24 Karat Gold: Reviews
 

Uncut Magazine, November 2014. Thanks to FM News for the heads up and text.

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Stevie Nicks
24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault

Fleetwood Mac star heads to Nashville, chasing the songs that nearly got away.
by Piers Martin

Rating: 7/10

As if Stevie Nicks hasn't done enough soul-searching during her 40 years in one of the world's biggest bands... On her eighth solo album, Nicks immerses herself in her past, gathering 16 of her long-lost songs together like errant children and dressing them in traditional costume - the billowing robes and gypsy shawl - before sending them out, fully Nicksed, into the world.

24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault finds the 66-year old getting her memories in order with the help of longtime associates Waddy Wachtel (he first played with her on 1973's Buckingham Nicks) and Dave Stewart, producer of Nicks' last solo set, 2011's In Your Dreams, and a band of hired hands in Nashville who knocked out new versions of Nicks' old songs in 15 days last May. In Your Dreams, somewhat tarnished by Dave Stewart's sweet tooth, took 14 months. Fleetwood Mac records take far longer.

The songs in question stem from demos Nicks wrote at various stages in her career between 1969 and 1995, intended for her solo or Fleetwood Mac albums. One ballad, the bonus track "Twisted", written in 1995 with Lindsey Buckingham for the film Twister, she felt deserved a wider audience. "When songs go into movies you might as well dump them out the window as you're driving by because they never get heard," she tells Uncut.

Many of these songs will be familiar to Mac devotees, having appeared online and on bootlegs or boxsets in one form or another. Indeed, Nicks' main incentive for the project was to record definitive versions of those unauthorized tracks floating around online that her assistant had drawn to her attention. Nicks hates computers and was once so worried about internet piracy that she didn't release a solo record between 2001 and 2011, so this principled stance represents some sort of progress; if you can't beat'em, join'em. "Just because I think computers are ruining the world, I can't expect everyone to be on my wavelength," she reasons. But to most, 24 Karat Gold is effectively a brand new album, albeit one that one occasion has the luxury of revelling in the twists and turns of a vintage Nicks number like "Lady", formerly a fragile piano demo from the mid-'70's called "Knocking On Doors" that's now a footstep away from "Landslide".

With these demos newly upholstered as mid-tempo soft-rock ballands by a solid Nashville outfit, it's tempting to view the collection as an alternative look at Nicks' life in music, each song offering a slightly different take on key moments in her colourful career. Nicks, too, her live-in voice stained with experience, seems to relish the chance to reacquaint herself through her lyrics with the girl she once was. The earliest cut here, a corny speakeasy pastiche called "Cathouse Blue", was written by a 22-year old Nicks in 1969 before she and Buckingham, who played on the original, moved to Los Angeles. By "The Dealer", a mustky Tusk-era tumble, she's already worldweary: "I was the mistress of my fate, I was the card shark / If I'd've looked a little ahead, I would've run away", runs the chorus.

On Bella Donna cast-offs "Belle Fleur" and "If You Were My Love", Elton John guitarist Davey Johnstone reprises his original role and plays on these new versions. Her trusted foil, Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers, rolls up his sleeves for AOR james "Starshine" and "I Don't Care", trakcs he just about remembers writing with Nicks in the early 80's. "Mabel Normand", a moving parable based on the tragic life of the 1920s silent movie star, came to Nicks when she herself was dancing with the devil in 1985. Following the death of her godson from an accidental overdose in 2012, the song has a more profound resonance today.

As befits a compilation of songs that weren't up to scratch first time around, 24 Karat Gold contains a few tinpost tracks that even the Nashville boys couldn't fix. Most, too, spill over the five-minute mark. but as fresh testament from one of Rock's great survivors, it makes for a fascinating listen.

24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault will be released October 6th in the UK.

