MacMan
03-07-2007, 01:23 PM
Rocker Goes His Own Way
Skip directly to the full story.
Published: Mar 6, 2007
http://www.tbo.com/life/MGB328HHXYE.html
Lindsey Buckingham's productions - for both Fleetwood Mac and his solo albums - have been marked by their lushness.
Think of the light-as-air harmonies that surround Stevie Nicks' "Sara" or the choruses of echoing guitars on Buckingham's 1981 hit, "Trouble."
So it's a bit of a shock to hear Buckingham's most recent solo work, "Under the Skin," and realize it is primarily one voice and one guitar.
It reflects some of the changes Buckingham has been through in the 14 years since his last solo work, 1992's "Out of the Cradle."
"There were certain songs that had originally been ensemble pieces - 'Big Love' is one; 'Go Insane' is another one," he says. "I had begun to do those songs with just myself on guitar, and the way they were connecting with audiences was so profound.
"It got me thinking about doing something that was more stripped down and really was about the finger-style playing and just keeping the drums and the bass out of it, keeping the lead guitar out of it."
In fact, the first notes on "Under the Skin" come from an astoundingly fleet-fingered Spanish guitar figure that opens "Not Too Late."
Buckingham says he was "trying to make [the album] sort of a produced extension of if you were sitting in a room playing."
"It has a certain authenticity with what's going on in my life right now," Buckingham says.
What's going on in Buckingham's life mostly refers to his wife and their children, ages 8, 6 and 2.
The lyrics on "Under the Skin" are as intimate as the production, and many concern the love and joys of being a husband and father. It was a situation he didn't enter lightly.
"I watched a lot of people I knew who were parents back in the '70s and early '80s either not be present for their children or not be a good example for their kids when they were present," Buckingham says. "And I swore I'd never do that.
“It changes your life radically, and it gives you a whole other tone to fall back on in terms of what you’re writing about. And I think in some way it has answered some questions that maybe had been hanging out there for 20-some-odd years.
““It’s really the best time of my life,” he claims. “It’s allowing me to address things from the past, and things from the present, in a healthy way, in a less alienated way, in a more optimistic way.”
“Buckingham addressed part of his past when he collaborated with Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie and Stevie Nicks in the mid-’90s for a Fleetwood Mac reunion tour. (Buckingham left the group after 1987’s “Tango in the Night.”)
“The tour was a hit commercially and enough of an artistic success to compel a new album, 2003’s “Say You Will,” and tour from the band, minus Christine McVie.
“Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham says, has always taken precedence over his solo efforts, so much so that he didn’t tour to support his first two solo albums, 1981’s “Law and Order” and 1984’s “Go Insane.”
“He finally hit the road, briefly, behind 1992’s “Out of the Cradle,” and he will begin the third leg of touring to support “Under the Skin” on Wednesday in Tampa. He’ll have backing musicians — a percussionist and two guitarists, one who doubles on keyboards — but he says the show will be true to the stripped-down nature of “Under the Skin.”
“He’s already planning another solo album for release in early 2008. And although he considers Fleetwood Mac an ongoing entity, his focus for now is clearly on his solo work.
“If Fleetwood Mac came knocking,” Buckingham says, “I’d think, ‘Let’s let them knock a little longer until we get this [solo work] out of the way.’”
Skip directly to the full story.
Published: Mar 6, 2007
http://www.tbo.com/life/MGB328HHXYE.html
Lindsey Buckingham's productions - for both Fleetwood Mac and his solo albums - have been marked by their lushness.
Think of the light-as-air harmonies that surround Stevie Nicks' "Sara" or the choruses of echoing guitars on Buckingham's 1981 hit, "Trouble."
So it's a bit of a shock to hear Buckingham's most recent solo work, "Under the Skin," and realize it is primarily one voice and one guitar.
It reflects some of the changes Buckingham has been through in the 14 years since his last solo work, 1992's "Out of the Cradle."
"There were certain songs that had originally been ensemble pieces - 'Big Love' is one; 'Go Insane' is another one," he says. "I had begun to do those songs with just myself on guitar, and the way they were connecting with audiences was so profound.
"It got me thinking about doing something that was more stripped down and really was about the finger-style playing and just keeping the drums and the bass out of it, keeping the lead guitar out of it."
In fact, the first notes on "Under the Skin" come from an astoundingly fleet-fingered Spanish guitar figure that opens "Not Too Late."
Buckingham says he was "trying to make [the album] sort of a produced extension of if you were sitting in a room playing."
"It has a certain authenticity with what's going on in my life right now," Buckingham says.
What's going on in Buckingham's life mostly refers to his wife and their children, ages 8, 6 and 2.
The lyrics on "Under the Skin" are as intimate as the production, and many concern the love and joys of being a husband and father. It was a situation he didn't enter lightly.
"I watched a lot of people I knew who were parents back in the '70s and early '80s either not be present for their children or not be a good example for their kids when they were present," Buckingham says. "And I swore I'd never do that.
“It changes your life radically, and it gives you a whole other tone to fall back on in terms of what you’re writing about. And I think in some way it has answered some questions that maybe had been hanging out there for 20-some-odd years.
““It’s really the best time of my life,” he claims. “It’s allowing me to address things from the past, and things from the present, in a healthy way, in a less alienated way, in a more optimistic way.”
“Buckingham addressed part of his past when he collaborated with Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie and Stevie Nicks in the mid-’90s for a Fleetwood Mac reunion tour. (Buckingham left the group after 1987’s “Tango in the Night.”)
“The tour was a hit commercially and enough of an artistic success to compel a new album, 2003’s “Say You Will,” and tour from the band, minus Christine McVie.
“Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham says, has always taken precedence over his solo efforts, so much so that he didn’t tour to support his first two solo albums, 1981’s “Law and Order” and 1984’s “Go Insane.”
“He finally hit the road, briefly, behind 1992’s “Out of the Cradle,” and he will begin the third leg of touring to support “Under the Skin” on Wednesday in Tampa. He’ll have backing musicians — a percussionist and two guitarists, one who doubles on keyboards — but he says the show will be true to the stripped-down nature of “Under the Skin.”
“He’s already planning another solo album for release in early 2008. And although he considers Fleetwood Mac an ongoing entity, his focus for now is clearly on his solo work.
“If Fleetwood Mac came knocking,” Buckingham says, “I’d think, ‘Let’s let them knock a little longer until we get this [solo work] out of the way.’”