Cira 1987-1990 -the Rick & Billy years

[PenguinHead]

I recently had a sudden interest with this unsual and transitional period of Fleetwood Mac. After recently listening to the album Behind the Mask, I pulled out all my concert bootlegs from this era. Interested in choices of songs they performed, I compliled a list. Let me know if I'm missing something.

I attended shows on both tours. At the earlier tour (for Tango) I was actually happy that Stevie didn't perform Rhiannon - the first time ever for Fleetwood Mac. Rhiannon needed a rest, and it wasn't missed. Unfortunately she didn't surprise us with anything else. And it was very unusual that she didn't perform any new songs on tour for Behind the Mask. "Affairs of the Heart" and/or "Freedom" would have been nice additions. I hate that she performed "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You." That's an absolute "Stevie solo" song, as is 'Stand Back." I don't like that it's become a staple Fleetwood Mac concert song.

I like and respect Billy, but I find him to be more like a Vegas showman, and he sounds very cheesy with his bravado stage banter like "Do you wanna here another one?" or "Are we having fun yet!" He's very good, but so generic. The same could be said for Rick Vito's lyrics, but he's such a great guitar player. I like that he brought some of the band's old blues songs into the set. It was authentic. I wonder if Billy wasn't in the equation, and it was just a Stevie, Rick and Christine line-up, would that formation have lasted longer? Stevie and Rick certainly shared some sort of connection, and Christine had a lot of respect for Rick's talent.

It's sad that Rick and Billy weren't able to get more recognition for their contributions. '"When the Sun Goes Down" was a great duet and should have been a concert staple. I think 'Hard Feelings" is a great song and should have been in set. Although I liked that they shook things up by opening shows with 'In the Back of My Mind." it was such a poor choice. They come on stage, the crowd goes wild, and then there is this long extended opening before the song starts, essentially becoming a buzz-kill, quickly sapping all the energy from the audience. It's a good slow-burn song for later in the set, but least effective as an opener. (That said, "The Chain" has really outstayed its' welcome as show opener -- predictable and stale. I was glad to hear, that on the recent tour they opened with 'Monday Morning.")

Blah, blah, blah...
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome...the songs!

Stop Messing Around
Rattlesnake Shake
I Loved Another Woman
Oh Well
Don't Let Me Down
Say You Love Me
Over My Head
Landslide
Rhiannon - rarely
World Turning
Blue Letter
Gold Dust Woman
The Chain
Dreams
Go Your Own Way
Don't Stop
You Make Lovin' Fun
Songbird
Brown Eyes
Sara - rarely
Gypsy - rarely
Has Anyone Ever Wrirten Anything for You
Isn't it Midnight
Everywhere
Seven Wonders
Little Lies
Save Me
In the Back of My Mind
When the Sun Goes Down - rarely
Stand on the Rock
Love is Dangerous - somewhat rarely
Tear it Up

[nailatixela]

Don't forget about In The Back Of My Mind!

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by nailatixela

Don't forget about In The Back Of My Mind!

I didn't! It's the fifth one up from the bottom of the list.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

I hate that she performed "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You." That's an absolute "Stevie solo" song, as is 'Stand Back." I don't like that it's become a staple Fleetwood Mac concert song.

Au contraire. That '87 tour version with just "the girls" on stage was f***ing AMAZING!! That stretch of the set where they go from that, into "I Loved Another Woman" into "Brown Eyes" into "Don't Let Me Down Again" was the best four song stretch of the 60+ Fleetwood Mac shows I've seen starting in 1974. (and upon further review, the songs on either side of those were "Gold Dust Woman" & "World Turning"...making it a phenomenal SIX PACK)

Ok, so tell me what Stevie Nicks penned Fleetwood Mac song has the same rockin' power as "Stand Back" to get the audience on their feet and dancing 4 songs from the end of the set? Right...ZERO, NONE, NADA, ZILCH, ZIPPO, as in "There ain't one". It's a keeper. (although in '87, I shared your opinion, but soon did a 180).

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Although I liked that they shook things up by opening shows with 'In the Back of My Mind." it was such a poor choice. They come on stage, the crowd goes wild, and then there is this long extended opening before the song starts, essentially becoming a buzz-kill, quickly sapping all the energy from the audience. It's a good slow-burn song for later in the set, but least effective as an opener. (That said, "The Chain" has really outstayed its' welcome as show opener -- predictable and stale. I was glad to hear, that on the recent tour they opened with 'Monday Morning.")

