Fleetwood Mac – Tusk

Song

"Tusk" is a song by 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 (where it was certified Silver for sales of over 250,000 copies), number five in Canada and number three in Australia.

It was one of the first songs to be released using a digital mixdown from an original analog source.

The single was released with two different picture sleeves in many territories: The first featured the black and white picture of producer/engineer Ken Caillat's dog Scooter snapping at a trouser leg, the same as that used for the album cover, whilst the second featured a plain cover with the same font as the album cover but without the dog picture.

A limited promotional 12-inch version, featuring mono and stereo versions, was also released to US radio stations.

A slightly different mix of the track appeared on the retrospective four-disc compilation 25 Years – The Chain in 1992.

History

Looking for a title track for the as yet unnamed album, Mick Fleetwood suggested that they take the rehearsal riff that Lindsey Buckingham used for sound-checks. Producers Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat hence created a drum-driven production. In addition to normal drums, Fleetwood Mac also experimented with different found sounds on the song. Fleetwood and Buckingham played lamb chops and a Kleenex box on the track respectively.

I'm playing floor toms, and I overdubbed a lot of American Indian wood tribal drums. It's a whole hodgepodge of Kleenex boxes, drums, weird stuff, slapping of lamb chops and things. I got a big leg of lamb in there somewhere – I'm hitting it with a spatula.

— Mick Fleetwood

At the request of Mick Fleetwood, the band teamed up with University of Southern California's Trojan Marching Band to play on the single. A mobile studio was installed in Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium to capture the marching band. The recording session took place on June 4, 1979.

Some recorded footage of the session made the song's music video. John McVie was in Tahiti during the Dodger Stadium recording, but he is represented in the video by a cardboard cutout carried around by Mick Fleetwood and later positioned in the stands with the other band members.

The Trojan marching band's part set a record for the highest number of musicians performing on a single. During a game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood presented the Trojan band on October 4, 1980 a platinum disc for their contributions on "Tusk", this time in front of a huge crowd. The song was also performed live during Fleetwood Mac's concert in 1997 in conjunction with the USC Band.

Album

Tusk è il dodicesimo album del gruppo rock dei Fleetwood Mac, pubblicato nel 1979. In origine era un doppio album con numerosi brani sperimentali e brevi scritti da Lindsey Buckingham.

Artist

I Fleetwood Mac sono un gruppo musicale rock anglo-statunitense, che ha goduto di grande successo in tutto il mondo, vendendo più di 100 milioni di album. Nel 1998 sono stati inseriti nella Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Perché non gli chiedi se rimarrà?
Perché non gli chiedi se sta andando via?

Ay...

Perché non mi dici cosa sta succedendo?
Perché non mi dici chi è al telefono?

O-o-o

Perché non gli chiedi cosa sta succedendo?
Perché non gli chiedi le ultime novità sul suo trono?

Hooga haaga hooga

Non dire che mi ami
Dimmi solo che mi vuoi

Zanna

Di 'solo che mi vuoi
Non dirmi che tu

Zanna
Mi piace molto selvaggio
Ugh
Zanna Zanna
Zanna Zanna