Stevie's Collaborations with Mike Campbell - Ranked
 

Inspired by another thread: What is your opinion of Stevie's collaborations with Mike Campbell? I am not counting SDMHA because it is not a co-write.

Here's mine:

Love

1. Blue Denim - fantastic. I adore this song. One of my favorites of Stevie's.

2. Whole Lotta Trouble - A fun rocker. Great song!


Like

3. Freedom - I think this is underrated. It's catchy.


Eh

4. For What It's Worth - the grammatical problem of this one annoys me no end and keeps me from enjoying it. I'm sorry. However, it has its good parts.

5. My Heart - OK. Boring in some parts.

6. Desert Angel - Tiresome and dreary in many parts. However, I don't think I hate it as much as everyone else, because it's not at the bottom for me. It has some nice lines.

7. Ghosts - Doesn't interest me. I usually skip it. Again, some nice lines here and there.

8. You Like Me - This one was released by the Williams Brothers but there's also an unreleased version of Stevie doing it. It's alright. Nothing special. Glad she didn't release it.

9. Greta - not bad, but not very interesting. Some questionable lyrical choices.


Dislike

10. Fire Burning - This song had potential but it was squandered with asinine lyrics. "Let me tell you about this fire in my house...except there is no fire! it's just an illusion!" MIND BLOWN!


Loathe

11. Kick It - This song makes no sense. It's like Stevie just stuck lyrics together. I'm sure they must have had some coherence in her head... but I can't follow the trail.

12. I Don't Care - This song grates on me. It annoys me. I can't stand it.

13. Imperial Hotel - HATE. SO. MUCH. Meandering....self-indulgent, half-baked lyrics... awful.


Special Question: Should she do any of these with Fleetwood Mac?

No.

I wouldn’t mind WLT or a revamped version of Freedom, but not necessarily at the expense of other songs.

Can never get the love for Blue Denim, talk about half baked lyrics and a klonopin-choked vocal, you can hear her trying so hard, but....

I like My Heart a lot, but not the one that appeared as a bonus on IYD, the other one.

The rest of these collaborations do not do anything for me, really. Working with Campbell dragged her down a lot. So let's see what any future album might bring. I have low expectations.

That one is definitely superior. It would have made "Like."

The odds do not appear to be in their favor.

“You Like Me” might have potential. I just heard the demo, and it’s not the worst Stevie song I’ve ever heard.

Thanks for doing this... I wasn't sure how many songs they had co-written so it's nice and helpful to have them listed in one thread.

LOVE:
Imperial Hotel- sorry you don't like this one. I love the lyrics and the background vocals really enhance the song.

Blue Denim- if it were on another, better album, this would almost be filler, but on a stinker like Street Angel, it sounds like a masterpiece.

LIKE:
Freedom

My Heart

EH:
For What Its Worth

Ghosts

LOATHE:
Desert Angel

While Lotta Trouble

I've never heard You Like Me or I Don't Care. Generally, I haven't been all that impressed with their collaborations. I would be ok if they performed Freedom, it is a FM song and a deep cut, and I think it would sound great live.

Here you go:

Stevie and Mike do not have the greatest track record when it comes to songs they've written together. Imo, they mostly range from "not that bad" to "really, really bad". I think that is probably because they never actually wrote 'together', she said she would just write lyrics on top of tracks he'd send her. Granted some of the lyrics still just sucked and some of the music was terribly cheesy, but if they had actively collaborated they might've been able to churn out something better.

I think Stevie said in the liner notes for Whole Lotta Trouble on Timespace how much Mike had helped her on that song. I don't have access to it right now, but she gushed about it. Sorry I don't remember specifics. I'm not a big fan of horns, etc so the song doesn't do much for me at all.

Haha. It's funny how you loathe "Imperial Hotel" and I love it. I agree the lyrics are corny but it's a short catchy rock song, very Tom Petty sounding of course.

It looks like I might be in the minority on "Imperial Hotel"!

