"Straight Back" Appreciation Thread
 

"Fingers find the ivory... keys and a song.....
Begins to begin... like a wolf on the run......"

Great song. Yes, I know it's a "Dreams" theme song, but I don't care. Great vocals- Stevie at her peak. Great harmonies.

Truly underrated. Your thoughts??

What's a Dreams theme song?

I loved Straight Back from the first time I heard it. I love the couple of bars off the top, and then how the drum totally kicks it. I find the keyboards really evocative; it has some of my favourite Stevie lines... such as...

"...fingers find the ivory keys and a song begins to begin..." (I don't like the wolf on the run part)

and

".. and you will find wild in the wind something that you lost.."

I didn't know anyone didn't love this song!

Barf.

Other than the two lines you quoted, it's a great ****ing tune.

somehow this one fell through the cracks

probably because Hold Me and Gypsy were on the radio all summer long during that year.

truly one of stevie's best recorded vocals - thanks to lots of reverb.

but lately i've decided her best vocal performance is "At Last".

"The dream is not over
The dream is just away"

"And you will find while in the wind
Something that you lost
The dream was never over, no
The dream was only lost"

Love it for lines like that. I understand that!

always loved this song. Great vocals and very haunting music. It rocks.
I used to hear it on the radio when the albumn was released.

One of my favorite FM tracks...incredible vocals, excellent production...this is a gem of a song...:xoxo:

rbs

Stevie is in great form on this. I love how Christine's little keyboard lick at the beginning defines it as a Stevie song. It's like you just know who's going to sing the song after hearing that.

Hmmm, maybe I should listen to Mirage...since I don't know this song. Sorry, everyone, I just don't like Mirage and put it away after one listen. I know, I'm a bad person, etc. I remember I only really liked Stevie's tunes, though.

One of my favorite Stevie songs - fantastic vocals!

I love "Straight Back" now but when I first got Mirage I really didn't like it. I wish they had done it in concert on that tour. That probably would have changed my mind about it much earlier.

It's a very powerful and rocking song, one of my favourites on Mirage. I'd love to hear it live.

Romy

The best way to appreciate Mirage is to listen to it on vinyl. It will convert you, I promise. :lol:

I agree. I'm not too fond of those two lines, either. But I *love* the song. It's hard to pick a favourite song of Stevie's with Fleetwood Mac, but that one ranks WAY up there, for me. I've always loved it, ever since I heard it, waaaay back in 1982. I can't believe it's been that long! :eek:

I first heard Mirage on vinyl and I thought Straight Back sounded awesome. Much better than on cd. I loved SB from my first listen.

Well, now. Is that the line? :o :o I have always, always sung it "And you will find wild in the wind..."

:)

No, it's WHILE...although David Bowie's version of "Wild Is The Wind" is one of the sexiest songs EVER in my book...:nod:

rbs

Yea I realized that a long time ago.......after Wild in the Wind was my user name on everything. :o It still sounds like "wild" to me though, damn it!

I lvoe Straight Back. One of my all time favorites. I wish they would have done it live on the Mirage tour.

That & "Gold Dust Woman"

for me, there's practically no such thing as an album named Mirage, there's just a single called Straight Back (and its B side's Wish You Were Here).

I went through a phase about 15 years ago where I loved it -- now I'm more neutral.

Favorite part: the fade-out, where Stevie wails "Straight back! Straight back! Straight... back... yeah!!!"

Endings are often my favorite parts of Stevie songs. :)

I don't know why they haven't reissued a remastered Mirage. If I remember correctly it outsold Tusk so I guess it would make sense in terms of the dollars. Mirage sorely needs to be remastered and reissued. It deserves better than to be out there the way it is on CD, all tinny and no warmth.

http://rapidshare.de/files/9876568/S...ack_1.wav.html

Straight Back live rehearsal version. This is a .wav file so the download could take a bit longer.

Straight Back is one of my favs. Wonderful lyrics, melody, vocals...the layering of the vocals is it's best asset, to me.

I soooooo love straight back. Its always been one of my favorite Stevie songs and very underrated to. I totally agree with all of you. I love that live outtake too from the rehersals that was put up. Its always interesting to hear something live that you wanted to hear live too. They do need to re-issue Mirage (like they did the other 3 fmac cds) with an extra cd too. Cause the sound quality on my regular cd is just aweful. They could on the extra cd add the different version of straight back (quinex II vinyl-some copies this song was a different vocal version if I'm correct?). And gold dust woman would've been interesting to have heard live during Mirage too. I wish
Stevie would've sang it live in rehersal? who knows its surprising that they even did straight back live in rehersal don't ya think? I have always wondered what the demo of this song is like since I don't think its out there? I haven't heard one anyway. I do love this song...... Sue :)

It would be really cool if they re-issued Mirage and put a good clear version of that Straight Back rehersal on there as an extra. :nod:

I can still remember sitting on the living room sofa at the age of 13 waiting to get in the car to go to my first FM concert (Mirage tour) with my parents. I put on Mirage and listened to Straight Back over and over, hoping that Stevie would sing it that night.

Oh to be young and naive again!

Plus, the concert was postponed that night (Oakland) due to "illness". :lol:

It's a great song.

Straight back is the greatest! My favorite part is the backround "hours and hours of waiting for you......." in between her wailling, and lindseys cool part. I'd probabaly have this song I-Ved to my veins if I could. :laugh: GREAT SONG!:blob2:

What's the story behind that? I recently bought the BN-era stuff on vinyl and I think my copy of Mirage is different from my cd. I need to listen again to be sure.

I love that version. It was so great live, what a shame they didn't do it on the tour.

Her vocal is just so f*cking powerful during much of this tune, gives me chills, I tells ya!

"He remembers how good it can be
She remembers a melody
Well, in the shadow of my shadow
in a gleam"

Greatness. :nod:

Yup. :nod: You can hear someone whistle kind of softly at the end of the song like "wow". She sang it like she meant it. I wonder if she was bummed that they didn't include it.

Bad plan on their part not to do it that year.

For shame, Fleetwood Mac, for shame. :eek:

What's with the sig pic? She looks totally cracked out a la RAL. Poor SLN. Love it anyway! :wavey:

Her eye makeup's dark...and it's careless.

I feel that was the time in Stevie's life when she had the most strength, resolve & vision. I love that kohl around her eyes. I love that touch of Old Araby in her persona, like the silent-screen vamps of the late 'teens & 1920s. In other years, Stevie was Dorothy Gish, Colleen Moore or Pola Negri. But in 1986, Stevie was Theda Bara.

I don't believe that Stevie was ever actually on drugs. She was transforming herself, adopting a dazzling series of sexual personae based on silent movie queens & hieratic empresses throughout Western history.

The only drugs Stevie ever did was the coke that was accumulating on Lindsey's clothes during the production of Tusk. It would shake off every time he walked past.

One night in 1986 she got really drunk, and jammed an acetylene torch up her nose. Which explains the hole.

The 1986 look reminds me more Mayo Methot in a bad day. Luckily she found the strength to change that destiny.

Romy

Sounds to me like stevie's not the only one on drugs!:o

I toke a little, yeah.