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Wednesday, October 01, 2008
PHOTOS: Lindsey Buckingham Live in Tulsa, OK at Brady Theatre
Brady Theatre
September 26, 2008
Photo Credit:
Jeremy Charles Photography
Hit link for full gallery
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Lindsey Buckingham - Unbroken Chain
Relix Magazine - September / October 2008
Lindsey Buckingham - Unbroken Chain
Lindsey Buckingham - Unbroken Chain
Monday, September 29, 2008
Lindsey Buckingham: “Fleetwood Mac still have a lot to say”
MusicRadar.comThe MusicRadar interview
by: Joe Bosso
Monday September 29, 2008
“Rumours was like climbing Mount Everest,” says Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham. “Once you’ve done that, you can’t go any higher. You just have to find other places to go.”
And in the three decades since the release of that worldwide favorite (which has racked up sales of over 30 million copies), Buckingham has indeed followed his own erratic muse. There have been band breakups, reunions, solo albums, and a general understanding that Fleetwood Mac will only come together only when the mood is right.
“We’ve been through it all,” Buckingham says. “I think the fact that we’re still standing is proof of how strong our bond is. It’s taken a while to get to this point.”
Buckingham states that 2009 will be a Fleetwood Mac year, but before he reunites with the band he’s on the road to promote his strongest solo effort in years, Gift Of Screws.
Back to the amps
Unlike 2006’s Under The Skin, which was a largely acoustic work, Gift Of Screws is a more rocking affair. “It just felt right,” says the guitarist. “For me to put out Under The Skin II wouldn’t have made any sense. It was time for me to amp things up again.”
While the new album is resplendent with moments of ethereal beauty and intensity - and virtuosic fingerpicking that will drop jaws to the floor - there are also cuts that recall the Fleetwood Mac at their most rhapsodic. Not surprisingly, on these songs, Wait For You and The Right Place To Fade, Buckingham is backed by one of the finest rhythm section in rock, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.
Lindsey Buckingham recently sat down with MusicRadar to discuss Gift Of Screws and to give us the lowdown on Fleetwood Mac.
“It’s been a twisty little road for the band,” Buckingham admits. “But nowadays things are a little easier and the line is a lot straighter. To be in this place is quite a relief.”
Lindsey Buckingham: Q&A
How does Gift Of Screws relate to your last solo album, Under The Skin? Could you have released this one without having released that one first?
“I could have. In fact, Warner Brothers would have much preferred this one. [laughs] When I turned in Under The Skin, their general response was ‘Yeah we’ll put it out, but don’t expect us to do too much.’ But Under The Skin was an approach I’m very interested in, which is to take the kind of energy that a single guitar and voice have and apply the manner in which they succeed on stage in a studio situation.
“So I would use one or two guitars and have them do the work of the bass and drums and lead guitars pretty much throughout. I was very happy with that album. In retrospect, it functions as an opening act for Gift Of Screws.”
You went through many years between solo releases, but Gift Of Screws and Under The Skin happened in rapid succession. Is this the sign of a new wave of productivity?
“To some degree. Some of that is reflective of my personal life, and a certain stability that I have been able to find, having gotten married and having had children. But it also is about the fact that I put a three-year boundary in terms of Fleetwood Mac. I basically said, ‘Guys, I need these three years to do solo work and tour. But the band has had a pattern of coming into the picture anyway. [laughs]
“That’s happened several times, the most recent being when I was poised to release a solo album and the band wanted to record, and so almost all of my solo material got folded into the 2003 album Say You Will. And I’ve just kind of made it under the wire here because I think Fleetwood Mac may start rehearsing some time in January.”
The return of Fleetwood Mac
Are Fleetwood Mac going to record an album as well as tour?
“We’ll do some dates and get comfortable again. And assuming all goes well, we’ll make an album and then tour. So we have a rough, long-term sketch going and everyone’s very excited about it. I think Fleetwood Mac still have a lot to say musically.”
Tell me about Sheryl Crow’s supposed involvement at one point. Did you guys rehearse with her?
“No. [laughs] That whole thing has been blown up so far out of proportion to anything that was real. The reason that there was even any consideration in bringing in someone like Sheryl was that Stevie, having gone through a tour in 2003 without Christine McVie, missed that female camaraderie on stage, and so she was looking for someone else to kind of share that with.
“We’re all acquainted with Sheryl and Stevie brought up Sheryl’s name. I was fine with the idea, hypothetically speaking. I did have some private reservations about it that I didn’t voice, like, ‘Hmmm, are we now going to be doing Sheryl Crow songs in a Fleetwood Mac set?’ [laughs] That would be something of a mixed message. So the idea sort of sat there and there was no decision on it.