I love or like all of the collaborations except I Don’t Care, which may be my least favorite of all of Stevie’s songs, solo and FM combined. Often I eventually change my mind about songs of hers I dislike, but four years later I still do not like the song.

The music to I Don’t Care is good, but the lyrics are a bit of a stinkaroo.

One contributor's part is good + one contributor's part is bad = collaboration fail.

Truthfully, I'm not that enamored of the music either. There are good riffs, but the different parts don't fit together well.

LOVE:

1. You Like Me- This is one of my favorite songs of hers ever. Definitely would’ve been my favorite on Rock a Little. And I can’t believe I did t think of this earlier but this should absolutely get done on this tour and should be a Fleetwood Mac
Song. Adding mick and John would take this song to another level.

2. For What It’s Worth

3. Imperial Hotel

4. Freedom

Really Good

5. I Don’t Care
6. Blue Denim

Eh


7. My Heart
8. Whole Lotta Trouble
9. Kick It (has this been included yet, it should)


Not Good

10. Desert Angel
11. Ghosts

No, we missed "Kick It."

Yikes, that one is pretty bad, too. This list keeps getting more and more inglorious.

I'll edit my initial post.

I've said it a million times, Stevie never should have started hanging around the Heartbreakers, her music went ugly. starting with her first album solo.

The collaborations with Campbell are prime examples of the negative side of her Heartbreakers fixation.

Collaborations with the Heartbreakers helped Stevie Nicks, Don Henley, and the Eagles.

Campbell's and Tench's collaborations with Henley and, by extension, the Eagles have been brilliant but I think we see the truth of mitzo's statement - at least in regard to Campbell - in this thread when it comes to Stevie. Just because he clicks with one artist does not mean he clicks with another.

If we extend that to Petty, though, I am less inclined to agree. I enjoy "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," "Insider," "Needles and Pins," and "The Apartment Song." They sounded good together. ("I Will Run to You" - eh.)

And "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" did kick off her career.

But then I swing back to mitzo's opinion when Stevie goes beyond singing with Petty to being so obsessed that she wants to do several of his songs. I do not enjoy all the Petty covers. "Free Fallin'", "I Need to Know," and the ones she throws in live like "So You Want to Be a Rock'n'Roll Star"* and "You Wreck Me"... it's too much. You can't BE Tom Petty, Stevie.

*I realize "So You Want to Be a Rock'n'Roll Star" was not original to Petty but Stevie covered it due to the fact that his live version was so popular, included on his Pack Up the Plantation album.

I agree, but I think Stevie really hasn’t had any great songs since TWH, regardless if it was something she wrote on her own or with a collaborator. I don’t think it really matters who she would have collaborated with, it would still be sketchy. She seems to have lost her ability to write good lyrics as well as her sense of melody.

I like Insider and I Will Run to You a lot (SDMHA is too overplayed for me at this point) but I do see your point. I think her obsession with Tom's type of music and her desire to sound like him took away a lot of what made her special. I think most of Bella Donna was still well produced by Jimmy to sound unique to her but the rest of her albums not as much and it grew even moreso later on. But nothing captured the magic that she had on the FM white album through Gypsy on Mirage in my opinion. And I think that wasn't helped by the fact that after Bella Donna she saved all her 'best' songs in her eyes for her solo career.

I Can't Wait
 

Featuring all your least favorite hits.

https://ibb.co/k3OpS8
https://ibb.co/k3OpS8

LOL! "I don't care... not my thing!" Stevie Nicks' other version of the coat. ;)

I like Freedom, Blue Denim, Ghosts and My Heart (demo version). Is this really the complete list of Stevie/Mike songs? I thought there were more.
Edited to add: It looks like there's also Fire Burning and Greta.

Thank you. I'm really embarrassed for starting this topic and putting up a list that was so incomplete, and I appreciate the help in putting that right. Once again, I'll go and edit that initial post.

Fire Burning? Horrible.

Greta? Not bad. Not great.