Q&A STEVIE NICKS

How did you end up recording in Nashville?
The last album I did was with Dave Stewart in my house and we let it take a year because we were having so much fun. So I called him and said, "Dave, I know we spent a year doing In Your Dreams, but how can we do a record in two months?" And he said, "Go to Nashville. Those guys are on the clock." So you go to Nashville and hire six or seven of the best players in the workd and give them your 16 demos and they give you 15 days. You do two songs a day, which is unheard of in the way that we record, usually, but they are union people so they get there at nine in the morning.

How did "Hard Advice" come about?
Hard Advice" was a lecture Tom Petty gave me on his way through PHoenix one night. I was having a littel problematic moment in my life and he gave me one of his seriously hard advice lectures. He looked at me straight in the eyes with those big clear blue eyes and said, "This pain's gone on too long. Go home, light up your incense and your candles and go to your Bosendorer and write some real songs."

This could be an alternative greatest hits.
Or a greatest hits that never came out. Somebody said at one point, "If you took the last line out of this chorus it would be so much more of a hit record," and I just flat out said in front of the record company and everybody else: "I'm not trying to make a hit record here, I"m trying to make a great record." Hit records don't even sell anymore, anyway. Records don't sell anymore.

Sleeve Notes
Recorded at:
Blackbird, Nashville; Rock A Little Studio; Weapons Of Mass Entertainment Studio; Village Recorder, LA

Produced by:
Dave Stewart, Waddy Wachtel, Stevie Nicks

Personnel:
Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Dave Stewart (Guitar), Waddy Wachtel (Guitar, bk vocals), Mike Campbell, Davey Johnstone (Guitar) Ann Marie Calhoun (Violin), Sharon Celani, Lori Nicks (bk vocals) Tom Bukovac (Guitar), Michael Rhodes (bass), Dan Dugmore (Banjo), Chad Cromwell (Drums), Benmont Tench (Keyboard), Lenny Castro (Percussion).

Great article. A lot more new info. LOVE IT! Thanks for sharing.

"As befits a compilation of songs that weren't up to scratch first time around, 24 Karat Gold contains a few tinpost tracks that even the Nashville boys couldn't fix." :lol::eek: Too bad the person who wrote this article didn't "name drop" THOSE song titles.

It would appear that "Hard Advice" does indeed stem from the Tom Petty conversation, although, just going by the lyric snippets "You have to let him go..." it would seem it's about a different topic other than "writing her songs herself". :lol:

It's nice to read the full studio personnel who helped record the album. Also, could Rock A Little studios be, in fact, Stevie's living room? :D

Also interesting to finally hear her reasoning for re-recording "Twisted". But "Twisted" as a ballad??? Hmmmmm.....:shrug:

Rock A Little studios was referenced on the IYD album, so I understood that to be Stevie's home.

Interesting to see that Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench are studio players. I've been wondering who played that killer organ on Starshine, so am now thinking that could be Benmont.

Early on everyone was wondering why Christine was in Nashville looks like she was just hanging out with Stevie since she's not on the personnel list..

That gave me pause, too -- but I'm not putting too much stock in it until I hear the actual track. After all, "The Dealer" was also referred to by some critic as a "ballad."

Interesting that Mike Campbell wrote/co-wrote Starshine and I Don't Care...or at least that's what the article implies.

Now maybe someone will remove from Stevie's wikipedia the note that Dave Stewart wrote the music to I Don't Care...

Thanks for posting..it does appear that the indie press may give 24KG better reviews than IYD ..in fact this critic even takes a moment to slam IYD again.:lol:

"Mabel Normand", a moving parable based on the tragic life of the 1920s silent movie star, came to Nicks when she herself was dancing with the devil in 1985. Following the death of her godson from an accidental overdose in 2012, the song has a more profound resonance today."
That this song was singled out for praise by a hard to please "Uncut" critic is an indication that it may have transformed into something great.

Yay they liked the album, the long version!

He called cathouse blues corny.