“Then Sheryl had an album come out and, as I understand it, during interviews she took it upon herself to announce it to the world that she was joining Fleetwood Mac! [laughs]
“That was something I was distanced from, but I guess it bothered Stevie a great deal. It was weird, and I think it led to Stevie having a bit of friction with Sheryl. Plus, Sheryl then realized that we weren’t just talking about 40 dates; we were talking about three years. So, after that…it just kind of went away.
“To me, the best way to approach Fleetwood Mac is to take the four core people and work on our dynamic, and there are many positives to that. I think this is going to allow Stevie and I to explore a lot, musically and emotionally.”
How do you and Stevie maintain a relationship? She’s said in interviews that you’re still the great love of her life. Does that make you uncomfortable?
“One of the things about Fleetwood Mac is, when we’re not together, we don’t talk a lot or keep in touch. We keep a healthy distance. But a good part of what we need to approach this time around is the dynamic between Stevie and me. It’s intense. We’ve been down a long road and we’ve known each other since we were about 16. We need to honor that and dignify that story, and I think that we’ll do that on our next recordings.”
Guitars and production
On the new album’s song Great Day, you have a wonderful mix of acoustics, and you play a blazing electric solo. What guitars did you use?
“I use a Rick Turner Renaissance gut-string for playing those little bluesy kind of drop-D riffs. The solo is the normal Turner stage guitar. I like that song a lot because it’s almost like a potpourri of everything that follows on the album.”
Tell me about the Rick Turner guitar, your mainstay instrument. When did you start using it and what do you like about it?
“It was brought to me probably after Rumours and during the making of Tusk. Its funny, because I don’t play with a pick, and before joining the band I had used a Telecaster which was appropriate for my playing style, and yet the Telecaster didn’t blend with the existing sound of Fleetwood Mac - the fatness of Christine and John’s instruments. So I had to switch over to a Les Paul to get the tone that seemed to work. A Les Paul is not a very good fingerpicking guitar, though, so I asked Rick to make me something that was somehow a cross between a Les Paul and a Telecaster. The guitar he came up with delivered in every area and it’s worked for me since.”
On the song Time Precious Time your fingerpicking is unbelievable. Are there any particular exercises you practice?
“I don’t practice per se. I learned to play on my own, taught myself how to play. I’ve never really had a lesson and I don’t read music. So all the stuff that I do doesn’t come from the normal set of disciplines that they teach you where you sit down and run through scales for a particular number of minutes a day.
“I’m not that knowledgeable with the guitar - I just find ways that are pretty creative, but it’s all within the framework and the limitations of what I can do. As they say, it’s not what you got, it’s what you do with what you got.
“On that song, the actual finger pattern of the right hand is just an arpeggio back and forth between the thumb and three fingers. It sounds like a waterfall to me - that was the idea, at least. In order to get that, I had to find a tuning that was specifically geared towards the notes that I wanted to use and then to find the new thumb notes that needed to be used with those, which were a root and a fourth.
“I figured out a tuning that was more or less open so I didn’t have to do a lot of fretting. And then I taught myself the positions all the way up and down the neck that would that would get to those things. It was an interesting exercise.”
Some of the sounds on the album recall the edgy production techniques from Tusk (1979). Your fascination at the time with punk and new wave was a very big deal. Did that have a negative impact on the band?
“Yes and no. I always made the joke that I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Warner Brothers first put Tusk on and listened to it in their boardroom as a follow-up to Rumours. That was an interesting, defining moment for me. The idea of subverting the formula that led to the success of Rumours, because clearly we were poised to follow that same formula to try and recreate the same success.
“And yes, a lot of new kinds of music had flooded in during that time and I was quite intrigued by a lot of it and loved a lot of it and it reinforced a lot of my belief system anyway.
“For me, it still defines the way I think, which is to try and follow your own instincts and not the expectations of external forces that may be wanting you to do certain things for the wrong reasons.
“In terms of the band, it did have a negative impact in a way. There was kind of an arc in the whole process where they were a little bit alienated from what was going on because at first I was working at home and bringing stuff in, and I think they were a little bit threatened by the lack of status quo at that point. As the album unfolded and people became aware of what it was I think everyone got pulled into what it was and got enchanted by the fact that it was different and experimental.
“Of course, when it didn’t sell 16 million albums there was a backlash from within the band. Basically, it became, ‘Well, we’re gonna put it back on track and work in the manner in which we made Rumours.’ If you want to call that an in adverse effect on the band I guess you could.”
How do you feel now about the belated regard to Tusk? Now people are calling it a masterpiece…
“All of those events never affected my feelings on the album and what it was. It only affected my feelings for the politics and it gave me a little sense of disappointment in the sense that I guess I was feeling at the time. It drove in the point that not everyone in the band were doing things for the same reason. But that’s fair enough too because Fleetwood Mac as a fivesome was a very unlikely group of people to be together in the first place.”
