In the studio with Mick, Lindsey & Stevie: 35th Anniv. FM/FM

[vivfox]

In The Studio With
Fleetwood Mac
Truth be told , I was not eager to hear Fleetwood Mac’s new album that Summer of 1975 . Don’t get me wrong , I was a big fan beginning with their 1972 album Bare Trees , and had played it on the radio along with subsequent Fleetwood Mac albums A Mystery to Me ( one of my favorite “desert island discs ” ) and Heroes Are Hard to Find the following year . I even sought out the earlier Peter Green / Danny Kirwan/ Jeremy Spencer-era FleetwoodMac albums , playing the original ” Black Magic Woman”,”Rattlesnake Shake”,”Green Manalishi”,”Oh Well ,”and “Station Man” on the radio as well , but I thought that the chemistry of Bob Welch’s and Christine McVie’s songwriting brought out the best in the band .

After Bob Welch left Fleetwood Mac , his first solo album in the Fall 1975 came and went in about 15 minutes , not unlike the 1973 Buckingham Nicks album , which was the sole output of Welch’s replacements , singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer/songwriter Stephanie Nicks . So on balance I didn’t see how this major change could do anything except diminish Fleetwood Mac .

Boy was I wrong ! That 1975 Fleetwood Mac album sold over twenty times as many copies as any previous Fleetwood Mac album . The unsung hero is actually producer/recording engineer Keith Olsen , who had produced and recorded the Buckingham Nicks album , imparting a fat , warm , upfront sound to their music . It was in that context that bandleader Mick Fleetwood first noticed Lindsey Buckingham’s guitar-playing and singing abilities , but at the time it was Keith Olsen’s studio and recording techniques that Mick was auditioning , not the musicians . When Fleetwood fell in love with the sound he heard , he wisely decided to embrace all of it – the musicians Buckingham and Nicks , the producer Keith Olsen – and incorporate it all into the next Fleetwood Mac album . Not only did that decision change the fortunes of all involved , it would also change the sound of contemporary music for years to follow .

-Redbeard

This link contains audio
http://www.inthestudio.net/this-week.../fleetwood-mac