Best version of Rhiannon
 

What's the best live version of Rhiannon that you know of? Where Stevie's vocals and Lindsey's guitar solo are just perfection for you?

Pretty much any performance from 1975/76 is excellent, IMO. I'm also a huge fan of the version on the Mirage Concert Video from 1982. As far as this tour goes, some shows seemed better than others; I like the Buffalo show & the Hershey shows best, I think, along with LIB.

Paula

My favorite is form the Live album. I loooooooooooooooover that one.

I really don't like the early versions very much, it's more screaming than singing.

And I really love the Live In Boston one, too. :nod:

I never got why so many people like the Mirage video one. Her voice just sounds AWFUL! And the way she turns around at the end and just wraps herself in her shawl always makes me think that she knows it!

Ironically, I love what Lindsey's doing on that version, though...

Right now I'm really digging the version from LA Aug 29-30 (at least that's how I have it marked :laugh: ) 1977. I guess she was turning it on for LA! I love at the end when she just screams, "DREAMER...DREAMER...DREAMER"

:nod: She sounds terrible on EVERY song. Gypsy is mind-boggling bad.

VERY true. But I like what she does on "The Chain" and GYOW and EOTW. And I have to admit that it IS my favorite version of SOTM. But yeah...that's about it... :laugh:

reply
 

Hartford 87- She belts Nothing Ever Changes at the end and it one of my favorites.

Oakland 90- Last show of BTM tour so she was really on this night especially with lindsey making an appearance

Worcester 03- Excellent, excellent performance. "You still cry out for her, you still cry out for her, yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
(one of the best!)


Jimmy

That's my favorite version of The Chain, it's awesome. The band was really raw and wasn't as glossy as they are now; I loved it.

And of course I love SOTM. It's the definitive version. ;)

I think that's my favorite version of "The Chain", too. Then again that video was my introduction to FM, so there's a lot of love there! :)

And you're right about SOTM...the Tusk tour versions just lack the energy and electricity of the Mirage one (I'm listening to Melbourne right now :) ) and I think they ALL blow the album version out of the water! I can't wait to gun for that in the Survivor thread. I NEVER really dug the album version of that. Her vocals are too faint, and it never really goes anywhere. But that is (and I'm sure it is :laugh: ) JMO!

Wow. I agree 100%. :)


-Curt

...and I totally agree again.....must be a blue moon or something tonight :]



One thing about the Mirage Chain is that it seems like Chris is not even there. The Stevie and Lindsey interaction is so thick you could cut it with a knife. I dunno if that is my favorite banter between them or Silver Springs.


-Curt

The Chain...
 

I think I like that Rosebud version better, where she could go crazy with the vocals and always get those notes right.

But I'm a big fan of the studio version anyway. I love it! I think those triple part harmonies in the chorus are just perfection, Lindsey's guitar is in perfect synch with Christine's electric piano (?) and Stevie's vocals are gorgeous as they were at that time.

Oh my gawd. That monotonal, droning first verse is absolutely dreadful. What was she thinking?

Tough question, but I usually think of a show in Irvine CA back in 1982 as being a genuine favorite of mine. I also love the spacy, languid Rhiannons of the 1978 tour, & the stretched-out forays into the Amerindian nether from the late Tusk Tour.

Someone else in the thread mentioned a December 1990 performance, & I nearly swallowed my tongue. To me, that must rank with the rankest of all time. If that aural & visual image were all I knew of Stevie Nicks, she'd be one of my most hated pop singers of all time.

I have different favorites, depending on what it is.

I like the studio album, but as we all know, it's quite different than what we hear live. It's all very mystical, but at that point the band hadn't really solidified what they wanted to play or sing (except John).

I would have to say that my favorite early lives of Rhiannon are from Midnight Special & what I think people keep referring to as a Rosebud version.

Well, I can definitely say the WORST one of Stevie singing I have heard is the one in the 77 Nagoya, Japan bootleg. She does some cool stuff at the end... and it's kinda sad cause it sounds like she's trying to hit the high stuff and she can't do it too much.

It was always more fun to watch Stevie do her trip outdoors, in windy weather.
I am, too, Christian. I think it's a beautiful, narcotizing track, very delicate yet very powerful.

I thought Stevie's frayed vocals on that tour constitute, to this day, the most poignant live singing she's ever done. I remember how touched I was hearing it in person. It was a Stevie that, up until that time, I hadn't really known existed.

I think the "I don't change, you don't change..." lines do it for me. :nod:

Paula

Probably the best part...But when she starts to belt out the "Dreams unwind/ still it's a state of mind" bit right before that...OI! I just want to run up to her with a cup of hot tea and lemon and say, "Drink, baby...just drink." :laugh:

And how about that full-body lean from behind Lindsey does on Stevie for SOTM as they move up and down together? HOT HOT HOT.