On a couple of the new songs on the new record, you’re joined by Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. How aware are you that whenever they play with you, it immediately sounds like Fleetwood Mac?
“I’m a little too close to it to be completely aware. It’s really hard to hear because on some level I am close to it and maybe take it for granted a little bit. But I have so much regard for Mick, especially as a drummer. He’s completely unique. Nobody else in the world sounds like him.”
Of all of your solos, I’m So Afraid is a show-stopper. What goes through your head every night you play it? And how much room for improvisation do you give yourself?
“I’m no Jimi Hendrix. I don’t have the level of proficiency to just let myself go off into something completely different every night. Nor do I think I would want to. I am someone who values musical themes. Someone who feels there should be a consistency from night to night with something. I’m not one of those people that can slam out a completely different solo every night because I don’t have the skill to do that.”
Buckingham and Nicks
Let’s go back to you and Stevie. What do you think would’ve happened if the two of you never joined Fleetwood Mac?
“That’s a good question! [laughs] I don’t know what we’d be doing now. But there was a period of time where we both wondered what would have happened if we had passed on the offer from Mike Fleetwood, because after Stevie and I had done that one album together we started to play some shows in the South - and things started to happen for us there!
“It was weird: we lived in LA and we were starving, but in the South we were headlining for three and four thousand people a night, which is more then I can play to now! [laughs] To be honest, I don’t really don’t have any answers to that question. Who knows where we’d be?”
Fleetwood Mac became famous for the soap opera - the fights, the squabbles, the walkouts. Do you think you have all mellowed with age and the things that used to bother you don’t seem so important now?
“I think one of the reasons why everyone is looking forward to next year is that we’re at a point where we’re feeling the same thing, which is to go out and acknowledge that there is a great deal of caring and love between us and acknowledge that we’ve accomplished something significant; and to acknowledge that everything we do needs to be come from the perspective of us sharing something and enjoying that thing and keeping that particular individual agenda down to a minimum.
“Just to relax into it and have a good time. What I think is going to happen out of that is that feeling is going to translate on stage. So yeah, I think we have gotten there. We’ve mellowed, but we’ll still rock!”
“Rumours was like climbing Mount Everest,” says Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham. “Once you’ve done that, you can’t go any higher. You just have to find other places to go.”
And in the three decades since the release of that worldwide favorite (which has racked up sales of over 30 million copies), Buckingham has indeed followed his own erratic muse. There have been band breakups, reunions, solo albums, and a general understanding that Fleetwood Mac will only come together only when the mood is right.
“We’ve been through it all,” Buckingham says. “I think the fact that we’re still standing is proof of how strong our bond is. It’s taken a while to get to this point.”
Buckingham states that 2009 will be a Fleetwood Mac year, but before he reunites with the band he’s on the road to promote his strongest solo effort in years, Gift Of Screws.
Back to the amps
Unlike 2006’s Under The Skin, which was a largely acoustic work, Gift Of Screws is a more rocking affair. “It just felt right,” says the guitarist. “For me to put out Under The Skin II wouldn’t have made any sense. It was time for me to amp things up again.”
While the new album is resplendent with moments of ethereal beauty and intensity - and virtuosic fingerpicking that will drop jaws to the floor - there are also cuts that recall the Fleetwood Mac at their most rhapsodic. Not surprisingly, on these songs, Wait For You and The Right Place To Fade, Buckingham is backed by one of the finest rhythm section in rock, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.
Lindsey Buckingham recently sat down with MusicRadar to discuss Gift Of Screws and to give us the lowdown on Fleetwood Mac.
“It’s been a twisty little road for the band,” Buckingham admits. “But nowadays things are a little easier and the line is a lot straighter. To be in this place is quite a relief.”
Lindsey Buckingham: Q&A
How does Gift Of Screws relate to your last solo album, Under The Skin? Could you have released this one without having released that one first?
“I could have. In fact, Warner Brothers would have much preferred this one. [laughs] When I turned in Under The Skin, their general response was ‘Yeah we’ll put it out, but don’t expect us to do too much.’ But Under The Skin was an approach I’m very interested in, which is to take the kind of energy that a single guitar and voice have and apply the manner in which they succeed on stage in a studio situation.
“So I would use one or two guitars and have them do the work of the bass and drums and lead guitars pretty much throughout. I was very happy with that album. In retrospect, it functions as an opening act for Gift Of Screws.”
You went through many years between solo releases, but Gift Of Screws and Under The Skin happened in rapid succession. Is this the sign of a new wave of productivity?
“To some degree. Some of that is reflective of my personal life, and a certain stability that I have been able to find, having gotten married and having had children. But it also is about the fact that I put a three-year boundary in terms of Fleetwood Mac. I basically said, ‘Guys, I need these three years to do solo work and tour. But the band has had a pattern of coming into the picture anyway. [laughs]
“That’s happened several times, the most recent being when I was poised to release a solo album and the band wanted to record, and so almost all of my solo material got folded into the 2003 album Say You Will. And I’ve just kind of made it under the wire here because I think Fleetwood Mac may start rehearsing some time in January.”
