Rainy day Tusk redux

[dougl]

BBC interview about follow-up albums circa 2012. Tusk you very much

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b01hxpxp

[WalkAThinLine.]

That was a nice listen. The episode "Sara", the title track, the band's decorating of the studio and catering, Lindsey's decision to trim his hair, and Ken's general dissatisfaction with Lindsey. At one point early in the episode, Lindsey is asked to respond to Ken's comment that Lindsey sucked all of the fun out of the room, to which he affirmed that he took the recording process seriously. Another point of interest was the general reverence everyone had for Christine. They mentioned that Christine was the only person that Lindsey would listen to, and that she would occasionally tell him to "knock it off" when she felt that his experimentation with her own songs was too excessive. At the end of the episode, the general legacy and influence of Tusk was mentioned, with particular attention given to Camper van Beethoven's cover of the album. Lindsey seemed to voice his approval of their effort.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by WalkAThinLine.

Another point of interest was the general reverence everyone had for Christine. They mentioned that Christine was the only person that Lindsey would listen to, and that she would occasionally tell him to "knock it off" when she felt that his experimentation with her own songs was too excessive.

I've not listened the interview yet, so I ask Is that the complete message of Lindsey's attitude towards the band? I hope not. Cause there were three songwriters in that band. Ok we know the endless soap opera between Lindsey and Stevie, so it wouldn't be surprise if he ignored her ideas sometimes (although it wouldn't be right anyway). But what about John? In the Tusk documentary he said John is very creative. I hope he didn't say that just to sound nice in the doc. And I don't know how much Mick was involved in creating the band sound but out of respect every member should always be heard.

[WalkAThinLine.]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I've not listened the interview yet, so I ask Is that the complete message of Lindsey's attitude towards the band? I hope not. Cause there were three songwriters in that band. Ok we know the endless soap opera between Lindsey and Stevie, so it wouldn't be surprise if he ignored her ideas sometimes (although it wouldn't be right anyway). But what about John? In the Tusk documentary he said John is very creative. I hope he didn't say that just to sound nice in the doc. And I don't know how much Mick was involved in creating the band sound but out of respect every member should always be heard.

Here's the quote from Stevie, which occurs at the 14:15 minute mark.

"Christine was the boss, and if Christine didn't like something that Lindsey or any of us was doing, she would say 'knock it off'. And she was the only one really that anyone ever listened to."

The synopsis I provided was largely from memory, but looking at this direct quote, Nicks seems to be referring to the entire band rather than Lindsey exclusively. Based on accounts on the making of Tusk, particularly from Ken Caillat, Lindsey preferred to have a lot of creative input on his own songs. In various interviews, Ken observed that Lindsey did not employ the same D.I.Y. ethos on either Christine's or Stevie's compositions, although Lindsey was still involved with some arrangements, particularly "Angel" and "Never Make Me Cry".

[Macfan4life]

I really, really enjoyed this. Thank you so much for posting. This was recorded in 2012 and its sad that Lindsey said he really wanted to record with Stevie again and guess what? That NEVER happened. Crazy.
The making of Tusk is just as crazy as the album. I totally understand Lindsey's wanting to go in another direction as an artist. However I think he sort of overreacted a bit to Rumours success. Warner Brothers did not run it into the ground and stopped releasing singles after 4. Don't Stop was the last single off the album that went to #1 in Canada and #3 USA and #1 US Cashbox. Today a record company would run that album to the ground and keep releasing singles.
Its funny that Lindsey does not remember many things Ken recalls about making the album although he does not dispute what Ken says. Tusk does have a very odd mix and Ken says that Lindsey would instruct him to turn all the dials in the other direction and then say: FINISHED.
Even though they were all crazy during this time and drug use was rampant this must have been a really fun album to make. The interviewer was very good but I would love to ask Lindsey if he had anything to do with the track listing. Its been debated here for years if he did that or the record company. I've heard Tusk a million times so it flows naturally to me because I know what to expect. But when you first played the album, the tracking is odd. Chris even disappears for 7 songs or something. Was it a coincidence or on purpose the albums most quirky song was next to the most traditional Mac sounding songs?
I guess acoustic punk explains it because I wished the album sounded more punk or like the Clash. It was a moment in time. The biggest band in the world making a double album with all the excesses of the 1970s, their egos, the drugs, etc.
I remember an interview with Chris many years ago where she stated the band gave great latitude to Lindsey during Tusk for fear he would leave the band.
While Tusk is mostly praised today and it was a success selling over 4 million copies but in 1979 and 1980 it was called a bomb and a flop album by many critics which hurt the band and especially Lindsey. I love Tusk but my peeve is that is sort of ruined their rock chops since rock stations still shun most of the album. The part of not being commercial and being artists sort of went full circle because Mirage and Tango had so much pressure to be commercial. Its sort of mind blowing what would have happened to the band if Tusk was a Rumours 2.

