I will carry on after my cat interrupted me yesterday:
I should have mentioned that before I left to pick up my CD player, I was listening to another Fleetwood Mac's album Then Play On (1969), which is considerably different from Tusk, the album I listed to in the car. Of course, aside from Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, those were completely different versions of the band. Then Play On features Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer and is more like John Mayall's Bluesbreakers combined with a dose of early blooze rockin' ZZ Top. This is how it sounds to my ears, others may disagree. (I have no idea if Fleetwood Mac was even aware of ZZ Top, so the similarity I hear with them might be completely coincidental). Ten years later, Lindsey Buckingham had assumed control of the Mac and Tusk is a glorious hodge podge of lush pop rock and eccentric, edgy weirdness (mainly supplied by Buckingham, who was in mad scientist auteur mode and likely hoovering coke like a human vacuum cleaner).
Fleetwood and McVie deserve credit for essentially leaving their egos at the door and recognizing musical talent where and when they saw it. They did this with Christine McVie and Bob Welch in the early '70s and, of course, again in 1975 with Buckingham and Nicks. Mick and John seemed content with being the rhythm section and letting the talent they brought in write and sing the songs. Through the band's various incarnations and metamorphoses, they managed 20 years of excellence. Even after their salad days had ended, they managed to keep performing live and recording albums of middling quality.
I saw Fleetwood Mac in concert one time. It was in 1995, after the salad days had ended. In fact, it was low enough that they were opening up for REO Speedwagon. Buckingham and Nicks were long gone. This version of FM featured Mick, John, Christine, and guitar legend (Traffic, et al) Dave Mason. I don't have much memory of their performance, other than it was neither bad nor great, but it was an unexpected treat to see Dave Mason play.
Well, the season finale of White Lotus is about to start, so goodbye for now.
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