Street Angel - the original version

[TheWILDheart]

This is for PenguinHead and all the other fans who have never seen this. I know it was posted on here a few years back, but thought I'd bring it to the attention of the newer members.

This is a press release, dating from 1992, giving the original release details for "Street Angel" including the tracklist.

"God's Garden" and "Inspiration" both ended up as b-sides and were included as bonus tracks on the Japanese release of SA. "I Call You Missing" from the SA sessions has never surfaced.

Both "God's Garden" and "Inspiration" were written by Ethan Johns, Glyn Johns' son, and recorded at Glyn's insistence. After Glyn walked away from the project, Stevie scrapped both tracks (along with ICYM) and recorded "Docklands", "Jane", "Greta" and "Love Is Like A River" for the album.

"Unconditional Love" was originally planned as the first single and a video WAS shot for it. IIRC, the pics of Stevie in the Enchanted boxsett it in the tan/cream coloured outfit with the hood are from this shoot. I'm not sure if I video was ever completed, but there were sessions for it.

Here is what Stevie said of "Street Angel" and working with Glyn Johns from the infamous "Off The Record" interview - one of very few promotions for SA.

Announcer: "...Street Angel, the 1994 solo album that Stevie won't be putting in anyone's Christmas stocking"

SN: "No, I've really walked away from it. It's really over for me. It took...it was started in the summer of '92, I hope I get this right, and it went...um...we recorded through 'til after Christmas in '93, when the inauguration was, and then we went back and worked for like another six weeks on it, and then we finished it, basically. And then...all the English people that were involved went home to England and I listened to it for two months and I didn't like it.

And so I went back in, with Thom Panunzio, to try and fix what I was not happy with. And I didn't fix it while I was working with the person that I was working with [Glyn Johns]...who dosen't like to be talked about because he's not speaking to me, um...I didn't like it when he was there, and he knew it, and basically he told me to...like, in no uncertain english, very rough terms, to shut up and deal with it and this was the way it was going to be.

So I waited for him to not only leave, but be gone for two months, before I summoned up enough courage to say well, I know this isn't right, this is just not me. This is not my record. So I went back in for about eight weeks and I didn't mess with the vocals, which I should have. But I was so sort of overwhelmed with trying to fix the things that I didn't like about the music, which was like...there was no percussion, there was no Waddy Wachtel. Because I was told that the last thing that I would need was Waddy Wachtel. And I, you know...I mean, to that comment I was so speechless that I just didn't do anything, I said ok. So when I went back in, I had Waddy come in and play, and I had Peter Michael come in and put percusssion on, and Michael Campbell came back and put some more guitar on it, and we re-mixed everything, and we did a lot of other things besides that.

I should have gone back in and really worked with the album, with the vocals. Because that's something that...I guess that was the last thing that I knew was wrong with it, and after being in two months trying to fix everything that I thought was wrong about the music and the mixes, it was almost kind of like, you know, maybe you just need to let this go and go on. I mean, this is three years now. And this record should have been out a long time ago. It may be new for everybody else, but it's really old for me.

And, it's not my favorite record anyway, so, maybe it's just time to stop. So I did stop."

[PenguinHead]

Thanks WILDheart for posting that promo. It's fascinating to see the original promotional ad for the album, prior to all the changes.

I find it so strange that "Unconditional Love" was slated to be the first single, and that Stevie conceded to record (and include on the album) two songs written by the producer's son! It appears she was completely under the control of the "English people." I can't reconcile how Stevie, a powerful, opinionated force in her own right, could feel so dominated and complict in the process of recording the album.

And, why the heck did God's Garden and Inspiration get released, and I Call You Missing hasn't seen the light of day?

[TheWILDheart]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Thanks WILDheart for posting that promo. It's fascinating to see the original promotional ad for the album, prior to all the changes.

I find it so strange that "Unconditional Love" was slated to be the first single, and that Stevie conceded to record (and include on the album) two songs written by the producer's son! It appears she was completely under the control of the "English people." I can't reconcile how Stevie, a powerful, opinionated force in her own right, could feel so dominated and complict in the process of recording the album.

And, why the heck did God's Garden and Inspiration get released, and I Call You Missing hasn't seen the light of day?

Well, I don't think Stevie was in a particularly fighting mood at that point. Not only was this the worst of her klonopin dependency years, she'd also been pushed around and walked all over in regards to "Sometimes It's a Bitch" by the suits at the record label.

I think she was just doing as she was told by this point. Sort of on "auto-pilot" just going through the motions, and it wasn't until she came out of rehab in 93 that she got herself back and was able to go in and give Glyn Johns the boot.

