Street Angel - the original version

[TheWILDheart]

Originally Posted by Aussie W/Heart

So who produced I Call You Missing & Mirror Mirror the awesome 92 version? Glyn Johns? Such a shame they were not included on Street Angel.

Yes, Glyn producted both.

I actually prefer the '84 version of "Mirror Mirror" personally.

Originally Posted by On Ice

I'm actually in the love Street Angel camp, I don't think it's a bad album at all and her singing is actually quite good on most tracks. Sure it has duds like the awful Docklands and a horrible vocal on Jane but those '93 versions are great and if she had included that wonderful version of Mirror Mirror, to me she would have a hard time convincing people that the album is bad.

I agree, I love "Street Angel", but I have to listen to a revised version of it because "Jane", "Docklands" and "Unconditional Love" make me want to commit arson. I don't like Stevie's "Just Like A Woman" either - snooze fest. She was never great at recording covers, to say how well she does them live (I Need To Know, Rock and Roll, Circle Dance).

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by TheWILDheart

Yes, Glyn producted both.

I absolutely LOVE the Glyn John's produced tracks. Stevie went in the studio and ruined most of them as far as I am concerned. Docklands & Listen To The Rain were masterpieces til her and Tom Panunzio destroyed 'em.

[mitzo]

Gotta agree, the Johns-produced things sound much more professional and slick, pleasant to the ears.

[TheWILDheart]

Originally Posted by vivfox

Docklands & Listen To The Rain were masterpieces til her and Tom Panunzio destroyed 'em.

I couldn't disagree more. I LOVE "Listen To The Rain" as it is, and "Docklands" is so terrible, even different production couldn't save it.

Have you heard the Timespace version of "Listen to the Rain"?

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by TheWILDheart

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.

See, but that's the thing - the Glyn Johns mixes sounded great. The whole CD of Glyn's original mixes has been circulating for a couple of years, and a few of the tracks even got used on the Enchanted box set (Destiny, Rose Garden & Street Angel).

I really just believe Stevie is/was being melodramatic when she talks about this point in the birth of the Street Angel album. Let us not forget how many of her songs have been "ruined" by Lindsey for not sounding like the demos. Because Gypsy and Sara are are *so* terrible and Lindsey is so very mean to Stevie - or so she would have had us believe at various points in time.

I would not go so far as to say that Stevie and Thom Panunzio ruined the songs that Glyn produced, but I do honestly believe there was nothing wrong with them and that Stevie just wanted to scrub Glyn away because he was not enamoured with her the way other producers have been, and he ran a tight ship with actual rules and schedules. And admittedly, as a long-time fan I have many times myself thought that the last thing Stevie needs is Waddy Wachtel, so I guess I agree with Glyn in that respect.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by Aussie W/Heart

So who produced I Call You Missing & Mirror Mirror the awesome 92 version? Glyn Johns? Such a shame they were not included on Street Angel.

Originally Posted by TheWILDheart

Yes, Glyn producted both.

I'm not sure anyone knows with certainty who produced "I Call You Missing" for the SA sessions, it seems to be the missing holy grail of outtakes for fans. But the 1992 recordings of "Mirror, Mirror" & "Thousand Days" were produced by Chris Lord-Alge according to Sara Fleetwood. She claimed that these were recorded before Glyn Johns was brought on board as producer for the whole project.

I always thought it was a possibility that "I Call You Missing" was actually "Love Is Like A River" and was misprinted on some of the initial press releases, since these two songs share practically the same lyrics. But allegedly Sara Fleetwood has confirmed to some in the fan community that they did in fact record ICYM.

[markolas]

Yeah, I've never questioned that they recorded "I Call You Missing" for Street Angel. I also got the impression that "Running Through the Garden" was recorded for it as well.

The Street Angel tracks on Enchanted are the Glyn Johns versions, IIRC...which seemed odd to me, since Stevie always talked about how much she hated his work. I do prefer the Glyn Johns versions of those songs, and the ones she put on Enchanted are by far the best songs on the album (although I do like "Love Is Like a River" an awful lot).

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by markolas

The Street Angel tracks on Enchanted are the Glyn Johns versions, IIRC...which seemed odd to me, since Stevie always talked about how much she hated his work. I do prefer the Glyn Johns versions of those songs, and the ones she put on Enchanted are by far the best songs on the album (although I do like "Love Is Like a River" an awful lot).

