"Beauty And The Beast" ~ Tusk Outtake

[mikebise]

One thing I really love about Stevie is how her songs can be interpreted in so many different ways through the years. Like "If You Were My Love" and "Smile At You" through the years, all so different and yet I love them all!

So, while the version of "Beauty And The Beast" on The Wild Heart remains one of my favourite Stevie performances of all time, I was just listening to the unreleased version which was axed from Tusk, and I have chills afterwards!

Written in 1978 about her failed secret romance with Mick (and demoed for the first time here in Dallas, along with "Sara"), listening to this version from 1978/1979 just makes me want to cry, it's so raw and chilling. When Stevie's voice catches as she sings:

"Two children much too blind
To see...
Oh, well, I would fall in your shadow...
I believe..."

Followed by a Stevie Moment. You know those, when Stevie's voice connects with the words she's lived and written down in her pain. I just die on this version when Stevie goes:

"We come from different worlds
But we are the same!
I never doubted your beauty ~ I've changed!
I never doubted your beauty
I've changed!
I've... I've...
I've changed...
I've changed...
I've changed..."

As amazed as I was when I first heard the album version of "Beauty And The Beast" in June 1983, I got that same feeling when I heard the Tusk outtake in September 1998 for the first time. Stevie is so incredible, and I'm so glad I discovered her music so long ago, and that I still get as much pleasure from listening to her now.

I love Stevie's music so much!

[vivfox]

I love Stevie's music so much!


Do you need a tissue?

[SapphireSister]

Are you referring to the "blues" version? If so I can't even talk about it or I'll bawl my eyes out all over my computer. At least not today. Maybe tomorrow.

[Loneman1]

Hmm........don't think I ever caught this one. I pretty much know for a fact that I am not as versed in FM or her solo stuff as probably ANYONE else here (I'll school you on Journey and Metallica though LOL), but I would like to be pointed in the right direction towards this version of a great song.

[SapphireSister]

I'm not 100% positive this is the one you are referring to Mike but to me this version is THE.MOST.BEAUTIFUL.SONG.OF.ALL.TIME. Does that say enough?
http://www.mediafire.com/?31jmg45tmz3

[mikebise]

Yes, this is the outtake of "Beauty And The Beast" from Tusk. It and "The Dealer" were two of Stevie's songs axed from the double record.

[SapphireSister]

Yes, this is the outtake of "Beauty And The Beast" from Tusk. It and "The Dealer" were two of Stevie's songs axed from the double record.
I'm actually glad because BATB was so meant to be a Stevie solo song!! O.k. so I listened to it and yes, I got all choked up but not as bad as I thought. It's so very sad this version. For some reason it seems even darker than the album version. There is something so simple about it yet the message is so deeply personal. And it is such a relateable song. We've all felt like the beauty or the beast at some point and don't think you haven't been both! lol

[SuiteShangriLa]

if the "blues demo" is from '78 for the Tusk album, then when was the piano demo with Tom Petty recorded? The demo where she talks about seeing the French version of the movie and how it was amazing and thats what she wrote the song about (or where the inspiration came from i should say)...and she sings it like she just wrote it and isnt very familiar with the lyrics, or maybe she was singing a rough draft of the song???

[mikebise]

After listening to that piano demo with the intro right now, I don't think this is necessarily the first time Stevie's performed the song. She says, "I saw it once", referring to the film, and it doesn't sound like it was that recent. Or maybe it was.

When Stevie says, "Isn't it, Tom?", she's talking to someone who saw the movie with her, and his voice doesn't sound like Tom Petty when he answers her. But maybe it is. I didn't know they hung out in 1978.

With guitars fiddling around in the background at the beginning, and the sound of Stevie's voice, I'd guess circa April 1980, if she is with Tom Petty in the studio. It's hard for me to tell. It could have been Stevie playing the song for the Heartbreakers, as a possible one for them to record with her on those first sessions in 1980.

Lori and Stevie have both talked about "Beauty And The Beast" being demoed for the first time in Dallas in 1978 (the same time with "Sara" at Goodnight Dallas), and Gordon Perry confirmed that for me in 1996.

The Tusk outtake is on the Master Reel with "The Dealer" and Stevie's 5 other songs for Tusk. So, it's definitely from 1978/Early 1979.

[SuiteShangriLa]

im not arguing that it wasnt originally demoed in 78. its just that in the piano demo with TP (i assumed it was Petty when she said Tom-kinda sounds like him) it just sounds like shes singing it for the very first time. i just listened to it again and on the second take, after she tapes the lyrics to the candle she sings it better. Maybe the first part she was trying to sing it from memory?

[David]

The one with Fleetwood Mac playing doesn't sound like studio tracking. It sounds like very loose playing during a lull in a rehearsal. It's all live in one room or hall. It's definitely Fleetwood Mac, though--Mick on drums, John on bass, Christine on CP-30 (which also lends support to the possibility that it's tour rehearsal rather than studio tracking).

[David]

im not arguing that it wasnt originally demoed in 78. its just that in the piano demo with TP (i assumed it was Petty when she said Tom-kinda sounds like him)Tom Petty & Stevie don't go back that far. If there's a Tom in these old demos, chances are it's the guy who co-wrote "Gold & Braid" & who built a studio with Nicks in order to record demos. Tom Moncrieff--the guy who says he laid down the tracks for "Sara."

[SuiteShangriLa]

Tom Petty & Stevie don't go back that far. If there's a Tom in these old demos, chances are it's the guy who co-wrote "Gold & Braid" & who built a studio with Nicks in order to record demos. Tom Moncrieff--the guy who says he laid down the tracks for "Sara."

omg. Stevie didnt know Tom Petty when she was recording Bella Donna??? well wtf.

[mikebise]

David was referring to 1978, not 1980.

[SuiteShangriLa]

David was referring to 1978, not 1980.

yeah i realize that...and i was referring to the PIANO DEMO that was recorded AFTER the FM version.

[Loneman1]

I'm not 100% positive this is the one you are referring to Mike but to me this version is THE.MOST.BEAUTIFUL.SONG.OF.ALL.TIME. Does that say enough?
http://www.mediafire.com/?31jmg45tmz3

Awesome, look forward to hearing it. Thanks!