Lindsey Time

Today is the release date of "Live at the Bass Performing Hall", a new DVD and CD release by my favorite singer/songwriter, Lindsey Buckingham. As I may have mentioned earlier, I think it's a reasonable assumption that Lindsey timed this released with my birthday (which was yesterday).

My sister ordered this for me, and it hasn't arrived yet, which means that I've yet to see it. However, according to what I'd like to call the "Maxim Precedent", people are now allowed to review things they've never seen or heard. Therefore, my "educated guess" about this DVD is that it's amazing. Don't just blindly accept my presumption of awesomeness, though. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram says:

"Watching Lindsey Buckingham's first solo concert DVD, Live at the Bass Performance Hall, you reach the conclusion that the essence of his former band Fleetwood Mac was not Stevie Nicks' witchy-woman stylings, Christine McVie's blues-tinged singing, or even the granite back-beat of drummer, Mick Fleetwood and bassist, John McVie, but Buckingham's pioneering guitar work."

I saw him on this tour, at the Val Air Ballroom here in Des Moines, and was able to get within a few feet of the stage. It's important to see Lindsey up close, because his guitar playing is something to behold. He's self-taught, the result of which is an odd mixture of old-fashioned banjo picking and a violent downward slashing of the strings. Back to the Star-Telegram:

"Whether on a nylon-string classical guitar, a steel-string acoustic or his trademark acoustic-electric guitar, Buckingham eschews the standard pick in favor of all five fingers of his right hand. There are close-ups of Buckingham's hands as they nimbly perform his distinctive guitar calisthenics."

Beyond the technical proficiency, though, is the songwriting. It was Lindsey's songwriting that won his third solo album, Out Of The Cradle, the coveted #1 spot on "Matt Keller's Five Favorite Albums of All Time" list. I also admire his willingness to place art over commerce, even if it means that we have less Lindsey material to purchase. After the enormous commercial success of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Lindsey rebelled against the idea of creating a "Rumours 2" and instead retreated to his own studios (and in some cases, hotel rooms with his recording equipment) where he created some brilliant and extremely odd pieces that showed up on the Tusk album. That album was considered a commercial disappointment, but is now looked back on with critical praise.

This has been a long, rambling post but here's the summary: Lindsey is good. I'll shut up now, and post a video from Lindsey's last solo album, Under the Skin. Lindsey recorded the bulk of this album himself, again in hotel rooms, while on the Fleetwood Mac "Say You Will" tour. This song, "It Was You" is a good demonstration of Lindsey's unusual instrumentation and his gift for melody.