Jimmy Iovine talks Stevie Nicks on Howard Stern today
 

Jimmy was on Stern this morning promoting his movie on HBO. Howard went through his career and of course Stevie Nicks was a hot topic. I will paraphrase most of what he said and I am sure the full interview will be on youtube soon.
Jimmy loved Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. When he was hired to do Damn the Torpedoes he worked his butt off making it the incredible record that it is. He said Tom really was not into it for the money and Jimmy was like you are supposed to be a rock star and make lots of money. He butted heads with Tom's drummer because he could never seem to do it the way Jimmy wanted.
When Stevie hired him to do Bella Donna he was afraid. Everyone told Jimmy that Stevie was only good enough for about 3 songs on an album and could not sing an entire album. He felt incredible pressure to suddenly be Lindsey Buckingham and turn her writing and songs into good music. Jimmy and Stevie fell for eachother right away and Stevie moved in his house. Jimmy had to keep the Stevie relationship secret from Tom Petty. Not because Tom wanted Stevie but because Tom wanted Jimmy to work full time on his music and not be distracted. Every time Tom came over Jimmy's house, Stevie would hide in the basement and listen to the music. When Bella Donna was finished Jimmy told Stevie up front that its a good album but no one is going to listen to it no matter how many candles or crystals you put on the album cover. The album needed a single. He instantly thought of SDMHA, a song Tom shelved because they he did not think it was a single. Jimmy thought the idea of a woman singing these tough guy lyrics would be the perfect song. They cut the song and added it to Bella Donna. The song was a huge success and Tom got pissed. This forever changed Tom and Jimmy's relationship. Tom felt betrayed that his song was used to launch Stevie and her record became more popular than his. Tom jokes about it today saying the song bought him a new house in 1981. However this soured their relationship and Jimmy expressed regret in the way he coordinated this song. In some ways Tom felt his song was stolen. Jimmy says that Stevie dumped him shortly after the release of Bella Donna and it hurt him. They are best friends today and Stevie went to his wedding. Jimmy says he is socially awkward and really only socializes in recording studios. Jimmy saw Stevie become a huge star and acknowledged that her life got out of control.

Jimmy really loved working with raw talent Stevie and Tom. Later in his career when he worked with established artists Bob Segar and U2 it was not as much fun.

I wish Howard asked about the Rock A Little project. I bet Jimmy could tell the most amazing stories ever. Great interview with this legend if you can catch it.

This is interesting. In her liner notes for the deluxe edition of Bella Donna she portrays it that when she left after the end of her short BD tour to join up with FM in France to record Mirage, Jimmy came with her. He intended to stay 10 days but he and Lindsey got into a nasty fight (I can imagine Lindsey making all sorts of snarky, caustic remarks intended to provoke.... I can imagine her possibly making remarks of her own to LB....:shrug:) anyway Jimmy found it intolerable and left after just a day or so. And the way she writes it, she was like "Is that it? It's over just like that??" Implying that his leaving ended the relationship....... Of course the notes pick up on the Wild Heart re release and talk about how they resumed their relationship but not like before; they did not live together.

So the truth is out there somewhere..........

He left France but when Stevie came back to the states is probably when she dumped him. He mentioned that Joe Walsh was her next boyfriend and that was 1983.

Stevie possibly exaggerating?? What a shock!!

Here is the link to Jimmy describing hiding Stevie Nicks in the basement
https://www.howardstern.com/show/201...-his-basement/

Tom needs to grow up
 

Seems pretty childish of Tom Petty to feel like he was betrayed after Stevie had a big hit with SDMHA. He didn't want the song on his album, and he was willing to record it with Stevie for Bella Donna, so why the sour grapes?

:laugh: That's great stuff. Thanks for putting it up!

yes, but that timeline totally ignores the fact that she married Kim in between all that....

She and Jimmy were together during the making of Wild Heart, but not living together the way they had during BD. That would have been 1982 into 83. Then in the beginning of 83 she married Kim, and they divorced that summer but she talked about the marriage being over before the tour even started in interviews. She hooked up with Joe during the tour for WH.

interestingly there's a series of photos of Stevie with both Kim and Jimmy at some awards (American Music? Grammy's?? not sure) -- she's in her all white stage clothes and Jimmy is in an all-white tux and she seems to be on Jimmy's arm, not Kim's, in nearly all of them. I always found that interesting....

(she broke up with Hernan Rojas before going out on the Tusk tour and she said in an interview when she was seeing Paul Fishkin that she wasn't interested in playing around but she gets very lonely on the road...... "read between my lines" on that one.....)

uhh! She never stayed lonely for too long, just saying..

You could almost say that for every member of this band, couldn't you? Just sayin' . . :laugh:

Just out of curiosity, out of her many boyfriends...did any dump her?

Not really when you think about it and hear the full interview. Jimmy admits he handled the situation wrong. It was not like Jimmy or Stevie were out shopping for a single. Jimmy came right for this song. Go back in time. Its spring 1981 and Tom Petty releases Hard Promises....the follow up to the smash Damn the Torpedoes. Jimmy was working on both albums. In less than 2 months Bella Donna is released and eclipses Hard Promises. Tom sees Hard Promises a success but nowhere near the success of his prior album. How could he not think WHAT IF SDMHA was the lead off his album. Its not that Tom did not like the song. Tom and Jimmy shelved it and did not include it on Hard Promises. Its very possible it could have been on the next Petty release. Its the way Jimmy went about it that rubbed Tom the wrong way. Give me the song, record it for Stevie...great thanks. Jealous some? Maybe. But Jimmy would not have regrets if it was pure jealousy. There was enormous pressure on Jimmy to make sure Bella Donna was a success. So I think Tom felt his good song was taken from him for the wrong reason. Its all water under the bridge now but back in 1981 when Bella Donna eclipsed Hard Promises and Tom's album was not as successful as his prior one, his song lands in the top 3 for Stevie Nicks, I can feel the sting. These albums were charting at the exact same time. I think Tom felt betrayed. If your own producer thought it was such a hit song, why did he not persist it go on your own album?

Here is the interview. Iovine interview starts at approx. 1:50:00 and Stevie starts at 2:29:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8pKyc8IDvI

Well, it was about 36 years and a lot of drugs ago. I doubt Tom Petty feels that way now. Stevie and Tom are good friends- I think I read she was going to do a show together (Australia, maybe?) in the near future.

Joe.... but still she hung on, no matter how sh&ttily he treated her.

Some of her married boyfriends...?

I'm pretty sure she dumped him. The whole "you walk out that door you cease to exist" thing. But he just never really cared either way lol and probably set the whole thing up for failure anyways.

Mick dropped her for Sara if that counts.