I'm Not Me

''I'm Not Me'' is the second solo album by Mick Fleetwood. This album is credited to the British-American rock band Mick Fleetwood's Zoo and features contributions from Fleetwood Mac members Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham. Billy Burnette, who performs some of the lead vocals on this album as a member of Mick Fleetwood's Zoo, would later join Fleetwood Mac in 1987 following the departure of Buckingham.

Background

The impetus of Mick Fleetwood's Zoo began in 1982 when Buckingham was assembling a band to perform on Saturday Night Live. The band, which was at time was called The Cholos, featured Fleetwood, Burnette, George Hawkins, and Steve Ross. Burnette said that this lineup recorded some tracks, but was unsure if anything was done with them. With Burnette and Fleetwood at the helm, The Cholos later morphed into Mick Fleetwood's Zoo, which performed a series of gigs before entering the recording studio. According to David Elliot Otlinsky, who served as Fleetwood's assistant in the early 1980s, a tentative album cover with the name "Mick Fleetwood and the Cholos" was created, although Fleetwood's lawyer advised him against using the word Cholo on the grounds that it would be derogatory towards Mexicans. Roughly 50 copies of the original album cover were made.

Fleetwood, who still had a record deal with Warner Brothers, purchased a mobile studio with the intention of recording a solo album in Brazil. However, this idea was scrapped and Fleetwood instead relocated to a facility known as Blue Whale to record a mixture of covers and new songs. The Blue Whale was a property in Ramirez Canyon Park that Fleetwood acquired soon before the recording of his first solo album, '' The Visitor'' in 1981. One song on the album was a cover of "Angel Come Home", originally by The Beach Boys. Christine McVie, who had previously been in a romantic relationship with Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys, contributed to the song along with Lindsey Buckingham, who together with McVie were bandmates in Fleetwood Mac with Fleetwood. Of the erstwhile Fleetwood Mac lineup, only John McVie and Stevie Nicks did not participate in the making of the album.

George Hawkins, who performed most of the lead vocals on ''The Visitor'', returned to sing some lead vocals on this album, although he was also working concurrently with vocalist Al Jarreau and thus had less involvement in the making of ''I'm Not Me'' compared to ''The Visitor''. Instead, Fleetwood, Burnette, and Richard Dashut primarily handled the logistics of creating ''I'm Not Me''.

A tour followed the release of ''I'm Not Me'', which comprised a series of performances in both bars and stadiums. During one of the Zoo's performances, Nicks joined the band onstage to play "Rhiannon". A few radio station heard in advance that she would be performing with the Zoo and leaked the information to the public. As such, three thousand people attended that show, although most of Fleetwood's shows attracted far fewer people. Fleetwood commented in his 2014 autobiography that "I didn't worry if no one showed up to the Zoo shows, because in my mind if I was playing, I had a purpose. My band, however, was embarrassed for me."

Track listing

Personnel

*Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion
*Billy Burnette – guitar, vocals
*George Hawkins – bass guitar, keyboards, vocals
*Steve Ross – guitar, vocals

;Additional personnel
*Lindsey Buckingham – guitar, keyboards, vocals
*Jon Clarke – saxophone
*Vince Denham – saxophone
*Don Roberts – tenor saxophone
*Christine McVie – keyboards, vocals
*Todd Sharp – guitar
*Ron Thompson – rhythm guitar, slide guitar

References

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1983 albums
Mick Fleetwood albums
Albums produced by Richard Dashut
Albums produced by Mick Fleetwood
RCA Records albums