Street Angel- things I didn’t know

[bwboy]

I saw online that Glyn Johns released a book about his career working with various artists, which had additional links at the end of the article. One article in particular caught my eye- it said that Unconditional Love was supposed to have been the first single, and that a video had been shot for it. It also said pictures from the video shoot are in the Enchanted booklet.

It also said God’s Garden, Inspiration, and another song called I Call You Missing were removed from the album at Stevie’s request when she got out of rehab, and were replaced with Docklands, Listen to the Rain, and one or two other songs. I Call You Missing has never been heard by the public, or at least not when that article initially appeared.

Stevie also said Johns wouldn’t allow Waddy to play on Street Angel, saying he wasn’t needed. However, wasn’t the recording of SA about the same time he was charged with child pornography? If so, I figure that was more likely the reason, but I could be wrong about the timetable.

Are these well known anecdotes?

[Macfan4life]

Yes I think that is all commonly known. There were photos posted here and online of Street Angel promotion posters that lists "the new single Unconditional Love." The album was going for release and then things got "complicated."
Glyn Johns wanted Stevie to sing a song that his son wrote. It was recorded for the album but in her meltdown and retaliation she removed it from the album.
I understand why Stevie does not like the album. The time brings back horrific memories of her brutal rehab, her weight gain and critics, her fried hair, and an album and single that did not chart. She also was not drawing huge crowds on her tour and the southern leg was cancelled (but not officially announced yet).
I am in the minority but I like the album. It has great raw material. Yes it has duds. But I love Blue Denim, Greta, Listen to the rain, Love is like a river, Docklands, Rose Garden, and Maybe Love Will Change your mind. I usually hate songs that others wrote and she sings but Maybe Love is the exception. She sings with heart as if she wrote it. I hate the title track, Unconditional Love and Kick it.
And good heavens, I like Jane too. I cant understand the hate for Jane because of the word chimpanzee like the hate for Docklands because of the word laundromat. But to each their own.
Glyn Johns is known for his work but not easy to get along with. My hunch is that he did not like her work ethic. He was probably holding her accountable to show up on time which NO ONE ever dared do before. And it went downhill from there.
The album has a country rock vibe that suits her really well. All of her criticism makes no sense. She claims the vocals needed redone and the songs needed Waddy. Her vocals on the album are excellent. Its the last album with her traditional rasp. She went flat for the Dance and TISRL.
I cant even imagine how difficult it was working with her during peak klonopin addiction. So while she deflects her hate towards Johns she needs to acknowledge her own behavior. Stevie even commented when she got out of Betty Ford and started klonopin she would show up late during Tango sessions which irked Lindsey. Can you imagine what it was like in 1993? Glyn was there to work and produce and not be a therapist and cheerleader. He was not worshipping at the altar of Stevie Nicks and that was a problem.
Of course it was a problem.
Frontline baby!

[BLY]

Yes Macfan4life you are right on point. I also enjoyed most of Street Angel and that tour she really sounded good. That was also when I met her (along with my wife and twin daughters) and it was bittersweet. Have been a fan of hers since 1977 it wasn’t as obvious of her decline over the years as I followed her. I always saw the positive in the next release of hers (Mac or solo) but looking back and adding all the commentary from “fans” of hers over the years…..It gives me a very different perspective.

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Yes I think that is all commonly known. There were photos posted here and online of Street Angel promotion posters that lists "the new single Unconditional Love." The album was going for release and then things got "complicated."
Glyn Johns wanted Stevie to sing a song that his son wrote. It was recorded for the album but in her meltdown and retaliation she removed it from the album.
I am in the minority but I like the album. It has great raw material. Yes it has duds. But I love Blue Denim, Greta, Listen to the rain, Love is like a river, Docklands, Rose Garden, and Maybe Love Will Change your mind. I usually hate songs that others wrote and she sings but Maybe Love is the exception. She sings with heart as if she wrote it. I hate the title track, Unconditional Love and Kick it.
And good heavens, I like Jane too. I cant understand the hate for Jane because of the word chimpanzee like the hate for Docklands because of the word laundromat. But to each their own.