We just have opposing tastes ALL AROUND, don't we. That was the best effing opening I've seen Fleetwood Mac do. I was a little pissed off that they didn't do the WHOLE song and cheezed out into medley-ing it with "The Chain" (although it DID work from a lyrical standpoint, but I was looking forward to Rick's killer solo at the end of ITBOMM). I thought they should've opened the BTM ALBUM with the song as well. That intro of the song just screams, "opener". And, talk about buzzkills, their opening with "The Chain" during The Dance tour was the real snoozer...crowd goes crazy, and we get Mick pounding quarter notes on his bass drum for 5 minutes....at least the "In The Back Of My Mind" intro was INTERESTING with the voices & ****. "Monday Morning" wore out its welcome as an opening song on the Tusk tour (I have a BIG prob with that song anyway, since it bounced "Station Man" permanently out of the set back in '77)

Oh...and "Love Is Dangerous" was IN the set more than it was out.

[sjpdg]

Where to begin?? I loved the "Behind The Mask" line up of FM. Rick Vito is a master of the blues guitar and the slide and added a crucial missing element to the Mac sets of those years. He continues to show his prowess in his work with Mick in the MFBB which I continue to hope and pray we will get more music (originals and tributes) in the future. (Any label execs out there listening??!!)

I actually saw my first FM show when Rick and Billy joined the band. I saw them at the Cow Palace in San Francisco and had a blast. Mick blew my mind with his "World Turning" solo. "Isn't It Midnight" totally rocked and destroyed the CD version in my opinion. Everytime I listen to "Tango" now, I which I had the live tour version instead of Lindsey's there. Sorry, that's just a fact for me, my opinion, nobody has to agree with it.

I agree with ChiliD that "In The Back Of My Mind" fading into "The Chain" was a great opener. Saw them on that tour at the Oakland Coliseum. Had killer seats on the floor and was practically deaf the whole next day!!!!

Generally speaking, both Rick and Billy weren't given enough credit by the Buckingham/Nicks-ites out there. They both could have grown into their roles in the band if given a chance and they might still be there today, or perhaps they would have recorded several albums (which would have given us a much better album on " Time" than what we got, and then perhaps given way to a Lindsey return, or perhaps not and kept going forward. That didn't work out so here we are.

If available, I'd love to find good quality bootlegs of those tours. Anyone have a place I can go to find them?

I'm a Rick Vito fanatic, have almost his entire solo catalog and crank it up everytime his songs come up on my iPod.

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Au contraire. That '87 tour version with just "the girls" on stage was f***ing AMAZING!! That stretch of the set where they go from that, into "I Loved Another Woman" into "Brown Eyes" into "Don't Let Me Down Again" was the best four song stretch of the 60+ Fleetwood Mac shows I've seen starting in 1974. (and upon further review, the songs on either side of those were "Gold Dust Woman" & "World Turning"...making it a phenomenal SIX PACK)

Ok, so tell me what Stevie Nicks penned Fleetwood Mac song has the same rockin' power as "Stand Back" to get the audience on their feet and dancing 4 songs from the end of the set? Right...ZERO, NONE, NADA, ZILCH, ZIPPO, as in "There ain't one". It's a keeper. (although in '87, I shared your opinion, but soon did a 180).

We just have opposing tastes ALL AROUND, don't we. That was the best effing opening I've seen Fleetwood Mac do. I was a little pissed off that they didn't do the WHOLE song and cheezed out into medley-ing it with "The Chain" (although it DID work from a lyrical standpoint, but I was looking forward to Rick's killer solo at the end of ITBOMM). I thought they should've opened the BTM ALBUM with the song as well. That intro of the song just screams, "opener". And, talk about buzzkills, their opening with "The Chain" during The Dance tour was the real snoozer...crowd goes crazy, and we get Mick pounding quarter notes on his bass drum for 5 minutes....at least the "In The Back Of My Mind" intro was INTERESTING with the voices & ****. "Monday Morning" wore out its welcome as an opening song on the Tusk tour (I have a BIG prob with that song anyway, since it bounced "Station Man" permanently out of the set back in '77)

Oh...and "Love Is Dangerous" was IN the set more than it was out.

I agree - In the Back of My Mind should have been performed fully, instead of the truncated version we got. I also think The Chain would be more effective as an encoure, like it was when it was first performed on the Rumours tour.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by sjpdg

Generally speaking, both Rick and Billy weren't given enough credit by the Buckingham/Nicks-ites out there. They both could have grown into their roles in the band if given a chance and they might still be there today,

Bekka Bramlett, anyone? Same thing. Rumours KILLED, what FM had always been about......reinvention. Milking that old crusty, wrinkled Rumours teat, is all they've done, since it was their ticket to fame. It's been 33 years now. Enough already. As if!

