Stevie's Collaborations with Mike Campbell - Ranked - Page 2

Hawkeye · #1 06-23-2018, 05:48 PM

LOVE:

1. You Like Me- This is one of my favorite songs of hers ever. Definitely would’ve been my favorite on Rock a Little. And I can’t believe I did t think of this earlier but this should absolutely get done on this tour and should be a Fleetwood Mac
Song. Adding mick and John would take this song to another level.

2. For What It’s Worth

3. Imperial Hotel

4. Freedom

Really Good

5. I Don’t Care
6. Blue Denim

Eh

7. My Heart
8. Whole Lotta Trouble
9. Kick It (has this been included yet, it should)

Not Good

10. Desert Angel
11. Ghosts

sodascouts · #2 06-23-2018, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

9. Kick It (has this been included yet, it should)

No, we missed "Kick It."

Yikes, that one is pretty bad, too. This list keeps getting more and more inglorious.

I'll edit my initial post.

mitzo · #3 06-24-2018, 08:04 AM

I've said it a million times, Stevie never should have started hanging around the Heartbreakers, her music went ugly. starting with her first album solo.

The collaborations with Campbell are prime examples of the negative side of her Heartbreakers fixation.

Dragon · #4 06-24-2018, 08:48 AM

Collaborations with the Heartbreakers helped Stevie Nicks, Don Henley, and the Eagles.

dreamsunwind · #5 06-24-2018, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitzo

I've said it a million times, Stevie never should have started hanging around the Heartbreakers, her music went ugly. starting with her first album solo.

The collaborations with Campbell are prime examples of the negative side of her Heartbreakers fixation.

I like Insider and I Will Run to You a lot (SDMHA is too overplayed for me at this point) but I do see your point. I think her obsession with Tom's type of music and her desire to sound like him took away a lot of what made her special. I think most of Bella Donna was still well produced by Jimmy to sound unique to her but the rest of her albums not as much and it grew even moreso later on. But nothing captured the magic that she had on the FM white album through Gypsy on Mirage in my opinion. And I think that wasn't helped by the fact that after Bella Donna she saved all her 'best' songs in her eyes for her solo career.

bombaysaffires · #6 08-21-2018, 12:37 AM

the problem on most of their collaborations is her lame lyrics, not his music. She wasn't writing music because she'd run out of ideas, or was doing too much coke, or whatever. She got lazy. In the early days she'd try to create her own music. Then she got too famous and lazy. So she slapped a lot of messy sloppy lyrics over his music. I wouldn't blame him for things like "take a moment and think for a minute for a moment for a minute"

louielouie2000 · #7 06-28-2018, 07:30 AM

Love

1. Blue Denim - One of my fav Stevie solo tunes.

2. My Heart - At first I couldn't get used to the In Your Dreams retake of this song... but after a listen recently, I think it's far superior to the original Trouble In Shangri La outtake.

3. Freedom - I also agree this is underrated. I love the rocking, fast-ish tempo and the angry sentiments on this one.

Like

4. Desert Angel - I've always really liked, but not loved this song. I really dig the quirky music and mystical presentation of this one. I also really like the subject matter of the lyrics- Stevie never goes political. The lyrics are as current today as when they were nearly 30 years ago. So what keeps it out of the love category for me? I'm honestly not entirely sure. Perhaps it's the rather self-indulgent lyrics? Her vacillating between her love of the desert and hatred of this latest desert war is a bit ham fisted in places. Great sentiments... but not quite what it could be I suppose.

5. Kick It - I rather like this one. Comparing being addicted to relationships to being addicted to substances is actually kind of smart to me. I really like the music, too... just stripped down, straight forward rock & roll. This is one of her more underrated songs, IMO.

Eh

6. Whole Lotta Trouble - I agree that it's fun... and I like the uptempo beat and sentiment behind it. Ultimately, it's still fluff to me, though.

7. Ghosts - I view Other Side of the Mirror as a concept album... it's meant to be listened to as a whole continuous work rather than individual songs. Ghosts, like most of the songs on the album, doesn't particularly stand out to me because of that.

8. You Like Me - I had to look this one up. Meh.

9. Greta - I used to really love the funkiness of this song. Over the past several years it's lost it's sheen for me, though. I think it's the flat, lifeless vocals. She just doesn't even sound convinced about the words she's singing.

10. Imperial Hotel - This one doesn't really elicit any emotions in me at all. It's neither good nor bad... it's just there.

Dislike

11. For What It's Worth - To me, this song reminds me of the bad songs on Street Angel. The rather lackluster vocals (especially those dreary double harmonies) don't do it any favors. I'm not huge on the lyrics, either... they are fairly unimaginative in the vain of Cheaper Than Free. Plus, the whole song is glorifying trying to steal her married addiction counselor from his wife.

Beautiful Child is another example of a song about an affair with a married man, but it's done in a much more abstract and provocative way. FWIW just comes across as cringe worthy to me.