I don’t think Stevie removed Inspiration or God’s Garden out of retaliation. I mean, they’re horrible songs. If she came to that decision after rehab, then rehab definitely worked! Listen to the Rain and Love is Like a River replaced Inspiration and God’s Garden, and like you said, they’re two of her better songs on this album.

Street Angel is an odd listen for me. I can’t say I love any songs on it, but there are some I do like. I can give you probably five more reasons I hate Docklands besides her use of the word laundromat LOL.

I love Unconditional Love, but absolutely can see why they scrapped making that a single. That just shows how much trouble they had deciding on which song to release first. I do recall a press release shortly before SA was released saying Blue Denim was the lead single. The fact that no video was shot for Maybe Love tells me that was a last minute decision to release it.

Wish we could see the video for Unconditional Love.

[blinker12]

^Inspiration is decent, IMO, but God’s Garden is jaw-droppingly bad. Her vocal performance on GG certainly doesn’t help, either.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by bwboy

I don’t think Stevie removed Inspiration or God’s Garden out of retaliation. I mean, they’re horrible songs. If she came to that decision after rehab, then rehab definitely worked! Listen to the Rain and Love is Like a River replaced Inspiration and God’s Garden, and like you said, they’re two of her better songs on this album.

Street Angel is an odd listen for me. I can’t say I love any songs on it, but there are some I do like. I can give you probably five more reasons I hate Docklands besides her use of the word laundromat LOL.

I love Unconditional Love, but absolutely can see why they scrapped making that a single. That just shows how much trouble they had deciding on which song to release first. I do recall a press release shortly before SA was released saying Blue Denim was the lead single. The fact that no video was shot for Maybe Love tells me that was a last minute decision to release it.

Wish we could see the video for Unconditional Love.

We have completely different tastes and likes and dislikes. When I first heard Unconditional Love I thought it was a joke song. Its the cheeziest song ever and I hate when Stevie stoops so low to sing those kinds of songs. Its like Everyday IMHO. I also hate the Bob Dylan remake Just Like A Woman. That was a mistake and someone should have been brave enough to tell her.
I was really shocked Maybe Love did not crack the top 40. Although the radio station where I lived in 1994 played the hell out of that song.
Have you heard the Glyn version of Jane? Its almost like a HAEWAFY piano sort of ballad. She does a great vocal on it too. The album version is more slower and synth keyboards added.

This version is so beautiful and good vocal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxBgdMDmHKI

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

We have completely different tastes and likes and dislikes. When I first heard Unconditional Love I thought it was a joke song. Its the cheeziest song ever and I hate when Stevie stoops so low to sing those kinds of songs. Its like Everyday IMHO. I also hate the Bob Dylan remake Just Like A Woman. That was a mistake and someone should have been brave enough to tell her.
I was really shocked Maybe Love did not crack the top 40. Although the radio station where I lived in 1994 played the hell out of that song.
Have you heard the Glyn version of Jane? Its almost like a HAEWAFY piano sort of ballad. She does a great vocal on it too. The album version is more slower and synth keyboards added.

This version is so beautiful and good vocal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxBgdMDmHKI

Thank you so much for the link! That is a much better version of Jane. You’re right, it brings HAEWAFY to mind, and that’s a compliment. I read in the comment section that the only time Stevie performed Jane live, she got emotional and Sara Fleetwood had to finish the song, and Stevie had the audio and video destroyed. That’s too bad, and I wonder if Sara was allowed to keep a copy, since she finished the song. Would have been nice for her resume LOL!

Unconditional Love cheesy? I cannot deny that, and what can I say- I love cheese! I think Stevie’s vocals are great, but the backup vocals are too, I don’t know, pronounced for me. The way they sing “Un-con-dit-ion-al love” is very distracting and does kind of make it sound like a parody. But it is still so much better than Everyday! She sounds so flat on that song, and it was clearly a deliberate decision on her part to sing it that way.

[WatchChain]

The recording and release of "Street Angel" was an interesting time to be a Stevie Nicks fan - most notably because her lukewarm career was on life support by 1994.

