Which version of Crystal?
 

I think I prefer Lindsey's vocals and the background music from Stevie's. Which version do you guys prefer?

I prefer the version on the Fleetwood Mac album EVERY SO SLIGHTLY over the Buckingham Nicks version, due to Christine's synth part on the fade out....and falling far behind in 3rd place is the version from the Practical Magic soundtrack.

Any version that has Christine's heart wrenching keyboard solo at the end...

I haven't heard a version that I didn't like...but I really love Stevie's version.

I've gotta go with the version from Buckingham Nicks.
It's the one I first listened to and fell in love with.

The others are distant, imo.

I really love the composition on the track from Practical Magic,

But the white album version is awesome!!!

I've always been in the minority, but I think the Practical Magic version blows all the others out of the water. I've just never understood why Lindsey would sing lead vocals on this one to begin with. It's such a quintessentially feminine Stevie song, it just doesn't make sense for him to sing it. Especially on the Fleetwood Mac version, when Stevie got shafted with only two songs on the whole album... SHE should have sung her own song!

I just LOVE the production of the Practical Magic version too. I wish Stevie would do an entire album full of acoustic folksy sounding songs like that. To me, I think her two Practical Magic entries capture the spirit of who she is far better than most anything she's released since the early '80s. I just love how her 'matured' voice sounds on this one too. "How the faces of love change, turning the pages. And I have changed, all but you, you remain ageless." That whole verse just means so much more when she sang it in '98 vs '73. And her voice has more soul now with age. I just think the Practical Magic version is just pure magic itself, as hokey as that may sound. I just love it, and I don't care if I'm in the minority :D.

lol...we may be in the minority, but I agree with EVERYTHING you said :thumbsup:

:D I remember making a thread like this when I first joined the ledge; an early attempt to look like I knew what I was was talking about no doubt.

I think I remember expressing a preference for the Buckingham Nicks version.
I like the slightly "orchestral" sound to it.

Don't like the practical magic version, combination of dull sounding band, and stevie does seem to struggle a bit :distress:

Love johns bass "outro" on the fleetwood mac version.

not really answered the question have I.

I don't care for Nicks herself on that one, but I love the beauty of the arrangement. The combination of the fiddles & that extraordinary B3 all through it (who plays that? is it Benmont?) gets me right here.

That said, I also love the earlier, less portentous arrangements -- Mac doing it in '75 was a real hippie band, & it's gorgeous.

It's a hard song to ruin, I'd say. Stevie & Lindsey wrote a good one there.

I like them all, but my first preference is Buckingham Nicks followed by FM. I really like Stevie's version, it was just a nice shake up to finally hear her sing it. I also really like the ending on that version.

"Crystal" may be my favorite Stevie-penned song of all time. Yes, as in tied with "Rhiannon". Big deal.

I think the softness of FM's version really captures the song, but honestly, all versions give me chills. As David said, I think its hard to mess up.

I hate that it's "first, initial feeling". :shrug:

clearly you don't have the special knowledge that holds truth.

I certainly knew in the crystaline knowledge of you. :shrug:

just don't drive me thru the moungtains. they're on fire.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA. In poor taste. Awesome. :laugh:

too soon?

:lol:

I've never heard the BN version but the White Album version is hard to beat. I can't stand Stevie's solo version. Her current voice (when she recorded it) is just too deep to pull it off.

never :wavey:

Don't know if you're in the minority... but I couldn't disagree more... To me, when LB sings on her tunes magic happens... He saved When I See you Again, he makes SOTM even more special when he sings his line, and him singing this song for her was something I'm guessing she wanted.

Although I always did wonder why she got the short end of the stick on the White album. Especially because McVie/Buckingham did a tune together... In my opinion, Rhiannon, Crystal are some of her best work...

My assumption is they didn't know if she'd work out and wanted to use her sparingly. Prior to her involvement in the band, most new members were given just one, usually two songs to prove themselves. Buckingham was used a lot on the White album, even though he wrote the least amount of songs. My sense is Fleetwood and the McVies wanted a male singer in the foreground, given the band's history as a blues-rock group that toured alongside Deep Purple and Savoy Brown.

I do, too, and have not heard it in a while. I tried to buy it on I-tunes but it's not there. Is this version still available to purchase?

That's a really nice point. Hey, that may mean our John was being just a bit sneaky. When he told Stevie he wanted the song on the album, he made her think it's because he loved it so much. It could have been just because he wanted another male vocal and thought that was the best way to get it without hurting her feelings.

Michele

I don't really like Crystal at all. :( Stevie's version is probably the one I like best, if I had to choose one to listen to, but other than that, I have never been crazy about the song.

don't worry, nobody will hold it against you. you're canadian.

:mad: I'll slap you with a beavertail.

don't come on to me this early in the day, canuckbian!

I LOVE the BuckinghamNicks live version.

I didn't say mine. You don't know where I got this from. :lol:

I didn't know that this was originally a Buckingham Nicks song...anywhere you can dl it or something?

BN is my favorite version too! FM coming in 2nd but I still like Stevies practical magic version too. Just not quite as much as thoes. :)

BuckinghamNicks.net. Your source for all things BN related!

Crystal (the way it was meant to be)... enjoy!

This is the BEST explanation I've ever heard and probably the correct one as well. I always assumed it was because Stevie didn't play an instrument.(Yes I know she plays piano and guitar and I know there is a pic of her playing guitar onstage in an early tourbook) But generally besides percussion instruments she's just a singer not a player. And just for the record, players only love you when they're playing.:lol:

Who's playing oboe?

Obie juan kanobie.

Oh, I agree 100% that when the two writers share vocals, that real magic happens. When I See You Again is only redeemed by Lindsey's vocals in my opinion. But there is a big difference in Lindsey singing ON Stevie's songs, and Lindsey SINGING her songs. I just think Stevie should have sang Crystal on the White Album, perhaps with Lindsey doing a call and answer verse or something.

Then why did the exact same thing happen on Rumours (two lead vocals and three songs), after she established herself as a successful songwriter in the band? And then again on Tusk, where she got five songs on a double album where the others got many more, and then the same thing for Mirage, and of course, on Tango. ????

I'll only agree with you if she sings it like she sang Landslide in a very legato form with perfect phrasing.... The only version of Landslide I like is the white album version... every other version, including other bands, falls way short of the pristine quality of the white album...

Having said that...I really think Lindsey gives Crystal justice as he does I Don't Wanna Know, Don't Stop, Hold Me, Think About Me, Mystified.. I know it's a duel vocals... but his voice stands out quite a bit on IDWK.. I have to go back and listen to PMagic version... it's been a while... but I remember going... ehhhh

I get your point but disagree that Tusk should be considered because the songs Stevie got on Tusk actually take up the same running time as Lindsey's so it's a fair enough balance (about 26 minutes each).

On Tusk, Lindsey had lots of short blasts and Stevie had some longer, more meandering tunes. If Stevie had as many songs as Lindsey then they'd have had to make it a triple album or cut some of Lindsey's and Christine's stuff and the Stevie get a disproportionately large percentage of the running time of the album. The real loser of Tusk is Christine. She has one song more than Stevie, but six minutes less in the total time (about 20 minutes) and one of her songs is sung by Lindsey so in a 70+ minute album she only gets about 17 minutes of lead singing.

As for Tango, I always assumed it was because she wasn't that involved :shrug;