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The Visitor (Mick Fleetwood album)
1981 studio album by Mick Fleetwood From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Visitor is the debut solo 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 contains a mixture of covers songs and original material written by George Hawkins and Todd Sharp, both of whom provided some of the album's instrumentation. Several Ghanaian musicians and ensembles also participated in the recording sessions, including Ebaali Gbiko, Adjo Group, and The Superbrains.
The album peaked at number 43 on the US Billboard 200 album chart and has been re-released several times, including a US CD release by Wounded Bird Records on October 18, 2011.
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Background
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After Fleetwood Mac's Tusk Tour, the band agreed to take an extended hiatus to pursue individual projects.[4] Fleetwood had expressed interest in making a record rooted in African music in 1978,[5] although this idea was not fully realized until he travelled to Ghana. During the trip, he formulated the idea of collaborating with local musicians in Ghana to perform a mixture of Western and traditional African songs.[4][6] Fleetwood asked Warner Brothers to finance the project, but the record label turned him down as they were unwilling to give him three hundred thousand dollars to fly the necessary equipment out to Ghana and arrange for the recording sessions.[4] Upon reaching out to RCA Records, the label's president, Robert Summer, met with Fleetwood for lunch and agreed to fund the project.[7] Summer received an acknowledgment in the liner notes, reading "special thanks for believing."[8] Fleetwood told Cary Darling of Billboard that he was not disappointed about the refusal of Warner Bros to fund the project and was pleased that RCA accepted his offer.[6] Once the financing of the album was settled, Fleetwood flew out to Accra, the capital of Ghana, where Fleetwood and his manager Mickey Shapiro scouted the area for musicians.[4]
Fleetwood's original plan was to send mixing desks and tape machines to local musicians in Ghana so they could record in their home localities, although he decided against this as the road conditions in the country rendered it impossible to transport the equipment.[4] Fleetwood instead arranged for studio sessions with Faisal Helwani, who had the only functioning professional studio in Accra.[9] He also consulted with Craig Woodson, a musicologist and professor at UCLA, who played him various tape recordings to prepare Fleetwood for his trip.[6][7] In return, he also asked Woodson if it would be appropriate to straddle English words onto existing African songs, but decided against this as he was concerned that it would be culturally insensitive to do so. He told the musicologist that he wanted to "play around with the material" while still remaining faithful to the song structures.[6]
Fleetwood had originally asked Bob Welch, a former member of Fleetwood Mac, to appear on The Visitor, but Welch was too busy to participate. Instead, George Hawkins accompanied him on the trip. He later appeared on Fleetwood's I'm Not Me album from 1983 as a member and co-lead vocalist of Mick Fleetwood's Zoo.[10] In an interview with Hit Parader, which was conducted after the recording sessions for The Visitor and before the album's release, Fleetwood explained his vision for the project.
It's a wild thought I've had for years. I don't like to call it a solo album, but I guess that's what it is, but it's not like I'll be the only singer. It's not going to be an arsty-crafty percussionists' LP. I don't want to do such obscure things that they won't get played on the radio.
