The Visitor | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 29 June 1981 [1] | |||
Recorded | Ghana, Africa - January–February 1981 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Label | RCA Records | |||
Producer | Mick Fleetwood, Richard Dashut | |||
Mick Fleetwood chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
The Visitor is an album by Mick Fleetwood, released by RCA Records in 1981. All the songs were recorded in Accra, Ghana between January and February 1981 at the "Ghana Film Industries, Inc. Studio" and produced by Richard Dashut, and were later mixed in various studios in England. The album has been re-released several times, including a US CD release by Wounded Bird Records on October 18, 2011.
At the conclusion of Fleetwood Mac's Tusk Tour, the band agreed to take an extended hiatus to pursue individual projects. [3] Fleetwood had expressed interest in doing an African record back in 1978 when Fleetwood Mac was about to begin work on the Tusk album, [4] although this idea was not fully realized until Fleetwood travelled to Ghana, where he had the intention of collaborating with local musicians. Fleetwood approached Warner Brothers about the idea, but the label turned him down as they were unwilling to give the drummer $500,000 to fly out the necessary equipment to Ghana and arrange for the recording sessions. RCA Records eventually agree to fund Fleetwood's plan, so he flew out to Accra, the capital of Ghana, where Fleetwood and his manager Mickey Shapiro scouted the area for musicians. [3]
Fleetwood's original idea was to send mixing desks and tape machines to musicians so they could record at their home localities, although Fleetwood decided against this as the road conditions rendered it impossible to transport this gear. [3] Fleetwood instead arranged for studio sessions with Faisal Helwani, who had the only functioning professional studio in Accra. [5]
George Hawkins, who performed most of the lead vocals on this album, later appeared on the I'm Not Me album from 1983 as a member and co-lead vocalist of Mick Fleetwood’s Zoo. Fleetwood had originally asked Bob Welch, a former member of Fleetwood Mac, to appear on The Visitor, but Welch was too busy to participate. [6]
Two of the tracks were covers of Fleetwood Mac songs: "Rattlesnake Shake" was originally recorded for the 1969 album Then Play On , and "Walk a Thin Line" first appeared on the 1979 album Tusk . Peter Green sang lead vocals and played lead guitar on "Rattlesnake Shake", and was credited as Peter Greenbaum. Fleetwood, who was in Henley at the time, convinced his former brother-in-law, George Harrison, to appear on "Walk a Thin Line". [7] Hawkins recalled that they played "Walk a Thin Line" for Harrison, who thought that the song could benefit from slide guitar. "Our eyes lit up and Richard Dashut had him set up and ready to go in about ten seconds, before he had a chance to change his mind." [8]
Following the seven-week recording session in Ghana, Fleetwood returned to England for the purpose of mixing and overdubbing the existing tracks. These sessions took place at a studio situated in a mill that was owned by Jimmy Page. In total, the album cost five-hundred thousand dollars to make, and Fleetwood failed to recuperate those losses through album sales. [9]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Rattlesnake Shake" | Peter Green | 3:49 |
2. | "You Weren't in Love" | Billy Field | 3:55 |
3. | "O' Niamali" | Nii Amartey | 2:47 |
4. | "Super Brains" | A. B. Crentsil | 4:07 |
5. | "Don't Be Sorry, Just Be Happy" | Todd Sharp | 4:24 |
6. | "Walk a Thin Line" | Lindsey Buckingham | 3:19 |
7. | "Not Fade Away" | Charles Hardin, Norman Petty | 2:22 |
8. | "Cassiopeia Surrender" | George Hawkins | 4:34 |
9. | "The Visitor" | C. K. Ganjo | 4:05 |
10. | "Amelle (Come on Show Me Your Heart)" | Nii Amartey | 4:35 |
"Rattlesnake Shake"
"You Weren't In Love"
"O'Niamali"
"Super Brains"
"Don't Be Sorry, Just Be Happy"
| "Walk A Thin Line"
"Not Fade Away"
"Cassiopeia Surrender"
"The Visitor"
"Amelle (Come On Show Me Your Heart)"
|
Chart (1981) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian (Kent Music Report) [10] | 80 |
US Billboard 200 [11] | 43 |
Fleetwood Mac were a British-American rock band formed in London in 1967 by guitarist and singer Peter Green. Green recruited drummer Mick Fleetwood, guitarist and singer Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning, with John McVie replacing Brunning a few weeks after the band's first public appearance at the 1967 National Jazz & Blues Festival in Windsor. Guitarist and singer Danny Kirwan joined in 1968. Christine Perfect, who initially contributed as a session musician, married McVie and became an official member in July 1970 on vocals and keyboards, two months after Green left; she became known as Christine McVie.
