Fleetwood Mac live box set 1980

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

Watching the versions of them now is like eating a popsicle that's been in the freezer way too long. It's still has some flavor, but it's also really stale. But sales are still great because it's all that's left.

Watching them in 2014 was great, specially because of Christine's return. But their voices, were not the same anymore; Especially Lindsey's, I don't know if it was that night or a permanent condition, but it was much lower that when I saw them in 2009. That's when I said This is the last time to me. Even if Lindsey had continued in the band, I chose to keep those good memories.

[David]

Originally Posted by Villavic

In his first book he said Rhiannon was from the London gig. I don't remember if this coincide with the cd book, and don't know if he mentioned in his second book.

Besides, we had great material to work with, recorded all over the world: "Monday Morning" from Tokyo, "Say You Love Me" from Wichita, ''Dreams" from the Paris sound check, a psychedelic "Oh Well" from St. Louis, "Rhiannon" from London, and so on. We also set up our gear and played three new songs "live" for an audience of crew and friends at the Santa Monica Civic Center Stevie's "Fireflies," Chris's "One More Night," and a Fleetwood Mac harmony orgy in homage to Brian Wilson's "The Farmer's Daughter."

It actually does not say anywhere on the 1980 live album that the tracks were recorded in 1980, so it isn’t wrong in that sense. The vinyl sleeve only gives cities. But writers and fans assumed that everything was taken from the Tusk tour. We have to blame the writers and fans for that one, at least initially. (In later years, Warner Bros. also made the same mistake in publicity about the album.) When I was a teenager in 1980 and I heard “Rhiannon” on the live album, I certainly noticed it was older than the “Rhiannon” I heard that year on the stage. But I saw that it was supposed to be from London (no year given), so I think I may have assumed it was the way the band played it in June in London. It wasn’t until I saw and heard more and more 1980 concerts and 1977 concerts that I realized 1980 couldn’t be right. The whole arrangement is 1977, obvious to an untrained ear.

Now the 1980 deluxe set does print dates, and several of them are wrong, as we know now. But that was the result of an assumption in 1980 acquiring the power of solid fact by 2021. It’s too bad, but nobody from Rhino is listening to us anyway.

What’s sort of even more bothersome than the incorrect year is the possibility of an incorrect venue or city. We can all tell that “Rhiannon” on the album is not 1980, it’s 1977, but how do we know that London (Rainbow Theatre) is correct? We don’t because we don’t have an audience recording of Rainbow Theatre from April 1977. The general time frame is correct but the venue and city may be all wrong. How do you like them apples?

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by David

When I was a teenager in 1980

I think it's so cool that you ran that Obie's lighting company as a teenager! How prodigious!

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by David

It actually does not say anywhere on the 1980 live album that the tracks were recorded in 1980, so it isn’t wrong in that sense. The vinyl sleeve only gives cities. But writers and fans assumed that everything was taken from the Tusk tour.

Yes, me included. I still have the CD book (I gave the away the album long ago). It lists the songs with cities, but it has another list: the tour dates, each date with city, place and amount of people (or capacity?). That led us to deduce that all tracks were from Tusk tour.

[David]

Originally Posted by Villavic

Yes, me included. I still have the CD book (I gave the away the album long ago). It lists the songs with cities, but it has another list: the tour dates, each date with city, place and amount of people (or capacity?). That led us to deduce that all tracks were from Tusk tour.

The complete tour itinerary was included with the original release. But the individual tracks were never officially linked with dates. Perhaps it was confusing to get the 1980 itinerary in the package but not the 1977 itinerary. We all jumped to a reasonable conclusion and only changed our minds once we heard more and more.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by Villavic

Yes, me included. I still have the CD book (I gave the away the album long ago). It lists the songs with cities, but it has another list: the tour dates, each date with city, place and amount of people (or capacity?). That led us to deduce that all tracks were from Tusk tour.

But was Don't Let Me Down Again done during the Tusk tour? I don't think so. A THOUSAND years ago, I could recite the set list in order. Those brain cells have long since said goodbye, baby.

[David]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

I think it's so cool that you ran that Obie's lighting company as a teenager! How prodigious!

That’s our little secret, Dave. Don’t tell anyone.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by David

That’s our little secret, Dave. Don’t tell anyone.