She removed his name from the album too, and made damn sure he got squat for 2 years work.

I know Stevie doesn't like it, but there are some killer songs on "Street Angel". It certainly deserves more credit than it gets.

[SpyNote]

Thanks for posting the press release. It's so interesting to see all the leg work that was done to get that album out. What a PR mess for Stevie.

I agree that there are some good songs on Street Angel. Stevie was definitely too hard on herself. The original versions of "Jane" and "Unconditional Love" were much better than the revised ones. You can hear the 1993 version of the album here.

[TheWILDheart]

Thanks SpyNote for the link.

You can really tell what Stevie was getting at with her comments in the interview about the drums. The whole album sounds "hollow". Stevie had always surrounded herself with a great band, but this just sounds empty and cold.

[HejiraNYC]

That Glyn Johns must be a total douche nozzle. The other day I was reading an article about Carly Simon's Hello Big Man album:

Well, I was trying to find a new producer. Because Warner thought Mike (Mainieri) couldn't make a really commercial album. I disagreed with them. But I went along because they were so nice about Torch. Even though they didn't think it was commercial, they really did get behind it. And it actually sold more copies than some of my "commercial" albums.

So I looked for another producer. And I settled on Glyn Johns. We started work at Compass Point in Bermuda. And it simply didn't work out. I wasn't happy. So I went back to Mike.

Yes, he's got an impressive track record of classic rock albums under his belt, but Buddah knows how many projects never came to fruition because he was so insufferable.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by TheWILDheart

Well, I don't think Stevie was in a particularly fighting mood at that point. Not only was this the worst of her klonopin dependency years, she'd also been pushed around and walked all over in regards to "Sometimes It's a Bitch" by the suits at the record label.

I think she was just doing as she was told by this point. Sort of on "auto-pilot" just going through the motions, and it wasn't until she came out of rehab in 93 that she got herself back and was able to go in and give Glyn Johns the boot.

She removed his name from the album too, and made damn sure he got squat for 2 years work.

I know Stevie doesn't like it, but there are some killer songs on "Street Angel". It certainly deserves more credit than it gets.

Not quite, Glyn Johns surely would have been paid for his work on "Street Angel" in an upfront contract before sessions began.

When Stevie emerged from Klonopin detox/rehab and listened to Glyn's final mixes of SA with sober ears, she obviously didn't like what she heard. She said she waited for Glen to go home, somewhere in the UK I presume, and against Glyns wishes, Stevie & Thom Panuzio embarked to open up the mixes and layer in new guitar & drum fills. Glyn allegedly demanded that his name be removed from the final project according to Stevie, to which I'm sure Stevie happily obliged.

[KarmaContestant]

You know, the thing is, I could almost believe that Stevie simply was too out of touch to take Glyn's work with any seriousness.

Imagine - she comes out of rehab - and the whole project is deemed unacceptable? I'm sure the guy was difficult, but I have to wonder how much of Stevie's dislike of the material was really a struggle with a post-medicated identity crisis and how much of it was actual bad workmanship from Glyn.

I do like the Street Angel album, quite a lot, to be honest, so whatever she did is fine by me.

[Phil]

I have seen and heard a 1993 promo cassette featuring the same track-listing/sequencing mentioned in the above 1992 press release and it poses a question regarding "I Call You Missing". The first track on Side B of the cassette is "Love Is Like A River", but it is actually titled "I Call You Missing". Now I don't know if this could have been an alternate title for "Love Is Like A River" or if it was just a mistake. Given the time period involved, it would seem that oversights were allowed to occur, hence the 1984 recording of "Mirror Mirror" being included on the b-side of the "Blue Denim" cassingle when the 1992 version was intended for inclusion.
I realise that we have it on good authority (courtesy of various sources) that "I Call You Missing" was indeed recorded during the Street Angel sessions, but I'm just wondering if it was considered for actual inclusion at any of the projected 1992/1993/1994 release stages? Can anyone shed more light on the matter?

[TheWILDheart]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

You know, the thing is, I could almost believe that Stevie simply was too out of touch to take Glyn's work with any seriousness.

Imagine - she comes out of rehab - and the whole project is deemed unacceptable? I'm sure the guy was difficult, but I have to wonder how much of Stevie's dislike of the material was really a struggle with a post-medicated identity crisis and how much of it was actual bad workmanship from Glyn.

I do like the Street Angel album, quite a lot, to be honest, so whatever she did is fine by me.

