The guitar solo Lindsey Buckingham struggled to play: “It’s a finger-hurter, for sure”
As a band, Fleetwood Mac were like an acrobat trying to spin several plates. Individually, it was impressive, but as they rushed around the stage trying to balance them all, one or the other would fall, bringing chaos to the overall picture of harmony. But for a brief moment, on what many would argue is Rumours, but I would argue is their self-titled album, all plates spun in unison to create a dizzying celebration of sonic genius.
Despite his role as de facto leader, Lindsey Buckingham consistently did his best to balance any given plate with his relentless pursuit of individual perfection. Since the day Mick Fleetwood recruited him into the band, Buckingham fearlessly led the outfit into newer songwriting directions.
Initially, it was exactly the creative injection the band needed. On their 1975 debut album, he showed the melodic prowess he and his partner Stevie Nicks had with their stellar track ‘Landslide’, ushering in a new era of heartfelt dream pop for the band. Famously, this culminated in the album many consider their opus, and Buckingham’s brand of emotive rock thrust the group into a realm of global stardom from which they would never return.
Perhaps somewhere along the line, Buckingham got high on his own supply of greatness, for his experimentalism swiftly became creative isolation, and he certifiably lost the dressing room when it came to his creative endeavours. Tusk hinted at his nuanced greatness but was performed alongside a band that dragged their heels following him into the breach.
But ten years on from Rumours, when the band released Tango in the Night, their artistic separation as a band was increasingly evident, and Buckingham was very much operating on his own terms. Which is ultimately a crying shame, given his personal development saw him capable of delivering a brain-tingling riff like ‘Big Love’—a song he could simultaneously play and deliver a vocal melody on. But it was also the track that allowed him to bid farewell to the band and move forward with his solo career.
When asked about the guitar line Buckingham struggles to play the most, he explained the live version of ‘Big Love’ was most challenging before revealing, “It was the first single from Tango in the Night, but it was an ensemble piece at the time. That was one of the things that began to evolve after I left the band—I realised I wanted to try to address that finger style in a more complete way”.
Adding: “‘Big Love’ evolved from what it had been as an ensemble to a single guitar-and-voice piece onstage and became the template idea for quite a few other songs to follow, in terms of making the statement both onstage and on recordings. Like, basically having one guitar do the work of a whole track, and wanting to include that as one approach in the making of an album. I don’t think it ever got more rigorous than “Big Love” with the actual demands of the part required. It’s a finger-hurter, for sure.”
Those who have seen it live would know it’s a virtuoso-like performance that brings out the most primal essence of Buckingham’s ability. The sheer pain of the guitar line understandably inspires the animalistic yells that come in during the conclusion of the song, giving way to a physical release of the mixed feelings of pain and freedom as a result of a newfound solo career of a former Fleetwood Mac legend.
