationship doubts~ and it was really heavy. kind of exorcised them otoh.

the SHALALA SHALALA AH AH WO-HOOOOs on Tusk.

on "Brown Eyes," rather

anyone read this? 33 1/3 on tusk

http://www.amazon.com/Fleetwood-Macs-Tusk-Rob-Trucks/dp/0826429025

no, but i assume it's just a list of 50 great things about Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" ?

The best 33 1/3 take on this album would have been publishing this thread tbh

50 great things about Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk"
By Suggest B. Permalink

loll

The congas on "Honey Hi"

I'm sorry but my ears will always hear McVie singing "Just remember that LOVE IS COLD" in "Never Forget."

I think the reason Lindsey gets "special thanks" is that so many of his songs feature him and only him, possibly repurposed from a solo album in progress. Which he/the Mac would do again and again: Lindsey would get busy with his songs, the band would reconvene and he'd port over his solo stuff to the group. But certainly on this one the Lindsey tracks are overwhelmingly Lindsey. He may even be playing drums.

I think "The Ledge" and "What Makes You Think..." are all-Lindsey affairs, but the great thing about this record is how it still sounds like a band. Mick Fleetwood and John Mcvie especially sound up for the challenge.

I literally cannot imagine Lindsey playing those bass runs on "Sara," fer instance.

I'd like to think "What Makes You Think .." is Lindsey on drums, because I'm not sure how total pro Mick could play a part so crazed and unpredictable.

Ugh, apparently that book is another in which the author inserts himself into the narrative as a character, "Rob."

I'd like to think "What Makes You Think .." is Lindsey on drums, because I'm not sure how total pro Mick could play a part so crazed and unpredictable.

by all accounts Mick was the most willing to go along with Lindsey's indulgences.

(biases showing: I'm less enamored with he-plays-everything prowess the older I get; I prefer a good band).

Oh, I'm not impressed by the he-plays-everything approach. I do find, though, that whether it's Lindsey or Macca or Pete Townshend or whomever, it often gets cool results when a guy tries his hand at something other than his primary instrument.

Number whatever: the way Lindsey is clearly alluding to Brian Eno's "I'll Come Running" in "Save Me a Place."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfiJgvdUC1E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFz50q_QmfE

There's a story way upthread from Lindsey where he confirms Fleetwood plays drums on "WMYTYTO?" and that he himself plays the piano.

if you watch the "making-of" documentary it is almost entirely studio scenes, it looks like early going but they are all there and involved. Clearly very early takes, but you can hear parts of "angel" that made it to the record.

Also doesn't seem to be too much ill will floating around, but probably just for the cameras

There's a story way upthread from Lindsey where he confirms Fleetwood plays drums on "WMYTYTO?" and that he himself plays the piano.

― The Man With The Flavored Toothpick (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, October 27, 2011 7:36 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Lindsey: Oh yeah, that’s one of the classic drum tracks. I love that. That’s one of the great drum tracks that I’ve ever heard. That’s up there with "Instant Karma." That was a great moment. That was just Mick and myself late at night in the studio, me at the piano. We put a cassette player that has one of those really cheap mikes in it, we put that right under his snare, and it was so explosive the way he heard it in the cans, he got off on it, and he just turned into an animal. And it was just two-piece, there was no Christine or anybody putting any constraints on what could or couldn’t be done. That has to rate as one of my top-five moments with the band.

Quiet, venomous dig at Christine there.

I've read that Lindsey's demos were recreated in the studio, and apparently they blew a chunk of money trying to build an exact replica of his tiled bathroom in the studio for acoustics - I'm unsure how much of that is myth though.

'Brown Eyes' never fails to amaze me, in the sense that there isn't even much of a song there, but every time I listen to it I just get so caught up in how great the drums sound, and those washes of vocal harmonies throughout the track.

if you watch the "making-of" documentary it is almost entirely studio scenes, it looks like early going but they are all there and involved. Clearly very early takes, but you can hear parts of "angel" that made it to the record.

Also doesn't seem to be too much ill will floating around, but probably just for the cameras

― Deverly (Bangelo), Thursday, October 27, 2011 11:39 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark

There's clearly a lot of coke floating around, though! You can't get through the interviews with Mick Fleetwood on that documentary without hearing him sniff every couple of words!