12. Fire Burning - I agree with others... the lyrics are just awful. I don't think a whole lot of the music, either.

Loathe

13. I Don't Care - This one is pretty terrible. Awful lyrics, awful execution. Again, reminds me of the bad stuff on Street Angel.

Special Question: Should she do any of these with Fleetwood Mac?

The only song that would get a pass from me would be Freedom since it was a FM song to begin with. Blue Denim could be lovely... but does it have a place on a FM stage?

sodascouts · #8 06-28-2018, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Special Question: Should she do any of these with Fleetwood Mac?

The only song that would get a pass from me would be Freedom since it was a FM song to begin with. Blue Denim could be lovely... but does it have a place on a FM stage?

"I was with him... everyone knew. Poor little fool."

StevieandChris · #9 06-30-2018, 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Love

2. My Heart - At first I couldn't get used to the In Your Dreams retake of this song... but after a listen recently, I think it's far superior to the original Trouble In Shangri La outtake.

I love both versions, with a preference for the In Your Dreams version. But since the lyrics are different I think of them as two different songs rather than demo vs. finished.

gldstwmn · #10 06-30-2018, 01:42 PM

I forgot to add my favorite unreleased Stevie/Mike collaboration: The Mixdown AKA Love and War. I love this track!

sodascouts · #11 06-30-2018, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

I forgot to add my favorite unreleased Stevie/Mike collaboration: The Mixdown AKA Love and War. I love this track!

That's one of my favorites as well!

I didn't know this music was written by Campbell! Did Stevie mention that in an interview or something?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4LmAn-ydcAA" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

A user commented this on the above YouTube video:

"I think this is the demo she built around the Mike Campbell track without permission that Tom Petty freaked out over (and which eventually became Runaway Train). I know some have speculated that was Joan of Arc but I think this was the one."

That seems speculative. Is this what you're talking about? Or is there harder evidence?

It could very well be true!

gldstwmn · #12 07-01-2018, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sodascouts

That's one of my favorites as well!

I didn't know this music was written by Campbell! Did Stevie mention that in an interview or something?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4LmAn-ydcAA" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

A user commented this on the above YouTube video:

"I think this is the demo she built around the Mike Campbell track without permission that Tom Petty freaked out over (and which eventually became Runaway Train). I know some have speculated that was Joan of Arc but I think this was the one."

That seems speculative. Is this what you're talking about? Or is there harder evidence?

It could very well be true!

Okay so the Runaway Trains demo is supposedly the Ooh My Love Tango in the Night working version we got on the deluxe/expanded Tango. You'll have to forgive me but my brain is like an overstuffed filing cabinet when it comes to Stevie/Mac stuff. It's there but I don't know where it came from. The same goes for Love and War. I'm pretty sure it's a Mike Campbell co-write but I can't definitively say.

Also it's the same but can I just say I love this?

jwd · #13 06-30-2018, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sodascouts

Inspired by another thread: What is your opinion of Stevie's collaborations with Mike Campbell? I am not counting SDMHA because it is not a co-write.

Here's mine:

Love

1. Blue Denim - fantastic. I adore this song. One of my favorites of Stevie's.

2. Whole Lotta Trouble - A fun rocker. Great song!

Like

3. Freedom - I think this is underrated. It's catchy.

Eh

4. For What It's Worth - the grammatical problem of this one annoys me no end and keeps me from enjoying it. I'm sorry. However, it has its good parts.

5. My Heart - OK. Boring in some parts.

6. Desert Angel - Tiresome and dreary in many parts. However, I don't think I hate it as much as everyone else, because it's not at the bottom for me. It has some nice lines.

7. Ghosts - Doesn't interest me. I usually skip it. Again, some nice lines here and there.

8. You Like Me - This one was released by the Williams Brothers but there's also an unreleased version of Stevie doing it. It's alright. Nothing special. Glad she didn't release it.

9. Greta - not bad, but not very interesting. Some questionable lyrical choices.

Dislike

10. Fire Burning - This song had potential but it was squandered with asinine lyrics. "Let me tell you about this fire in my house...except there is no fire! it's just an illusion!" MIND BLOWN!

Loathe

11. Kick It - This song makes no sense. It's like Stevie just stuck lyrics together. I'm sure they must have had some coherence in her head... but I can't follow the trail.

12. I Don't Care - This song grates on me. It annoys me. I can't stand it.

13. Imperial Hotel - HATE. SO. MUCH. Meandering....self-indulgent, half-baked lyrics... awful.

Special Question: Should she do any of these with Fleetwood Mac?

No.

I'll just say that Blue Denim is the best (which I do like quite a bit) of the Mike/Stevie collaborations, and the rest dabble in mediocrity, or worse. Doesn't give much hope to some fantastic new music from the two of them. Especially considering that they have faded quite a bit since their prime years.