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.

"Tusk"
Single by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Tusk
B-side"Never Make Me Cry"
Released19 September 1979
Recorded1978–1979
Length3:29
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)Lindsey Buckingham
Producer(s)Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut, Ken Caillat
Fleetwood Mac singles chronology
"You Make Loving Fun"
(1977)		 "Tusk"
(1979)		 "Sara"
(1979)
Audio sample
Short sample of Tusk to demonstrate the percussion-driven production and integration of USC Marching band within the song.
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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.[1]

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[2]

At the request of Mick Fleetwood, the band teamed up with the 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.[3] The recording session took place on 4 June 1979.[4] Some recorded footage of the session made the song's music video.[5] 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.[6]

The Trojan marching band's contributions 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 4 October 1980 a platinum disc for their contributions on "Tusk".[7] The song was also performed live during Fleetwood Mac's concert in 1997 in conjunction with the USC Band.[8]

For the Tusk Tour, the band used an Oberheim four-voice synthesizer played by keyboard tech Jeffery Sova to cover the horn parts. An OB-X with a cassette interface was kept backstage if the Four-Voice broke down. Christine McVie, who expected to handle a percussion part for live renditions of "Tusk", instead opted to play the accordion, an instrument she never intended to learn. "It was just laying around the stage one day. I wasn't sure what I was going to play on `Tusk.' I thought I might wind up playing some kind of percussion, but I just picked it up and started doing the riff."[9]

Reception

Billboard Magazine described "Tusk" as "an eerie combination of vocals and a heavy percussion track." It suggested that it was "not as accessible" as other Fleetwood Mac songs and that it was more difficult to "get a handle" on the hook.[10]

Personnel

Additional personnel

Chart performance

References
  1. Elan, Priya. "Album A&E - Fleetwood Mac 'Tusk'". NME.com. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  2. Bosso, Joe. "Mick Fleetwood: my 11 greatest recordings of all time - Tusk (1979)". MusicRadar.com. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  3. Evans, Mike (2011). Fleetwood Mac: The Definitive History. New York, NY 10016: Sterling. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-4027-8630-3.CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. Kreps, Daniel (October 30, 2015). "Fleetwood Mac Prep Massive 'Tusk' Reissue". Rolling Stone.
  5. Kielty, Martin. "How a Trip to France Saved Fleetwood Mac's 'Tusk'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  6. "Burnish.net". Archived from the original on 2006-10-07. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  7. Rees, Dafydd; Luke Crampton (1991). Rock Movers & Shakers. Billboard Books.
  8. Rado, Alicia Di. "Hit Play: Albums from the Trojan Marching Band". USC News. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  9. Doerschuk, Bob. "From the Archive: Christine McVie". KeyboardMag. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  10. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard Magazine. September 29, 1979. p. 71. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  11. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. "austriancharts.at - Austria Top 40 - Hitparade Österreich". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  13. "Fleetwood Mac - Tusk". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2019-10-26.
  14. "RPM 100 Singles". Retrieved March 16, 2016.
  15. Musicline (November 9, 2009). "Musicline.de - Chartverfolgung - Fleetwood Mac". musicline.de. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  16. The Irish Charts (November 9, 2009). "The Irish Charts - All there is to know : Search by Artist (Fleetwood Mac)". Irish Charts / IRMA - Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011.
  17. GfK Dutch Charts (November 9, 2009). "dutchcharts.nl - Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac in Dutch Charts". dutchcharts.nl.
  18. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (November 9, 2009). "charts.nz - Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac in New Zealand Charts". charts.nz.
  19. "Fleetwood Mac". www.officialcharts.com. Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  20. Tusk at AllMusic
  21. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, November 10, 1979". Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  22. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – 1979". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  23. "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  24. "Top 100 Singles of 1979" (PDF). Record Mirror. London: Spotlight Publications. January 5, 1980. p. 30. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  25. http://www.tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/1979YESP.html Archived 2014-07-13 at the Wayback Machine Cash Box Year-End Charts: 1979/Top 100 Pop Singles, December 29, 1979]
  26. "Talent in Action" Billboard December 20, 1980: TIA-10
  27. "British single certifications – Fleetwood Mac – Tusk". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 October 2019. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Tusk in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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