The return of Fleetwood Mac
Are Fleetwood Mac going to record an album as well as tour?
“We’ll do some dates and get comfortable again. And assuming all goes well, we’ll make an album and then tour. So we have a rough, long-term sketch going and everyone’s very excited about it. I think Fleetwood Mac still have a lot to say musically.”
Tell me about Sheryl Crow’s supposed involvement at one point. Did you guys rehearse with her?
“No. [laughs] That whole thing has been blown up so far out of proportion to anything that was real. The reason that there was even any consideration in bringing in someone like Sheryl was that Stevie, having gone through a tour in 2003 without Christine McVie, missed that female camaraderie on stage, and so she was looking for someone else to kind of share that with.
“We’re all acquainted with Sheryl and Stevie brought up Sheryl’s name. I was fine with the idea, hypothetically speaking. I did have some private reservations about it that I didn’t voice, like, ‘Hmmm, are we now going to be doing Sheryl Crow songs in a Fleetwood Mac set?’ [laughs] That would be something of a mixed message. So the idea sort of sat there and there was no decision on it.
“Then Sheryl had an album come out and, as I understand it, during interviews she took it upon herself to announce it to the world that she was joining Fleetwood Mac! [laughs]
“That was something I was distanced from, but I guess it bothered Stevie a great deal. It was weird, and I think it led to Stevie having a bit of friction with Sheryl. Plus, Sheryl then realized that we weren’t just talking about 40 dates; we were talking about three years. So, after that…it just kind of went away.
“To me, the best way to approach Fleetwood Mac is to take the four core people and work on our dynamic, and there are many positives to that. I think this is going to allow Stevie and I to explore a lot, musically and emotionally.”
How do you and Stevie maintain a relationship? She’s said in interviews that you’re still the great love of her life. Does that make you uncomfortable?
“One of the things about Fleetwood Mac is, when we’re not together, we don’t talk a lot or keep in touch. We keep a healthy distance. But a good part of what we need to approach this time around is the dynamic between Stevie and me. It’s intense. We’ve been down a long road and we’ve known each other since we were about 16. We need to honor that and dignify that story, and I think that we’ll do that on our next recordings.”
Guitars and production
On the new album’s song Great Day, you have a wonderful mix of acoustics, and you play a blazing electric solo. What guitars did you use?
“I use a Rick Turner Renaissance gut-string for playing those little bluesy kind of drop-D riffs. The solo is the normal Turner stage guitar. I like that song a lot because it’s almost like a potpourri of everything that follows on the album.”
Tell me about the Rick Turner guitar, your mainstay instrument. When did you start using it and what do you like about it?
“It was brought to me probably after Rumours and during the making of Tusk. Its funny, because I don’t play with a pick, and before joining the band I had used a Telecaster which was appropriate for my playing style, and yet the Telecaster didn’t blend with the existing sound of Fleetwood Mac - the fatness of Christine and John’s instruments. So I had to switch over to a Les Paul to get the tone that seemed to work. A Les Paul is not a very good fingerpicking guitar, though, so I asked Rick to make me something that was somehow a cross between a Les Paul and a Telecaster. The guitar he came up with delivered in every area and it’s worked for me since.”
On the song Time Precious Time your fingerpicking is unbelievable. Are there any particular exercises you practice?
“I don’t practice per se. I learned to play on my own, taught myself how to play. I’ve never really had a lesson and I don’t read music. So all the stuff that I do doesn’t come from the normal set of disciplines that they teach you where you sit down and run through scales for a particular number of minutes a day.
“I’m not that knowledgeable with the guitar - I just find ways that are pretty creative, but it’s all within the framework and the limitations of what I can do. As they say, it’s not what you got, it’s what you do with what you got.
“On that song, the actual finger pattern of the right hand is just an arpeggio back and forth between the thumb and three fingers. It sounds like a waterfall to me - that was the idea, at least. In order to get that, I had to find a tuning that was specifically geared towards the notes that I wanted to use and then to find the new thumb notes that needed to be used with those, which were a root and a fourth.
“I figured out a tuning that was more or less open so I didn’t have to do a lot of fretting. And then I taught myself the positions all the way up and down the neck that would that would get to those things. It was an interesting exercise.”
Some of the sounds on the album recall the edgy production techniques from Tusk (1979). Your fascination at the time with punk and new wave was a very big deal. Did that have a negative impact on the band?
“Yes and no. I always made the joke that I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Warner Brothers first put Tusk on and listened to it in their boardroom as a follow-up to Rumours. That was an interesting, defining moment for me. The idea of subverting the formula that led to the success of Rumours, because clearly we were poised to follow that same formula to try and recreate the same success.