[blinker12]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

I really, really enjoyed this. Thank you so much for posting. This was recorded in 2012 and its sad that Lindsey said he really wanted to record with Stevie again and guess what? That NEVER happened. Crazy.

Well, it did just barely. Extended Play was recorded 2012-2013 and released 2013. Stevie phoned in a rendition of “Without You” for that record, and sang backup on “Sad Angel.”

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by blinker12

Well, it did just barely. Extended Play was recorded 2012-2013 and released 2013. Stevie phoned in a rendition of “Without You” for that record, and sang backup on “Sad Angel.”

BuckVie was our last true gift. Sh1t, BTM sucked. Time sort of sucked. SYW sucked. WTF have we had since Tango? BuckVie....30 YEARS apart. How sad is that?

Once Stevie was the star, creativity pushed up daisies.

[tango87]

That was so interesting, thank you for posting Doug. It seemed like a calmer time, 2012!

I was amused by Stevie's comment, 'I tend to be one of those people that is forgiving'...

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by blinker12

Well, it did just barely. Extended Play was recorded 2012-2013 and released 2013. Stevie phoned in a rendition of “Without You” for that record, and sang backup on “Sad Angel.”

I thought about Extended Play but I was not sure when in 2012 this was recorded.

On another note making Rumours was always about the relationships breaking up. But good Lord making Tusk was even more toxic but rarely discussed. Chris was with Dennis. Mick was with Stevie and Sara. Lindsey was pissed with both of them. Stevie said she was seeing a Tusk engineer. Stevie was right when she said the drug use robbed them from decent relationships and those relationships would not have existed without drugs.
OMG when Stevie said that she was sort of thankful Sara saved her from the relationship with Mick really shows the dysfunction that was going on. The only thing I don't care about with the Tusk era are the photoshoots. They are so wasted in almost all of them.
The way interviewer described Tusk was pretty accurate. It was tribal, African, part guitar riff, part marching band. It really must have been the drugs because all of those elements are unique by themselves let alone put together. As Stevie said they made tons of money off Rumours and the White album and excesses were in order. It was the last big party before acknowledging there was a problem.
I had to laugh and agree with Stevie when she said after all these years she still does not know what the song is about

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

But good Lord making Tusk was even more toxic but rarely discussed. Chris was with Dennis. Mick was with Stevie and Sara. Lindsey was pissed with both of them. Stevie said she was seeing a Tusk engineer. Stevie was right when she said the drug use robbed them from decent relationships and those relationships would not have existed without drugs.

And they were all completely different people. Money, money and overwhelming success change people. Though they got a great success with the White album, the enormous excesses became after Rumours. A limo for each one, whole floors at hotels, etc.

Making the 1975 album is also rarely discussed. What I remember most are the John/Lindsey arguing and Mick told other stories but I'd love to know more about those days. They were so different from those after Rumours.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by Villavic

And they were all completely different people. Money, money and overwhelming success change people. Though they got a great success with the White album, the enormous excesses became after Rumours. A limo for each one, whole floors at hotels, etc.

Making the 1975 album is also rarely discussed. What I remember most are the John/Lindsey arguing and Mick told other stories but I'd love to know more about those days. They were so different from those after Rumours.

Many of the songs on the White album were already written. Its one of the reasons it was able to be recorded so quickly. Chris already had her songs and many others were rehashes of Buck/Nicks. For Rumours the band wrote in real time about what was going on. Tusk was similar but you are 100% correct. They were different people by that time. They made a ton of money and were blowing so much money on drugs, limos, and posh traveling luxuries. Even when the exhaustive Tusk tour was over there was not much money left to split among them which made them all hire separate managers. The Tusk era/end of the 1970s was quite the time especially for this band. Post tusk not only was another decade but it was now solo careers. During Rumours they had normal relationships that ended because of dysfunction, fame and fortune. For Tusk, they sought out and found even more dysfunctional relationships.
I love Lindsey's trick to leave the studio. He said he was going to use the restroom and then leave and not come back He said he was never a fan of drugs that keep you up and going (refuses to use the word cocaine).
Mick was surely piggy in the middle. Going after Stevie and then her best friend.