32 Years Ago: Stevie Nicks Sticks With the Formula on ‘The Wild Heart’

[SisterNightroad]

32 Years Ago: Stevie Nicks Sticks With the Formula on ‘The Wild Heart’
By Nick DeRiso June 10, 2015 7:32 PM

Released on June 10, 1983, Stevie Nicks‘ The Wild Heart featured an appropriately named song: “Nothing Ever Changes.” On her second solo album, the Fleetwood Mac chanteuse played to her strengths – and, in keeping with her status as one of the ’80s biggest stars, she sold millions.

The songs, as on her 1981 solo debut Bella Donna, were largely straight-forward and pop chart-friendly, without the quirky mannerisms that often surrounded her work with Fleetwood Mac. So, we have a reference to that familiar white-winged dove from “Edge of Seventeen,” this time on the Top 40 hit “Nightbird“; and a song that will remind diehards of her 1982 Mac hit “Gypsy” in “Sable on Blond.” Nicks once again asks a series of famous friends over to contribute, too – from Tom Petty (“I Will Run to You”) to Mick Fleetwood (“Sable”), from the Eagles‘ Don Felder (“Nothing Ever Changes”) to David Foster (“Nightbird”).

But The Wild Heart was then, and is now, defined by its biggest hit – and it biggest risk: Her No. 5 hit “Stand Back,” with its pulsing, stunningly disco-fied cadence, additional guitar work from Toto‘s Steve Lukather and uncredited appearance (both as impetus and as sideman) from Prince, would eventually chart for a total of 19 weeks, and sat in the Top 10 for six of them.

“Stand Back” even provides a kind of road map for Stevie Nicks’ lyrics, which were becoming ever more oblique and difficult to interpret. “No one knows how I feel, what I say,” Nicks sings on ‘Stand Back,’ “unless you read between my lines.” That’s good advice when sorting through stanzas like this one: “There is a gate; it can be guarded. Well, it is not heaven, and it has a garden. So, to the red rose goes the passion.”

In fact, “Stand Back” was so inventive, and so monolithic, that it made all of that witchy-woman mysticism – and even the underrated “If Anyone Falls,” a No. 14 hit that explores the billowing emotions surrounding an unrequited love – sound positively pedestrian. That’s thanks in part to a groove that Nicks said was inspired by Prince’s “Little Red Corvette,” of course, but it’s also powered along by one of her most fearless vocals.

In keeping, “Stand Back” quickly became a staple of Stevie Nicks’ solo concerts; it’s been part and parcel of Fleetwood Mac’s setlists since 1987, as well. By then, The Wild Heart – which went to No. 5 on the Billboard charts in the summer of 1983 – was well on its way to double-platinum status.



Read More: 32 Years Ago: Stevie Nicks Sticks With the Formula on 'The Wild Heart' | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/stevi...ckback=tsmclip




HOW COULD I FORGET?

[olive]

what did David Foster do ?

[BlueDenimLamp]

Originally Posted by olive

what did David Foster do ?

Piano on "Nightbird"

[olive]

thanks ......

[Macfanforever]

I love Nightbird,David collaborated with alot of great artists and bands.I enjoy his work.

[johnnystorms]

Standback is the defining song of her solo career. It mixed the wild rock vocal, with an edgy techno sound, with her opaque lyrics from the FM days.. I was hooked on it! cemented my fanhood to this day..
she broke from the Heartbreaker-ette, to define her solo persona in this track.

[James89]

The Wild Heart is just fantastic from start to finish. Most of you probably have already, but if you haven't, sit down and listen to it all the way through you and you realise what a masterpiece it is. I think it just pips it to be my favourite Stevie album.

[Macfan4life]

The summer of 1983 was all about Stevie She was in Hit Parade magazine, Rock magazine and the cover of even more.
Stand Back burned the charts. Not only a huge top 5 song but rock stations had it on top too. Plus the video was on MTV, HBO's video show, and Friday Night Video.
Wild Heart was keeping pace with some of the biggest albums that summer, Thriller, Flashdance, and Lionel Richie.
Stand Back was released in May and it peaked in August. So all summer long....it was nothing but Stand Back.
I loved that summer

[mitzo]

Originally Posted by johnnystorms

Standback is the defining song of her solo career. It mixed the wild rock vocal, with an edgy techno sound, with her opaque lyrics from the FM days.. I was hooked on it! cemented my fanhood to this day..
she broke from the Heartbreaker-ette, to define her solo persona in this track.

Yup, Stand Back and some of the rest of WH represented a reassuring break from the Heartbreakers heartbreak. Stand Back, BATB, Nightbird, and Sable on Blond all worked for me instantly.

