STEVIE Wants To Work With Timberland (video)
 

Stevie Nicks Wants To Work With Timbaland, Opens Up About Collaborating With Prince
Fleetwood Mac singer admits Prince co-wrote 'Stand Back.'
By Rya Backer and Kim Stolz
MTV

For a person who's proud to own neither a computer nor a cell phone, one doesn't expect to hear the name "Timbaland" at the top of Stevie Nicks' list of potential collaborators. When we asked legendary Fleetwood Mac frontwoman about rumors that she was interested in working with Timbaland, she exclaimed, "Oh, I would love to!" But as far as what their work together might sound like, she replied, "Well, I don't really know, so that's why it's exciting."

While this might be news to some of her fans, Nicks — who is currently on tour with Fleetwood Mac — said she's long been a fan of R&B, "I learned to sing to R&B artists, not rock and roll or country artists," she said. "That was my first love, strangely enough. I am really very, very R&B, for my own music. When I'm listening just for my own fun, when I'm dancing around my apartment, I'm pretty much listening to R&B," she continued, noting that she's a fan of both contemporary and classic artists in the genre.

That love came into play more than two decades ago, when she collaborated with Prince. The story began on the first night of her honeymoon with Kim Anderson, to whom she was briefly married. "I'm driving to my honeymoon night in Santa Barbara from L.A., and 'Little Red Corvette' comes on," she recalled. "We're like oh my God, it's Prince! So I start singing all these words, and I'm like, 'Pull over, we have to get a cassette player! And we have to record this!' I'm writing in the car — here we are, newlyweds, and we get to our hotel and we're setting up the tape recorder and I've made up my whole new melody to [the song]. So I haven't really ripped off the song, because I'm admitting that I have done this. So we go into a studio in Los Angeles a couple weeks later and I track down Prince's phone number — and because I'm Stevie Nicks, I can get it.

"I call him, and I never thought he was going to answer, or that it would be him, or that I would ever find him — and he answers. I said, 'Prince, this is Stevie Nicks, and I wrote a song to your song 'Little Red Corvette,' and we're at Sunset Sound right now, and I was wondering — first of all, I wanted to tell you that I'm giving you 50 percent of [the royalties] it if it ever goes anywhere, but are you in town? If you are, how would you feel about coming down and playing on it?' Never in a million years did I think this man would be like, 'I'll be right there.' He was there in 20 minutes and he played [she mimes instrumental parts of the song] on 'Stand Back,' and he was there an hour and a half, and then he left."

But that was far from the end of their musical relationship. "Prince and I became really good friends," she said, "and he actually gave me a cassette, and said, 'There's a song on it, and I would like you to write.' I take it home and put it on, and I'm listening to this like amazing song ... and it's 'Purple Rain'! And I'm like, I can't write a song to this! It [wasn't] 'Purple Rain' yet, but it [was] the track that became 'Purple Rain.' "

Times have changed since in the past 25 years, but Nicks is still writing new music, and thinking of new collaborators, like Timbaland. When asked what he might think of her interest in working with him, Nicks laughed and said, "Of course, he'll hear about this and go 'Oh my God, why in the world?' "

Tim, it's your move.

Wow, thanks MacMan. Purple Rain. Amazing! We are getting a lot of great stuff on these interviews. It would be one incredible book if she ever gets around to writing it!

Nicksian logic strikes again.

:lol:

I love her more than ever.

I looove this interview!! Stevie is precious!

Is that Sandra B, interviewing her?

The interviewer is Kim Stolz, from America's Next Top Model. (She was the tomboyish lesbian.)

Great video clip, but I hope she doesn't work with Timbalind. I really love how pure and raw many of her songs in the fleetwood mac album from the 70's - to mirage. I also loved Bella Donna and The Wild Heart. But somewhere along the line her songs became over produced and over mixed. This is why I love many of her demos more then the actual song. I wish she would tone down the over producing. All Timbaland does is over produce.:shocked:

Anyone who thinks Timbaland should work with Stevie should do themselves a favor and listen to the new Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave) solo album.

http://www.myspace.com/chriscornell

While I understand why some Stevie fans find the idea of her working with a dance-oriented producer/influence appealing (given the success of dance remixes of her songs), this is just a BAAAAAD idea.

I'm not a fan of Chris Cornell, so I haven't bothered to listen to any of his new material. I have heard that it's awful though. I actually really liked the collaborations between Duran Duran and Timbaland. I thought Timbaland did a good job of retaining the vibe of Duran Duran's overall style, while still adding some interesting touches of his own.

Not sure that I would want an entire album of Stevie working with him, but a one-off track could be interesting.

I would like to see Stevie work with an Indie artist like Antony and the Johnson's pr Pete Yorn, James Morrison ect.

I just don't like thise dance, hip hop, pop producers. I didn't even like when Sherl Crowe produced Shangri La. I found many songs there over produced. The demo of Planets of the universe was much better as well as Sorcerer. :shrug:

I'd like to hear Stevie do "Apologize!" Okay, so it's kind of a One Republic song, but I like the Timbaland version a lot better. :cool: A Stevie / Rihanna duet would be much cooler tho!

I am on total Stevie overload! I love all this press she's doing. And is it me or does she seem really happy and rejeuvenated lately in these interviews?? In her interviews from a few years back she seemed much more reserved and somber.

The Chris Cornell & Timbaland collaboration is terrible. I have the CD.

Never heard it. I know Chris has a great voice though. :thumbsup:

and because I'm Stevie Nicks, I can get it.

:laugh:

i am soooooo excited she seems so excited about this
and reinvigorated about making NEW music
i hope this happens
it would be very different
briing it on!

