Live 1980 Album - Retracked

[Andy Man]

I've always enjoyed the 1980 live double album, however I can't help but wonder how much more epic it would have been if the track listing had been different. First, I would have not added any of the new studio tracks - only live cuts. Secondly, I would have focussed more on the best live songs the Mac had at the time, many of which were not included. Here would be my ideal list:

Side A
01. Monday Morning
02. Say You Love Me
03. Dreams
04. The Chain
05. Oh Well
06. Over & Over

Side B
01. Tusk
02. Sara
03. Why
04. Never Going Back Again
05. Landslide
06. Gold Dust Woman

Side C
01. Over My Head
02. Rhiannon
03. Second Hand News
04. Don't Let Me Down Again
05. Sisters Of The Moon

Side D
01. You Make Loving Fun
02. Don't Stop
03. Go Your Own Way
04. I'm So Afraid
05. Songbird

What would your ideal 1980 Live look like?

[PenguinHead]

Firelies, Farmer's Daughter, and Oh Well made the album special - it gave us something new. LIVE was somewhat unconventional because it wasn't a straight shot live show, but tracks from different shows.

Oh Well aside, Firelies, One More Night and Farmer's Daughter have ever been in the set list up to that time. Dreams and Don't Stop were rehearsals, and a few of the tracks are from the Rumours era.

I assume that they have the rest of the live recordings from the Tusk tour in the can. It would be great if they if they released an expanded version of LIVE with all the outtakes. One issue of concern is congruity; many of the tracks on the album were sweetened up in the studio. I wonder if the outtakes got the same treatment, or were they left in their original form.

I'd love a live collection that features all the prior Mac/related songs they initially performed early on when Lindsey and Stevie first joined.

Get Like You Used to Be
Station Man
Green Manalishi
Sunny Side of Heaven
Believe Me
Why

Frozen Love and Jumping at Shadows were only one-time performances. I doubt they were ever professionally recorded.
I'm surprised they never performed Black Magic Woman -- perhaps because it was a huge hit for Santana around that time.

[BlueDenimLamp]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Firelies, Farmer's Daughter, and Oh Well made the album special - it gave us something new. LIVE was somewhat unconventional because it wasn't a straight shot live show, but tracks from different shows.

Oh Well aside, Firelies, One More Night and Farmer's Daughter have ever been in the set list up to that time. Dreams and Don't Stop were rehearsals, and a few of the tracks are from the Rumours era.

I assume that they have the rest of the live recordings from the Tusk tour in the can. It would be great if they if they released an expanded version of LIVE with all the outtakes. One issue of concern is congruity; many of the tracks on the album were sweetened up in the studio. I wonder if the outtakes got the same treatment, or were they left in their original form.

I'd love a live collection that features all the prior Mac/related songs they initially performed early on when Lindsey and Stevie first joined.

Get Like You Used to Be
Station Man
Green Manalishi
Sunny Side of Heaven
Believe Me
Why

Frozen Love and Jumping at Shadows were only one-time performances. I doubt they were ever professionally recorded.
I'm surprised they never performed Black Magic Woman -- perhaps because it was a huge hit for Santana around that time.

"Black Magic Woman" was a top 5 hit for Santana back in 1970 and FM performed it during the Bob Welch era so it's probably more of LB not wanting to play "other peoples songs" than anything else...

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by BlueDenimLamp

"Black Magic Woman" was a top 5 hit for Santana back in 1970 and FM performed it during the Bob Welch era so it's probably more of LB not wanting to play "other peoples songs" than anything else...

I didn't realize Santana's version was from the 1970. It was a radio staple throughout the 70's!

[SteveMacD]

That would never fit on vinyl.

[Macfanforever]

It should go in order as the setlist goes.

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by Macfanforever

It should go in order as the setlist goes.

There are different approaches to Live albums. It could be one entire performance, or selected performances from various shows.

I like the LIVE album because it's not conventional. But I was a little disappointed that the live disc from the most recent Rumours deluxe edition wasn't an entire show, but just a stingy 12 songs with no reference of where they were performed. But it's very clear that they received no touch up.

[Andy Man]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

There different approaches to Live albums. It could be one entire performance, or selected performances from various shows.

I like the LIVE album because it's not conventional. But I was a little disappointed that the live disc from the most recent Rumours deluxe edition wasn't an entire show, but just a stingy 12 songs with no reference of where they were performed. But it's very clear that they received no touch up.

Yes, I agree. This release was a bigger disappointment. Had they included "Second Hand News" and "You Make Loving Fun" it would have been a stellar live collection from the tour.

[Macfan4life]

This has been brought up several times before.
Thank goodness they did this live album because they were on top of their game. It has the best live versions of Rhiannon, Over My Head, Oh Well, Say You Love Me and the ultimate live version of I'm So Afraid.

Missing is the Chain and Sisters for sure. Fireflies and One More Lonely Night are duds IMHO. Its nice to put something new but lacking production and creativity. I would like the Chain and Sisters live over these songs anyday.

Love they put some deep cuts from Tusk on the album like Over and Over. That song live translates into a completely different realm. The guitar with harmonies at the end are amazing.

I like the song Dreams and usually every live version is ok but this live version is horrible. Stevie is milking her voice sounding like an amateur. It was not recorded during the Tusk tour and they took it from a Paris sound check from the Rumours tour. I think she let the success of the song at that time go to her head and that is why she sounds the way that she does LOL

But OMG even though this album was not a huge financial success and even the band and management was against it. Mick wrote in his 1990 book that it was his idea and sort of forced everyone to make it happen. Thank goodness it happened. It really shows the difference between Fleetwood Mac in the studio and Fleetwood Mac LIVE.