I like Fire Burning. :shrug:

Fire Burning / Imperial Hotel Top 10 Solo Stevie songs for sure. Ear candy perfection. Love how Stevie's real fire experience blossomed into this upbeat melodic creation. Imperial Hotel - Same glass table ..... killer song.

Until seeing this list, I never realized how much I dislike her collaborations with Mike Campbell..... "Imperial Hotel," "Fire Burning" and "Blue Denim" are pretty decent.... But all the rest are either meh or unlistenable in my humble opinion. Let's hope they both step up their game if they're going to collaborate on new Mac material.

When did Stevie sing "So You Want to Be a Rock'n'Roll Star?"

It looks like I'm also in the minority regarding my low opinion of "Fire Burning."

On the other side of that... I'm surprised there isn't more love for the high octane "Whole Lotta Trouble"! Stevie rocks it!

During the Two Voices tour. It was part of the encore with Henley.

You're not alone as long as I continue to breathe. I've tried with that damn song and can't find anything to like about it. I could almost forgive the lyrics and heavy-Klonopin vocals but Campbell's music is grating as hell to my ear. Definitely in my top 5 worst Stevie songs and by far the worst of their collaborations.

As for the others...

Tier 1: Good Songs

Blue Denim is a really fun song. What it lacks in especially memorable lyrics or melody it excels with a classic rock and roll feel. It's incredibly refreshing compared to some of the excess found on RAL and TOSOTM. Her vocals aren't as heartfelt as they need to be, but she's in full force when she does the song live. Love the rendition she did live on Leno in 1994 and wish she'd kept it around. As someone else said, maybe a filler track on a better album, but a fun tune to sing along to if nothing else.

I actually like Freedom a good deal, and would like it a lot more if it hadn't been cursed with that blasted muddy BTM production sound. Yucky background vocals, nonsense licks and flourishes, it's sad that an even better song is buried in there. The basic music is rocking though, and the lyrics are angry-Stevie in all the best ways. Even in full-force klonopin, her energy does shine through several times through the song.

My Heart should have been on Trouble in Shangri-La, no question about it. The music, lyrics, and performance are great and should've booted That Made Me Stronger or Love Changes to the curb. Don't care for the IYD rearrangement at all.

I respect For What It's Worth a lot. The simple production is great and, like a lot of IYD, it gave the vibe of a new direction that still had that distinct Stevie flair. Not something I go out of my way to listen to very often, but a nice song.

Tier 2: Meh Songs

Kick It and Greta are both very eh songs to me. For what it's worth, I like Campbell's music on both of them but Stevie's performance and lyrics are so bland and forgettable. It's sad because the subject matters of both songs are a gold mine of potential. I also always cringe on Greta when I hear "She's got a movie star view".

Ghosts is similar in that the IDEA of the song is fantastic! The concept of Stevie acknowledging that she carries these ideas and expectations of the past, present, and future that cannot be measured up to is a neat topic to explore. Unfortunately, the song is full of some awkward and indulgent lyrics though ("She depends on her music like a husband" ugh), and that music is almost as bad as Fire Burning. Still, she admirably sings with some passion on it so it gets a very slim pass.

You Like Me is conflicting for me. It doesn't feel like a Stevie Nicks song at all, but she sings it very well and I like the music. It has a decent, angry build for a while and it really should've EXPLODED at the end, but it doesn't so it sort of drags for me. Still, I'd take it any day over Imperial Hotel. Those lyrics are atrocious and kill a halfway decent arrangement for RAL. It just kind of wanders along and makes a 3 minute song feel like it is 7 minutes. That song belongs with Fire Burning on a list of songs better to not even rank among the rest.

Desert Angel... As much as I don't like the music at the start (gives me Ghosts/Fire Burning vibes), her energy here is great and I can gel with the lyrics and booming drums for the first verse... but good god this songs drags. The lyrics get worse as the song goes along too. I do love her wails at the end though. OPERATION DESERT STORM!

Whole Lotta Trouble I go back and forth with. I like watching it live since the band seems like they're having fun with it but... I hate her voice. And the lyrics. And the cheesy horns. So I can tolerate it for the "jam vibe" I get from it but not much else.