My fave Rhiannon: Rockhoppers. They both excel and they know it - Lindsey even yells "YEAH!!!" at the end.

Rosebud is the quintessential version for me. I also love the Las Vegas 8-25-77 performance.

I never heard any other "Rhiannon" besides the studio one until I got the Live album. What a difference! For that simple reason the "80 Live" one is always a favorite of mine. That was before I heard what is know as the Capitol Theatre/King Biscuit version from an earlier tour.
Even MORE of a difference. She was just so RAW back then! Then of course there are Stevie's solo versions, but I won't touch on them since this is the Rumours board:)

I'm not a big fan of the studio version. I enjoy her latter-day performances (The Dance and Live in Boston) better than the earlier ones.

My all-time favorite is the 'Rosebud' version.

Other favorite versions... The Midnight Special, Wallingford CT 1976 (at Trod Nossel Studios), 'Live' album, 'Stevie Nicks: In Concert,' 1994 House Of Blues ('Welcome To My World'), 'Storytellers' and 'Live In Boston.'

Oh, yeah, and I love the radio remix.

Yes, the 'Rosebud' version is great, probably my favourite. I like the versions from the 'early' days where she would go crazy better. :p

Yes, yes, Rosebud, Rockhoppers, Midnight Special, Live 80, blah blah blah.

All awesome performances. None bring fresh debate to the table.

I would like to contend that the best performance of Rhiannon in that last 20 years has been Live at The House of Blues 1994. Yes, The Street Angel Tour!

It has an extended intro not remarkably dissimilar to that of the Dance Tour. The actual body of the song, aside from Stevie taking a lot more liberties vocally, is not overly distinguishable. And yes, Lindsey is not playing guitar. Tear.

However, the ending, beginning with "Dreams unwind..." is all sung the EXACT same way as it had been nearly 20 years before! There is less screaming, but the DREAMS UNWIND, STILL IT'S A STATE OF MIND etc. etc. are all done on that high G or whatever it is, I used to know it. The note that Stevie sings a full octave lower these days. It's crazy. When I first heard it, I hadn't thought she had been able to hit those notes since at least 1982. And here she was, singing Live 80 all over again. The very end manages to stay in her upper register, never dipping to the depths it saw during The Dance or SYW Tour, yet still captures "Whooaaa.. you still cry out to her, and he says, don't leave me, DON'T leave me........." It works very well high, and makes me wish she never got lazy.

Another gem from this performance is Stand Back, which I believe to be the definitive version. Again, she's not afraid to take all the chances, even some we'd never heard. What a groundbreaking concert!

Hasn't been mentionned yet, but I really like the Sin City version. After the guitar solo, Stevie does this really sexy "ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah" thing, and then the big note she hits on the final "dreams unwind love's a state mind!" is just spine-tingling.

House of Blues is a killer version of Rhiannon! I love it.

I like the longer version better regardless. Love the silly dreamer try hard you can't leave her part so much...

Can someone post this "Rosebud" version and maybe the Mirage concert video version on their site? I have never heard either of these... out of the ones I have heard I love the Live Album version and the Live in Boston Version.

i love the live album version 2, also the real early version where she is screaming like a mad woman~

brightest stevie blessings~
jill

I think I just got the Nagoya version on video, and i love it! If it's the one that i'm thinking of with the perfect halo of curls where there is a lot of ahowahowahowaowahowahowhaowhaowhaowhaowhaohwaohwo!!!!!, in a sort of off but on key rad way...
Amber

Yes... *sighs happily*
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I love the Street Angel tour. Stevie was singing with a renewed passion and hitting notes she hadn't gone near in years. I think it's because she realized she had something to prove back then, to win back her fans' respect after five years of lazy vocal performances. Now, she's gotten a little lazy again.

Yes, I love that version too. So trippy, with that moaning and Lindsey's guitar behind her. For techinal merit, no, but for psychedellic sexual energy, you bet.

My all time fave is the "I just bought a curling iron" Midnight Special one. I love the close-up of her face - some great "all the sa-ame" wailings there too....

My second fave is the Japan one!! :)

My third fave would be the B/N live version! :D

Yep - ITA

Although I might put the HOB S.A. one in there as she went off in it for what seemingly was the last time on that one!!!!!!

:nod:
I just watched that again last night - sexiest moment ever...well, it's up there!
AMber

My all time favorite would have to definitely be the "Midnight Special" version... Stevie's vocals just rock in that one, and Christine's little piano solo totally blew me away.

Exactly - perfect description :thumbsup: mmmmmm, psychedelic sexual energy..*drool* :laugh:
AMber

Good one! Almost forgot that one because it came to my ears so recently!
Well I'm going for that compact short one full of energy.