Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to all the Chiffonheads in all the lands, no matter how you observe the holidays. As Stevie brings us tidings of great comfort and joy every day of every year, I wish the same for you and your loved ones.
And, Stand Back, 2013 – because, For What It’s Worth, After The Glitter Fades from this holiday, and the winter Storms pass, I’ll be like a Gypsy, and like Rhiannon, spinning in the Enchanted 2014, No Questions Asked, like I’m on the Edge of Seventeen! I Can’t Wait!
In a short 1981 interview, Stevie waxes philosophic about her guest appearances during Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ 1981 tour, and the magic of music television. Ah, remember those days…
(PS – the audio during this interview was recorded extremely poorly – a sign of the times for the then-fledgling TV network. I tried to clean it as much as I could.)
In paying tribute to one of my Desert Island Discs on the 30th anniversary of its initial release date (July 27, 1981), here is my original review of BELLA DONNA that was written for my school newspaper:
STEVIE NICKS – BELLA DONNA Where the wispy fairy/poet/waif we adored – and still do – on FLEETWOOD MAC,RUMOURS and TUSK becomes the queen of rock and roll we are dared to worship, challenging the nay-sayers and snickering critics to finally take her seriously. With BELLA DONNA, Nicks not only solidifies her significance as a rock persona, but establishes herself as a great songwriting force to be reckoned with. Displaying that superlative craft, she employs an ultimate ensemble of musicians borrowed from the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty (including Tom himself on the striking and rocking duet “Stop Dragging My Heart Around”) and paints an incredible journey through the multi-facets of love. Her country music heritage is apparent on some of the best cuts here: from the bittersweet, elegiac “After The Glitter Fades” to the dark, but lovely, innuendo of “Leather And Lace” (sung with Eagle Don Henley) to “The Highwayman”, a tale that delves deeper than the title suggests. There is also a sure-to-be classic rock track “Edge Of Seventeen” which will span the ages ahead, and the albums best piece, the hauntingly beautiful, enigmatic title track. As if possessing, albeit arguably, the most distinct and recognizable female voice in rock’s short history isn’t enough, one could measure BELLA DONNA as an archetype of portraits to come. Stevie Nicks’ solo career is just beginning, but with the Mac on an unknown hiatus, one needn’t worry about the lack of Stevie in their lives – as this collection of provocative and gorgeous tunes prove, there’s more to Nicks than meets the eyes – and ears – of even the most casual fan. Grade: A
To which I added, year later to a revised review on Amazon.com:
“…could anyone really see Prince’s images of lace, purple and doves without wondering if his evolution didn’t come via Nicks’ mirror? [He did play keyboards on “Stand Back” from her WILD HEART album]. And who begat the whole angels-as-rock-imagery but Nicks on her Mac recordings and solo work?”
Many fans, and even some critics, have boasted that her recent, erratic CD, IN YOUR DREAMS, is Stevie’s best solo album (my review will come in a forthcoming Musical Report Card). I can’t fathom that peculiar statement while listening to BELLA DONNA again and marveling at its intricate harmonies and sonic splendors.
It remains her most consistent solo work to date, and it, above all her other works, remains an achievement that still towers three decades later.
…Come in out of the darkness…
Happy Anniversary BELLA DONNA…still we fight for the Northern Star…
Dear America. You can keep your musical trash bags like Ke$ha. You can hold dear your atonal warblers like Rihanna (yeah, yeah, I know she’s from Barbados, but made her mark here in the US as a teen). You want your sterile Country music automatons like Carrie Underwood or your tone-deaf milquetoast Country queens like Taylor Swift? My pleasure – take them, please. Enjoy dodging the melisma of caterwaulers like Christina Aguilera – and, good luck; they’re your ears, not mine. Want everyday to be a tuneless Thanksgiving day? Revel in your discordant SciFi megatron turkey gobblers like Katy Perry.
That’s right, clueless masses. Continue to misprise breathtaking beauty – seamless, pure vocal talent – an unaffected gift as natural and as ethereal as any we’ve heard in many moons. That’s fine. Let the rest of us have Adele.
After surprisingly – yet elatedly (for those in the know) – being nominated for 4 Grammy Awards in 2009 (and winning Best Female Pop Performance for “Chasing Pavements” and Best New Artist) and another nod in 2010 (for “Hometown Glory”), Adele will release her second album, 21, on February 22. I’ve been absorbed in it since its UK release last month – it’s gorgeous.
Last night, she performed the track “Someone Like You” from 21 at the Brit Awards. Magnificent.
Too many people underestimate the totality of Christine McVie’s role in the dynasty that is Fleetwood Mac. While many of her songs are FM [and F.M.] classics, the importance of her contributions as an over-all factor is sometimes lost on the hordes of Stevie Nicks fanatics (of which I am one): in the classic Mac lineup, she was the middle ground – tying together the wispy, fairy god mother mysticism (and at times, flakiness) of Nicks and the avant-gardism of Lindsay Buckingham. Hers were the straight-Pop gems – predominantly love songs, nothing more, nothing less…sung in her honey-dipped husky contralto – one of Rock ‘N Roll’s absolute sexiest voices.
In her 4+ decade career, McVie recorded only three solo albums, and only one while still technically in Fleetwood Mac (1970s CHRISTINE PERFECT, 1984s CHRISTINE McVIE, and 2004s IN THE MEANTIME).