You're right about them all being present and all being very involved, however I'm not convinced the documentary even scratches the surface of what was going on in the band at that time... as you say, probably just trying to tone things down for the cameras...

I'm not sure why Lindsey gets the 'special thanks' treatment on the liner notes though, even though I've always seen 'Tusk' as pretty much Lindsey's baby.

That "Tusk" doc feels like the cameras were there for, like, a weekend or two. Over the course of six months or so.

That "Tusk" doc feels like the cameras were there for, like, a weekend or two. Over the course of six months or so.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, October 28, 2011 12:17 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

I completely agree. That, and I don't really believe any band, especially a band of Fleetwood Mac's stature at that time, would allow a camera crew to see the darker side of what possibly went on - and from reading between the lines whenever I've read/seen footage of band members discussing this record, this record seemed no easier to make than 'Rumours'...

94. but never have I been a blue corn seed

a bit anxious abt self-promoting here, but i just started a blog to celebrate the lost art of the live album, and kicked it off with an essay on the Mac's 1980 live album, from the Tusk tour. http://thefoghatprinciple.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/fleetwood-mac-live/
pls be gentle

Snnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiff...

http://thefoghatprinciple.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/mickfleetwood2.jpg

http://thefoghatprinciple.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/mickfleetwood2.jpg

http://content8.flixster.com/photo/10/88/33/10883326_ori.jpg

but never have I been a blue corn seed

first time I heard Tusk, I replayed "Sara" over and over and got really stoned, and so possibly I was too-affected when "Storms" came on but I was a total mess and then I thought this was the line, and got really confused about how that image fit, and then gave up, rationalizing it as Stevie Nicks.

I just found out today from Wikipedia that Peter Green made an uncredited appearance on Brown Eyes.

found a 7" of Tusk (the song) at the Goodwill today, just had to buy it. Picture sleeve and everything. Sounded great, gotta be one of the top five "what were they thinking making that the single" moments.

I dunno, it makes total sense to me, and it sounded great on the radio too.

The solo on 'Brown Eyes' sounds totally Peter Green and wonderful. The problem is it only starts at 4:07 and fades out immediately. It's maybe the most perverse move on the whole record. The instrumental passage in the middle I can't even work out how much is guitar and how much is Rhodes - mostly the latter I think, though there's some Green in there too.

piano/voice demo of "sisters of the moon":

http://youtu.be/lTvWfP2uizE

when someone finally makes the fleetwood mac biopic, how about casting adam scott as lindsey?

http://batlyrics.com/v_images/album/3/26/32674/lindsey_buckingham-out_of_the_cradle-big.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f2S1FRaEcvI/Tj8hyViZZhI/AAAAAAAAMPU/0d0UwvYPdk4/s1600/amd+scott.jpg

I'd rather Glenn Howerton from It's Always Sunny, who not only looks more like Lindsey but has the added bonus of coming across as kind of an asshole.

i can sorta see the resemblence, but i hate "always sunny" so i refuse to acknowledge it.

Woah, that demo is fabulous. Her timing sounds so strange at first, poking about with two fingers. If it wasn't about an actual witch, like if the witchery was a metaphor for something, that song would be justly recognised as a total classic.

That New Pornographers cover of "Think About Me" ... I dunno. I respect them for trying something different with it, but a lot of what I like about the original is lost. Dulli did a better job re-imagining "What Makes You Think You're the One."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ypI7CXuoLo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnBA1IYvS9A&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZADfWJKxYQ&feature=related

Those are both amazing, thanks - 1927 bathrooms!

So just occurred to me ... is the titular "tusk" a drug reference? Like, if someone is doing a bunch of coke, and they leave behind a streak of white - a tusk - sticking out their nose?

iirc, it was Mick Fleetwood's slang term for the male genitalia

I like Josh's explanation better, although jon's probably correct. I've never really known what to do with it contextually, although I really like the anguished/ravenous shouting. More like Where the Wild Things Are than the Muppet Show really.

http://beniceartfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/where-the-wild-things-are-ii-maurice-sendak.jpg

l-r lindsey, mick, stevie

iirc, it was Mick Fleetwood's slang term for the male genitalia

There should be an entry in the "Pieces of Pop Trivia (that are 100% false)" thread about how the album and song were originally called "Penis" and that the switch to Mick's slang term happened only because of objections from Warner Bros., who threatened to lock the master tape of the track away in the same vault they threw the "Rape of Christ" sequence of The Devils into.