“And yes, a lot of new kinds of music had flooded in during that time and I was quite intrigued by a lot of it and loved a lot of it and it reinforced a lot of my belief system anyway.
“For me, it still defines the way I think, which is to try and follow your own instincts and not the expectations of external forces that may be wanting you to do certain things for the wrong reasons.
“In terms of the band, it did have a negative impact in a way. There was kind of an arc in the whole process where they were a little bit alienated from what was going on because at first I was working at home and bringing stuff in, and I think they were a little bit threatened by the lack of status quo at that point. As the album unfolded and people became aware of what it was I think everyone got pulled into what it was and got enchanted by the fact that it was different and experimental.
“Of course, when it didn’t sell 16 million albums there was a backlash from within the band. Basically, it became, ‘Well, we’re gonna put it back on track and work in the manner in which we made Rumours.’ If you want to call that an in adverse effect on the band I guess you could.”
How do you feel now about the belated regard to Tusk? Now people are calling it a masterpiece…
“All of those events never affected my feelings on the album and what it was. It only affected my feelings for the politics and it gave me a little sense of disappointment in the sense that I guess I was feeling at the time. It drove in the point that not everyone in the band were doing things for the same reason. But that’s fair enough too because Fleetwood Mac as a fivesome was a very unlikely group of people to be together in the first place.”
On a couple of the new songs on the new record, you’re joined by Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. How aware are you that whenever they play with you, it immediately sounds like Fleetwood Mac?
“I’m a little too close to it to be completely aware. It’s really hard to hear because on some level I am close to it and maybe take it for granted a little bit. But I have so much regard for Mick, especially as a drummer. He’s completely unique. Nobody else in the world sounds like him.”
Of all of your solos, I’m So Afraid is a show-stopper. What goes through your head every night you play it? And how much room for improvisation do you give yourself?
“I’m no Jimi Hendrix. I don’t have the level of proficiency to just let myself go off into something completely different every night. Nor do I think I would want to. I am someone who values musical themes. Someone who feels there should be a consistency from night to night with something. I’m not one of those people that can slam out a completely different solo every night because I don’t have the skill to do that.”
Buckingham and Nicks
Let’s go back to you and Stevie. What do you think would’ve happened if the two of you never joined Fleetwood Mac?
“That’s a good question! [laughs] I don’t know what we’d be doing now. But there was a period of time where we both wondered what would have happened if we had passed on the offer from Mike Fleetwood, because after Stevie and I had done that one album together we started to play some shows in the South - and things started to happen for us there!
“It was weird: we lived in LA and we were starving, but in the South we were headlining for three and four thousand people a night, which is more then I can play to now! [laughs] To be honest, I don’t really don’t have any answers to that question. Who knows where we’d be?”
Fleetwood Mac became famous for the soap opera - the fights, the squabbles, the walkouts. Do you think you have all mellowed with age and the things that used to bother you don’t seem so important now?
“I think one of the reasons why everyone is looking forward to next year is that we’re at a point where we’re feeling the same thing, which is to go out and acknowledge that there is a great deal of caring and love between us and acknowledge that we’ve accomplished something significant; and to acknowledge that everything we do needs to be come from the perspective of us sharing something and enjoying that thing and keeping that particular individual agenda down to a minimum.
“Just to relax into it and have a good time. What I think is going to happen out of that is that feeling is going to translate on stage. So yeah, I think we have gotten there. We’ve mellowed, but we’ll still rock!”
Kansas City Review - September 28th
Back To RockvilleThe line can get fine between surprise and mystery; there was some of both Sunday night at the Uptown Theater. The surprise: The size of the crowd — about 600 — which was about half the size of the crowd that showed up the last time Lindsey Buckingham was in town.
The mystery: why this guy isn’t regularly included in discussions of great rock guitarists.
He and his three-piece band played for two hours Sunday night. By all measures it was a good show. Sound was great. Nice light show. Great set list. Very entertaining.
I love the Uptown (which will be rocking tonight), but they could have slipped this show into Liberty Hall or the VooDoo and cut out some of the emptiness. The vibe is always a little off when the place is less than half-full.
Buckingham made the most of it. So did his fans, most of whom came as much for the solo material as they did for the Fleetwood Mac nuggets.
He started with two from his new album, “Gift of Screws,” then three tracks that were encore-worthy: “Trouble,” “Go Insane” and “Tusk,” the evening’s first Mac song.He followed that with another “Tusk” track — a rollicking, amped-up version of “I Know I’m Not Wrong.”
He sent the band off stage towards the middle of the show for a solo/acoustic set that included one of three “Rumors” tracks, “Never Going Back Again,” and one of Fleetwood Mac’s last hits, “Big Love.” He pulled a couple tracks off the “Fleetwood Mac,” too: “I’m So Afraid” and “World Turning.”