Well, as far as I'm aware, the album was finished by the time Stevie entered rehab. All the Glyn Johns mixes are pre-rehab recordings and it was after Stevie left rehab, sober for the first time in over a decade, listen to the record and though "what the hell is this?". After being worn down by the label over Timespace, the battle with Mick and the years of klonopin and fluoxetine use had left her lifeless - she was more the likely just going through the motions with Glyn and doing as she was told, likely due to lack of energy to fight anymore.

[Oooh Missionary]

Originally Posted by TheWILDheart

This is for PenguinHead and all the other fans who have never seen this. I know it was posted on here a few years back, but thought I'd bring it to the attention of the newer members.

This is a press release, dating from 1992, giving the original release details for "Street Angel" including the tracklist.

"God's Garden" and "Inspiration" both ended up as b-sides and were included as bonus tracks on the Japanese release of SA. "I Call You Missing" from the SA sessions has never surfaced.

Both "God's Garden" and "Inspiration" were written by Ethan Johns, Glyn Johns' son, and recorded at Glyn's insistence. After Glyn walked away from the project, Stevie scrapped both tracks (along with ICYM) and recorded "Docklands", "Jane", "Greta" and "Love Is Like A River" for the album.

"Unconditional Love" was originally planned as the first single and a video WAS shot for it. IIRC, the pics of Stevie in the Enchanted boxsett it in the tan/cream coloured outfit with the hood are from this shoot. I'm not sure if I video was ever completed, but there were sessions for it.

Here is what Stevie said of "Street Angel" and working with Glyn Johns from the infamous "Off The Record" interview - one of very few promotions for SA.

Announcer: "...Street Angel, the 1994 solo album that Stevie won't be putting in anyone's Christmas stocking"

SN: "No, I've really walked away from it. It's really over for me. It took...it was started in the summer of '92, I hope I get this right, and it went...um...we recorded through 'til after Christmas in '93, when the inauguration was, and then we went back and worked for like another six weeks on it, and then we finished it, basically. And then...all the English people that were involved went home to England and I listened to it for two months and I didn't like it.

And so I went back in, with Thom Panunzio, to try and fix what I was not happy with. And I didn't fix it while I was working with the person that I was working with [Glyn Johns]...who dosen't like to be talked about because he's not speaking to me, um...I didn't like it when he was there, and he knew it, and basically he told me to...like, in no uncertain english, very rough terms, to shut up and deal with it and this was the way it was going to be.

So I waited for him to not only leave, but be gone for two months, before I summoned up enough courage to say well, I know this isn't right, this is just not me. This is not my record. So I went back in for about eight weeks and I didn't mess with the vocals, which I should have. But I was so sort of overwhelmed with trying to fix the things that I didn't like about the music, which was like...there was no percussion, there was no Waddy Wachtel. Because I was told that the last thing that I would need was Waddy Wachtel. And I, you know...I mean, to that comment I was so speechless that I just didn't do anything, I said ok. So when I went back in, I had Waddy come in and play, and I had Peter Michael come in and put percusssion on, and Michael Campbell came back and put some more guitar on it, and we re-mixed everything, and we did a lot of other things besides that.

I should have gone back in and really worked with the album, with the vocals. Because that's something that...I guess that was the last thing that I knew was wrong with it, and after being in two months trying to fix everything that I thought was wrong about the music and the mixes, it was almost kind of like, you know, maybe you just need to let this go and go on. I mean, this is three years now. And this record should have been out a long time ago. It may be new for everybody else, but it's really old for me.

And, it's not my favorite record anyway, so, maybe it's just time to stop. So I did stop."

Thanks for sharing this again... I love stuff like this showing how projects developed.

"Greta" is my favorite song off of SA, so I'm glad the release was pushed back. I remember picking up the cassette the week it was released (oblivious to all of the delays and drama that went into getting the album out) and thought it was alright. I pretty much treated it as a "Blue Denim"/"Greta" single after that first listen, rewinding the tape back to the beginning before "Street Angel" could start.

She was working with Chris Lord-Alge and he remixed both "Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind" and "Blue Denim" for single release with fantastic results. He'd already proven his remixing abilities -especially on TimeSpace- and I'll never understand why he didn't just rework the entire Street Angel LP with her given how unhappy she was with the initial mix.

Frankly, a world where the Street Angel album boasts a whittled-down, Lord-Alge mixed track listing complete with sleeve art that looks something like it's promotional posters is a world I want to live in. A world we should all live in.

[Phil]

I agree, Chris Lord-Alge could have salvaged the album better than Thom Panunzio. Such a wasted opportunity.