Another goodie is a live version of Don't Let Me Down Again.

[David]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

There different approaches to Live albums. It could be one entire performance, or selected performances from various shows.

The band (or its label) went back and forth about what to release. The earlier intention—advertised in Patrick Goldstein's Pop Eye column in the L.A. Times—was to record the then-upcoming Hollywood Bowl concerts for a live album. But minds must have changed. The last Bowl show was Sept. 1 and the album was released Dec. 8, so the group must have recorded the show still believing it was going to be for the album. I think the final live album was a rush job—the time frame of no more than two months lends credence to that. I have the impression of Mick, Lindsey, and Christine (Stevie was in South America learning to stand on her own) sitting in a studio while some other cats play them various cuts of their own concerts from 1975 to 1980, and just randomly picking what sounded good (or odd) to them. There's such a mishmash of different years on the album, I'd bet things weren't even labeled well. And then, of course, there's cocaine. I think if anyone involved was doing any thinking about this whatsoever, it was Lindsey, and he probably wanted to make a second Tusk statement—idiosyncrasy, explosive energy, incoherence, etc. LIVE is a postmodern live album avant la lettre.

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by David

The band (or its label) went back and forth about what to release. The earlier intention—advertised in Patrick Goldstein's Pop Eye column in the L.A. Times—was to record the then-upcoming Hollywood Bowl concerts for a live album. But minds must have changed. The last Bowl show was Sept. 1 and the album was released Dec. 8, so the group must have recorded the show still believing it was going to be for the album. I think the final live album was a rush job—the time frame of no more than two months lends credence to that. I have the impression of Mick, Lindsey, and Christine (Stevie was in South America learning to stand on her own) sitting in a studio while some other cats play them various cuts of their own concerts from 1975 to 1980, and just randomly picking what sounded good (or odd) to them. There's such a mishmash of different years on the album, I'd bet things weren't even labeled well. And then, of course, there's cocaine. I think if anyone involved was doing any thinking about this whatsoever, it was Lindsey, and he probably wanted to make a second Tusk statement—idiosyncrasy, explosive energy, incoherence, etc. LIVE is a postmodern live album avant la lettre.

Thanks for the insight and context. Aside from the Hollywood Bowl, I suppose there must be other shows that were professionally recorded over the years. Given their unabashed propensity to mine that era of the band, I'm surprised that haven't officially released any of those shows in the long periods of their dormancy. Does Warner Brothers own them?

[Andy Man]

Originally Posted by David

The band (or its label) went back and forth about what to release. The earlier intention—advertised in Patrick Goldstein's Pop Eye column in the L.A. Times—was to record the then-upcoming Hollywood Bowl concerts for a live album. But minds must have changed. The last Bowl show was Sept. 1 and the album was released Dec. 8, so the group must have recorded the show still believing it was going to be for the album. I think the final live album was a rush job—the time frame of no more than two months lends credence to that. I have the impression of Mick, Lindsey, and Christine (Stevie was in South America learning to stand on her own) sitting in a studio while some other cats play them various cuts of their own concerts from 1975 to 1980, and just randomly picking what sounded good (or odd) to them. There's such a mishmash of different years on the album, I'd bet things weren't even labeled well. And then, of course, there's cocaine. I think if anyone involved was doing any thinking about this whatsoever, it was Lindsey, and he probably wanted to make a second Tusk statement—idiosyncrasy, explosive energy, incoherence, etc. LIVE is a postmodern live album avant la lettre.

Yes, I agree with this post completely. "Live" does sound like an extension of the "Tusk" style, meaning very little cohesiveness and just a sprawling sound of chaos. In that sense I think it is a very original live album (i.e. it does not flow like a typical live album cash grab with only the hits).

However, I brought this topic up as I do think the live album was also a means for Lindsey to assert himself as the important player that he was in the band's success. Truly, it is his album. He has the most live cuts and they go on the longest due to massive guitar solos. I can imagine that by the time 1980 rolled around and the general public had pretty much identified Fleetwood Mac with Stevie Nicks, this would have had to have some less than positive reactions from the band. In the case of Lindsey, he must have felt some frustration with the fact that it was essentially his production that brought the band to its height of popularity (in addition to the songs of all three, of course). I think that "Live" was in some ways a statement to the public that when you take away the theatrics that Stevie added to a show, it was essentially Lindsey guiding the energy (I would argue that this is still the case). "Live" certainly proves this. However, this does, of course, come at the expense of the others. It would have been great if Christine got at least one other live cut ("You Make Loving Fun" would have been nice, or, if they wanted more album tracks, "Oh Daddy" / "Songbird").

I do enjoy the album considerably as is. However, much like "Tusk", there are moments of the record where in fact we are listening to the Lindsey Buckingham show.

[FuzzyPlum]

Overall I really like the Live album.
Obviously the omission of The Chain is curious but aside from that I'm very happy with it. The Farmers daughter, One More Lonely Night and Fireflies are all lovely (I usually hate the word lovely but I cant think of an alternative that is as fitting).
It does a pretty damned good job of representing their live show at that time. Quite like the cover too.

[Jezzup]

I'd like to have SOTM and Angel from the Tusk documentary. Lets remove Dreams and Sara. I'd replace Over & Over with Think About Me. Not That Funny and NGBA I'd replace with Silver Springs and Tusk.