I heard an interesting story behind “Never Going Back Again”. Maybe someone can help me fill in the gaps. I heard the song was originally instrumental. As I recall, it was recorded one way on guitar without lyrics. Then, the decision was made to add lyrics, but the tune was a different key. So, they scrapped the original and re-recorded the song, but guitar strings kept breaking. Perhaps a Fleetwood Mac expert can come along and clarify and/or supplement so we can hear the whole story with more accuracy than I can provide?
All I know is it’s a mofo to play, capo on 4 with a drop D tuning. It’s all Travis-style fingerpicking, but it’s a gorgeous song.
I don’t have much to add, but would like to mention that I saw Fleetwood Mac live something like 4 years ago (sans Christine McVie) and was blown away by Lindsey Buckingham’s guitar playing. I had no idea.
He is really good, he just doesn’t flaunt it so it’s not always all that noticeable.
Go listen (or watch a video) to Never Going Back Again. Amazing picking skills, without turning it into one big guitar solo.
Something else you’ll notice, if you haven’t already, is that they have no rhythm guitarist. Lindsey handled rhythm and lead. Who else does that? Rush? Led Zeppelin?
When Lindsey left a few years ago, he was replaced by two guitarists. Even Mike Campbell couldn’t (or didn’t want to) do it all on his own.
I’m glad they’re still good. I saw them probably a decade ago and they were just awful. My friends and I just assumed they didn’t have it anymore. They must have been having an off night. I haven’t heard a single bad thing about any of their concerts since then.
Lead, rhythm, and singing! He’s incredible!
Though my wife did see them last year without him and she did say they were better. It all “felt less strained, i guess” were her words.
The Who
The Doors
Could merit its own thread.
ETA: I guess any three-piece band, right?
Or, for that matter, any 4+ piece band with only a single guitarist, which I think is not particularly uncommon (e.g., Yes, ELO, Queen, etc., etc.)
ZZ Top
ETA: Van Halen
Slight hijack, but if you want to hear someone make a single guitar sound like two or three guitars, listen to some acoustic tracks by Richard Thompson. He’s one of the masters.
I didn’t want to hijack the thread myself, but now that you mentioned him, yeah - go listen to or watch him play “1952 Vincent Black Lightning”. I’ve seen him in concert many times and I swear I spend half the show just watching his hands - it’s mesmerizing.
Hey Jinx,
There are at least two short films that I know that document the trials and tribulations of FM - and believe it or not - they have had an incredibly huge number of trials and tribulations. Just wait till you see these two shorts. If you like this band, I think you would very much enjoy seeing these shorts (they are both about 30 minutes and they are both extremely good).
One is called, “Fleetwood Mac - Don’t Stop” 2009 - Fleetwood Mac: Don't Stop (TV Movie 2009) - IMDb
The other one is “Fleetwood Mac - Rumours” Fleetwood Mac: Rumours - IMDb
Holy Smoke! I Googled “IMDB Fleetwood Mac” to get the links above and imagine my surprise to learn there are actually several other short films. Well, I know what I will be doing today. I will be trying to find those shorts and see if they are available.
One is called, "Fleetwood Mac - The Dance 1997 - Fleetwood Mac: The Dance (TV Special 1997) - IMDb
There are several others. But I will leave it to you to use Google and see if you can find where you might be able to get them in your city. Good Luck!
P.S. FYI, It took me almost an hour to figure out what the title of this thread meant. I’m not too swift in the mornings.
The video I just watched has him with a capo on 3, but yeah, that’s some serious picking skills going on; what my guitar teacher would call an ‘orchestral’ style.
One piece of this is mostly correct.
But it always seems to have been an instrumental; the lyrics were integral. One site says Buckingham restrung his guitar every twenty minutes, but that was to keep the tone perfect.
What I love about Buckingham is that every song has a different sounding guitar part, each original, melodic, and perfect for its surroundings. He’s maybe the most inventive guitarist I can think of. And great in concert.
Big Love (Buckingham on his own) is another example of mastery of the instrument. Being able to do vocals against such complicated picking is astonishing to me, but then I’ve never practiced hundreds of hours for anything. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him use a pick, either.