The Visitor (Mick Fleetwood album)

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
At the conclusion of Fleetwood Mac's Tusk Tour, the band agreed to take an extended hiatus to pursue individual projects. Fleetwood had expressed interest in doing an African record back in 1978 when Fleetwood Mac was about to begin work on the Tusk album, although this idea was not fully realized until Fleetwood travelled to Ghana, where he had the intention of collaborating with local musicians. Fleetwood approached Warner Brothers about the idea, but the label turned him down as they were unwilling to give the drummer $500,000 to fly out the necessary equipment to Ghana and arrange for the recording sessions. RCA Records eventually agree to fund Fleetwood's plan, so he flew out to Accra, the capital of Ghana, where Fleetwood and his manager Mickey Shapiro scouted the area for musicians.

Fleetwood's original idea was to send mixing desks and tape machines to musicians so they could record at their home localities, although Fleetwood decided against this as the road conditions rendered it impossible to transport this gear. Fleetwood instead arranged for studio sessions with Faisal Helwani, who had the only functioning professional studio in Accra.

George Hawkins, who performed most of the lead vocals on this album, later appeared on the I'm Not Me album from 1983 as a member and co-lead vocalist of Mick Fleetwood’s Zoo. Fleetwood had originally asked Bob Welch, a former member of Fleetwood Mac, to appear on The Visitor, but Welch was too busy to participate.

Two of the tracks 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, who was in Henley at the time, convinced his former brother-in-law, George Harrison, to appear on "Walk a Thin Line". Hawkins recalled that they played "Walk a Thin Line" for Harrison, who thought that the song could benefit from slide guitar. "Our eyes lit up and Richard Dashut had him set up and ready to go in about ten seconds, before he had a chance to change his mind."

Following the seven-week recording session in Ghana, Fleetwood returned to England for the purpose of mixing and overdubbing the existing tracks. These sessions took place at a studio situated in a mill that was owned by Jimmy Page. In total, the album cost five-hundred thousand dollars to make, and Fleetwood failed to recuperate those losses through album sales.

Personnel
"Rattlesnake Shake"
 * Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion
 * George Hawkins – bass guitar
 * Todd Sharp – guitar
 * Peter Green – lead vocals, guitar
 * Ebaali Gbiko – backing vocals, hand drums
 * Lord Tiki – hand drums
 * Tony Todaro – percussion
 * "Dicky Dash" (Richard Dashut) – percussion
 * The Clappettes – percussion
 * Andrew Powell – string arrangement

"You Weren't In Love"
 * Mick Fleetwood – drums
 * George Hawkins – lead vocals, bass guitar, piano
 * Todd Sharp – guitars
 * Lord Tiki – hand drums
 * Accra Roman Catholic Choir – backing vocals
 * Andrew Powell – string arrangement

"O'Niamali"
 * Mick Fleetwood – drums
 * George Hawkins – bass guitar
 * Played and sung by the Adjo group

"Super Brains"
 * Todd Sharp – rhythm guitar
 * Peter Green – theme guitar
 * Played by the Superbrains group

"Don't Be Sorry, Just Be Happy"
 * Mick Fleetwood – drums, water gong
 * George Hawkins – lead vocals, bass guitar
 * Todd Sharp – guitars
 * Andrew Powell – string arrangement

"Walk A Thin Line"
 * Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion
 * George Hawkins – lead vocals, bass guitar, piano, guitar
 * George Harrison – twelve string guitar, slide guitar, backing vocals
 * Sara Recor – backing vocals
 * Adjo group — backing vocals

"Not Fade Away"
 * Mick Fleetwood – drums
 * George Hawkins – lead vocals, bass guitar
 * Todd Sharp – guitars
 * Ian Bairnson – lead guitar
 * Lord Tiki – hand drums, percussion
 * Adjo group – hand drums, percussion, backing vocals

"Cassiopeia Surrender"
 * Mick Fleetwood – drums
 * George Hawkins – lead vocals, bass guitar, organ
 * Todd Sharp – lead guitar
 * Ian Bairnson – rhythm guitar
 * Ebaal Gbiko – hand drums

"The Visitor"
 * Mick Fleetwood – drums
 * George Hawkins – piano
 * Mike Moran – Prophet 5 Synthesizer
 * Played and sung by The Ghana Folkloric Group

"Amelle (Come On Show Me Your Heart)"
 * George Hawkins – bass guitar, organ
 * Played and sung by Adjo group

Production

 * Executive producer – Mickey Shapiro
 * Produced by Mick Fleetwood and Richard Dashut
 * Engineered by Bill Youdelman, Randy Ezratty, and Richard Dashut
 * Road and Equipment Manager, Tony Todaro