Recorded 1979 Length 3:46 | Released 1979 Genre soft rock Label Warner Bros. | |
"Walk a Thin Line" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. Composed and sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, it was one of the nine songs he wrote for the "Tusk" album.
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Background
Along with "Angel" and title track, "Walk a Thin Line" was one of the later songs written and recorded for "Tusk". The song was inspired by a Charlie Watts drum fill on "Sway", off the Rolling Stones album "Sticky Fingers". This drum fill caught Buckingham's interest, and intended to feature the fill on one of his songs on "Tusk". Buckingham chose to include the snare fill when he realized that "Walk a Thin Line" and "Sway" had similar tempos. The "military press-rolls" Mick Fleetwood recorded were multi-tracked, and were later blended in with another drum track Fleetwood recorded. Buckingham also recorded some backing vocals in a push-up position while singing into a microphone taped to the floor. At the time, he believed this would create a more aggressive sound.
Rolling Stone applauded the use of the "dreamy" multilayered backing vocals to emulate strings instead of using more conventional pop embellishments. They also felt that this offering, along with "That's All For Everyone" were Buckingham's most commercial tracks on the record.
Personnel
Mick Fleetwood version
"Walk a Thin Line" was one of the cover songs on Mick Fleetwood's 1981 debut solo album, The Visitor. This rendition was reinterpreted with African influences, and included an African group called Adjo, who contributed percussion and vocals on the track. "...as a percussion player, during these recordings, I was, as we say in England, ‘like a pig in shit.’" said Fleetwood. "I had the greatest time playing with these musicians..." After the basic tracks were completed in Ghana, Fleetwood returned to London. During the visit, George Harrison, Fleetwood's ex brother-in-law, came into the studio to play slide guitar.