Jimmy Iovine talks Stevie Nicks on Howard Stern today

[Macfan4life]

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.