The setlist blended plenty of new material with the old. Some of it dovetailed nicely with those Fleetwood Mac songs, especially “Did You Miss Me” and the “Screws” title track, both of which would have fit in perfectly on “Tusk.”
A lot of folks were familiar with those new cuts, but two tracks off “Rumours” got the biggest response: “Go Your Own Way,” which finished the set, and “Second Hand News,” which opened the encore. “News” sounded particularly sweet.
No matter what album or era he visited, Buckingham showed off his inimitable guitar style — plectrum-free — and prowess all night. His fingers are so quick and nimble, he can play rhythm and lead at the same time. During some of his more elaborate instrumentals, it sounded like two people were playing. He makes it look effortless –like a guy who still spends hours a day practicing. At the end of several numbers, he pulled his guitar to his chest and embraced it, as if it were one of his children.His “smoke-and-mirrors” light show deserves mention for its simplicity and effectiveness: spotlights bouncing off mirrors, often with heavy wisps of fog drifting by in the background. The sound was as good as I’ve heard in the Uptown recently, even with the place about two-thirds empty. This was a show with a big-name, designed and equipped for a big theater. Too bad it didn’t get the kind of crowd it deserved.
Timothy Finn, The Star
Setlist: Great Day, Underground, Love Runs Deeper, Trouble, Go Insane, Tusk, I Know I’m Not Wrong, Gift of Screws, Never Going Back Again, Big Love, Shut Us Down, Under the Skin, Did You Miss Me, Come, World Turning, I’m So Afraid, Go Your Own Way. Encore: Second Hand News, Don’t Look Down, Treason, Time Precious Time.
[Photo Credit: Top Timothy Fin, Bottom two: Lisa1769]
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Stevie's Soundstage Sessions Tracklist Confirmed
Amazon confirms Stevie's Soundstage Sessions cd track listing:1. Stand Back
2. Crash(Dave Matthews Band cover)
3. Sara
4. If Anyone Falls in Love
5. Landslide (orchestra version)
6. How Still My Love
7. Circle Dance
8. Fall From Grace
9. Sorcerer
10. Beauty and the Beast
REVIEW: Lindsey Buckingham Gift of Screws Tour Stop #13 - Tulsa
By Brandy McDonnellStaff Writer.
NewsOK.comPhotos by: katScratch Designs (click for more)
TULSA — A strange and beautiful chemistry exists between Lindsey Buckingham and guitars.
The rock ‘n’ roll legend surpassed his reputation as a musical wizard Friday night at the Brady Theater, blending his potent fingerpicking and keening vocals into a spellbinding performance.
The crowd at the historic theater was woefully small; the show drew an estimated 1,500 fans, leaving the intimate venue only about half full. But they were ardent and loud, wildly worship ping every song, solo and guitar flourish of Buckingham’s two-hour set.
The Fleetwood Mac guitarist/singer/songwriter opened with a pair of songs from his new solo album “Gift of Screws,” released last week. Even those not yet familiar with Buckingham’s fifth solo effort appreciated the throbbing insistence and blazing closing solo of “Great Day” and the pop ditty “Love Runs Deeper.” The latter sounded as if it only needed the three-part harmony of Buckingham, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks to slip neatly into Fleetwood Mac’s oeuvre.
After sincerely thanking the crowd for being there, the black-clad frontman promised more familiar material and delivered two of his biggest solo hits, “Trouble” and “Go Insane.”
He didn’t make the audience wait long for some Fleetwood Mac favorites, putting an eerie, subdued=2 0opening on “Tusk,” then suddenly morphing into the customary pounding rock treatment of the song, which got fans stomping their feet and bobbing their heads.
Buckingham’s fingers danced over guitar strings with seemingly easy precision, but sweat was dripping from his curly hair and bent limply to one side at the end of the raucous “I Know I’m Not Wrong.”
Guitarist Neale Heywood, bassist/keyboardist Brett Tuggle and drummer Walfredo Reyes Jr. accompanied Buckingham with impressive sonic synergy. But the frontman hit one of the show’s high points when he went totally solo for a three-song acoustic set, including the wistful “Shut Us Down” and the Fleetwood Mac standard “Never Going Back Again.”
Heywood and Tuggle joined their acoustic guitars to Buckingham’s to give a lush and lovely dimension to “Under the Skin,” and their harmony vocals elevated the mellow ballad “Did You Miss Me,” the first single from the new album.
But the show reached its apex as Buckingham’s guitar wailed and screamed with pent-up emotions on the scorchingly intense “I’m So Afraid,” and then abruptly shifted into the irresistibly bouncy Fleetwood Mac classic “Go Your Own Way.”