[johnnystorms]

Originally Posted by mitzo

Yup, Stand Back and some of the rest of WH represented a reassuring break from the Heartbreakers heartbreak. Stand Back, BATB, Nightbird, and Sable on Blond all worked for me instantly.

ditto! she had scored the hit she needed with BellaDonna and had the clout to explore how she wanted to sound. Too bad her coke addiction ruined what could have been. and that is NOT a criticism, simply an observation.
If the Standback MOJO had continued, she could have kept pace in the late 80's.

[turquoise5]

Originally Posted by BlueDenimLamp

Piano on "Nightbird"

Wow, I didn't know that, I always thought it was Sandy Stewart.

[ViscountViktor]

I would listen to Wild Heart all the way through but I find Stevie's voice uncomfortable to listen to - I can only do one song at a time.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by ViscountViktor

I would listen to Wild Heart all the way through but I find Stevie's voice uncomfortable to listen to - I can only do one song at a time.

What?!?!

[SisterNightroad]

Ivory Keys has put another essential account of Stevie's album sessions, this time for The Wild Heart:

The Wild Heart Sessions

Stevie recorded "All The Beautiful Worlds" for The Wild Heart in Dallas in 1982 with Gordon Perry as the producer. Perry would also produce several more songs for the album, in both Dallas and Los Angeles, including "Wild Heart," "Destiny," "Julia," and "Gate And Garden."

In October 1983, four months after the release of The Wild Heart, Bobbye Hall was paid for a week in the studio adding percussion overdubs to "All The Beautiful Worlds." Was "All The Beautiful Worlds" being prepped as a b-side for the upcoming "Nightbird" single? Did Stevie decide to keep the song her her next album, Rock A Little? Those questions remain unanswered, but Stevie finally did record a fantastic new version of the song in 2014 as part of her album, 24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault.

One of the great "controversies" from The Wild Heart era has been concerning the original video for "Stand Back," which was scrapped and remained officially unreleased until 2007 on Stevie's Crystal Visions DVD. Bootleg copies of the original video circulated for two decades before the official release and fans always wondered why this version with the Civil War theme was deemed not worthy of release.

In Danny Goldberg's book, (he co-founded Modern Records with Stevie and Paul Fishkin), he revealed the truth about the Civil War concept being for the original lead single, "If Anyone Falls", and that it was too late to change the theme when "Stand Back" became the new lead single (sets already built, costumes bought, director hired, etc.) After watching the final results, everyone agreed that they should go ahead and film another video for "Stand Back".

The video for "If Anyone Falls" was recorded in Dallas in early September 1983 when Stevie was there on her tour for The Wild Heart. Outtake photos from the video shoot reveal several sequences not seen in the released final video.

Another Sandy Stewart instrumental that Stevie wrote lyrics to is "One More Tomorrow." After Stevie's version did not make it onto The Wild Heart, Sandy wrote her own lyrics for it and recorded it as "Leave It All Behind" on her 1984 album, Cat Dancer.

The liner notes for The Wild Heart reveal some extra lyrics for "Nightbird" not heard on the album but are present in this Extended Ending version of the song.

After "Julia" was axed from Bella Donna at, literally, the last minute in 1981, Stevie was desperate for the song (about her friendship with Robin Anderson, who was dying of leukemia) to be on her next record. Gordon Perry produced the song in Dallas (as he did several others for The Wild Heart). However, as the main Producer for the album, Jimmy Iovine had final say in the album's tracks, and he once again dropped "Julia" from the record, much to Stevie's dismay.

"Sable On Blond" has always been one of the most beloved songs by fans from The Wild Heart. Stevie explained to Rock Magazine in 1983 the meaning of the song:
"'Sable On Blond' is my serious statement on The Wild Heart. It fits into a particular group of my songs; 'Rhiannon,' 'Beautiful Child' and 'Sara.' It reflects the mood I was in when I moved into my new house last year. It was a time when I was learning how to live with myself. 'Sable On Blond' meant to learn how to be a stranger, to learn to be with yourself, to learn to be one color. In the legend of Excalibur, the sword is there for protection, but you don't call upon it unless it's absolutely necessary. During that period in my life, I was learning how not to call on the sword."

The outtake of "Violet And Blue" below is the actual version from the 1984 film, Against All Odds. The soundtrack album, however, contains a completely different version, which was also released on Stevie's 1998 box set, Enchanted.

In October 1990, Chris Lord-Alge began remixing songs that were being considered for inclusion on Stevie's upcoming 1991 Greatest Hits compilation, TimeSpace. The TimeSpace Remix of "Violet And Blue" has never been commercially released but was discovered on a Master Reel in 2002.