While McVie never toured as a solo act, she has performed dates to promote her solo work. In this series of clips, McVie was promoting her (at that point) upcoming 1984 self-titled album. The lovely pop-infused record was released in January of 1984 and was a modest success. The album spawned two Top 40 Billboard Hot 100 hits (the #10 “Got A Hold On Me” and the #30 “Love Will Show Us How” which was released with a terrific video) and the LP peaked at #24 on Billboards Top 200. This concert was recorded on December 16 1983 at the Country Club in LA. Assisted by guitarist Todd Sharp, (future FM guitarist) Billy Burnett, bassist George Hawkins and drummer Steve Ferrone (all musicians who also played on her album) – along with special guest Mick Fleetwood – she performs a lively set of new songs and a few FM classics.
I have a great audio bootleg of this same concert, and missing here is footage of the 2 encores she performed after “Songbird”, the final selection on this video. They were “Say You Love Me” and “Over My Head”. This concert was filmed as a TV special, so the final sequence is not the actual succession of the concert (this is done more-often-than-not in live concert videos/films). Here’s the actual track listing of the show that evening:
Love Will Show Us How Keeping Secrets The Challenge Who’s Dreaming This Dream I’m The One So Excited Don’t Stop Got A Hold On Me/Band Intros One In A Million You Make Lovin Fun World Turning Songbird Say You Love Me Over My Head
But even sans those two FM encores from the Mac’s classic 1975 FLEETWOOD MAC album, this was a wonderful concert…and makes one wish McVie would opt to tour solo more often…
In part 1, Christine performs “Love Will Show Us How”, “Keeping Secrets” and “The Challenge” – all from her CHRISTINE McVIE lp.
In part 2, she plays new tracks from her solo LP, are “Who’s Dreaming This Dream” and “I’m The One”
In part 3, Christine performs “So Excited”, “Got A Hold On Me”, introduces the band, then “One In A Million”
Here in part 4, McVie sings her signature Fleetwood Mac hits “You Make Loving Fun” and “Don’t Stop”
Part 5 is “World Turning” with some insane solos with help from Mick Fleetwood
Part 6 is a lovely “Songbird”, from RUMOURS. I wish the closing credits didn’t roll mid-performance, but it doesn’t negate the beautiful moment…
Interviewed in Los Angeles, on May 11 1985, a few months before the release of her 3rd solo LP ROCK A LITTLE, Stevie Nicks – the Rolling Stone-anointed “Queen Of Rock & Roll” – takes on a myriad of subjects.
In part 1, Stevie discusses the hopefully-imminent release of ROCK A LITTLE and what that means, working with her band and the recording of a few of the tracks in a Dallas church, with Jimmy Iovine, music videos (at this point, the first single wasn’t even chosen – eventually it was “Talk To Me”, which hit #4 on Billboard’s Hot 100) and touring, the surge of women in Rock N Roll that year and how Fleetwood Mac helped her become the rock star she is and how they protected her as “the little sister.”
In part 2, Stevie discusses her influence on other artists and how she hopes that, through her energy – if not her singing – those artists could learn something; her fashion influences (Madonna gets out of such comparative influences easily, Prince does not!), the admiration she has for up-and-coming newbie Cyndi Lauper’s strength and Tina Turner’s tenacity and fortitude. She also happily discusses her back-up singers Lori Perry and Sharon Celani (and “Minnie” – you have to watch) and how having them as friends and support make her life so much easier, and the relations and alleged competition between women in general, in music and in life.
She also discusses where her passion for her love of painting comes from, how it sedates her and grounds her and how it’s never been an innate ability or desire until only a few years prior. She opens up about how this passion started due to the sickness of her friend Robin (whom she doesn’t mention by name) and how she started drawing so, when Stevie could not be with her, the image of her drawings kept them connected. She “summons” Sister Honey for the interviewer (which can be seen in the next part of the video), a painting that has become a favorite over the years for Nicks’ fans.
The video is damaged around the 7 minute mark in part 2, but it’s only briefly – and you can still hear the audio.
In the final part, her painting Sister Honey is brought into the room and Nicks explains her origins and again states that this is all (painting, that is) still very new to her. Stevie is then asked about her “book that is coming out”, called “The Wild Heart” and its contents:
“A lot of poetry, it’s some journalistic stuff; it’s a lot of the actual nights of recording of THE WILD HEART and the experiences that happened during that 2-3 year period. There are some things from my Fleetwood Mac stash of 10 years of writing….the real essence of that isn’t in this book because that’s a book in itself…it’s my life, and it’s very honest.”
The book has a lot of “advice” and “philosophy” and a way to “give a little bit more of me”. She’s “very excited about them (her fans) receiving it” more than actually putting it out. (We fans have been wishing for years for any book from Stevie – but sadly, “The Wild Heart” was never published.)
She talks about what she does in her down time – which is a foreign concept to her. She’s been working non-stop for over a year and a half, and hopes to take a vacation when it’s over. She talks a little about love, and the possible resurrection of Fleetwood Mac and the bond they share…and how she liked Christine McVie’s solo album and loved the video for McVie’s “Got A Hold On Me” video.
Before the interview is over, Stevie wants to add an an addendum to her earlier philosophy of love, and how she doesn’t want anyone to misinterpret that it’s an impossible ideal – she does believe one can find it…one just has to look hard.
*****
My New Boyfriend 