The Dance reunion tour just three years later in 1997 made Stevie and Fleetwood Mac cool and relevant again. However, there was a short period of time in the early 90's when Stevie and Fleetwood Mac were box office poison.
She played a few half empty outdoor sheds on the Street Angel tour. I scored second row tickets on this tour because, frankly, there wasn't much demand.

Thankfully, with the induction with Fleetwood Mac to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, Stevie's career regained momentum.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by WatchChain

The recording and release of "Street Angel" was an interesting time to be a Stevie Nicks fan - most notably because her lukewarm career was on life support by 1994.

The Dance reunion tour just three years later in 1997 made Stevie and Fleetwood Mac cool and relevant again. However, there was a short period of time in the early 90's when Stevie and Fleetwood Mac were box office poison.
She played a few half empty outdoor sheds on the Street Angel tour. I scored second row tickets on this tour because, frankly, there wasn't much demand.

Thankfully, with the induction with Fleetwood Mac to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, Stevie's career regained momentum.

Yes. It was her first solo album since leaving Fleetwood Mac and it tanked. However it is certified gold. The Dance made all Mac albums including pre-Nicks ones and all solo albums sell more copies.
Her albums always seemed to fit the music in the year it was released. For example Bella Donna fit perfectly into 1981 guitar based rock. Wild Heart fit perfectly into 1983 with more keyboards and less guitar. RAL fit into the pop music world perfectly in 1985 synth pop drum machines. OSOTM tried to grasp the last magic of the 1980s slick production.
Street Angel did not fit with the music industry in 1994. However that is the reason why I like it. It was not following trends and had its own sound. If you strip all the vocals off the album, the music and tracks are really good (for the most part). That is why her next album TISRL sucked IMHO. The music tracks were so weak and her singing flat. My duds are the title track, Destiny, Unconditional Love, Just Like A Woman, and Kick it. But the rest of it is pretty good. But I like BTM too for many of the same reasons. The album has depth and good music and not chasing pop success. I could even paint with a broad brush and say that is one criticism I have of Wild Heart. She was a solo star now and Jimmy did not want the sophomore jinx. So Wild Heart is very safe in some aspects and lighter pop than its predecessor.
The album brings me back to my first apartment. It was small and if you went to the balcony and looked hard right there was a lake. So I used to tell myself "oooh I've got a movie star view" I also think Docklands has a great chorus to sing along to.

You are correct bwboy. The way the word Uncondional is sung in that song is annoying and a joke
My favorite track is Listen To The Rain. Its so autobiographical and I love Stevie songs where she sings about herself.

Listen to what some rock stars said of working with Glyn Johns:
Eric Clapton:
He was a disciplinarian who did not like people mucking about or wasting time. When we were in the studio we were expected to work and he'd get frustrated if there was any goofing off. Even though we were all getting stoned or drunk we responded to that quite well. He brought out the best in us, and as a result that album [Slowhand] has great playing and a great atmosphere

Pete Townsend:
Glyn was my model of what a good producer should be—someone who guides the music and creates the right sound—and there was a great mutual respect and fondness between us. We were both perfectionists in the studio who worked quickly. It was his work as an engineer on the early Who sessions ... that made them sound so great.

I dont see someone who is addicted to tranquilizers working well with someone like that

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by WatchChain

However, there was a short period of time in the early 90's when Stevie and Fleetwood Mac were box office poison.
.

Of course because, to many people, that wasn't Fleetwood Mac any more. Including me, about the Time lineup. And about the BTM lineup, it was hardly Fleetwood Mac.

[David]

The only thing I remember about the Waddy thing is what Stevie told someone or other in 1994 — Mary Turner from Off the Record or Mark and Brian — that Glyn had told her: “This album doesn’t need Waddy Wachtel.” Stevie said she could only look at Glyn with the lower half of her jaw open, in complete shock.

(Actually, Glyn had a point.)

