New biography about Stevie by Stephen Davis

[bwboy]

Came across it on Amazon. Called Gold Dust Woman: A Biography of Stevie Nicks. Written by Stephen Davis, who co-wrote Mick Fleetwood's autobiography. It's out on Nov. 21, 2017.

I had no idea this was being written, and I'm intrigued that Stephen Davis is writing it. I imagine Mick would have spoken to him and provided info that he wouldn't otherwise have access to. I wonder how Stevie will react, since she supposedly was unhappy with Mick's book, which was more than complimentary to her. Mick better hurry up and schedule those concert dates real fast and get Stevie's signature on those contracts before November!

[TheWildHeart67]

Hmmmmm. Interesting

[SisterNightroad]

Interesting, this could probably be the most accurate biography we can get.

[dreamsunwind]

I think it's unauthorized, just like any of the other biographies on her and probably just s compilation of info taken from all her interviews. I read the Zoe Howe book and it was just like that but I really disliked it because the author had the most annoying tone and expressed her opinion too many times imo, and was kind of obnoxious about it.

[bwboy]

It is unauthorized, but the fact that it's written by Stephen Davis adds a whole lot of credibility to it. This won't be just another unauthorized book about Stevie- as SisterNightroad said, this is about as close as we're going to get to a decent, accurate biography of Stevie. The fact that he co-wrote Mick's autobiography would certainly have given him unprecedented access to stories and details about Stevie that others wouldn't have been privy to.

I think this is a pretty big development.

[SisterNightroad]

I think it's unauthorized, just like any of the other biographies on her and probably just s compilation of info taken from all her interviews. I read the Zoe Howe book and it was just like that but I really disliked it because the author had the most annoying tone and expressed her opinion too many times imo, and was kind of obnoxious about it.
The fact that it is unauthorized could even ensure more accuracy.

However Stephen Davis is a serious and professional rock biographer with a lot of experience, among other things he's written the "Hammer of the Gods" series.
It seems he's intended to write about Stevie for a long time since I found he started talking about it around 2008:

But if rock is fading as an art form, does that mean rock biography will soon follow?


“No, I’m planning a project on the Jonas Brothers,” Davis says with a wry smile. "I’m kidding. I’m very interested in writing about women now. There’s Carly Simon. There’s Stevie Nicks. I hear Debbie Harry wants to do a book and that they’re looking for a writer. The Blondie story would be a good one. We’ll see."

http://www.bu.edu/today/2008/rock-from-axl-to-zep/

[dreamsunwind]

It is unauthorized, but the fact that it's written by Stephen Davis adds a whole lot of credibility to it. This won't be just another unauthorized book about Stevie- as SisterNightroad said, this is about as close as we're going to get to a decent, accurate biography of Stevie. The fact that he co-wrote Mick's autobiography would certainly have given him unprecedented access to stories and details about Stevie that others wouldn't have been privy to.

I think this is a pretty big development.

That is true but I can imagine Stevie is still pretty firm on what she wants out and what she doesn't so I don't think it'll have much new information or anything particularly revealing.

[dreamsunwind]

The fact that it is unauthorized could even ensure more accuracy.

However Stephen Davis is a serious and professional rock biographer with a lot of experience, among other things he's written the "Hammer of the Gods" series.
It seems he's intended to write about Stevie for a long time since I found he started talking about it around 2008:

But if rock is fading as an art form, does that mean rock biography will soon follow?


“No, I’m planning a project on the Jonas Brothers,” Davis says with a wry smile. "I’m kidding. I’m very interested in writing about women now. There’s Carly Simon. There’s Stevie Nicks. I hear Debbie Harry wants to do a book and that they’re looking for a writer. The Blondie story would be a good one. We’ll see."

http://www.bu.edu/today/2008/rock-from-axl-to-zep/

Carly Simon completely distanced herself from his book on her tho and made it very clear she had nothing to do with it. She was pretty mad apparently some of it angered her.

[SisterNightroad]

That's not the point, I don't think we need new revelations or more details about her personal life.
The fact is that we we lack a definitive and accurate biography about Stevie, and Stephen Davis can be the one to do it.
Zoe Howe's work was full of little mistakes that could be easily spotted by any long time fan, which denoted she spent too little time researching informations and checking the sources for her book, in my opinion she didn't handle it professionally probably because she didn't take the subject seriously.

