[snoot]

Originally Posted by slipkid

Rick Vito from Philadelphia (Phillies WS champs!), saw FM with Peter Green in late '68 in their one time stop for two nights at the Electric Factory. Vito was worthy of the throne when he was hired after LB's leave. (he is around Kirwan's age BTW) Billy Burnette's addition was a little weird to me at the time. Unless Mick wanted to bring back the Green/Spencer or Kirwan vibe, yet Burnette didn't take??? You don't need two guitarists to replace Buckingham. Who knows what was going on, at this point the band was in pop oblivion.

After all the time he spent in the company of folks like Mayall, Browne, Prine and Silverbullet (Seger), plus doing sessions work for damn near half the industry, it was hard for me to think of Vito as anything but a hired gun (ergo, temp) for FM. To my knowledge, he hadn't released a thing of his own prior to his time with Mac. Considering how busy he was contributing to the projects of others, this should come as no surprise. Burnette as we know descends from a well-known family of musicians, but those early solo efforts of his weren't exactly ground-breaking. Therefore I figured he and Rick, in a two-heads-are-better-than-one scheme, were choosing to collaborate to help shift the musical direction of the band but once again, with an approving nod from the existing players.

Unfortunately FM as a collective wasn't really looking to start fresh or anew, but instead continue with the same successful (aka "commercially safe") formula. Silly me, having hopes that this promising new tandem might create a marked shift in the direction of the past (appropriately modernized), by bringing the multi axe attack once again to the fore. After all, what did they stand to lose after Tango? But after giving Behind The Mask a run-through early on, I could see this wasn't the case, and never really fleshed it out further. Perhaps I didn't give it its full due, but that project - with all its hope - didn't exactly leap out at me (not fully its fault either, nothing FM was grabbing my attention by that point). Fact was, I was disappointed with what >> could have been <<.

Who knows what was going on, at this point the band was in pop oblivion.

Sad to say, that was (is) my general take too. Not solely from the BTM release mind you, but as a continuance of things going back as far as Tusk really. Spottier hit and miss productions, with an ever widening plunge toward pop goes the weasel. Tusk would have been a tighter production if it had been condensed to a single album imo, even with all those little gems found on it. Would have made for a more impactful and consistent follow-up to FM '75 and Rumours that way. As great a guitarist as Lindsey is, at times I think he could have broadened the FM sound more by bringing in a second gun for accents and additional counterpoint, especially as time went on. But if commercial sales are any gauge, that was far from needed -- plus he IS a magnificent axemeister as a solo hand, that's a given.

Could it be a case of Stevie overload at that point? Or just SOS POP FM in general?

Alas, I'm such a dinasour from the days of yore that I still long for that special instrumental offering(s) we used to get with nearly every FM project of the past. As noted earlier, not -ONE- since Buckingham took the helm AFAIK! Yikes.

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Well, my favorites from that album are In The Back Of My Mind, When The Sun Goes Down, and Do You Know, and I think Rick Vito's solo on Save Me may be the best post-Green solo on Mac album.

Now I know it's hard to draw an exact line between banality and genius when we're speaking of pop music (Vinnie take note), but I might have to give this a second look. I'll tab your notes when I do.

Billy was an obvious choice because he knew the others pretty well.

Maybe because he was also more malleable, you know, more of a no make waves team player?

What we needed was a Forgetaboutit Stevie! Pipe down Christy! STFU Mick! in your face change of direction at that point. Not more of this "Will you have some crumpets with your tea, Stevie? Oh, and how 'bout you Mick? Christy, my love?" Pfffft. Ha ha ha yeah, and pink elephants will fly.

TAKE BACK THE MAC! That's what we fossils from the past were shouting. [blush]

Actually, Billy was going to be on the Tango tour even if Lindsey had stayed.

Where did you hear that? Lindsey to spearhead a dual axe attack? Proof or FAIL.