For his encore, he kept the crowd on its feet with the rollicking 0Second Hand News” and vibrant “Don’t Look Down.” He could have stopped there, sending his fans home high on adrenaline and nostalgia. Instead, he planned to close with the introspective new offering “Treason,” explaining that “it’s about the lies that we tell each other … and also postulates that there’s something better, which we all know.”
And when the fervent fans coaxed one more song out of Buckingham, he again picked a thoughtful new song, “Time Precious Time.” As his agile fingers moved with an almost magical delicacy over the strings, it proved a fitting choice that allowed the enchantment of the evening to linger.
Friday, September 26, 2008
2 Audio Interviews with Lindsey Buckingham for Gift of Screws
John Soeder of The Cleveland Plain Dealer interviewed Lindsey Buckingham at the beginning of September during his conference calls with reporters on the release of Gift of Screws. The interview is roughly 7 minutes long.
Also, today... and repeating again at 8pm this evening... is an interview with Lindsey at 90.9 KTBG The Bridge in Kansas City.
Also, today... and repeating again at 8pm this evening... is an interview with Lindsey at 90.9 KTBG The Bridge in Kansas City.
REVIEW: Lindsey Buckingham "Gift of Screws" Sound Check with Jesse De Leon
Caller.com
September 25, 2008
Musical greats reclaim identities
The quirky guitarist would feel increasingly claustrophobic within the framework of Fleetwood Mac, and his departure in 1987 was a bold, assertive step in forging his own musical identity. His solo output, like the ramshackle "Law and Order," the slick "Go Insane," and the severely overlooked "Out of the Cradle" all got critical accolades.
September 25, 2008
Musical greats reclaim identities
Lindsey Buckingham always has struggled. At the beginning of his career, his partnership (and romance) with fellow songwriter Stevie Nicks neither was spectacular nor lucrative. It was their collaboration LP, "Buckingham Nicks," that got the attention of Mick Fleetwood when he was looking for new talent for the ever-changing Fleetwood Mac.
The quirky guitarist would feel increasingly claustrophobic within the framework of Fleetwood Mac, and his departure in 1987 was a bold, assertive step in forging his own musical identity. His solo output, like the ramshackle "Law and Order," the slick "Go Insane," and the severely overlooked "Out of the Cradle" all got critical accolades.
Buckingham has continued a solo career, with 2006's excellent "Under the Skin,: a live album out last year and contributions to the "Elizabethtown" soundtrack.
His latest, "Gift of Screws" (Reprise), has lingered on the shelf for a while. That combination with new material makes for a cohesive collection.
The disc rocks with Buckingham's fiery guitar work; especially the title track and "Great Day." The more introspective tracks like "Underground" and "Time Precious Time" recall some of Buckingham's more memorable solo moments, but "Did You Miss Me" and the nearly perfect "The Right Place To Fade" sound like Fleetwood Mac outtakes. Ex-Mac-ers Mick Fleetwood and John McVie show up on a couple tracks.
The heartbreaking "Wait for Me" and the equally affecting resignation of "Treason" make unapologetic emotional statements. Each track explores opposite ends of romantic connection, with hopefulness at one end of the spectrum and betrayal at the other. It's a pendulum on which Buckingham often has swung, and that's what makes "Gift of Screws" a satisfying but unassuming tour de force.
Lindsey Buckingham has a winner
Thursday, September 25, 2008
In my humble opinion, Lindsey Buckingham's newest CD "Gift of Screws" is without a doubt his finest release to date.
The polar opposite of his last release, "Under the Skin," this CD is mostly a high energy electric offering with a few acoustic gems mixed in.
Let there be no mistake, though, this is a fairly intense and introspective set of songs representing his most potent song writing to date.
All songs on "Gift of Screws" were written or performed by Buckingham with very few exceptions, and the production is spotless.
The album opens with "Great Day," featuring red hot guitar solos that we have come to expect from Buckingham. But here he takes it to another level.
"Time Precious Time" is a dreamy introspective acoustic song that features Buckingham's excellent vocals and his unique ability to strum his guitar like a harp.
"Did You Miss Me" is a very catchy melancholy pop-rock song that may be an ode to his former love, Stevie Nicks, or it could be for his wife of many years, Kristen. Either way it would be an instant classic if it was on any Fleetwood Mac album and would have fit really well on "Rumours."
"Wait For You," the disc's fourth track, is a bluesy rocker that is more like Buckingham's solo work and reflects his views on getting older and less independent.
"Love Runs Deeper" is a classic Lindsey-era Fleetwood Mac rocker with terrific lead guitar work and, not so coincidentally Mick Fleetwood and John McVie on drums and bass, respectively.
If this song is not about Stevie Nicks then explain these lyrics to me, "I loved you little child, how you mystified," and "Black Angel can't be alone."
"Bel Air Rain," the album's sixth track is a lovely laid-back song featuring Buckingham's virtuoso acoustic guitar work. The introspective song is about being contented and more patient and relaxed by taking life as it comes at this stage of his life.
