The Ledge - Bucking Trends Article

New Haven Register Friday October 10, 2008
Patrick Ferrucci

Bucking Trends

This may sound pathetic, but when I was a kid my good friend Paul Benson and I used to sit around talking about musicians the way others do sports.
What I mean is that instead of thinking about how awesome it would have been for the Red Sox to sign, I don't know, Keith Hernandez instead of Jack Clark, we sat around suburban Boston and wondered about forming of super groups, taking our favorites from various bands and making one giant, amazing collective.
And when the talk came to guitarists, Lindsey Buckingham was always playing lead in the imaginary band I was forming. Always. Even as an elementary school student, I could tell that the way the Fleetwood Mac guitarist finger-picked his guitar was revolutionary and amazing.
When I was maybe 10, my grandparents let me go through my dad and his siblings' old vinyl and take what I wanted. Of course, my dad's collection just featured a whole bunch of Alice Cooper records, but tucked away in what I assume was my aunt's stash was "Fleetwood Mac," "Rumours," and "Tusk," three of, easily, the best albums of the late 70's, early 80's. Heck, I still consider "Tusk" one of the five best albums I've ever heard.
Anyway, for some reason, I'd never gotten a chance to interview Buckingham, so when I got the opportunity last week to chat with him about his Wednesday show at the Ridgefield Playhouse and his new, super disc "Gift of Screws," I was excited.
Before 2006, Buckingham had last released a solo record in 1992, but since two years ago, he's put out "Under The Skin," a live album and a couple of weeks back, "Gift of Screws." "Skin" made my best of 2006 list, and as of now, "Screws" will do so at the end of this year. He says both records would have come sooner, but Fleetwood Mac kept cannibalizing his solo material.
"My albums probably took longer to make years ago," he says, "but there's also been this pattern of intervention. Every time I had something ready to go, the band wanted to make a studio album. And I don't think that was an accident, by the way.
"So when we went to make "Say You Will" (in 2003), I had a whole album ready and Stevie (Nicks) almost did. So instead of making a double album, some songs got shelved. When we were done touring, I said to the band, 'Give me a break. Let me put out two albums in three years and then we can talk about doing something together.' And for all intents and purposes, I accomplished that."
What's most amazing about the two discs Buckingham has created is how different they are. "Under the Skin" is an enjoyable exercise in the acoustic guitar, a chance for the musician to use his unique style to not only create the base of the tunes, but also to use the instrument to make background sounds, percussion and more. It's a complicated statement that also works as an entertaining listen.
He didn't know what "Gift of Screws" was going to be, but when recording began, he found that it started to become more of a rock record.
"I had some rough ideas for it," he explains. " I didn't want to make another acoustic album. I wanted to notch it up a level or two, but didn't think I wanted drums on there. I called my road band and had them come into the studio. We still had the intention of keeping it light, but they wanted to rock. So I kind of had to surrender to the forces that tended to be working in that direction. There's a point where you have to let go."
"Screws" is certainly a rock disc. Certain tunes sound like Fleetwood Mac in its heyday, while others are some of the best tunes of Buckingham's solo career. Nothing sounds dated. And that's one of the most complimentary things you can say about a songwriter: Nothing he ever does looks back. I mean, even go back to Fleetwood Mac: after "Rumours" sold a gazillion records, the band could have done something similar, but it was Buckingham's vision that made "Tusk" so varied, different and singular.
My favorite story Buckingham told me during the interview was how Mick Fleetwood tried to change his finger-picking style when he first joined the band.
"There was a point when Mick said ' Why don't you use a pick.' I was like, 'You called me and asked me to join because you liked how I play, so let me do that.' I wasn't going to use a pick after that long developing what I did. That was the only time there was a question of if I should change, and it wasn't my question but someone else's."
To see his approach up close, make sure you journey to Ridgefield Wednesday. If you don't, next time you may get to see this artist is on the next Fleetwood Mac reunion tour, which will probably be promoting a record that's not half as good as "Gift Of Screws"