Sunday, March 15, 2009

Buckingham

Fleetwood Mac was in Chicago last week, and I've always found their story fascinating.  Not the soap opera of their personal entanglements, that all had a cliché aspect to it that was more boring than anything.

No, it's the way that their massive fame and success tended to overshadow the real virtues of the band.  It's a pop group that had real chops, with a fabulous rhythm section and one transcendent talent who inhabits a world of catchy hooks and virtuosic guitar playing and has, despite the acclaim, been overlooked.  (I'm not going to get into the Christine McVie vs. Stevie Nicks business in this post, I've had too many battles over it in the past McVie is better).

I'm talking about Lindsey Buckingham, who's gone through an amazing journey of back and forth between his work with FM, his solo work, and his solo work that bled back into the reunions of FM.  He may forever be lost in the Fleetwood Mac mix, and that would be a shame.

So this Sunday I'm going to forget Rumours and Tusk, and think about Gift of Screws, Under the Skin, and the remarkably overlooked 1992 record, Out of the Cradle (which peaked at #128 on the U.S. charts).  There is a whole lot of good stuff on this album.

Here's a video from 1992 of Buckingham on Dave Letterman doing Countdown from Out:



And doesn't Dave look young here?

One more, this one a near-novelty song from the movie National Lampoon's Vacation:




One might consider Holiday Road just a throwaway, but it is as hooky and fun as anything Buckingham's done.

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