[mikemono411]

I only listened to the album once and didn’t like it. But with the new boxset I went back to it and like it considerably more than I did before. A lot of the songs are duds or trying too hard or plodding along (Docklands, Unconditional Love, Jane). However, I do *love* the three songs she wrote with Mirk Campbell’s music (Blue Denim, Greta, Kick It), and I *like* “Rose Garden” (though I think I prefer the ‘Enchanted’ version?) and “Maybe Love will Change Your Mind.”

[Nicks Fan]

Waddy was busted in 1998 and MTV did an article about it.

I think Street Angel and 24 Karat Gold are her worst albums. Her voice is fine on Street Angel but the majority of tracks are not that good. I only like really Blue Denim, and Maybe Love.

With 24 Karat Gold her voice is way too nasal and some of the demos are awful like Cathouse Blues. The album felt way too rushed like they didn't take their time to get the best vocals.

https://www.mtv.com/news/0sh522/guit...ld-pornography

Robert Wachtel, 52, better known as Waddy Wachtel, veteran session guitarist, was arrested Thursday at his Los Angeles home for possession of kiddie cyberporn, according to the Associated Press. Wachtel most recently played on the Rolling Stones' Bridges To Babylon album. His other credits include session work for Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac. Wachtel was part of Keith Richards' side band, the X-Pensive Winos, and toured with Nicks numerous times. He also co-produced Richards' 1988 Talk Is Cheap album. According to Los Angeles police, Wachtel was arrested along with his 55-year-old wife, Annie. In addition to items found on a computer, police allegedly discovered printed copies of kiddie porn materials. Wachtel was booked for possession and duplication of child porn; his wife was charged only with possession. These charges are considered misdemeanors for first-time offenders. But Wachtel is also facing a drug possession charge from an incident last month when police allegedly found cocaine during a raid on the Wachtel house. The Wachtels posted $10,000 bail each and were released. Arraignment is scheduled for later in July.

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by Nicks Fan

Waddy was busted in 1998 and MTV did an article about it.

https://www.mtv.com/news/0sh522/guit...ld-pornography

Robert Wachtel, 52, better known as Waddy Wachtel, veteran session guitarist, was arrested Thursday at his Los Angeles home for possession of kiddie cyberporn, according to the Associated Press. Wachtel most recently played on the Rolling Stones' Bridges To Babylon album. His other credits include session work for Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac. Wachtel was part of Keith Richards' side band, the X-Pensive Winos, and toured with Nicks numerous times. He also co-produced Richards' 1988 Talk Is Cheap album. According to Los Angeles police, Wachtel was arrested along with his 55-year-old wife, Annie. In addition to items found on a computer, police allegedly discovered printed copies of kiddie porn materials. Wachtel was booked for possession and duplication of child porn; his wife was charged only with possession. These charges are considered misdemeanors for first-time offenders. But Wachtel is also facing a drug possession charge from an incident last month when police allegedly found cocaine during a raid on the Wachtel house. The Wachtels posted $10,000 bail each and were released. Arraignment is scheduled for later in July.

Thank you, Nicks Fan! I find it very interesting that even though Glyn Johns apparently didn’t want Waddy on the SA album, Stevie didn’t use him on the SA tour. Maybe he was already booked doing something else? I enjoyed Rick Vito’s stint as guitarist and musical director of the SA tour and wish he would have continued with that a bit longer.

The whole Waddy thing is disturbing to me. I don’t know the facts and he was eventually cleared of the charges, but it still makes me queasy so I try not to think about it.

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by bwboy

Thank you, Nicks Fan! I find it very interesting that even though Glyn Johns apparently didn’t want Waddy on the SA album, Stevie didn’t use him on the SA tour. Maybe he was already booked doing something else? I enjoyed Rick Vito’s stint as guitarist and musical director of the SA tour and wish he would have continued with that a bit longer.

The whole Waddy thing is disturbing to me. I don’t know the facts and he was eventually cleared of the charges, but it still makes me queasy so I try not to think about it.

Stevie and Waddy had a falling out for several years at one point, and then they made up and he was back. I don't recall the timing of that, and whether it related to his legal issues, or fallout from an affair they supposedly had had on the road (big surprise).... but he was gone from her "scene" for a block of time