That was a typo. He meant to call it "horny." ;)

When songs go into movies you might as well dump them out the window as you're driving by because they never get heard

THIS is why I love Stevie friggin Nicks
:lol::lol::lol::lol:

she's so negative. i relate :thumbsup:



THIS is hilarious lol

I relate too. :D
And as much as I agree with the song/movie comment, I think they did a pretty good job with her songs (and Joni Mitchell's) in Practical Magic.

I'm not sure what her fascination with Twisted is all about. It also was on Enchanted because she thought no one heard it on the movie sound track. But I wonder what it will sound like as a ballad.

I don't think they listed the "guest stars." Vanessa Carlton isn't listed either, and I'm pretty sure you can hear her singing backing vocals on Carousel.

I think this UNCUT review is as good a review as an album of never-quite-made-it-for-one-reason-or-another songs as you can get. Honestly, I hope all the reviews are as good.

Bet she wouldn't say that to Goldfinger.

Michele

I've never been a big fan of Twisted. Maybe I'll have a change of heart hearing it as a ballad.

Also

I wish I had ordered the vinyl of 24 Karat Gold since it drops next week. They've closed the Tower store here in Nashville, so it looks like I'll be hitting up another store!

:nod:

Off Topic (sorry) ~ Rod, I worked at that VERY Tower (off West End in Nashville) for the last 6 years of its existence. BEST...JOB...EVER!!! If it were still open, I'd still be working there...and we would've sold the "24 Karat Gold" vinyl at Midnight on Tuesday morning, like we did with ALL new releases every week. No one does that anymore. :(

I loved Tower! I was in there ALL the time! I know I must have seen you in there! Wow, that's great!

I was at Tower at midnight to get Trouble In Shangri La too!

:]

I probably sold it to you!:lol:

Thought it sounded like Benmont's playing.

There should be more reviews than this by now. Please post.

It's Okay
 

I'm a huge Stevie fan...and I have to admit this album is OK. There are some great moments like "Lady", "The Dealer", and "Mabel Normand". However, there are some stinkers, or at the very least, some that do not capture the magic of the original demos. You can hear the fact this album was recoreded in only 15 days. In my opinion, that is NOTHING to brag about. "Blue Water" does not hold a candle to the beautiful demo version and the recording for "All The Beautiful Worlds" just sounds lazy. My favorite parts were simply omitted from the end of the songs cadence. Finally, "If You Were My Love" is in the key of HORRID. What key is it in exactly why did they choose it. At this point, I am not sure Stevie streaming this album for free on Amazon.com was a good idea. Yesterday I was so excited to buy it and now, it's like a household chore I have to do. Of course I will buy it to support my girl, but STEVIE...shame on you.

Very interesting to hear your views. I respectfully disagree - far from shame, I would say bravo for creating one of the finest solo albums of her career - on par with her first three albums, and better than anything she's done since the mid-1980s. :sorry:

It's interesting, because Bella Donna & Wild Heart were recorded extremely quickly, just like 24k. And those are often cited by fans as Stevie's best solo efforts. In fact, I believe Wild Heart was recorded in even less time than 24k- 12 days, right?

I think this record quickly with minimal production is the best formula for Stevie. The magic of her music isn't lost in syrupy production, electronic/synthetic noise, and endless overdubs. Despite that, there's still an atmosphere to these songs. I'd say it's actually because of the lack of clutter that these songs have atmosphere.

I still can't rank this album compared to her others, though. I think part of it might be because this is almost more of a compilation than an album to me. :shrug:

^^^This. I think this record is the BEST STEVIE NICKS album in the past 25 plus years. And you guys know that I don't say things like that lightly. It's like the greatest hits that us "hard core fans" would want. There's just a magic to it...in her vocals, her energy, her emotion. There's just something there that I haven't heard from her in YEARS. It's like she's rediscovered the joy of making music again, but making music for HERSELF and not making music to garner another "hit record", "chart topper" or "money maker".

