Lindsey's Arranging On Tango In Night

[Johnny Stew]

I've always strongly believed that, if nothing else, a different sequencing would have helped balance Stevie's presence on the album. She has the second slot on the album, and then is basically MIA for the next 6 tracks. Moving both "Little Lies" and "Welcome To The Room, Sara" a little earlier in the running order helps a lot.

(ETA: I also have an issue with Christine disappearing for nine songs on 'Tusk.')

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

I've always strongly believed that, if nothing else, a different sequencing would have helped balance Stevie's presence on the album. She has the second slot on the album, and then is basically MIA for the next 6 tracks. Moving both "Little Lies" and "Welcome To The Room, Sara" a little earlier in the running order helps a lot.

Hmmm...yes and no. I mean, when you consider that it was sequenced with a two-sided record in mind, I'm not sure how you could move Little Lies any closer to the start of side A, *and* it fits perfectly as the first track of side B.

I suppose when you sequence the tracks in one long running order, it may seem that Little Lies should be closer to the front, but as the first track of side B it makes perfect sense (to me).

Unless you flip Tango In The Night and Little Lies, but then Lindsey would have had first tracks on both sides.

[moon]

So, correct me if I'm wrong:
As I remember from a Timeline (I don't remember the link), in 1986 Christine was the chosen for a work (for a movie??) and she contacted Mick, John and Lindsey. This team started with the Tango Sessions (not with that name), and then, Stevie put her part.
Lindsey took the arrangement part, making all the "hard work". Songs like Big Love and You & I (they're all I know) were recorded in 1986, but I can see that a song like Book of Miracles sounds like a Lindsey's or FM's song, not a song of Stevie. All the works of Chris have the Lindsey's vocals. The same for Lindsey, and the exception is Little Lies, with Stevie's voice. Lindsey used, I suppose, some "techniques" from his Go Insane work (the backing vocals, and the "female" voices), and we can listen that a part of Tango in the Night sounds like D.W Suite. And You & I (part II) was also sung by Chris...
The only doubt I have, is about Everywhere. Lindsey didn't appear on the video, and even when I know his voice is on the song, I don't know if he played the guitar.
We've seen some pics from the recordings, not a lot, but some interesting pics.
Regards and thanks!

[The Nisse]

Originally Posted by moon

We've seen some pics from the recordings, not a lot, but some interesting pics.

Really, where? Could these be reposted?

[Neal]

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

I've always strongly believed that, if nothing else, a different sequencing would have helped balance Stevie's presence on the album. She has the second slot on the album, and then is basically MIA for the next 6 tracks. Moving both "Little Lies" and "Welcome To The Room, Sara" a little earlier in the running order helps a lot.

I've always felt the same way. I finally burned a CD recently of the Tango I'd have preferred, and while everyone has their preferences, I think it flows pretty well:

Books of Miracles
You & I Pt. I
Big Love
Everywhere
Seven Wonders
Tango In The Night
Mystified
Joan of Arc
Little Lies
Down Endless Street
Isn't It Midnight
Family Man
Welcome To The Room... Sara
Caroline
Ricky
When I See You Again
You & I Pt. II

[Matt Lucas]

Hello all---

I haven't listened to TANGO in a few months, but I recall listening to the whole record just after Christmas, and I was impressed by how good it still sounded. It needs a bit more low-end and would benefit greatly from remastering, but overall, it's a good record. I love the layered rhythm guitars and percussion, but I think Lindsey's choice of snare drum sounds was poor. He was following the late-'80s trend of a super-crisp, high-ended snare, and the result doesn't sound real. I don't really care for the treated vocals, either, but then, I've always disliked the way Lindsey uses so many effects on vocals. He clearly still has most of his vocal range and strength, so I don't understand why he continues to layer so many effects on his own lead vocals [songs like "Underground" and "When She Comes Down" come to mind]. But that's another issue...