Lol, I never heard about it originally being called Penis, just read somewhere about the genesis of Mick's "tusk" thing.

I don't know if Grisso made that story up just now but I think it's not true.

note: "Pieces of Pop Trivia (that are 100% false)" per This Thread

The massive sea of humming harmonies in the middle of 'That's All For Everyone'...

95. The bit in "Sara" where she sings "He was undoing/Undoing/Undoing the laces" into the tape echo right before the mix dries out again is all-time.

Oh, duh, of course Nathan Fake's "Undoing The Laces" in a Fleetwood Mac reference; will have to play it next to Justus Köhncke's "Albatross" one day.

Enjoying the Crystal Ark's cover of Tusk, though I still wish there was some sort of Tom Moulton-esque 12" version of the original floating around.

Oh, duh, /of course/ Nathan Fake's "Undoing The Laces" in a Fleetwood Mac reference

They really need to get around to making a Classic Albums documentary of this. I know that Rumours has one already, and that there was a great documentary on Tusk at the time of its release, but I'd really like to hear the real in-depth hindsight perspective on Tusk from the members themselves. The 'Don't Stop' and 'Rock Family Trees' shows on Fleetwood Mac's whole career were both great, but they didn't really go as far into THIS era of the band as I feel they could have done. I still think there's a hell of a lot for them to talk about in regards to this album, and I still think there's shitloads of archive footage of the recording process that we haven't seen. Wouldn't it be great to see Ken Caillat in the studio, isolating the harmonies on 'Walk A Thin Line' or 'That's All For Everyone'?

from the RS cover story:

In a private plane that's passing through a storm somewhere over the Rocky Mountains, Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut and I are discussing Talking Heads' Fear of Music, an album they both like a lot. Across the table, John McVie cringes when he hears the words New Wave. "Is that punk rock?" he asks, feigning horror, then slumps over and pretends to sleep. Buckingham and Dashut have never seen Talking Heads perform, so I am trying to describe what the band is like. The lead singer has spasms onstage, I explain, and the bass player and the drummer are married to each other. McVie wakes up. "Did you say married to each other? You mean, this band has a man and wife, a couple in it?" There is a long, irony-charged silence. In the back of the cabin, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie are wrapped in blankets, asleep. The plane engines drone. McVie takes a sip of his drink and mumbles something.

"Oh. We ought t

Marcello gets to Tusk.

Every time I read a paragraph of that I felt like I must have missed a paragraph. I'll have to give it another shot later.

I fucking love this album.

^Me fucking too.

I deeply love Rumours, but its beauty has a self-sufficient, perfected quality that can verge on stifling. Tusk brings air, space, and even a dose of ugliness to the table, and this makes the FM universe a much much bigger place for us all to live in. It was an unnecessary experiment, and all the more necessary for that.

Also, I contend that "Over and Over", over time, repeated listens, stretched across the decades, slowly but surely exerts itself as the greatest album opener ever.

Sorry if I sound pretentious. I haven't figured out how to write about things that make me weep.

Disc 1 of the Tusk reissue is the only CD in my car. I usually take the bus, but I'll drive my car once per week to keep it in running condition. I get through the whole album about every 1.5 weeks. It's a bit remarkable that they reissued this on vinyl for $40. You can easily find used copies in record stores for <$10.

Is it actual reissue vinyl, or did Warners merely stumble into a warehouse full of New/Old Stock and was like "Ka-Ching!"?

I believe it is a reissue. The year says 2012, and the vinyl is 140g. That's a weird weight, but I'm guessing it's still heavier than the original pressings.

iirc, they did half-speed remasters of Rumours and the s/t for a recent rsd, but didn't hear about anything re:Tusk. I'd still like to think there's a distributor out there sitting on a load of unsold copies of Tusk, I'm In You and Captain Fantastic.