[FuzzyPlum]

I imagine Mick would have spoken to him and provided info that he wouldn't otherwise have access to. I wonder how Stevie will react, since she supposedly was unhappy with Mick's book, which was more than complimentary to her. Mick better hurry up and schedule those concert dates real fast and get Stevie's signature on those contracts before November!


I wouldn't take it as a given Mick would have spoken to him and provided him with any new information. He may already have plenty of material from his time working on Mick's book, but generally I'd say anything that's worth anything would have already been used 25 years ago (or even included in Micks more recent book). I don't see why Mick would just volunteer a load of salacious gossip for the sake of it at this stage- Its not as if Mick and Stephen Davis are best mates or anything.

[dreamsunwind]

That's not the point, I don't think we need new revelations or more details about her personal life.
The fact is that we we lack a definitive and accurate biography about Stevie, and Stephen Davis can be the one to do it.
Zoe Howe's work was full of little mistakes that could be easily spotted by any long time fan, which denoted she spent too little time researching informations and checking the sources for her book, in my opinion she didn't handle it professionally probably because she didn't take the subject seriously.

Yes you have a point. The Zoe Howe book drove me nuts because of all the little errors and things she left out.

[bwboy]

I wouldn't take it as a given Mick would have spoken to him and provided him with any new information. He may already have plenty of material from his time working on Mick's book, but generally I'd say anything that's worth anything would have already been used 25 years ago (or even included in Micks more recent book). I don't see why Mick would just volunteer a load of salacious gossip for the sake of it at this stage- Its not as if Mick and Stephen Davis are best mates or anything.

I think there's a difference between salacious gossip and matter of fact stories about the recording of Say You Will, or the taping of the Dance concert for MTV, for example, and both of which took place in the last 35 years. And do you know Stephen and Mick aren't best mates? I don't know either way, but since Mick bared his personal life for Stephen for many years, including updated versions of his autobiography, I would say they were close. But feel free to cite your sources that they aren't best mates.

And like you alluded to, Mick could have told him anecdotes or stories about or involving Stevie that never made it into Mick's book, perhaps because they were more about Stevie than Mick. A writer like Stephen Davis would keep every little piece of scrap paper or note he ever took with Mick.

[SisterNightroad]

Yes you have a point. The Zoe Howe book drove me nuts because of all the little errors and things she left out.
I haven't read all of her book, I searched for it online and read some to see if it was worth to buy it, but I ended up being disappointed.
I don't know if it's that, but I noticed that all her other biographies regarded music acts from very different genres than Stevie so it's possible that her own personal tastes influenced her work?

[FuzzyPlum]

I think there's a difference between salacious gossip and matter of fact stories about the recording of Say You Will, or the taping of the Dance concert for MTV, for example, and both of which took place in the last 35 years. And do you know Stephen and Mick aren't best mates? I don't know either way, but since Mick bared his personal life for Stephen for many years, including updated versions of his autobiography, I would say they were close. But feel free to cite your sources that they aren't best mates.

And like you alluded to, Mick could have told him anecdotes or stories about or involving Stevie that never made it into Mick's book, perhaps because they were more about Stevie than Mick. A writer like Stephen Davis would keep every little piece of scrap paper or note he ever took with Mick.


No, I don't have any sources to suggest they aren't best mates- but neither do you have anything to suggest they are. Mick was obviously open with Davis for the benefit of his book- that is a business dealing. That's to say Mick was benefiting from what was written. I'd give Mick some credit for being a bit more savvy about saying anything about Stevie now- he's not always the brightest but he'd be aware about not doing anything to p!ss Stevie off now.

[dreamsunwind]

I haven't read all of her book, I searched for it online and read some to see if it was worth to buy it, but I ended up being disappointed.
I don't know if it's that, but I noticed that all her other biographies regarded music acts from very different genres than Stevie so it's possible that her own personal tastes influenced her work?

Her tone was just really condescending imo and her writing style was almost as annoying as CAH. She came up with different nicknames for cocaine and said at one part how she was running out of ideas for them. And there was this part she talked about the Rumours footage on YouTube and she said like "Lindsey is not on the camera much but when he is, he complains about being tired from the shows"...like well, he ALSO plays a really pretty song at one part and talks about Walter Egan's album and something to do with the Beach Boys. Just a lot of things like that. Like you said before, it seemed like she didn't take it seriously and had a very certain tone.

[bwboy]

I'd give Mick some credit for being a bit more savvy about saying anything about Stevie now- he's not always the brightest but he'd be aware about not doing anything to p!ss Stevie off now.