Someone pointed out the fact that Lindsey often tries to make instruments such as his guitar sound like other instruments. I think the arpeggio at the beginning of "Everywhere," for instance, is a perfect example of this. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that part is played on guitar. I suspect that it was played at normal speed, then sped up and treated with effects to make it sound as it does on the official recording.

Lindsey wasn’t the first to do that sort of thing---The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix did it quite a bit---but it's certainly a big part of his approach to recording.

matt

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by Neal

I've always felt the same way. I finally burned a CD recently of the Tango I'd have preferred, and while everyone has their preferences, I think it flows pretty well:

Books of Miracles
You & I Pt. I
Big Love
Everywhere
Seven Wonders
Tango In The Night
Mystified
Joan of Arc
Little Lies
Down Endless Street
Isn't It Midnight
Family Man
Welcome To The Room... Sara
Caroline
Ricky
When I See You Again
You & I Pt. II

It's never been officially discussed, but I wonder if Lindsey was lobbying for TitN to be a double album, too. Although, I'm not a big fan of "Ricky"...I just don't hear how they could've made that song better...it's not very good as is. A shame that "Book Of Miracles" never got to "Juliet" phase. It's pretty good as an instrumental, but it is pretty repetetive without having vocals. "Down Endless Street" sounded the most finished of all the B-sides (except "You & I, Part 1", which I think was a late scratch out of the final track listing), but it still would've needed a lot of work to make it fit the album.

Originally Posted by Matt Lucas

but I think Lindsey's choice of snare drum sounds was poor. He was following the late-'80s trend of a super-crisp, high-ended snare, and the result doesn't sound real.

.


It probably wasn't. Considering his extensive use of a Fairlight on Go Insane he probably processed Mick's drums through a Fairlight to get some of those sounds.

Originally Posted by Matt Lucas

Lindsey wasn’t the first to do that sort of thing---The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix did it quite a bit---but it's certainly a big part of his approach to recording.

And, they weren't the first either...you can go all the way back to the late '40s & the '50s to those Les Paul & Mary Ford records. Les INVENTED the whole multi-track process and there's a whole lot of examples where Lindsey obviously copied Les' recording & overdubbing techniques.

[Matt Lucas]

Originally Posted by Neal

Books of Miracles
You & I Pt. I
Joan of Arc
Down Endless Street
Ricky

Just curious, have these songs been released on CD or are they available officially as a download, etc.? I have the single that has "You and I Part 1" as the b-side, and I think I might have heard a couple of the others, but I'd like to own them.

I had never even heard of "Joan of Arc" so I looked it up on YouTube and listened to it. Is this the official version [a b-side, etc.], or a demo? If it's official, was it recorded for TANGO?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaeSSbXSD8M

Regards,
matt

[UndoingTheLaces]

Originally Posted by Matt Lucas

Just curious, have these songs been released on CD or are they available officially as a download, etc.? I have the single that has "You and I Part 1" as the b-side, and I think I might have heard a couple of the others, but I'd like to own them.

https://www.yousendit.com/download/U...Q1JVVGxESjlVag

You're welcome.

[UndoingTheLaces]

A few notes.

* Whomever did that video of Big Love adding Stevie's extra vocal, thank you. I love that!

* As much of a die hard Stevie fan as I am, I can't even imagine the her extra vocals from the 12" mix of Little Lies being mixed into the original song. Maybe she did them just for the remix because I they seem just too energetic for the mellow nature of the song. I think they work really well for Big Love but that really is Lindsey's song and if you had her vocals in there I'm sure it would seem to him like he'd painted a masterpiece and she came in at the last minute and spray painted on it.

* On Christine's comment about guitar solos I recall in an interview after Say You Will came out she commented that she didn't care for the guitar heavy sound and that it sounded more like a Buckingham Nicks album with Mick and John playing on it. What did she expect? She left the band. You can't just add another keyboardist to replace Christine McVie.

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by UndoingTheLaces

A few notes.


