Roy Thomas Baker & Go Insane

[trackaghost]

I realise Lindsey was trying to distance himself from the Mac, hence him adandoning Richard Dashut, but I always thought it odd that Lindsey wasn't confident enough to produce Go Insane by himself, bringing in Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, The Cars) and Gordon Fordyce to help him. He had years of experience at that point and undoubtedly could have taken on full production duties.

Plus I can't imagine Lindsey listening to Queen...

I'd like to know people's thoughts on this. Or am I thinking about this way too much?

Btw does anyone know who Gordon Fordyce is exactly? Was he a pal of Lindsey or has he any other production credits to his name?

[dissention]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Btw does anyone know who Gordon Fordyce is exactly? Was he a pal of Lindsey or has he any other production credits to his name?

He's just a music editor, he's done lots of stuff for movies (Vanilla Sky, etc.).

[sodascouts]

I wanted to add that Lindsey actually wanted Richard Dashut to work with him on Go Insane but Richard declined, saying that working on Mick's solo record had burned him out temporarily. Here's what is said about it in a 1984 interview with Record magazine:

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It was yet another kind of “insanity” within the rock microcosm that prompted Buckingham to co-produce Go Insane with an engineer he’d never met rather than with Richard Dashut. Dashut shared production credit with Lindsey on such Mac albums as Rumours, Tusk, and Mirage, and co-produced his 1981 solo debut Law and Order. Originally, Buckingham had every intention of continuing the association.

He had assembled some rough tracks at L.B.’s Garage, his 24-track home studio, then stopped working on them and waited for Dashut to complete Mick Fleetwood’s I’m Not Me LP. Work on that project “drew out interminably,” and finally when it was finished, so was Dashut, who told [his] close friend “I am so burned that I just cannot bring myself to go back into the studio.”

So, at his manager’s suggestion, Buckingham called Roy Thomas Baker, who seemed like a logical solution to the dilemma, as much for his connection to Lindsey’s label (Elektra, where Baker serves as senior VP of worldwide production) as for his production credits (Queen, Cars, etc.). At that time, Baker was in England up to his eyeballs in projects, which required Buckingham to make the “overly theatrical” move of flying overseas with his tapes.

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There you go!

[Les]

I get the feeling Lindsey always wanted feedback, but he was looking for constructive feedback that was still open to some far out ideas. I suspect that a lot of the resistance he faced in the band, while forcing him to stand up for himself, still and all made him doubt himself quite a bit. I don't think he was - especially in the 70s and 80s - particularly brimming over with tons of confidence. Even during some of the promotion for Say You Will, Lindsey said it was the first time he really felt like he could take on production alone. So in that regard, I don't think it's suprising he sought out some other sets of ears to listen and offer advice.

In addition to what Nancy posted about originally wanting Richard but Richard being unavailable, he has said some other things about working with Baker and Fordyce that offer some view of their working relationships:

Go Insane was significant because for the first time I got out of the Fleetwood Mac circle of people. Richard Dashut who has worked all the way back to the album that Stevie and I did, worked on all the Mac albums, and worked on my other solo album. He and I worked on everything for so long, we were too much alike. The checks and balance system had fallen away. To get out of that little microcosm and work with people that I had not even met until six months prior to working on the project was a nice kick in the ass. It was a little uncomfortable at first, very reaffirming by the end.
-Faces, March 1985

Usually my producers say, "You can't do THAT - we've got to sell some records." But this time, I was trying to keep myself covered commercially, and Roy [Roy Thomas Baker] encouraged me to do more of my oddball stuff.
-Rolling Stone, November 1983

I believe Baker had a working relationship with Gordon Fordyce as an engineer, so it was Baker who introduced Lindsey to Gordon. Actually, picking up where Nancy left off with that same Record magazine article, it says:

Of the 12 tunes presented to Baker, he tossed out eight, leaving "Play in the Rain" (probably Insane's most experimental track) and "Go Insane" (the first single and, not surprisingly, the most accessible, dressed-up tune), as well as "I Want You" and "I Must Go" (which land somewhere in between). Now acting as executive producer, Baker paired Buckingham (who, as on Law and Order, played all the instruments on almost every cut) with engineer Gordon Fordyce to complete the record.

Buckingham and Fordyce hit it off, and the artist soon locked into a new creative groove. The upshot? Buckingham began developing a sense of excitement about the work he could do entirely outside the Mac machine. "I punched my way out of the microcosm that I had been locked into for 10 years, which was quite an accomplishment, because for whatever talent I have, it was very difficult to separate what I was from what everyone else in the band was. So it was a very constructive transition to have made."

[trackaghost]

Thanks Nancy and Les

It's strange to think of Lindsey being less than confident about his production abilities but I guess its those insecurities that sometimes make the artist.

Did he say why he brought in outside help for Say You Will? I know it was just for a couple of tracks but interesting that he did that nonetheless.

[Les]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Did he say why he brought in outside help for Say You Will? I know it was just for a couple of tracks but interesting that he did that nonetheless.

I don't remember him ever talking about it directly, but without looking at the liner notes, I think I remember that the outside production help on SYW was on just Lindsey's songs. That would lead me to believe that he felt like he might not be able to be as objective as he liked on his own material because he was too close to it, so he wanted a little help there. Just a guess though.

[stefan]

I have an interview disc in which Lindsey says the following about Roy Thomas Baker: "He's a great guy. He did help in some ways and in other ways it was hard to tell what he was doing..." Doesn't sound like he rates RTB`s contributions too high.

[trackaghost]

Originally Posted by stefan

I have an interview disc in which Lindsey says the following about Roy Thomas Baker: "He's a great guy. He did help in some ways and in other ways it was hard to tell what he was doing..." Doesn't sound like he rates RTB`s contributions too high.

Interesting. What year is that interview from Stefan?

[stefan]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Interesting. What year is that interview from Stefan?

It`s from 1992 during his OOTC promotion activities. There was an US radio interview series back then which was called "Up close" and Lindsey was one of the featured artists. They Q&A through his career and every five minutes or so they play some of his songs. I bought the bootleg as two CD set maybe 10 years ago.