Is Fleetwood Mac's "Sara" the greatest production job ever?

Funny how the extended version lacks everything that makes the songs so great.

i disagree with this, in many ways i like the outtake just as much, but part of that may be novelty (haw and the cleaning lady line. wasn't she already filthy rich by then???)

Take two equally amazing production jobs and strip 'em each down to the barest skeleton of words & rudimentary instrumentation. Notice that one of the two is still a good song at its lowest level, whereas the other is much weaker and can't really stand on its own. Which song of the two had the *greater* production? (Don't ask me.)

The best part of "Sara" is that Hill Street Blues piano.

"that's sarah/you are the poet in my heart/never change/never stop"

Christgau liked the production but for some reason hates Nicks:

Tusk [Reprise, 1979]
A million bucks is what I call obsessive production, but for once it means something. This is like reggae, or Eno--not only don't Lindsey Buckingham's swelling edges and dynamic separations get in the way of the music, they're inextricable from the music, or maybe they are the music. The passionate dissociation of the mix is entirely appropriate to an ensemble in which the three principals have all but disappeared (vocally) from each other's work. But only Buckingham is attuned enough to get exciting music out of a sound so spare and subtle it reveals the limits of Christine McVie's simplicity and shows Stevie Nicks up for the mooncalf she's always been. Also, it doesn't make for very good background noise. B+

http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=fleetwood

I am probably the biggest defender of Tusk on ILM and this is my least favorite production job of the Nicks' songs. "Beautiful Child" is far better.

It must be that i fail to fully appreciate the merits of "great" production. The truth of the song is so much more apparent on the outtake from the Deluxe Edition of Tusk (which a couple of folks upthread mention). The "amount" of production is much less pronounced and the voices less ambianced and echoed - the piano a more staccatoed pulse. It's much more affecting to me than the feathered and edited album version

MOONCALF

Wikipedia:

Mooncalf was a term formerly ascribed to the abortive fetus of a cow or other farm animal, and also occasionally to that of a human.

The term arose from the formerly widespread belief, present in many European folk traditions, that such malformed creatures were the product of the sinister influence of the moon on fetal development.

Modern usage
Mooncalf is used as a derogatory term to indicate someone is a simpleton, fool or otherwise not particularly bright or sharp. A dullard.

That actually ruins it for me. I wanted to think Xgau made that word up for comic effect.

I would argue that anyone who calls Stevie a "mooncalf" is an asshole.

BUT YOU NEVER TOLD ME BOUT THE FIRE

I thought it was pretty funny

You can't do anything about it. It's a great piece of music. There's nothing you can do any of you to fuck it up. It's a great piece of music.

Have the guts to recognize a great piece of music when you hear it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IVCtdQke-w

Hmm. I'm not crazy about the way the drums are produced on this song "Sarah". But I did order the deluxe edition of Tusk (why in the hell I don't own it already I DO NOT KNOW) so I'm hoping the postman will bring me a nice present today.

Bimble everybody here already digs the jam, no need to ruin it with 80s-worship

hahahah that's what YOU think!

anyway I've moved on to Radiohead now so at least I'm out of the 80's. Give me some credit.

duly notes in your file!

noted

Hahahahhah my fucking file in the creaky drawers of the local police department!

Onward to Alice Cooper!!!!!!!!

is it possible to get sick of this song?!

i skipped it when it came up in random this evening, but tbf i have heard it upwards of 200 times

i hope that never happens to me

Is it possible that this song actually doesn't have any homoerotic ambiguities?

The drum sound alone could make anyone lez out.

how do fleetwood mac pull the same production/ arrangement tricks as so much cheesy rubbish from the same era, yet still sound so awesome?

What cheesy production tricks? And what bands/acts are you comparing FM against?

"Sara" and, actually, "Go Your Own Way" sound nothing like the Eagles or Jackson Browne.

...neither of whom are produced in a style even remotely like Buckhingham's.

actually, i think the cheesy stuff came later, lots of eighties stuff ( eg Nothing's gonna stop us now, lots of tv themes etc) sound superficially similar to my ears, but with the "interesting" fader turned down, and the bombast dial right up to 11

the lead-off track on tusk (over and over) is superior to this.

'Sisters of the Moon' is actually my favourite production job on Tusk. If only the song were less silly.

tusk is such a monster of a song -- production-wise, too. love sara, but tusk stands up better over time (also, like electricsound, i've heard sara 200 (really 200K) times).

I am probably the biggest defender of Tusk on ILM and this is my least favorite production job of the Nicks' songs. "Beautiful Child" is far better.

― Steve Shasta, Tuesday, July 29, 2008 10:10 AM (1 year ago)

Not a challop but seriously, "Sara" may be my least favorite Stevie song with FM. At least on the big albums. FWIW "Gypsy" kicks the living shit out of this song.

I am probably the biggest defender of Tusk on ILM

You've got quite a bit of competition for that

The whole album appears to have vanished from Spotify

ILM stole it to keep it for themselves

IF YOU BUILD YOUR HOUSE I'LL WALK BY

Just starting Rob Trucks' 33 1/3 book on Tusk--so psyched!

listened to tusk 3 times in the last two days. today in reverse... side 4 -> 3 - > 2 -> 1

(this ends the album with sarah. it's a good closer.)

This thread confused me until I remembered Fleetwood Mac and Starship were not the same band.

Was going to ask about the 33 1/3 book. Anyone else finish it?

i have always wanted to hear red house painters or sun kil moon cover this

I would have liked to've heard early Pretenders covering it (mainly because I've always thought Farndon/Chambers was the closest comparable rhythm section to McVie/Fleetwood, both with that rich sexy throb).

is it possible to get sick of this song?!

― max, Thursday, April 1, 2010 7:44 AM

my preliminary findings are that no it is not possible to ever get sick of this song

Terrific post, campreverb.

Goose pimple moment: when Nicks suddenly roars, 'ALL I EVER WANTED' before the fade.

Hey thanks-odd that this thread popped up today, I was listening to 'Sara' just last night in all its glory on the car stereo.

prince story is great!

in almost every prince story i've heard, he's quite a gentleman

every time i listen to sara i think about this thread title

Requested this for wedding this week! No eagles, though!