50 great things about Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk"

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (688 of them)

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

tylerw, Thursday, 27 October 2011 22:46 (fourteen years ago)

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

lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 27 October 2011 22:50 (fourteen years ago)

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

tylerw, Thursday, 27 October 2011 22:51 (fourteen years ago)

loll

ah, how quaint (Matt P), Thursday, 27 October 2011 22:51 (fourteen years ago)

The congas on "Honey Hi"

Mule, Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:02 (fourteen years ago)

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

lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:06 (fourteen years ago)

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.

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:17 (fourteen years ago)

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.

lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:19 (fourteen years ago)

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

lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:20 (fourteen years ago)

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."

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:21 (fourteen years ago)

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.

lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:22 (fourteen years ago)

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

lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:23 (fourteen years ago)

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.

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:25 (fourteen years ago)

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

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:27 (fourteen years ago)

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

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:27 (fourteen years ago)

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

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:27 (fourteen years ago)

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, 27 October 2011 23:36 (fourteen years ago)

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, 27 October 2011 23:39 (fourteen years ago)

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.

rustic italian flatbread, Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:42 (fourteen years ago)

Quiet, venomous dig at Christine there.

lumber up, limbaugh down (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:44 (fourteen years ago)

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.

Turrican, Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:50 (fourteen years ago)

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...

Turrican, Thursday, 27 October 2011 23:57 (fourteen years ago)

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.

Turrican, Friday, 28 October 2011 00:00 (fourteen years ago)

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, 28 October 2011 00:17 (fourteen years ago)

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'...

Turrican, Friday, 28 October 2011 00:23 (fourteen years ago)

94. but never have I been a blue corn seed

pigeonstreet, Friday, 28 October 2011 06:45 (fourteen years ago)

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

The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point. (stevie), Friday, 28 October 2011 07:14 (fourteen years ago)

Snnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiff...

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

Turrican, Friday, 28 October 2011 15:21 (fourteen years ago)

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

Turrican, Friday, 28 October 2011 15:21 (fourteen years ago)

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

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 28 October 2011 15:25 (fourteen years ago)

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.

all the other twinks with their fucked up dicks (billy), Friday, 28 October 2011 16:05 (fourteen years ago)

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

Brooker T Buckingham, Sunday, 30 October 2011 07:01 (fourteen years ago)

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.

sleeve, Sunday, 30 October 2011 07:35 (fourteen years ago)

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

Mark G, Monday, 31 October 2011 10:12 (fourteen years ago)

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.

Ismael Klata, Monday, 31 October 2011 11:38 (fourteen years ago)

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

http://youtu.be/lTvWfP2uizE

patio hunter (get bent), Friday, 11 November 2011 01:43 (fourteen years ago)

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

patio hunter (get bent), Friday, 11 November 2011 04:13 (fourteen years ago)

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.

Popture, Friday, 11 November 2011 04:19 (fourteen years ago)

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

patio hunter (get bent), Friday, 11 November 2011 04:22 (fourteen years ago)

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.

Ismael Klata, Friday, 11 November 2011 07:46 (fourteen years ago)

seven months pass...

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

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 18 June 2012 20:18 (thirteen years ago)

three weeks pass...

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

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 July 2012 01:02 (thirteen years ago)

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

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 13 July 2012 01:03 (thirteen years ago)

Those are both amazing, thanks - 1927 bathrooms!

Lil' Kim Philby (Call the Cops), Friday, 13 July 2012 08:20 (thirteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

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?

Josh in Chicago, Monday, 30 July 2012 17:14 (thirteen years ago)

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

heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 30 July 2012 17:15 (thirteen years ago)

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.

how's life, Monday, 30 July 2012 17:27 (thirteen years ago)

l-r lindsey, mick, stevie

how's life, Monday, 30 July 2012 17:28 (thirteen years ago)

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.

Jeremy Spencer Slid in Class Today (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 30 July 2012 17:39 (thirteen years ago)


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.