Tier 3: Horrible Songs

I've expressed my distaste for Fire Burning and Imperial Hotel.

I Don't Care.... Sodascouts expressed my opinion verbatim in the initial post.

Song Fleetwood Mac should play: Freedom. They need to musically tear this song a new one :nod:

Absolutely LOVE Blue Denim!!!!!!

Whole Lotta Trouble should have been saved for Fleetwood Mac.

Blue Denim is fantastic.

But I also love Imperial Hotel. I really do!

Love

1. Blue Denim - One of my fav Stevie solo tunes.

2. My Heart - At first I couldn't get used to the In Your Dreams retake of this song... but after a listen recently, I think it's far superior to the original Trouble In Shangri La outtake.

3. Freedom - I also agree this is underrated. I love the rocking, fast-ish tempo and the angry sentiments on this one.

Like

4. Desert Angel - I've always really liked, but not loved this song. I really dig the quirky music and mystical presentation of this one. I also really like the subject matter of the lyrics- Stevie never goes political. The lyrics are as current today as when they were nearly 30 years ago. So what keeps it out of the love category for me? I'm honestly not entirely sure. Perhaps it's the rather self-indulgent lyrics? Her vacillating between her love of the desert and hatred of this latest desert war is a bit ham fisted in places. Great sentiments... but not quite what it could be I suppose.

5. Kick It - I rather like this one. Comparing being addicted to relationships to being addicted to substances is actually kind of smart to me. I really like the music, too... just stripped down, straight forward rock & roll. This is one of her more underrated songs, IMO.

Eh

6. Whole Lotta Trouble - I agree that it's fun... and I like the uptempo beat and sentiment behind it. Ultimately, it's still fluff to me, though.

7. Ghosts - I view Other Side of the Mirror as a concept album... it's meant to be listened to as a whole continuous work rather than individual songs. Ghosts, like most of the songs on the album, doesn't particularly stand out to me because of that.

8. You Like Me - I had to look this one up. Meh.

9. Greta - I used to really love the funkiness of this song. Over the past several years it's lost it's sheen for me, though. I think it's the flat, lifeless vocals. She just doesn't even sound convinced about the words she's singing.

10. Imperial Hotel - This one doesn't really elicit any emotions in me at all. It's neither good nor bad... it's just there.

Dislike

11. For What It's Worth - To me, this song reminds me of the bad songs on Street Angel. The rather lackluster vocals (especially those dreary double harmonies) don't do it any favors. I'm not huge on the lyrics, either... they are fairly unimaginative in the vain of Cheaper Than Free. Plus, the whole song is glorifying trying to steal her married addiction counselor from his wife. :distress: Beautiful Child is another example of a song about an affair with a married man, but it's done in a much more abstract and provocative way. FWIW just comes across as cringe worthy to me.

12. Fire Burning - I agree with others... the lyrics are just awful. I don't think a whole lot of the music, either.

Loathe

13. I Don't Care - This one is pretty terrible. Awful lyrics, awful execution. Again, reminds me of the bad stuff on Street Angel.


Special Question: Should she do any of these with Fleetwood Mac?

The only song that would get a pass from me would be Freedom since it was a FM song to begin with. Blue Denim could be lovely... but does it have a place on a FM stage?

"I was with him... everyone knew. Poor little fool."

I love both versions, with a preference for the In Your Dreams version. But since the lyrics are different I think of them as two different songs rather than demo vs. finished.

I forgot to add my favorite unreleased Stevie/Mike collaboration: The Mixdown AKA Love and War. I love this track!

We may hear it yet.

That's one of my favorites as well!

I didn't know this music was written by Campbell! Did Stevie mention that in an interview or something?



A user commented this on the above YouTube video:

"I think this is the demo she built around the Mike Campbell track without permission that Tom Petty freaked out over (and which eventually became Runaway Train). I know some have speculated that was Joan of Arc but I think this was the one."

That seems speculative. Is this what you're talking about? Or is there harder evidence?

It could very well be true!