LB Concedes the Skinny Levi's (Toronto Sun)

[michelej1]

[But LB's high range is not expanding. C'mon!]

Buckingham talks Mac, solo disc 5
By Darryl Sterdan ,QMI Agency, September 2, 2011
http://www.torontosun.com/2011/09/01...of-both-worlds

Lindsey Buckingham loves to go his own way – provided he can come back.

The 61-year-old singer-guitarist says he has the best of both worlds these days: A career that balances his Fleetwood Mac duties with the freedom to make solo albums.

“On the one hand, I’ve got this large machine,” the California rocker explains. “And then on the other hand, I’ve also had this small machine. And I’ve been very fortunate to have both of those and to have those support each other. One serves as a palate cleanser for the other.

“You know, we all make choices in life. And I think I’ve been very lucky with those choices. Whether they were conscious or just the fate that was cast upon me — however you want to look at it, I think my karma as an artist and as a man has been pretty good. This is the best time of my life right now. So hopefully I did something right.”

Buckingham’s karma-speak is fitting: On his fifth solo studio album (and first independent release) Seeds We Sow, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer ponders life, fate, destiny and consequences over a one-man- band backdrop of drum machines, home-studio production and his folk- inspired needlepoint fretwork.

As he prepped his latest palate cleanser, a jovial Buckingham came clean on his skinny jeans, the next Mac attack and what’s up with that recurring Saturday Night Live spoof.

You aren’t known as incredibly prolific. But it’s only been three years since your last album Gift of Screws. What lit a fire under your butt?

Well, some of that was by design and some wasn’t. Many things intended to be solo work have been folded over into Fleetwood Mac albums.

That’s happened three or four times. But I did take a three-year period to do two solo albums back to back — and to accomplish that, I had to say to Fleetwood Mac, ‘Leave me alone! Don’t bother me!’ (Laughs) And when we got off the road this last time, I wasn’t really planning a solo project. I thought maybe we’d be doing some more dates. But it didn’t happen; time opened up and I just filled it.

I had no agenda, and that’s probably why it turned out so well. It was just one of those things.

There’s a lot of retrospection in the lyrics, along with talk of consequences and making amends. Anything you’d care to get off your chest?
One of the things I like about my lyrics is they tend to be open to interpretation, and more so as time goes by. I take that as progress.

I don’t know if you want to nail it down in too literal a sense. But generally speaking, there is a kind of theme that has to do with the fact that the choices we make add up to good or ill in the world. And there’s a karmic element. But that can apply to relationships or the world in general. It all seems to follow a general plot.

A lot of singers lose their high notes as they age. Your range actually seems to be expanding. Just how tight are your pants?

(Laughs) Well, I do wear skinny Levi’s. So possibly I’m squeezing in the right place. I’ll just leave it at that.

Your guitar seems to be the focal point on Seeds We Sow. Has playing become more important to you over the years?

Not really. Because I was not taught and don’t read music, I don’t approach it academically. I don’t play every day. I don’t sit and practise scales. I don’t even know scales. If there’s an academic aspect to it, it’s about intellectualizing how to approach songs. When I started playing at about seven, I had a chord book and an older brother who had 45s, and I was just learning songs. And it’s always been about songs. But as far as the guitar becoming more important or prominent, a few years ago the song Big Love made its way to the stage as a guitar-and-voice piece. It became such a touchstone for me in terms of using the guitar to do the work of a whole track. And that approach has expanded over the years.

I am required by rock critic law to ask what’s next for Fleetwood Mac.

There’s nothing on the books and we haven’t really opened up a discussion. But Fleetwood Mac always comes back around. I would be shocked if there wasn’t some talk about picking up Fleetwood Mac again in 2012. It would be nice, possibly, to do another album. We haven’t done that for a few years.

What impact has that SNL skit had on your life?

Not very much, really. When I first heard about that, I was perplexed.

I took it as a compliment, but my initial reaction was, ‘That’s kind of obscure.’ Maybe that’s my own self-esteem issues. And maybe the obscurity was why it was good. But they really nailed it — they had my exact outfit from the last tour. It’s very funny.

I can’t believe the 1973 Buckingham Nicks LP you and Stevie made has never been on CD. It’s about time, isn’t it?
It is about time. Stevie and I actually spent a good deal of time together when she was finishing her album, and that was one of the things we touched on, so we’re working on that.

You have to – if only because that topless shot of you two may be the most awesome album cover ever.

(Laughs) I’ll pass that on!

[michelej1]

Isn't he kind of ashamed he only had one outfit for the last tour? And how hard is that to nail? It wasn't a very complex outfit.

Michele

[D.W-Suite]

Originally Posted by michelej1

You have to – if only because that topless shot of you two may be the most awesome album cover ever.

(Laughs) I’ll pass that on!

Something tells me that if he passes that on he'd turn up dead in the morning.....

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by D.W-Suite

Something tells me that if he passes that on he'd turn up dead in the morning.....

Never stopped him before! Wish we could hear the response...

[Nico]

Originally Posted by CADreaming

Never stopped him before! Wish we could hear the response...

Me too. I'd love a little audio snippet accompanied with an animated gif of that reaction. Maybe he'll hold up and mention it in some interview when she's sitting right there.

[Regina]

That interviewer had a lot of guts, that's for sure.
Funny, funny stuff.
(side note: I keep my cover of B/N in my living room--kind of propped up on top of a curio cabinet... I don't really know why, other than the fact that I kind of like it. Anyway, I have a rather conservative friend who came to my house once, saw the album cover and...well, you would have thought it was absolute porn I had up there. I actually consider the cover rather pure and sweet, in a funky sort of way).