Fleetwood Mac 'Tusk' — Dodger Stadium Recording Location

Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles was the setting for one of the most unusual recording sessions in rock history when Fleetwood Mac brought the 112-piece USC Trojan Marching Band onto the outfield in 1979 to record the title track of their album Tusk. Lindsey Buckingham's vision for the song — a lurching, percussion-heavy piece with almost none of the polished melodic pop that had defined Rumours — required a live marching band performing outdoors rather than in the studio. The session produced a recording with the raw, open-air quality of a stadium broadcast, which was precisely the point. The music video for Tusk, also filmed at Dodger Stadium with the band and the marching band performing together on the field, became one of the defining visual documents of the era and was among the first true rock music videos.

Tusk, released as a double album in October 1979, was Fleetwood Mac's deliberately strange follow-up to Rumours — one of the best-selling albums in history. The double-album format, the experimental production choices, and Buckingham's refusal to simply repeat the Rumours formula made it a commercial disappointment by the impossible standard it was measured against, though it still sold millions of copies. Its reputation has grown significantly since, and it is now recognised as one of the more adventurous major-label albums of its era. The title track's use of the USC band — recorded on a baseball field — remains one of the more eccentric decisions in the production of a mainstream rock record.

Dodger Stadium, opened in 1962 and home to the Los Angeles Dodgers, is one of the oldest and most beloved baseball venues in America and remains in active use. The outfield where Fleetwood Mac and the USC band recorded is now the setting for one of Major League Baseball's most celebrated atmospheres. The stadium hosts concerts as well as games, and the surrounding area of Elysian Park is publicly accessible. The connection to Tusk is not formally commemorated at the stadium, but fans of the record visiting Los Angeles sometimes include the stadium on a tour of the locations associated with Fleetwood Mac's most experimental period.