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Lindsey Buckingham: The Small Machine That Could

by Gary Pig Gold

For all intents and purposes, Lindsey Adams Buckingham has lived a charmed life.

Raised in the comfy Bay Area opulence of 1950's Atherton, California, a handsome, athletic golden boy suddenly and forever sidetracked by his elder brother's Elvis and Buddy Holly 45s. He quit the school water polo team, moved with his guitar into a local hotshot band called Fritz, left for L.A. with their singer Stevie, produced with her the magnificently understated Buckingham Nicks album, was soonafter asked to join Fleetwood Mac with whom he helped craft a 40-million-plus-selling album called Rumours and, by 1978 at the age of twenty-nine finally found himself at the very tip-top of his game.

For all intents and purposes, that is.

SuperHeavy, Day Ten: It Could Have Been Worse

By Brett Essler

Last night, I met with Faloon to discuss how we would wrap up our Masochist Supergroup Project. After reading his Chickenfoot blog posts I felt like maybe SuperHeavy wasn't that bad after all (so disgusted was he with Hagar, et. al. that he deleted the files from his hard drive, the 21st Century equivalent of throwing the 8-track in the Goodwill bin). Whatever precious time was lost listening to these records was redeemed by laughing about them over some Neapolitan pies and beer at PizzArte.

Chickenfoot, Day Ten: Cue "Eruption"

By Mike Faloon

Act I:

iTunes

Search "Chickenfoot"

Command-a

Edit

Delete

"Are you sure you want to delete the selected items from your iTunes library?"

Delete items

"Do you want to move the selected items (including those downloaded from the iTunes Store) to the Trash, or keep them in the iTunes Media folder?"

Move to trash Empty

"Are you sure you want to remove the items in the Trash permanently?"

OK

Act II:

Search "Van Halen (1978)"

Play

SuperHeavy, Day Nine: Who's this lady?????

By Brett Essler

Today was nuts and I had no time to dedicate to SuperHeavy. I did Google "SuperHeavy + Interview" though, just so I would feel like I contributed something to the exercise.

The first search result was a GQ interview with Dave Stewart and Mick Jagger that mostly confirms what you would expect: that they made these songs up on the spot in the studio. And that they were drinking martinis.

Chickenfoot, Day Nine: It All Circles Back to the Minutemen

By Mike Faloon

Many people would argue that the Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime is the greatest record ever. I'm one of them. Ironically, Double Nickels has two Chickenfoot connections. The sixth song on side four, also known as “side chaff,” is a cover of Van Halen's “Ain't Talkin' ‘bout Love.” Also, the album's title was inspired by Sammy Hagar's “I Can't Drive 55.” Wildman Sammy declared that he would not, could not drive the speed limit. (For the record, neither does my mom.) The Minutemen figured that the rule breaking should come across in your art—your band, your writing, etc.—not your motor vehicle skills.

SuperHeavy, Day Eight: SuperHeavy Stockholm Syndrome

By Brett Essler

When I have the time, I love to walk. Sometimes I'll just wander for 50 or 60 blocks looking at buildings and people. Unlike a subway commute, where I want to shut the world out, I never listen to music on my walks — it's a time to let my mind wander. Because of my dedication to this project, I broke my rule today and listened to SuperHeavy in its entirety while strolling up Broadway.

Chickenfoot, Day Eight: In Defense of Michael Anthony

By Mike Faloon

When I was in junior high my friends and I loved Van Halen. They were big and brash and over the top. Completely unlike us. Van Halen had Eddie, the flashy guitar player, and David Lee Roth, the loudmouth frontman. They also had Alex Van Halen who drum sound was inescapable, especially the cymbals which were way too high in the mix. And then there was Michael Anthony. Solid, no mistakes that we could pinpoint but none of the shock and guffaws that Eddie and David served up. Michael Anthony was an order of regular in an otherwise supersize setting. We made fun of him. Later, talking to other Van Halen fans, active or recovering, I found that mocking him was common.

SuperHeavy, Day Seven: The Places Behind You Let Them Re-remind You

By Brett Essler

As if I needed to be reminded, Jagger has reggae cred. Walking down the street today I glanced into a shop window only to see Sir Mick's giant-ass grin staring back at me. He's sandwiched between Bob Marley and Peter Tosh and whatever they were smoking seems to have made them pretty happy.

Chickenfoot, Day Seven: (Van Morrison) x 52 = Chickenfoot's Outtakes

By Mike Faloon

As of March 11, 2011 Chickenfoot III was slated to include a song called “Astral Years.” Akin to Van Morrison? Sure, yes, as intended… but it's 52 times better! Take that Belfast Cowboy!

SuperHeavy, Day Six: Not That You Asked, But...

By Brett Essler

Gave the album a spin on the treadmill today and I started to daydream about the kind of advice I might have given SuperHeavy had I been asked.