Lindsey Adams Buckingham is an American musician, record producer, and the lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has released seven solo studio albums and three live albums. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Buckingham was ranked 100th in Rolling Stone's 2011 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Buckingham is known for his fingerpicking guitar style.
Michael John Kells Fleetwood is a British musician, songwriter and actor. He is the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of the group's bassist John "Mac" McVie to form the name of the band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Fleetwood Mac in 1998.
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.
Robert Lawrence Welch Jr. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter who was a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974. He had a successful solo career in the late 1970s. His singles included "Hot Love, Cold World", "Ebony Eyes", "Precious Love", "Hypnotized", and his signature song, "Sentimental Lady".
Tango in the Night is the fourteenth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 13 April 1987 by Warner Records. As a result of Lindsey Buckingham's departure later that year, it is the fifth and final studio album with the band's most successful lineup of Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Stevie Nicks, though Christine McVie would make guest appearances on the band's 2003 album, Say You Will. This lineup was not seen again until 1997's live album The Dance.
Richard Charles Dashut is an American record producer who produced several Fleetwood Mac albums including Rumours, Tusk, Live, Mirage, Tango in the Night, and Time.
Law and Order is the first solo album by Fleetwood Mac guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Lindsey Buckingham, released in 1981. "Trouble", featuring drumming by Fleetwood Mac bandmate Mick Fleetwood, reached No. 9 on the U.S. charts; the album itself reached No. 32 on the Billboard 200. Lindsey appeared on Saturday Night Live on February 6, 1982 and performed "Trouble" and "Bwana" with Mick Fleetwood's Zoo.
"The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" is a song written by Peter Green and recorded by Fleetwood Mac. It was released as a single in the UK in May 1970 and reached No. 10 on the British charts, a position it occupied for four consecutive weeks, and was the band's last UK top 10 hit until "Tusk" reached No. 6 in 1979. "The Green Manalishi" was the last song Green made with Fleetwood Mac before leaving the band.
Time is the sixteenth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 10 October 1995. This album features a unique line-up for the band, featuring the addition of country vocalist Bekka Bramlett and former Traffic guitarist Dave Mason. It was the second album released after the departure of Lindsey Buckingham in 1987, and the only Fleetwood Mac album since 1974's Heroes Are Hard to Find to not feature any contribution from Stevie Nicks. Additionally, it is the final Fleetwood Mac studio album to feature Christine McVie as an official member.
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.
"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.
"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.
"Rattlesnake Shake" is a song by British rock group Fleetwood Mac, written by guitarist Peter Green, which first appeared on the band's 1969 album Then Play On. The track was one of the band's crowd-favorites in the late 1960s.
I'm Not Me is the second solo album by Mick Fleetwood. This album is credited to the British-American rock band Mick Fleetwood's Zoo and features contributions from Fleetwood Mac members Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham. Billy Burnette, who performs some of the lead vocals on this album as a member of Mick Fleetwood’s Zoo, would later join Fleetwood Mac in 1987 following the departure of Buckingham.
"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.
Solo Anthology: The Best of Lindsey Buckingham is a compilation album released by American musician and former Fleetwood Mac vocalist-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, released on October 5, 2018. The album draws from all six of Buckingham's studio records, spanning from 1981's Law and Order to 2011's Seeds We Sow. "Hunger" and "Ride This Road" were previously unreleased songs recorded in 2012. The most recent addition of the set is "Sleeping Around the Corner", from the 2017 duet album Lindsey Buckingham Christine McVie. Alternate editions of the set include an abridged single-disc version and a deluxe six-LP deluxe vinyl set.
"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.
"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.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link)