[dreamsunwind]

Originally Posted by David

He would drive me up the wall if I had to work with him in the studio, to be sure. But he wasn't merely a producer for that band. He was a songwriter and the lead guitarist, and he was the only one in the band who had much expertise with orchestration. He was George Martin and Paul McCartney and possibly John Lennon all rolled into one. He was the only one in the band who spent painstaking hours mastering recording technology, studying classic tracks by taking them apart and observing their components, and exploring new technology (like the Fairlight) for use with Fleetwood Mac. None of the other four were interested in sonics. It's natural that the band turned over a lot of the studio crafting to him, certainly the reins for building demos into finished tracks. He was the perfect svengali for Fleetwood Mac's non-live approach.

But for Mirage, he had to back off or dial it all down. They told him there would be no more band fragmentation in the building of tracks, no more recording his own bass or drums or keyboards at home and then using those recordings in the finished product.

For Tango, he was forced by circumstance to exert more control than on Mirage. Stevie and John weren't around, and Mick was baked all day. Only Christine and Richard worked with him on a sustained basis to get that album finished, and they all had to employ all manner of tricks to fake the sound of a whole band participating fully.

It's important to remember that Stevie has had major problems with several of her solo producers. Many of those relationships have gone sour for some reasons we know and many we don't: Iovine, Glyn Johns, Rupert Hine, etc. I think Stevie has a sensitive gag reflex in the studio, maybe because she's not as self-confident as she could be.

This was so well said.