— Mick Fleetwood[11]
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Recording
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Fleetwood departed from the United States to Ghana with ten tons of recording equipment.[8] While travelling to Ghana for the recording sessions, Fleetwood's credit card was cut off in part due to his financial problems with property investments.[12] Fleetwood, Hawkins, Todd Sharp, and Richard Dashut stayed at the Star Hotel in Accra and commuted from there to record at Ghana Film Studios.[6][7] Fred Shruers of Rolling Stone, who visited the Star Hotel to interview Fleetwood, described their living quarters as a "small, drum-cluttered 'chalet' where the members lived "dorm-style".[7] Hawkins said that the group was sick with dysentery and that one person also came down with malaria.[13] Fleetwood had contracted an intestinal issue for over a week during his stay in Accra.[7] They were assigned a houseboy who according to Hawkins, stole their beer and underwear; in one instance the houseboy also "caught the kitchen on fire".[13] The musicians's union in Ghana was paid a sum of $10,000 upfront and all musicians who appeared on the album received full composer's and musician's royalties.[7] In total, over 200 musicians participated in the recording sessions.[8]
Following the seven-week recording session in Ghana, Fleetwood returned to England for mixing and overdubbing. These sessions took place at a studio situated in a mill that was owned by Jimmy Page.[14] Fleetwood acknowledged in an interview with Billboard that he expected some members of Fleetwood Mac to question the commercial viability of the album, but said that he wanted The Visitor to be accessible to the general public. He reckoned that the album "would have sat on the shelf in some little record store" if he had pursued a purely African record.[6] In total, the album cost between $400,000 and $500,000 to make, and Fleetwood failed to recuperate those losses through album sales.[14][15]
Two tracks on The Visitor were covers of Fleetwood Mac songs: "Rattlesnake Shake" was originally recorded for the band's 1969 album Then Play On, and "Walk a Thin Line" first appeared on their 1979 album Tusk. Peter Green sang lead vocals and played lead guitar on "Rattlesnake Shake", and was credited in the liner notes as Peter Greenbaum.[16] Fleetwood selected "Walk a Thin Line" for inclusion to his belief that the song "went unnoticed on Tusk."[8] His former brother-in-law, George Harrison, also appeared on "Walk a Thin Line".[17] Hawkins recalled that Fleetwood gave Harrison a phone call and asked him to visit Page's recording studio. Once Harrison arrived, they played "Walk a Thin Line" for him, who recommended the addition of a slide guitar. Hawkins said that Dashut had Harrison "set up and ready to go in about ten seconds before he had a chance to change his mind."[13]
Fleetwood decided to cover "You Weren't in Love with Me" after hearing the song in an Australian bar with Dashut prior to their trip to Ghana. They approached the bar owner, who told them that the song's composer, Billy Field, had brought the song in specifically to play at the bar. "You Weren't in Love With Me" was still a demo at the time Fleetwood and Dashut heard it, but the song still piqued their interest, prompting them to research Field's musical work the next day.[6] On The Visitor, "You Weren't in Love with Me" carried the truncated name, "You Weren't in Love".[2] Sharp created the title for "Don't Be Sorry, Just Be Happy" from various slogans dispersed around Accra.[7] Prior to the release of The Visitor, Fleetwood mentioned that he recorded covers of "Not Fade Away" and "Raining in My Heart" and said that both of these songs would appear on the album.[11]
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Release and reception
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The Visitor debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number 140 in July 1981 and later reached its peak of number 43 on the week dated 29 August 1981.[19][20] Stevie Nicks, who was Fleetwood's bandmate in Fleetwood Mac, had recently released her debut solo album, Bella Donna; it ascended to number two the same week that The Visitor peaked at number 43.[21] On 5 September 1981, The Visitor remained at number 43 for a second consecutive week and Bella Donna hit number one.[21] In a 1982 interview, Fleetwood speculated that the album sold roughly 250,000 copies.[22]
Upon the album's release, Shapiro commented that the album "was not received with a great deal of enthusiasm by commercial recording interests in the US."[15] Stereo Review was relatively positive on the album, saying that the album's production is "more loving than slick, an approach that commands respect."[23] Henry McNulty of the Hartford Courant thought that the album was "quite a departure from anything Fleetwood (or his group) has done before, and thought the results are fascinating and thoroughly professional, they are not your standard rock songs and most likely won't break sales records."[24]
A film crew was present at Ghana Film Studios to document the recording sessions.[6] There were tentative plans in September 1981 to release a special on PBS using footage captured by the film crew; a documentary on The Visitor produced by the BBC was ultimately aired on MTV the following month.[6][25] A CED videodisc was later issued by RCA containing various visual footage from the recording sessions.[26] High Fidelity magazine reported that the videodisc possessed some synchronisation errors with the audio and visuals.[27]
In a 1987 interview, Fleetwood reflected on The Visitor with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, saying that he was "very proud" of the album. He also said that he no longer owned a copy of The Visitor since he gave all of his away; he later realised that most record stores no longer kept the album in their inventory, which rendered it difficult for him to acquire one.[28]
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Track listing
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Personnel
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Band
- Mick Fleetwood – drums (1–3, 5–9), percussion (1, 6), extra percussion (1), water gong (5)
- George Hawkins – lead vocals (2, 5–8), bass guitar (1–3, 5–8, 10), piano (2, 6, 9), guitar (6), organ (8, 10)
- Todd Sharp – guitars (1, 2, 5, 7), rhythm guitar (4), lead guitar (8)
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Additional musicians
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Guest musicians
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Production
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Technical crew
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Charts
References
External links
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