Me too! I love those RAL demos more, though, with the pulsing synth beats.

[TheWILDheart]

Originally Posted by markolas

Yeah, I've never questioned that they recorded "I Call You Missing" for Street Angel. I also got the impression that "Running Through the Garden" was recorded for it as well.

The Street Angel tracks on Enchanted are the Glyn Johns versions, IIRC...which seemed odd to me, since Stevie always talked about how much she hated his work. I do prefer the Glyn Johns versions of those songs, and the ones she put on Enchanted are by far the best songs on the album (although I do like "Love Is Like a River" an awful lot).

"Love is like a River" is my fav track on SA

I prefer the SA mixes to be honest. That roaring guitar in "Street Angel" is fantastic. The single edit of "Blue Denim" is soooooo much better than either version - it has way more kick too it than Glyn's and Thom's mixes, which makes it so much more rock and roll than the folky sounding version on the album.

[Johnny Stew]

Originally Posted by markolas

Yeah, I've never questioned that they recorded "I Call You Missing" for Street Angel. I also got the impression that "Running Through the Garden" was recorded for it as well.

"Running Through The Garden" has a 4/27/1992 copyright date on the US Copyright website. Same for "Mirror Mirror" and "Thousand Days."

We know now that the latter two were produced by Chris Lord-Alge at that time, so I think it's a safe bet that there's a CLA produced version of "Running Through The Garden" in the vaults somewhere too.

[Johnny Stew]

Originally Posted by TheWILDheart

I prefer the SA mixes to be honest.

I prefer the album versions too, but it is interesting to hear the original mixes for comparison. To my ears, though, there's something "off" about the original Glyn Johns mixes.

[TheWILDheart]

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

"Running Through The Garden" has a 4/27/1992 copyright date on the US Copyright website. Same for "Mirror Mirror" and "Thousand Days."

We know now that the latter two were produced by Chris Lord-Alge at that time, so I think it's a safe bet that there's a CLA produced version of "Running Through The Garden" in the vaults somewhere too.

not quite the same, but here is the RAL demo of "Running Through The Garden"

http://www.sendspace.com/file/201q9s

[Phil]

If Stevie had continued with Chris Lord-Alge at the production helm, the album could have been vastly improved upon. A track-listing featuring the following, in Chris' capable hands, really could have been something:

Blue Denim
Greta
Street Angel
Listen To The Rain
Destiny
I Call You Missing
Mirror Mirror
Thousand Days
Running Through The Garden
Kick It
If You Were My Love

I also think the likes of Maybe Love and Unconditional Love could have been brought up to scratch by Chris (although I do quite like the versions of these produced by Glyn Johns). He may have even been able to resurrect Love Is Live A River, which I happen to think is a bit of a mess (although I do quite like the Rock A Little era version).

Docklands is virtually unsalvagaeable, but I remember preferring the slower demo version that may have originated from the The Other Side Of The Mirror sessions. Can anyone confirm this?

With regard to the remaining tracks, I don't think there is much anyone could do with Rose Garden, Just Like A Woman,Jane, Inspiration or God's Garden - they're all pretty woeful.

I have to say that in the absence of an entire Chris Lord-Alge production, I definitely prefer Glyn's version to Thom Panunzio's since the released album truly sounds listless and over-worked. It is immensely frustrating, in my opinion, that Stevie had eleven excellent songs at her disposal, all of which she had written, and yet what eventually emerged was an unmitigated disaster. I agree with an earlier post that it seemed as if Stevie's musical vision had abandoned her and she no longer had the will to fight "the suits".

PS TheWILDHeart, I detest that guitar howl in the official Street Angel and much prefer the Glyn Johns version, which is more subtle and ethereal (the keyboards almost remind me of Peter Gabriel).

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by Phil

......since the released album truly sounds listless and over-worked. It is immensely frustrating, in my opinion, that Stevie had eleven excellent songs at her disposal, all of which she had written, and yet what eventually emerged was an unmitigated disaster.

Totally. I love the album, but you really hit it on the nail with that.

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by TheWILDheart

not quite the same, but here is the RAL demo of "Running Through The Garden"

http://www.sendspace.com/file/201q9s

This link contains a virus. Don't DL it.

Not your fault TheWILDheart.