Brown Eyes (song)

Last updated
"Brown Eyes"
Song by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Tusk
Released19 September 1979
Recorded1978–79 [1]
Genre Soft rock, blues rock
Length4.27
Label Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s) Christine McVie
Producer(s) Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut, Ken Caillat

"Brown Eyes" is a song by Fleetwood Mac from the 1979 double LP Tusk. It was one of six songs from the album composed and sung by Christine McVie. The song includes uncredited playing from founding member Peter Green.

Contents

"Brown Eyes" was performed on the Mirage Tour and the Shake the Cage Tour. [2] [3]

Background

"Brown Eyes" the first song that McVie presented to the group for the Tusk album, having done so in April 1978 at a band rehearsal on Mulholland Drive. The song's structure consisted of three chords across two verses and a wordless chorus. McVie originally claimed that the song was about her dog, although she later confided in Ken Caillat that the song was about Dennis Wilson, who actually had green eyes. [4]

During the song's initial tracking, Mick Fleetwood played a full drum kit and employed rim clicks on his snare drum, Lindsey Buckingham used his white Alembic electric guitar through a volume pedal, Christine McVie played a Yamaha electric piano, and John McVie played a bass guitar through an amplifier as opposed to the band's usual method of sending the bass directly to the mixing console. The backing vocals were not conducted until October 11th, so Stevie Nicks instead danced in the control room as the rest of the band recorded their parts. Additional vocal overdubs were recorded in early December. [4]

Caillat characterized "Brown Eyes" as "a simple song with lots of space that made huge demands on the rhythm section and the melody instruments to fill it with color and ambiance." The band ultimately completed 37 takes before settling on their master recording. During the recording process, Dennis Wilson was present in the control room and provided opinions on how to approach the song, although several people, including Fleetwood and John McVie, dismissed these ideas. [4]

Involvement of Peter Green

Peter Green, a founding member of the band, also took part in the sessions for "Brown Eyes", but his guitar playing on the track is not credited on the original album release. [5] Mick Fleetwood, the band's drummer, remembered that Green still remained in contact with the band and occasionally joined them in the studio. [6] At Fleetwood's request, Green overdubbed electric guitar on "Brown Eyes", although his playing was only included on the fade-out for the official release. [7] The full recording session, dated 20 September 1979, appears on disc three of the 2015 deluxe edition of Tusk, which contains alternate recordings of the album's 20 tracks. [8] This version has McVie singing different lyrics to those on the original album.

In a 1999 interview with The Penguin, Green said that he had no recollection of the recording session, which he attributed to his deteriorating health in the 1970s, but said there was still a possibility that he played on it. [9] Buckingham also did not recall the sessions taking place. “I don’t remember Peter Green coming in, so I don’t think I made any judgement on whether to use [his part] or not. Mick would ultimately have had the decision to use his playing or not. And it was Christine’s song to do with as she wished.“ [7] However, Caillat recalled in his 2019 book, Get Tusked, that Buckingham was displeased with Green's blues guitar licks, so his parts were muted with the exception of the outro. [4]

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<i>Tusk</i> (album) 1979 studio album by Fleetwood Mac

Tusk is the twelfth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released as a double album on 12 October 1979 in the United States and on 19 October 1979 in the United Kingdom by Warner Bros. Records. It is considered more experimental than their previous albums, partly as a consequence of Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of post-punk. The production costs were initially estimated to be about $1 million but many years later were revealed to be about $1.4 million, making it the most expensive rock album recorded to that date.

<i>Mirage</i> (Fleetwood Mac album) 1982 studio album by Fleetwood Mac

Mirage is the thirteenth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 2 July 1982 by Warner Bros. Records. This studio effort's soft rock sound stood in stark contrast to its more experimental predecessor, 1979's Tusk. Mirage yielded several singles: "Hold Me", "Gypsy", "Love in Store", "Oh Diane", and "Can't Go Back".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tusk (song)</span> 1979 single by Fleetwood Mac

"Tusk" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac from the 1979 double LP of the same name. The song peaked at number eight in the United States for three weeks, reached number six in the United Kingdom, number five in Canada, and number three in Australia. Lindsey Buckingham wrote the song and is the lead singer on the track.

<i>Live</i> (Fleetwood Mac album) 1980 live album by Fleetwood Mac

Live is a double live album released by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac on 5 December 1980. It was the first live album from the then-current line-up of the band, and the next would be The Dance from 1997. The album was certified gold by the RIAA in November 1981. A deluxe edition of the album was released on 9 April 2021.

