Tusk Backing Vocals?

[Meowi]

Who does the backup vocals for Tusk (the song)? it's not Stevie, but I always thought it was Chris - until now!

Somehow, I think its the same person on Stevie's 'Cleaning Lady' Sara???

[louielouie2000]

I've always wondered the same thing. If I listen really hard, I suspect Lindsey is doing a double (or even triple) harmony where he manipulates his voice (which he is famous for). I think all of the various voices on the track are his. But that's just my guess.

[skuncles]

yeah it probably is Lindsey. Just like on "Big Love" where everyone thought it was he and Stevie trading "love grunts", but it was all Lindsey, just his voice sped up and slowed down. Oddly his voice when tweaked one way or another sounds a lot like Stevie's.

[grace_face]

I always thought it was Lindsey, yeah.

[WarmSir3]

I always thought it was Stevie, I didn't think Lindsey started doing that wacky speeding up/slowing down stuff until 1984

[Peestie]

I think it's Lindsey. He was definitely doing it on Tusk. He probably did it on Rumours as well but not as such an obvious effect. When you slow down the tape and record guitar and then speed it back up the guitar won't sound too weird (depending how much it's sped up) but it will give it a bit of extra "sparkle" and change the tone to something brighter.

There is an interview in the Blue Letter Archive where he talks about how the guitar in (I think) Not That Funny is recorded slowed down and then he recorded an overdub that was slowed down by a very slightly different amount so that when they're played together they're not quite in tune with each other. I have a feeling the inteview was when he was promoting L&O. If he was doing it with guitars I bet he was doing it with vocals as well.

[skuncles]

Also keep in mind that Lindsey's songs on Tusk are pretty much just him. He would go off and work on something by himself and then come back and say it was all done, but no one else had recorded anything for it. Even a track like "Tusk", the drums on it are a tape loop. Lindsey had Mick play this beat and then Lindsey just looped it over and over. The only songs that feature everyone on Tusk are Christine's and Stevie's. Lindsey's are most likely just Lindsey with Chris and Stevie thrown in here and there.

[David]

Originally Posted by WarmSir3

I always thought it was Stevie, I didn't think Lindsey started doing that wacky speeding up/slowing down stuff until 1984

No, he was using oscillator technology on instruments & vocals at least as far back as the 1978 Village Recorder sessions for Tusk.

[David]

Originally Posted by skuncles

Lindsey's are most likely just Lindsey with Chris and Stevie thrown in here and there.

There's some nice footage of Lindsey & Chris singing the doo-wop backups for Walk a Thin Line. That may be one of the few occasions for which Christine took an active vocal role in one of his songs.

I don't think he used Stevie much at all on his own songs at that point (or for many years after).

[Fiver]

Whoah.. that part 'don't say that you love me' isn't Stevie? He's really good at manipulating his voice to sound like hers. Especially since this was way back in 78 or 79.. I knew he did alot of that on the Tango album but not for Tusk.

I just assumed the first harmony part for the verses was Chris.. and some of the harmony on the chorus was Stevie. I do remember Stevie talking about him slowing things down and then speedin' em back up during the Tusk recordings in that interview for the recent BBC special about Fleetwood Mac Then she did that hilarious impression of him singing on the floor.

[bucklind17]

Originally Posted by WarmSir3

I always thought it was Stevie, I didn't think Lindsey started doing that wacky speeding up/slowing down stuff until 1984

The harmonies on "Save Me a Place" are almost entirely Lindsey sped up/slowed down, I believe. "The Ledge" has a lot of it going on as well.

It annoys me, sometimes, despite loving Tusk, wondering how Lindsey's songs might have turned out if he had had at least Stevie and Chris contribute more vocally on his songs. The combined vocals on the ladies' songs on this album, especially "Angel" and "Beautiful Child", is so strong that I like to imagine how his would have sounded had he used them instead of layering his own voice.

[DMBfan]

The combined vocals on the ladies' songs on this album, especially "Angel" and "Beautiful Child", is so strong that I like to imagine how his would have sounded had he used them instead of layering his own voice.[/QUOTE]


I agree.... One of the best attributes of this band is that they have 3 strong vocalists who know how to harmonize. Never understood why LB excessively used technology to alter the vocals post Tusk era. That rarely improved the songs, IMO

[petep9000]

Do we hear a tiny bit of Stevie in the last sentence of the chorus of 'Walk a Thin Line', and also in the fade out of 'The Ledge' (where maybe she sings the last "...really all abowwwwwttt")?
How about the chorus of 'Think About Me', do we hear Stevie trailing in on the 'I don't hold you down...' parts?
Or is this Lindsanity at the mixing board?

[David]

Originally Posted by petep9000

Do we hear a tiny bit of Stevie in the last sentence of the chorus of 'Walk a Thin Line', and also in the fade out of 'The Ledge' (where maybe she sings the last "...really all abowwwwwttt")?
How about the chorus of 'Think About Me', do we hear Stevie trailing in on the 'I don't hold you down...' parts?
Or is this Lindsanity at the mixing board?

There's little way any of us can know for sure. The aesthetic at work didn't have the impetus of transparency.

[Sleepless-Child]

Do we hear a tiny bit of Stevie in the last sentence of the chorus of 'Walk a Thin Line', and also in the fade out of 'The Ledge' (where maybe she sings the last "...really all abowwwwwttt")?

Well, on "The Ledge", I hear Stevie's voice, and on "Tusk" too, I think so...