* As much of a die hard Stevie fan as I am, I can't even imagine the her extra vocals from the 12" mix of Little Lies being mixed into the original song. Maybe she did them just for the remix because I they seem just too energetic for the mellow nature of the song.

Oh she did them for the song! You don't go in to do a vocal just for a remix.They were her dumped parts,they're sped up on the 12'' to keep up with that Remix but pre-wiping of vocal they were to go right through the end of Little Lies final chorus right up to the fade..perfectly in with the song and sounding like a BAND.
It's a shame for sure.

[UndoingTheLaces]

Originally Posted by Bryan

Oh she did them for the song! You don't go in to do a vocal just for a remix.They were her dumped parts,they're sped up on the 12'' to keep up with that Remix but pre-wiping of vocal they were to go right through the end of Little Lies final chorus right up to the fade..perfectly in with the song and sounding like a BAND.
It's a shame for sure.

I would love to hear that. I wish there was a bootleg of that floating around.

Sometimes people do vocals just for a remix. Cyndi Lauper had a song on her Twelve Deadly Sins CD called Come On Home and she went into the studio with Junior Vasquez to add additional vocals for the club mix. Of course her club mixes sometimes charted higher in dance charts than some of her singles, so that may be why the extra attention.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by UndoingTheLaces

* As much of a die hard Stevie fan as I am, I can't even imagine the her extra vocals from the 12" mix of Little Lies being mixed into the original song. Maybe she did them just for the remix because I they seem just too energetic for the mellow nature of the song. I think they work really well for Big Love but that really is Lindsey's song and if you had her vocals in there I'm sure it would seem to him like he'd painted a masterpiece and she came in at the last minute and spray painted on it.

This. I don't buy for a second that Lindsey, as an act of retaliation, went about erasing Stevie's vocals from the final mixes of most of the TITN songs. Lindsey was clearly going for a very sterile, inorganic sound and Stevie's cracked out vamps were the antithesis of this. Indeed, Stevie was not around for much of the TITN recording process, and I suspect that Lindsey was actually kind of thankful for that- it's one less cook in the kitchen to battle with. As Stevie did for Behind the Mask, she probably came in and did most of her backing vocals in a single multi-day session at the very end.

[MikeInNV]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

As Stevie did for Behind the Mask, she probably came in and did most of her backing vocals in a single multi-day session at the very end.

I remember Mick saying Stevie had been much more involved in the recording sessions for BTM than for the past couple Mac albums. I mean, I don't think she was there all the time (I suspect there were TOSOTM commitments), but didn't the band even go to Phoenix for part of the recording?

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by Matt Lucas

Just curious, have these songs been released on CD or are they available officially as a download, etc.? I have the single that has "You and I Part 1" as the b-side, and I think I might have heard a couple of the others, but I'd like to own them.

I had never even heard of "Joan of Arc" so I looked it up on YouTube and listened to it. Is this the official version [a b-side, etc.], or a demo? If it's official, was it recorded for TANGO?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaeSSbXSD8M

Regards,
matt

None of these have been released on CD, much to the dismay of fans.

Joan of Arc was never released in any format, and the others are vinyl-only releases.

Even dumber is that there were CD singles released for Everywhere and Isn't It Midnight - and yet none of the Tango In The Night b-sides or 12" remixes were included here; instead, Rhiannon, Gypsy and Say You Love Me were used to fill the CDs (they also included When I See You Again and Mystified).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isn%27t_It_Midnight
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everywh...twood_Mac_song)

There are a couple different versions of Joan in circulation - one is a definite Tango cut and the other sounds like a Rock A Little leftover, though I am not sure if any of us know for certain?

Hopefully, a remastered and expanded Tango In The Night, when released ( ), will include Ricky, You & I Pt. One, Down Endless Street and Book of Miracles. If we're *really* lucky, it will also include studio-quality cuts of Joan and Juliet (as well as other unknown demos from Christine and Lindsey).

None of these were even on The Chain box set, which I find peculiar.