Praise for Lindsey

[CarneVaca]

As you know if you've read my earlier posts, Camper Van Beethoven, a seminal alternative band of the 80s, did a version of Tusk (the whole album) in 1987, but shelved the project. In April, the now-resurrected band (which spawned Cracker) finally released its version of Tusk. It still knocks me out that these guys are Fleetwood Mac fans. Here's what David Lowery, lead singer of Camper and Cracker had to say about Lindsey:

"Well, 1987 was only a few years after the release of Tusk. Fleetwood Mac was completely unhip in the indie rock circles at that time. That was part of the reason we recorded it. But we also had this major Fleetwood Mac obsession, particularly Lindsey Buckingham songs. We thought he was cool. Tusk was such an odd mix of songs. And it was recorded really strange. Think about it. The follow-up single to Rumours was "Tusk.” We didn't
think anyone else shared our obsession. We also found that it was quite an undertaking to re-record a double album. We felt like we didn't really finish it. Plus we kept having fights over who sang which song. No offense to Ms. Nicks, but none of us wanted to sing her songs."

[Les]

I've been keeping my eye out for any interviews by the Camper guys to see if they might comment on their Tusk album. But I hadn't seen anything much yet. Thanks for posting this.

Peter Buck said something similar in the early 80s when REM started covering "Tusk" occasionally in their live show. People were appalled that THEY would do a Mac song. There was a huge stigma about being an "alternative" band and admitting that you liked the Mac, since the Mac had come to represent something way beyond what the members themselves had any control over -- "the machinery" -- as Lindsey always sums it up. Rumours made them mainstream huge and a lot of people wanted to hate them for that. It's great and quite a testament though that the music - that Tusk - was something that could draw even the openly hostile listener in and make them fans too. Lindsey'd be pretty happy to hear that some of his hopes for Tusk in 1979 did come true.

[CarneVaca]

Les, check out the forum at crackersoul.com for the full interview with David Lowery.

[Barbara]

CarneVaca -
I scoured the web looking for information about this album. Where exactly would you find it at crackersoul.com? I can't seem to find the right "department"!
Thanks,
Barbara