[holidayroad]

As most of you know, I am definitely a Buckingham fan, but I liked what Billy Burnette brought to Fleetwood Mac. I enjoy Rick and Bekka to a lesser extent. I thought Billy and Rick did the best they could to step into a band at a moment's notice and make it work. I enjoy Behind the Mask. I think it showcased the change in the best way possible. Time has its good points. I especially like Christine's songs. Bekka and Billy's songs sounded great, but sounded like they were already setting themselves apart from FM as a duo.

[sjpdg]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Bekka Bramlett, anyone? Same thing. Rumours KILLED, what FM had always been about......reinvention. Milking that old crusty, wrinkled Rumours teat, is all they've done, since it was their ticket to fame. It's been 33 years now. Enough already. As if!

Agreed! Definitely feel the same way about Bekka. Somebody posted a video of her doing "Gold Dust Woman" during the "Time" tour and it was phenomenal!!! It was not the way it had been done forever and it was awesome! She definitely did not get the credit she deserved for the same reason as Rick and Billy. Too many people just could never get past the idea that Stevie and Lindsey weren't there. Had they been more open, the band could have taken a different turn and gone on with Rick, Billy, Bekka, Christine (for however long they could have gotten her to stay), John and Mick and made great music. But, as the song says, "Oh Well".

[sjpdg]

Originally Posted by holidayroad

As most of you know, I am definitely a Buckingham fan, but I liked what Billy Burnette brought to Fleetwood Mac. I enjoy Rick and Bekka to a lesser extent. I thought Billy and Rick did the best they could to step into a band at a moment's notice and make it work. I enjoy Behind the Mask. I think it showcased the change in the best way possible. Time has its good points. I especially like Christine's songs. Bekka and Billy's songs sounded great, but sounded like they were already setting themselves apart from FM as a duo.

Rick had (and still has) the more blues orientation to FM, while Billy appealed to the more rock orientation, at least in my opinion. And, again in my opinion, that's why the combo worked. It offered both the classic, blues era of FM and the B/N era, with the possibility of doing other material from Kirwan and Welch in the middle too. Plus, no offense to Billy, Rick is just flat out a better all around guitar player than Billy. Bekka definitely has the chops to have taken over both Stevie and Christine's material but just wasn't given the chance. Too bad because this combo really could have done some amazing work.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by sjpdg

Plus, no offense to Billy, Rick is just flat out a better all around guitar player than Billy.

I seriously doubt that Billy would be offended, since it was Billy's suggestion to GET Rick in the band in the first place because he knew he wasn't capable of handing the intricacies required of the Fleetwood Mac lead guitarist spot. (Plus, he & Rick were working on an album at the time Mick called). Again, a Fleetwood Mac personnel decision by association. (Rick had previously played with John in a late 70's edition of John Mayall's band..."incestuous music biz" strikes again.)

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by sjpdg

Plus, no offense to Billy, Rick is just flat out a better all around guitar player than Billy.

That was never even point to review. Rick was brought on, AS the lead guitar player.

[David]

I never got much into Rick's style or songs, but Billy generated a couple of the high points of the 1987 set: the incendiary "Don't Let Me Down Again" & the lead vocal on "Go Your Own Way."

Another high point for me, which seems to have been forgotten by too many 1987 concert attendees: Christine's lead vocal on "Over My Head."

Low points: "World Turning" was too turgid or lethargic or something, & lacked the dynamics of the late Tusk tour, where it went from hushed, suspenseful whispers to balls-to-the-wall yelping power. "The Chain" suffered similarly.

Clothing low points: Stevie Nicks' bustier & Rick Vito's Vegas cowboy boots.

Technology low points: Mick Fleetwood's Hotz electronic vest was trashy, vulgar, & boring.

[holidayroad]

Originally Posted by David

Technology low points: Mick Fleetwood's Hotz electronic vest was trashy, vulgar, & boring.

I agree! It was also Pointless! I'm so glad he ditched it!!!!!

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by David

Low points: "World Turning" was too turgid or lethargic or something, & lacked the dynamics of the late Tusk tour, where it went from hushed, suspenseful whispers to balls-to-the-wall yelping power. "The Chain" suffered similarly.

Oh, that's a contrast I never thought about before. There's no real ascension today. It is all at the same level. Of course now, the song is really meant to be rousing, high energy all the way through, rather than building up. Lindsey and Stevie do it with a "getty up" cowboy vigor, with Mick coming in to spur the crowd further. Solo, Lindsey starts off strong and then infuses some DJ scratching into the break.

Maybe it would be nice to start the first verses off soft, as someone who is indeed uncertain, struggling to get their feet back on the ground and then, during the course of the song and the crowd's reaction to it, they gain roaring conviction, know they are not wrong, find solid footing and a place where they belong.

Michele