I doubt Marcello will be getting to I'm In You anytime soon.

That's a nice essay, I reckon it gets somewhere near the heart of things.

version of Over and Over on the Mac's AMAZING 1980 live album contains my favourite Buckingham guitar solo of all time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDql-ykPZ-8

gorgeous version; thank you stevie.

I see there's a big box set version of "Rumours" coming out in the new year, 4 cds, dvd and vinyl - the cds are the album, the 2004 extras disc, another disc of out-takes and a live show, the dvd is the Rosebud documentary (sorry, no idea what that is but the report I read said it was "legendary"). Wonder if they'll do a similar box for "Tusk"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vrNtkC6rU0

Rosebud contains this incredible outdoor afternoon performance. If there's any more footage from this show I may die of joy. A tracklisting I've seen suggests it goes: World Turning, Rhiannon, Say You Love Me, Go Your Own Way, You Make Loving Fun, I'm So Afraid; but whether the other five are performances I do not know.

I'm fairly sure Rhiannon will be, actually - iirc I've seen a couple of seconds of Stevie singing it outdoors, maybe on Behind The Music.

the echo on stevie's vocals on the line: "I think I had met my match"

the double tracked drums on sara

Nicks wailing, "ALL I EVER WANTED! WHOAAAAAH" over the outro

everything about that song basically

the echo on stevie's vocals on the line: "I think I had met my match"

when she sings "she was singing" and Christine's voice rises ecstatically AHHHHHHUHHHHAAAHHHHHHUHHHH

lay-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaces

the laces undoing the laces

revived this because i listened to the expanded tusk today -- re: sara, i almost wish that alternate take wasn't there (tho i like hearing it i guess) just because the released version is ridiculously perfect, just an amazing song/production/vocal/performance/everything.

The alternate take needs to be heard just once.

i listen to the alt take more than the album version these days, i like the extra length and hearing the ooh-ahh bits (and the cleaning lady bit)

^^^^2nded

i prefer the longer version!

more "sara". what's not to like?!

^otm

do we need to have a poll? listened to both of these on headphones yesterday and there is no contest.

GH version >>>>> original Tusk version >>>>> alternate take

what's the greatest hits version -- an edit?

i have a 7:36 from a bootleg labelled "tusk rehearsals" (nice version but terrible recording) and the original is 6:22 (Edited to 4:39 on earlier CD pressings).

yeah is GH the 4 min first CD release edit? and which alt are you talking about?

the ''It's all I want to do" vocal part in "you make loving fun"

That's Rumours, dog.

oh fuck sorry

The GH version was for a long time the only full version extant

how long are the GH version and the "original Tusk version"? is what you're calling "original" the 4:39 tusk first cd release?

I don't think I've ever listened to this album without hearing something I haven't heard before.

But I'd like to mention an ol' favorite, the way "Save Me a Place" alludes to Brian Eno's "I'll Come Running."

via wiki
The version of the song featured on the original vinyl release of Tusk was the unedited 6:22 version, but when Tusk was originally released as a single compact disc in 1987 it featured the edited 4:37 version of "Sara" which leaves out the middle verse and musical bridge. It was not until the 1988 Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits compilation was released that the 6:23 version of the song became available on compact disc. Nicks is famous for hating shortened versions of her songs.

There is also a version known as "the cleaning lady" edit, so-called as Nicks is clearly heard to say at the beginning of the demo recording, "I don't want to be a cleaning lady!" This version lasts almost nine minutes and was actually released on the 2-disc remastered version Tusk in March 2004. It contains an extended vamp, which includes excised lines previously only heard in live performances, such as, "and the wind became crazy," "no sorrow for sorrow, you can have no more," and "swallow all your pride, don't you ever change—never change."

Confession: I'm a much bigger fan of "Storms" than I am of "Sara."

another great thing about tusk -- that this of all songs was a single
http://images.45cat.com/fleetwood-mac-its-not-that-funny-1979.jpg

Ha, listening to that right now!

There is also a version known as "the cleaning lady" edit

ysi?

that's the one on the tusk bonus disc

weird that it's listed as "IT'S Not That Funny" there

Confession: I'm a much bigger fan of "Storms" than I am of "Sara."