I agree. However, sharing anecdotes about Stevie is not the same as gossip. For example, if Stephen Davis asked Mick "did Stevie seem nervous when you guys were filmed during the Dance concert?" He would probably share that she messed up the lyrics a few time during Dreams, and then add more info about that, the kind of info that only someone who was there would provide. I'm certainly not expecting Mick to share anything scandalous about Stevie that would piss her off. Good, entertaining biographies don't have to be all about scandals. That's all.

I love hearing other people's perspectives or viewpoints. Lord knows we're never going to get Stevie's in book form! Could you imagine an autobiography by Stevie? It would be a thousand pages, due to all the . . . on the pages! "He walked in. . . and back out. . . of my life. . . before I could say. . . goodbye. . . goodbye. . ."

[24karatstevie]

Interesting. I've actually never read the Zoe Howe book, but I may give this one a shot.

[FuzzyPlum]

Interesting. I've actually never read the Zoe Howe book, but I may give this one a shot.



I'm not a Stevie expert so I was in no position to notice minor mistakes. I found it an interesting and engaging book to read. Her style comes across as rather cynical at times but I didn't mind that. I wouldn't personally compare her writing style to CAH. Its clear Zoe Howe is a professional writer. If you've read a lot of other SN/FM related books though you might find it annoying as she's largely mined her material from other books and news articles so you'll get a sense of deja vu.

[Macfan4life]

Interesting
Mick's last book was so disappointing. Nothing new to report. He never mentioned the fight about Silver Springs or Stevie's klonopin addiction. He barely even mentioned Rick and Billy and the post Lindsey years were about one page.
At least his first book did reveal interesting things. I loved the story of the stalker woman who hunted him down for years and finally found him. It was scary but also funny.

[gldstwmn]

Came across it on Amazon. Called Gold Dust Woman: A Biography of Stevie Nicks. Written by Stephen Davis, who co-wrote Mick Fleetwood's autobiography. It's out on Nov. 21, 2017.

I had no idea this was being written, and I'm intrigued that Stephen Davis is writing it. I imagine Mick would have spoken to him and provided info that he wouldn't otherwise have access to. I wonder how Stevie will react, since she supposedly was unhappy with Mick's book, which was more than complimentary to her. Mick better hurry up and schedule those concert dates real fast and get Stevie's signature on those contracts before November!

This was supposed to come out in 2014 I think. I wonder if it will be delayed yet again.

[SisterNightroad]

Autumn under the covers: Ten great new books to snuggle up with as the nights draw in

Stevie Nicks

Gold Dust Woman: The Biography Of Stevie Nicks by Stephen Davis

Unauthorised biography by the author of the notorious Led Zeppelin book Hammer Of The Gods. It promises to shed new light on the Fleetwood Mac star’s addictions, affairs and turbulent times, both with the band and as a solo artist.

Nov 21, St Martin’s Press, £21.54

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/09/22/13/4495A77F00000578-4903078-image-a-66_1506082950891.jpg


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-4903078/Ten-great-new-books-snuggle-autumn.html#ixzz4taXkcnhh
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[bwboy]

I'm really looking forward to this. I hope we can get some stories about the recordings of Tango, the post-Lindsey era FM albums, Rock a Little, OSOTM, Street Angel, and the Dallas Austin recordings that never made it on to Trouble in Shangri-La. I wonder if any of her producers talked to the author. Greg Ladanyi and Glynn Johns are both dead, and I doubt Jimmy Iovine or Rick Nowels were cooperative. Guess we'll find out Nov. 21.

[TheWildHeart67]

I'm really looking forward to this. I hope we can get some stories about the recordings of Tango, the post-Lindsey era FM albums, Rock a Little, OSOTH, Street Angel, and the Dallas Austin recordings that never made it on to Trouble in Shangri-La. I wonder if any of her producers talked to the author. Greg Ladanyi and Glynn Johns are both dead, and I doubt Jimmy Iovine or Rick Nowels were cooperative. Guess we'll find out Nov. 21.
Oh, I am for sure buying this one!

[gldstwmn]

Glynn Johns are both dead.
That is going to come as a surprise to him. :shocked::shocked:

[bombaysaffires]

can't wait to see her response to it. So far, if it's really in the pipeline, neither she nor anyone in her camp has publicly acknowledged it.

Any bets on whether she slams it publicly or lets it quietly go by without giving it any publicity by talking about it?

I just really doubt whether he'll get anything from anyone who is still around her and wants to stay there. She makes it pretty clear she wants her image to be what she decides it is.