We'll keep it as quiet as Stevie's backroom things.

[Macfan4life]

David brought up such a pivotal point about the Live album. Because the album lists the city each song was recorded in and another list of cities played during the Tusk tour, it was a logical assumption all songs were recorded during the Tusk tour. Why did they list the city the song was recorded in but not the date. Even more confusing is how rare it is for a band to release a live album freshly off a world tour and include a sprinkling of other tours and concerts. Are we fans the dumb ones to assume this? Or was the band purposely misleading fans to make everyone think they were all freshly recorded off the Tusk tour. Did the band or Warner not think some of the Tusk recordings were not as good as the Rumours ones? Had the album not included Tusk dates I dont think many of us would have lept to that conclusion. Many live albums include the date the song was recorded. To only mention the city is a bit odd which makes me think maybe it was to make everyone believe it was all freshly recorded. But who knows for sure. Everyone was stoned back then.

[HomerMcvie]

I think that everyone is forgetting how CLUELESS the entire world was before the internets. They could write ANYTHING on those, and people couldn't fact check everything like they can, now.

[BigAl84]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

David brought up such a pivotal point about the Live album. Because the album lists the city each song was recorded in and another list of cities played during the Tusk tour, it was a logical assumption all songs were recorded during the Tusk tour. Why did they list the city the song was recorded in but not the date. Even more confusing is how rare it is for a band to release a live album freshly off a world tour and include a sprinkling of other tours and concerts. Are we fans the dumb ones to assume this? Or was the band purposely misleading fans to make everyone think they were all freshly recorded off the Tusk tour. Did the band or Warner not think some of the Tusk recordings were not as good as the Rumours ones? Had the album not included Tusk dates I dont think many of us would have lept to that conclusion. Many live albums include the date the song was recorded. To only mention the city is a bit odd which makes me think maybe it was to make everyone believe it was all freshly recorded. But who knows for sure. Everyone was stoned back then.

This was most likely, largely cobbled together by studio and record company folks. If my memory is correct, nobody in the band speaks to being heavily involved in this project. These folks had just spent a year on the road and would rather do almost anything else but sit in a studio compiling a live album.

As David has mentioned before, the original plan was to release a live album compiled from the Hollywood Bowl tapes. That idea was kicked aside, opening the door for a tusk tour compilation.

An intern along with Richard/Ken were probably tasked with mulling through all of the tapes they had and they put together their first pass at a track list/sequence.

A record exec asks for something new - anything - so they include Fireflies etc. This immediately destroys the concept of having an authentic live album of only the Tusk Tour.

Maybe Stevie didn't like the version of Dreams they chose from the Tusk tour when going through the approval process, they swapped in the '77 live version.

Somebody says "well, if we're already including '77 tracks, we have this killer version of Monday Morning.."

I think for various reasons it became a hodge podge. When it comes to the tour dates and artwork, I think that was what they had "in the can" and never bothered to re-work it. It was pre-internet, very few people were going to know any difference.

[BigAl84]

The other scenario is that all of the live tracks from the previous three years (77-80) were organized so poorly, they were pulling up ‘77 tracks that they didn’t realize were ‘77 tracks. They may have been on the tail end of a ‘79 tape for whatever reason.

The lack of clarity on the next Mirage Tour release makes me wonder if there are a lot of poorly labeled tapes.

[ViscountViktor]

I am working purely off the Spotify album which gives incorrect dates and locations, so very interesting to hear those dates weren't on the original album!

[David]

Originally Posted by ViscountViktor

I am working purely off the Spotify album which gives incorrect dates and locations, so very interesting to hear those dates weren't on the original album!

The biggest tip-off to a problem in December 1980, when many of us bought the album, was the fact that “Don’t Let Me Down Again” was listed as Passaic, New Jersey — but the associated tour itinerary had no Passaic on it, and in fact had no New Jersey date at all!

Only a few people at the time seemed to be paying attention to the sloppy data or to be able to recognize the difference in sound between a Gibson Les Paul and a Turner Model 1 or between a Hohner Combo Pianet and a Yamaha CP30.

With time, the fans were aware that something was wrong. “Say You Love Me” was supposed to have been recorded in Wichita, but Wichita was on Aug. 23, 1980, and the band was no longer playing the song in the set.