Mick Fleetwood: my 11 greatest recordings of all time
 

Mick Fleetwood: my 11 greatest recordings of all time
Fleetwood Mac sticksman names his biggies

Joe Bosso, Fri 27 Jul 2012, 10:05 pm BST

http://www.musicradar.com/news/drums...-time-554519/5

Intro /11

Mick Fleetwood: my 11 greatest recordings of all time
The Fleetwood Mac sticksman names his biggies

“As a percussion player, I approach my own work in a very emotional, personal way, and so I have to rely on one thing: the essence of feel," says drummer Mick Fleetwood, who since 1967 has provided the steady, deep groove for the superstar band that bears his surname. "I didn’t always understand what it was, and I used to be insecure about that, but now I truly know that I feel most comfortable when I’m emotionally involved."

To fully connect with the music he's playing, Fleetwood stresses the importance of listening, of taking the time to hear what a song needs – and, more importantly, what it doesn't. It's a quality that he says his friend and constant rhythm section partner, bassist John McVie (the "Mac" of Fleetwood Mac), shares. “We both have that," he says. "Through the years, I believe I’ve honed it down to an accidental skill.

Although he's become one of the most celebrated drummers on the planet (in 1998 he was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame) in one of the world's top-selling bands (Fleetwood's Mac's 1977 album Rumours has moved a staggering 40 million copies), Fleetwood calls himself "a frustrated harmonic musician, except I don’t play a harmonic instrument as such – the piano, a guitar. Because of that, I have a huge interest in the people that I play with and the songs that they have written."

As for his own playing and his role in the creative process of making songs come to life, Fleetwood claims that it's a bit of a mystery. "I don’t think about what I’m going to play until I feel a personal and emotional dynamic," he says. "I’m told that what I do as a percussion player is all sort of back-to-front, where the fills are usually not in the obvious places, and it’s because I don’t really know what I’m doing. I just do it spontaneously."

Before Fleetwood Mac evolved into a Grammy Award-winning, stadium-filling behemoth, Fleetwood cut his teeth in a variety of mid-'60s British blues bands (including a brief stint in John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, which also, at one time, counted McVie as a member). He recalls those early years as being crucial in the development of his highly nuanced style.

"Growing up playing blues, it's is all about listening and doing something that is ostensibly very simple," Fleetwood says. "But it involves great attention to dynamics. The breeding ground for me was just that, and it was a perfect match for me because I’m not ‘Joe Slicko/ Mr Paradiddle.’ I’m not horribly technically profound. I know people have said, ‘Well, that’s not true,’ but I really am happy doing something simple and getting a lot out of it.

"I was a guy who knew, through listening to blues music, when to not play – and I became an expert at it.”

On the following pages, Mick Fleetwood lists what he considers to be his 11 greatest recordings of all time, performances that he treasures for reasons both musical and personal. It's a fascinating, career-spanning mix of big hits and cult favorites, and they all share one not insignificant element: the unmistakable Fleetwood "grease."
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1. Love That Burns

2. Go Your Own Way

3. Rattlesnake Shake

4. Walk A Thin Line

5. Dreams

6. Oh Daddy

7. You Might Need Somebody

8. Oh Well

9. Tusk

10. Werewolves Of London

11. You Weren't In Love


note: there's a writeup about why he loves each song that i'm lazy to paste - click on the link above to check.

I assume he means the Zoo's version of You Might Need Sombody (over Turley Richards) but what do you think about Walk A Thin Line, Visitor or Tusk?

John

when you look at what he says about WATL, although he also says how he loves that song in general, he mainly talks about the Visitor version (he is describing his parts in each of these songs).


EDIT: he lists the version from Visitor. here's the whole description:

“This is a Lindsey Buckingham album, written for the Tusk album. I redid it this for The Visitor, the album I recorded in Africa, and the reason I did so was because I really loved the song and wished that I’d written it. [laughs]

“I approached it with a whole ensemble of African musicians, so as a percussion player, during these recordings, I was, as we say in England, ‘like a pig in ****.’ I had the greatest time playing with these musicians on this rendition of this particular song.

“The most important thing to me was, I knew I was talking this song to Africa to reinterpret, and what you hear on the whole of The Visitor is an extension of what you hear on Walk A Thin Line.

“George Harrison was my ex-brother-in-law, so when I came back to England, he put some beautiful slide guitar on the track for me. I adore him and his music, and he is sorely missed.”

Loving this pic of Stevie, which I've never seen before.

http://www.musicradar.com/news/drums...me-554519/5#!6

I guess Mick really DOES blank out on the Bob Welch years of Fleetwood Mac.

He was playing some KILLER percussion in those years:

Hypnotized
Bermuda Triangle
Miles Away
Lay It All Down
Revelation
Dissatisfied
For Your Love
Homeward Bound
Child Of Mine
Woman Of 1000 Years
Morning Rain
Sunny Side Of Heaven
Forever
Angel (from Heroes Are Hard To Find)
Born Enchanter
Safe Harbour (I know, Steve MacD hates it, but I love it)

I have to disagree with Mick about Dreams being the most famous song that Stevie ever wrote.25 or 30 years ago maybe but it has been supplanted by the even older Landslide now.

Yes of course, thanks for this, I must admit I got so caught up reading the paste I forgot to go back and check out the link. :o

John

We can all forget about the naugahyde chair on Second Hand News now. It's been supplanted in freakishness by the lamb roast being whacked by a spatula on Tusk.

In other news, I had no idea Natalie Cole recorded Oh Daddy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StUOC5E_RMs

Yeah. She does a decent job with it but gets nowhere near the impact of the original. This is one of those songs that can only be sung by its composer.

........

I'm surprised Mick didn't pick World Turning. I'm also surprised, as others have noted, that there are no Bob Welch-era songs, such as Hypnotized or Bad Loser--both of which are drum features for him.

I enjoyed reading some of the explanations but on the whole Mick is a maddeningly incoherent person who really needs someone to write and, occasionally, speak for him. He says/writes things and I'm like...what?

And it's such a shame, as it's my favorite era. Hypnotized is absolute percussion madness! A classic.

I think they like to forget the Welch years because there wasn't a lot of commercial success, so "it just didn't exist". "We were big, then we were big again!". Welch years forgotten(even though so many great songs were produced), as well as the Time lineup! #doucheyhistory,partyofone!

"Bob Welch saved Fleetwood Mac" - Mick Fleetwood



Mick, if you have a soul, please do what you can, to make Bob's inclusion a reality.

Not to mention the steel drums on Did You Ever Love Me?

Nice to see You Weren't In Love get some love. It's my favorite from Mick's solo career and one of my favorites of all-time.

Matt

^^Yes, I'm reminded that The Visitor is a great album.

Strong list of songs here, esp feel Dreams and Oh Daddy deserve to be on this list. I feel World Turning is a highlight for Mick, also.

what about...... What Makes You Think You're The One.....Love the drumming on that one.