"The Right Place to Fade" is another introspective song about the good fortune of being able to realize what is most important in his life and how to appreciate it before it is too late. However, this song is a rocker with a freakishly wicked guitar solo at the end.
The title track, "Gift of Screws" is one that I haven't been able to get a handle on yet, but it sure sounds, like they had a lot of fun recording it.
"Underground" is a nice and melodic laid-back delivery for a song that shows his frustrations with the music business and the way in which it is run.
"Did I sell my heart for the dream in my head?" he wonders.
"Treason," the disc's closing track, is a beautiful song about love, hope and redemption with Fleetwood and McVie providing perfect accompaniment.
Everybody needs to know about this great CD. If "Gift Of Screw" was a Fleetwood Mac album it would be its best release since "Rumours," and the press would be all over it.
As it stands, it is Lindsey Buckingham's crowning achievement and one of this year's best albums.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Soundstage Sessions - Stevie Nicks
After months of release dates bouncing around from July all the way to December 31st, it seems that FINALLY Stevie's PBS Soundstage DVD and CD are going to be officially released on October 28th.
The track list for the DVD which is called "Live in Chicago" is similar to the version that PBS released, and is still selling, except this one includes "Dreams". It also includes as a bonus track - "Landslide" with an orchestra. Beauty & The Beast is the only song filmed that night that isn't included with the DVD. It's possible that there were some rights issues that prevent Beauty & The Beast from being on the DVD. Behind Stevie on the screens while she's performing - film footage from the film Beauty & The Beast is being shown. If you saw her in concert in 2007 the same footage played during the closing number of her shows.
The CD versions called "The Soundstage Sessions" and includes Beauty & The Beast which doesn't appear on the DVD - a nice marketing tool!
The cover for the DVD is slightly different then what PBS was selling, same image, just different colour. The CD is the same image without any background enhancements.
The CD and DVD track listing were provided by iamnotafraid from The Ledge. Please note that they haven't been confirmed and are not yet on Amazon .
Stevie Nicks "The Soundstage Sessions" CD
1. Stand Back
2. Crash
3. Sara
4. If Anyone Falls In Love
5. Landslide (Orchestra Version)
6. How Still My Love
7. Circle Dance
8. Fall From Grace
9. Sorcerer
10. Beauty And The Beast
Street Date 10/28/08 Sug. Retail $18.98
_____________________________________________
Stevie Nicks "Live in Chicago" DVD
1. Stand Back
2. Enchanted
3. If Anyone Falls In Love
4. Rhiannon
5. Crash
6. Dreams
7. Sorcerer
8. The One
9. Gold Dust Woman
10. I Need To Know
11. Circle Dance
12. Landslide
13. Sara
14. Fall From Grace
15. How Still My Love
16. Edge Of Seventeen
17. Rock And Roll
BONUS TRACK "LANDSLIDE" (ORCHESTRA VERSION)
Street Date 10/28/08 Sug. Retail $19.99
The track list for the DVD which is called "Live in Chicago" is similar to the version that PBS released, and is still selling, except this one includes "Dreams". It also includes as a bonus track - "Landslide" with an orchestra. Beauty & The Beast is the only song filmed that night that isn't included with the DVD. It's possible that there were some rights issues that prevent Beauty & The Beast from being on the DVD. Behind Stevie on the screens while she's performing - film footage from the film Beauty & The Beast is being shown. If you saw her in concert in 2007 the same footage played during the closing number of her shows.
The CD versions called "The Soundstage Sessions" and includes Beauty & The Beast which doesn't appear on the DVD - a nice marketing tool!
The cover for the DVD is slightly different then what PBS was selling, same image, just different colour. The CD is the same image without any background enhancements.
The CD and DVD track listing were provided by iamnotafraid from The Ledge. Please note that they haven't been confirmed and are not yet on Amazon .
Stevie Nicks "The Soundstage Sessions" CD
1. Stand Back
2. Crash
3. Sara
4. If Anyone Falls In Love
5. Landslide (Orchestra Version)
6. How Still My Love
7. Circle Dance
8. Fall From Grace
9. Sorcerer
10. Beauty And The Beast
Street Date 10/28/08 Sug. Retail $18.98
_____________________________________________
Stevie Nicks "Live in Chicago" DVD
1. Stand Back
2. Enchanted
3. If Anyone Falls In Love
4. Rhiannon
5. Crash
6. Dreams
7. Sorcerer
8. The One
9. Gold Dust Woman
10. I Need To Know
11. Circle Dance
12. Landslide
13. Sara
14. Fall From Grace
15. How Still My Love
16. Edge Of Seventeen
17. Rock And Roll
BONUS TRACK "LANDSLIDE" (ORCHESTRA VERSION)
Street Date 10/28/08 Sug. Retail $19.99
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