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The Visitor
Studio album by Mick Fleetwood
Released	29 June 1981
Recorded	January–February 1981
Studio	Ghana Film Industries, Inc. (Accra, Ghana)
Genre	Pop rock blues
Length	37:57
Label	RCA Records
Producer	Mick Fleetwood Richard Dashut
Mick Fleetwood chronology
The Visitor (1981) I'm Not Me (1983)
Singles from The Visitor
"You Weren't in Love" Released: September 1981 "Walk a Thin Line" Released: 1981 (Aus/NZ)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Encyclopedia of Popular Music

The Visitor is an 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 has been re-released several times, including a US CD release by Wounded Bird Records on October 18, 2011.

Background

After Fleetwood Mac's Tusk Tour, the band agreed to take an extended hiatus to pursue individual projects. Fleetwood had expressed interest in making a record rooted in African music in 1978, 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. 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. Upon reaching out to RCA Records, the label's president, Robert Summer, met with Fleetwood for lunch and agreed to fund the project. Once this was settled, Fleetwood flew out to Accra, the capital of Ghana, where Fleetwood and his manager Mickey Shapiro scouted the area for musicians.

Fleetwood's original plan was to send mixing desks and tape machines to local musicians in Ghana so they could record at their home localities, although he decided against this as the road conditions in the country rendered it impossible to transport the equipment. Fleetwood instead arranged for studio sessions with Faisal Helwani, who had the only functioning professional studio in Accra. He also consulted with Craig Woodson, a musicologist and professor at UCLA, who played him various tape recordings to prepare Fleetwood for his trip. 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.

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.

Recording

During the recording sessions, Fleetwood, Hawkins, Todd Sharp, and Richard Dashut stayed at the Star Hotel in Accra. Fred Shruers of Rolling Stone, who visited the facility to interview Fleetwood, described living quarters as a "small, drum-cluttered 'chalet' where the members lived "dorm-style". Hawkins said that the group was sick with dysentery and that one person also came down with malaria. 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". Fleetwood's credit card was also cut off while he was travelling to Ghana to begin the recording sessions. 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.

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. 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. In total, the album cost between $400,000 and $500,000 to make, and Fleetwood failed to recuperate those losses through album sales.

Two tracks on The Visitor were covers of Fleetwood Mac songs: "Rattlesnake Shake" was originally recorded for the 1969 album Then Play On, and "Walk a Thin Line" first appeared on the 1979 album Tusk. Peter Green sang lead vocals and played lead guitar on "Rattlesnake Shake", and was credited as Peter Greenbaum. Fleetwood's former brother-in-law, George Harrison, also appeared on "Walk a Thin Line". 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."

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 look into Field the next day. On The Visitor, "You Weren't in Love with Me" carried the truncated name, "You Weren't in Love". The title of "Don't Be Sorry, Just Be Happy" was assembled through various slogans dispersed around Accra.

Release

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. Stevie Nicks, who was Fleetwood's bandmate in Fleetwood Mac, had recently released her debut solo album, Bella Donna, which ascended to number two the same week The Visitor peaked at number 43. On 5 September 1981, The Visitor remained at number 43 for a second consecutive week, while Bella Donna hit number one.

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." Stereo Review was relatively positive on the album, saying that the album's production is "more loving than slick, an approach that commands respect."

A film crew was present at Ghana Film Studios to document the recording sessions. 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. A CED videodisc was later issued by RCA containing various visual footage from the recording sessions. High Fidelity magazine reported that the videodisc possessed some synchronisation errors with the audio and visuals.

Track listing

Personnel

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)

Charts

References

1. "FMQB" (PDF). p. 34.
2. ^ Waynick, Michael. "Mick Fleetwood - The Visitor Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
3. Clerk, Carol (5 September 1981). "Singles" (PDF). Melody Maker. p. 13. Retrieved 7 January 2025 – via World Radio History.
4. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
5. ^ Evans, Mike (2011). Fleetwood Mac – The Definitive History. New York, NY: Sterling. pp. 181–182, 187. ISBN 978-1-4027-8630-3.
6. Irvin, Jim (2016). Tusk (2015 Remastered Deluxe Edition) (Liner Notes). Fleetwood Mac. Los Angeles: Warner Bros. Records Inc. p. 15. Publisher Warner Bros #2HS-3350.
7. ^ "Ghana's Drumbeats Strike a Fleetwood Nerve" (PDF). Billboard. 12 September 1981. p. 50. Retrieved 5 January 2025 – via World Radio History.
8. ^ Shruers, Fred (28 May 1981). "Ghanaian Encounters: Mick Fleetwood and the Drums of Africa". Rolling Stone. pp. 60, 62. Retrieved 5 January 2025 – via ProQuest.
9. Fleetwood, Mick; Bozza, Anthony (October 2014). Play On: Now Then & Fleetwood Mac. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 253–254. ISBN 978-0-316-40342-9.
10. "Bob Welch, November 8 - 21, 1999 - Section 8". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
11. ^ "George Hawkins Question and Answer Session - April 4 - 19, 2000". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
12. Unterberger, Richie (2017). Fleetwood Mac: The Complete Illustrated History. Voyageur Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-1627889759.
13. ^ Fleetwood, Mick; Davis, Stephen (1990). Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures with Fleetwood Mac. New York: William Morrow and Company. pp. 248–249. ISBN 0-688-06647-X.
14. ^ Dalton, David (6 June 1981). "A Lavish Launch For Fleetwood" (PDF). Music Week. p. 1. Retrieved 3 January 2025 – via World Radio History.
15. Rea, Steven X. (October 1981). "Mick Fleetwood: The Visitor" (PDF). High-Fidelity. p. 96. Retrieved 5 January 2025 – via World Radio History.
16. Leng, Simon (2006). The Music of George Harrison: While My Guitar Gently Weeps. 7777 Bluemound Road, P.O. Box 13819, Milwaukee, WI 53213: Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 159. ISBN 1-4234-0609-5. Retrieved 1 September 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
17. "Top LPs and Tape" (PDF). Billboard. 18 July 1981. pp. 79, 81. Retrieved 5 January 2025 – via World Radio History.
18. "Mick Fleetwood Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
19. ^ Grein, Paul (5 September 1981). "'Satisfying' Solo Projects By Group Members Grow" (PDF). Billboard. pp. 3, 66–67. Retrieved 5 January 2025 – via World Radio History.
20. "Mick Fleetwood: The Visitor" (PDF). Stereo Review. November 1981. p. 103. Retrieved 5 January 2025 – via World Radio History.
21. MTV 10/4/81 SPECIAL - MICK FLEETWOOD "THE VISITOR" DOCUMENTARY 30 MIN (Documentary). MTV. 10 April 1981 – via the Internet Archive.
22. Foti, Laura (4 September 1981). "Cable Watch: N.Y.'s Group W Offers the Sound of the City" (PDF). Billboard. p. 9. Retrieved 5 January 2025 – via World Radio History.
23. "High Fidelity Sounds Comes to Video Recordings" (PDF). High-Fidelity. June 1983. pp. 57, 59–60. Retrieved 5 January 2025 – via World Radio History.
24. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 114. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
25. "The Billboard 200". Billboard. 29 August 1981. Retrieved 8 January 2023.

External links

• The Visitor at Discogs (list of releases)

• Mick Fleetwood albums
• 1981 debut albums
• RCA Records albums
• Albums produced by Mick Fleetwood
• Albums produced by Richard Dashut
• Song recordings produced by Richard Dashut