Stevie wrote and recorded "Belle Fleur" for Bella Donna in 1981, but it was also a song she re-recorded for The Wild Heart. In 1982, Stevie gave an interview where she talked about her new album's progress, and she listed four of the songs already completed: "Violet And Blue," "Garbo." "Belle Fleur," and "Destiny." None of those songs made it onto The Wild Heart! "Garbo" would, of course, be released as the b-side of "Stand Back" and also on the 1998 box set, Enchanted (which is still in print, which is why "Garbo" is not included in the links here). "Violet And Blue" would be on the 1984 soundtrack to Against All Odds as well as Enchanted. Stevie would re-record "Destiny" for Street Angel in 1993, and "Belle Fleur" for 24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault in 2014. The version of "Belle Fleur" below is considered to be an outtake from The Wild Heart sessions but it could possibly truly be from the Bella Donna sessions instead. It's hard to tell.

Stevie's demo for "Nothing Ever Changes" features several lyrics not on the album version. Once The Wild Heart was released in 1983, "Nothing Ever Changes" received extensive airplay on Rock Radio stations.

Stevie wrote her lyrics for "Dial The Number" in 1982 and set them to a Sandy Stewart instrumental. After not making it on The Wild Heart, Stevie would re-record "Dial The Number" in 1988 for The Other Side Of The Mirror, where it also failed to make the final cut.

A preliminary final track listing for The Wild Heart in Late 1982 revealed "Goodbye Baby" as the final song rather than "Beauty And The Beast," which is not listed at all. "Beauty And The Beast" and "Stand Back" were recorded in Early 1983, which caused the track listing to change significantly. The version of "Goodbye Baby" recorded for The Wild Heart has never circulated among fans, nor has "Gold And Braid," which was also re-recorded for The Wild Heart and later slated for release on Stevie's 1998 box set, Enchanted, but did not end up on the final release.

In the Summer of 1981, after returning from France where Fleetwood Mac had begun recording Mirage, Stevie had a long photo session in Manhattan for her upcoming cover and feature in Rolling Stone magazine. The entire session was also video-taped, which is where the early version of "Wild Heart" comes from. As Stevie is getting her makeup and hair done for the photo shoot, she is listening to tapes of the new Mirage recordings, and an instrumental of "Can't Go Back" comes on, to which Stevie sings lyrics of her in-progress new song, "Wild Heart."

Like with "Nightbird," the liner notes of The Wild Heart contain several extra lines of lyrics for "Wild Heart." The file below is just the ending because that is all that exists in this great sound quality (there are "complete" versions in terrible sound).

The first copyright for "The Charmed Ones" is from 1982, when the recording below most likely is from. Stevie would also re-record the song in 1986 and 1996, but it remains unreleased to this day.

This Early Mix of "Stand Back" was surprisingly used as the musical track for Stevie's live performance of the song that she filmed for Solid Gold in 1984. The Vocals Only version comes from the Multi-Track of "Stand Back" that was leaked a few years ago.

One of Stevie's more obscure duets is with Robbie Patton on his 1982 album, Orders From Headquarters, "Smiling Islands," which was also released as a single.

Stevie's duet with Sandy Stewart, "I Pretend," from Sandy's 1984 debut album, Cat Dancer, was another "rare" song that was originally intended for inclusion on Stevie's 1998 box set, Enchanted, but was not on the final release.

Stevie also had featured backing vocals on "Cat Dancers" and "Get My Way" from Cat Dancer.

Marilyn Martin went along on The Wild Heart tour in 1983 as one of Joe Walsh's back-up singers (Joe was Stevie's opening act). Soon, Marilyn was joining Sharon and Lori (and Carolyn Brooks in Texas!) as one of Stevie's backing singers on several songs like "Rhiannon,""Edge Of Seventeen," and "Stand Back."

When Stevie's unreleased song, "Sorcerer," was chosen to be recorded for the upcoming soundtrack to the 1984 film, Streets Of Fire, Stevie suggested Marilyn sing the lead vocals. Stevie is very clearly on the soundtrack version but she is not listed in the credits. Stevie actually takes over the song near the end!

The actual film of Streets Of Fire includes a completely different version of "Sorcerer," sung by Laurie Sargent.



Here are the demos and outtakes: http://stevienicksivorykeys.blogspot...1982-1983.html

[Papillon]

Thank you for posting that Sister Nightroad
It never ceases to amaze me when I read these detailed backstories & see the enormous, meticulously archived catalog of Stevie Songs that Ivory Keys gives to us.