JMHO. :nod:

Absolutely - and I hope Stevie agrees!

If I had only listened to the standard tracklisting, I may agree that this is more of a compilation album. But listening to the songs as sequenced on the Deluxe album, and as organized on vinyl, with four distinct sides, this album feels more cohesive than anything she's done in a long time. It has a clear arc, and tells a story, in my view. Really impressed that she pulled this off.

Right?? Where has that voice been? When I listen to songs like 24KG and ATBW, my mind is literally blown away. So impressed with what she pulled off.

I might be the only person on here who isn't impressed with the way the standard version is sequenced. I much prefer the deluxe sequencing. "Watch Chain" has really become one of my favorites. I consider it ESSENTIAL to this record...so the standard version doesn't even exist to me. :lol: Still think "Twisted" isn't as good as the soundtrack original, but I do enjoy it and appreciate its spot in between "Mabel" and "24KG".

You're right, though. Each side is its own little E.P. which has an arc. And side 4 is even beginning to grow one me. Gasp! Shock! :lol:

I just think she should have spent more time on it. If these songs are so important to her, why crank it out of a factory? They should be an improvement on the demo version and many of these songs are not in my opinion.

I listened to the albums over & over Monday. Then yesterday I listened to the Amazon "standard edition" stream in its entirety, and I must agree that there is something of an arc to the deluxe sequencing that ebbs and flows better. "Lady" ending side 2. Then "She Loves Him Still" chillingly culminating the entire record.:thumbsup:

The standard version not containing "Twisted" & "Watchchain" seemed less impactful, but still good. :shrug: Yeah, maybe it's because I know the songs that are missing. But actually, it just felt like an entirely different listening experience without the 2 bonus tracks.

I know there's some controversey about the new "Twisted", but, to me, this new version fits perfectly with this set of songs, especially the dark twangy & chugging guitar new arangement & beautiful nuanced vocal. While "Whatchain" is NOT to be missed! She sounds like her 70s groovy self on that track :shocked: I wasn't a big fan of the demo, but I LOVE this new version, it blows away the demo. In fact, I would say that all the new versions blow away all the demos & outtakes, with the only exception being ATBW -- I think that one is on par with the WH outtake, and that's good!

:laugh: I'm not fan of it, either. I do like the instrumentation, though.

So, actually, I am glad you pointed this out. Pre-release streams are the worst thing ever to happen to music. I would bet that pre-release streaming destroys more sales than piracy ever did. They only serve two purposes: to disappoint those who were going to buy the labum, but changed their mind, and to provide the album for free to those who never intended to buy it anyway.

Obviously, many of us here have listened to the stream, and we are buying the album, but in general, I think streaming entire albums before release hurts sales.

I think streaming may help. I'm sure a lot of people will like this and buy.

Btw I really like the new version of "Blue Water". I can see why some of you say it lost its original magic, but I really think Stevie's recent voice fits the song better this way - with additional instrumentation and less "magical". We still have the demo and can enjoy it for what it is, but with this stripped down arrangement Stevie's voice would sound a bit too sharp I think - at least over 4 minutes.

I likewise prefer the deluxe sequencing. For one, it has the two bonus tracks, which perfectly fill out the album. And more, Cathouse Blues (which I love), makes so much more sense on this album towards the end. A fun breath of fresh air before digging in for the finale.

I should add: this is the first Stevie solo album where there's a not a single song that I think should've been cut.

Which makes me wonder, what were songs 17 (and maybe 18?) that Stevie and Dave originally had planned to record and release?

Let me clarify. I LOVE the song ("If You We My Love"). I just hate this version. The demo of this song is one of my favorite SN songs in exsistance. The key is just OFF. Too sharp or too augmented. I can't really put my finger on it.

No, The Wild Heart was recorded over the course of a few months. Bella Donna was began in 1979. She worked on that in between sessions of Tusk. Recording went well into 1981.