"The Ledge" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. It is the second song from the multi-platinum Tusk album and was composed by Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. The band rehearsed “The Ledge” several times for the Tusk Tour, although it was ultimately not included in the set.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara (Fleetwood Mac song)</span> 1979 single by Fleetwood Mac

"Sara" is a song written by singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks of the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, which was released as a single from the 1979 Tusk double LP. The song peaked at No. 7 in the US for three weeks, No. 37 in the UK for two weeks, No. 11 in Australia, and No. 12 in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sisters of the Moon</span> 1980 single by Fleetwood Mac

"Sisters of the Moon" is a song by British-American rock group Fleetwood Mac. It was written and sung by band-member Stevie Nicks and was released in the US as the fourth single from the 1979 album Tusk. The song peaked at No. 86 on the Billboard Hot 100, although it was not released in the UK. The single version of "Sisters of the Moon" is included on the compilation The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac and both the 2004 and 2015 remasters of 'Tusk'.

"I'm So Afraid" is a song written by Lindsey Buckingham for the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac for their tenth album, Fleetwood Mac. The song was intended for a second Buckingham Nicks album, but the album never came to fruition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Think About Me</span> 1980 single by Fleetwood Mac

"Think About Me" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in March 1980. The song was composed by Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie. "Think About Me" and "Not That Funny" were the first Tusk singles released in their remixed form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unleashed (concert tour)</span> 2009 concert tour by Fleetwood Mac

The Unleashed Tour was a concert tour by the rock band Fleetwood Mac. The tour ran from March 1, to December 20, 2009 in the United States, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand and was the band's first tour in five years, the group featured tracks within the setlist that spanned "all the Mac's many greatest hits" and pulled two rarely played live tracks "Storms" and "I Know I'm Not Wrong" that were taken from the Tusk album. They also resurrected the Peter Green track 'Oh Well' for the first time live since 1995. The tour ranked number 13 in the Worldwide Concert Tours data that is maintained by Pollstar and grossed a total of $84.9 million with a total attendance of 832,597.

"I Know I'm Not Wrong" is a song by Fleetwood Mac from the 1979 double LP Tusk. It was recorded as the final song of side three of the LP on 19 September 1979, written by Lindsey Buckingham, whose sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of punk rock and new wave were the leading creative force on it and other Tusk tracks. The song was worked on for the duration of the Tusk album and took around a year to complete.

"Oh Daddy" is a song written by Christine McVie that was first performed by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac as the tenth song off their 1977 album Rumours.

"World Turning" is a song written by Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham for the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac's tenth album, Fleetwood Mac.

"Walk a Thin Line" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. Composed and sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, it was one of his nine songs that appeared on the Tusk album.

"That’s All For Everyone" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. Composed and sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, it was one of his nine songs that appeared on the Tusk album. The song was also included on Fleetwood Mac's 1992 box set, 25 Years – The Chain.

"Beautiful Child" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. Composed and sung by vocalist Stevie Nicks, it was one of her five songs that appeared on the Tusk album. Despite not appearing on the accompanying Tusk Tour, the song resurfaced several years later on their 2003-2004 Say You Will Tour.

"Over & Over" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. It is the opening song from the multi-platinum Tusk album and was composed by Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie. The song was played on the Tusk Tour and also appeared on the Live album in 1980.

"What Makes You Think You're the One" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. Composed and sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, it was one of his nine songs that appeared on the Tusk album. The song was also included on the US 2002 and UK 2009 editions of The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac.

"Storms" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. Composed and sung by vocalist Stevie Nicks, it was one of her five songs that appeared on the Tusk album. The song was also included on the US 2002 and UK 2009 editions of The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac as the final track on disc one. An alternate mix with more stripped back production was included on the 2015 deluxe edition of Tusk. Nicks said that the song was about her affair with bandmate Mick Fleetwood, which she believed contributed to the dissolution of his marriage with Jenny Boyd.

"That's Enough For Me" is a song by Fleetwood Mac from the 1979 double LP Tusk, on which it is the shortest track. It was one of nine songs from the album composed and sung by Lindsey Buckingham, who also supplied all of the instrumentation. The song was released a B-side to "Sara" in December 1979.

References

  1. ↑ "Now Available: Fleetwood Mac, Tusk: Deluxe Edition". Rhino. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  2. ↑ "The Mirage Tour". FM Legacy. Archived from the original on 29 May 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Tango In The Night Tour". FM Legacy. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Caillat, Ken; Rojas, Hernan (2019). Get Tusked: The Inside Story of Fleetwood Mac's Most Anticipated Album. Guilford, Connecticut: Backbeat Books. pp. 12, 80–83, 119, 162. ISBN   978-1-4930-5983-6.
  5. ↑ "Fleetwood Mac/Peter Green". Fleetwood Mac. Retrieved Sep 9, 2011.
  6. ↑ Irvin, Jim. "Tusk (Track by Track)". Stevie Nicks Info. Archived from the original on April 24, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Reed, Ryan (2019-10-11). "Fleetwood Mac's 'Tusk': 10 Things You Didn't Know". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  8. ↑ Sinclair, Paul (29 October 2015). "Fleetwood Mac / Tusk / 8-disc super deluxe edition box set". Super Deluxe Edition. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Q&A Sessions: Peter Green, August 19 – September 1, 1999". The Penguin. Archived from the original on April 1, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.