[SandyMac]

Originally Posted by jwd

David, you know I respect your opinion(s). I just disagree with you here. I don't think Lindsey had a more dominating role in the production of Fleetwood Mac's sound until Tusk. You know when he wanted to start recording his songs at home/on his own. What I believe, and Mick feared, was the beginning of the fragmentation of Fleetwood Mac. Concerning Rumours and their eponymous album, the band had other producers involved, namely Keith Olsen, Richard Dashut, Ken Caillat, and Cris Morris(who?). These men had to have had some role, in more than just a minor way, in the sound of Fleetwood Mac. Why were they there? I'm not saying that Lindsey didn't "influence" the sound of the band. After all he was a writer and the lead guitarist. I know that he and John butted heads on occassion over the way John played his bass lines. I think this is documented in the Tusk documentary. I'm sure Mick, John, and Christine played just as heavy a hand, and probably more so than Lindsey, in their sound, especially on the first two records. What I believe happened after Tusk, was that Lindsey took on the primary role, if not sole producer or their records. I think, if this article is accurate, that Stevie just wants an outside producer, besides Lindsey, to work on her songs, within the confines of Fleetwood Mac. I think John Shanks did an incredible job on her TISL songs. Do you not hear differences in the way Stevie's songs sound on TISL to the way they sound on SYW? I have to say that I like the former more as opposed to the latter.

This is just my opinion and just came to me so maybe I need to think through this, but I think John Shanks brought out the "Rock Stevie" and Lindsey brings out the "soft, underlying I want to rock out, but not yet" or just a tad under that wild Stevie vocal we all know can come out. I say we need a producer that can produce Stevie in both.