I love in the video how she talks about her husband...."that I didn't have very long", then she says, "my husband" and does quotation fingers. She is so funny in such a kooky way sometimes. These interviews lately are killing me, I just love her more and more! Ricoh

I have heard Chris Cornell's new song called Scream and thought it was pretty decent but its funny you mention Duran Duran and Timbaland because I was just telling my hubby tonight how much I love Red Carpet Massacre and what an excellent album it was. I think my favorite song off that album was Last Man Standing but overall I really like every song from it which doesnt happen too often these days. When I first heard Falling Down I fell in love with it and really thought it was going to be a big hit but nothing really happened.
I really think he could totally do something kick a** for Stevie but I agree that I wouldnt want an entire album with him.

I am listening to "Part of Me" now & I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go Stevie!!!!

Well, I mean I would take new Stevie music any way I could get it, and I'm thinking a lot of you would be the same way!!! Could you imagine if she worked with a more contemporary producer and scored a hit with younger people like Madonna's more recent album? It would bring a whole new front of people to Stevie and it could totally rejuvenate her!!

That being said, I'd rather her just stick to basics. :nod:

Wow, great interview and yes, she seems very happy and just so young and enthusiastic about this CD/DVD. You can tell she is really proud of it. Thank you for posting this.

:laugh: OMG HOW FUNNY!! Timbaland and Stevie...:thumbsup:

But the difference is: Chris Cornell sucks.

I think Timba should produce the next mac album. I been saying it for years! :thumbsup:

People always scoff when I say this but I would love to hear Stevie do a song with Trent Reznor. Not so much the heavy stuff but some of his slower things. I mean, this is the woman who did Sisters of the Moon. I could see him totally making something incredible out of Forest of the Black Roses. Not that it isn't already incredible.

More from Kim Stoltz:

MTV Newsroom

When I started as a VJ at mtvU three years ago, my father asked me what my one dream interview would be — the one interview that I couldn’t leave MTV without doing. My answer was Stevie Nicks.

On Wednesday night, I spent 30 minutes with her in the presidential suite of New York’s Waldorf Towers, and asked her all of the questions that have been burning inside me since the first time I listened to Stevie Nicks’ voice. I was 5, we had just moved into a new house, and my dad — a big fan as well — put on Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled 1975 album. Since then, being that it was 21 years ago, my questions have matured from “Who is Rhiannon?” — not that that isn’t an interesting question in itself, but suffice it to say that I could have spent hours and hours with her and still had more to ask. But, hey, I was grateful for my 30 minutes (which was originally supposed to be 15!). Oh and she fulfilled another lifelong dream of mine — twice during the interview, Stevie actually sang a few stanzas to me.

Having seen or read virtually every interview she’s ever done, my intention was to do my best to ask her questions that she had never answered before on the record. Of course we grazed familiar subjects, such as the state of today’s music industry — Stevie hates the Internet and calls downloads “the end.” Naturally, I joked that we’d never see a Stevie Nicks Twitter account. Her response? “You’ll never see a Stevie Nicks Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or anything else because I think it’s cheap and sleazy and I hate it!”

In fact, one of the reasons she decided to come out with her Live in Chicago DVD, which was released Tuesday, is that she wants today’s “kids” to see a real concert. Personally, I think we could all use one.
Now, if you’re a big fan of Stevie Nicks, you’ve probably heard rumors that Prince had some serious involvement in Stevie’s hit “Stand Back.” Over the past few years, I’ve searched for the answer to this question and never found it. So, I decided to ask her to tell me the story — no one tells a better than Stevie, click on the link above for the full details!

We also addressed the misperception that arguably her biggest hit, “Landslide,” was about her father, Jess. “We like to let Jess think it was about him. It really was never about my dad.” However, as Stevie told me, the song is actually about Lindsey Buckingham — isn’t everything? — she said, “It was about me, and Lindsey’s and my relationship. It was about our musical relationship, and if we’re going to continue or not, and whether or not the music was important enough to throw ourselves back into it.”

Speaking of Lindsey, she and I got into a serious conversation about their relationship, both romantically and personally, about his “safe life” now and how she loves his kids. However, a more candid part of our conversation included her telling me. “I see him every night” (she meant spiritually, not literally).

We’ll have more from my interview in the coming days, including her answer to the most burning question of all: “Is it really over between her and Lindsey?” Yes, I got an answer, but you’ll have to wait …

Oh my goodness. If the interview doesn't deliver on all the tidbits teased with in this article, I will riot.

At some point, she is going to have to get mental counseling regarding her hatred for the internet, although her behavior is probably colored by what she's heard about her niece's online adventures. I think that's what really turned her against it.

Michele

HOLD THE PRESSES. Stevie covers all those crappy songs on soundstage (she makes them beautiful, yes, but still...), and she could have covered Purple Rain and had THAT story to tell before it. . .

I'm just saying....

She can get hip like Tammy Wynnette in the 1980's with KLF, a dance-rap duo.

I think that cemented her hatred rather than generated it. Back in the early '90s when fans were just getting online, Stevie's employees on the front lines were poisoning her against the whole scene.

I wanted to add something about what Kim Stolz said -- her having searched for years for info about what Prince did in relation to "Stand Back." She didn't search very hard, I guess. We all know what Prince did:

1. Wrote & recorded "Little Red Corvette," the chord progression of which Stevie used for "Stand Back."

2. Added the 16th-note synth bass part.

3. Added the 8th-note tremolo synth bass part on the chorus.

He really did very little. But romantic & starry-eyed Stevie always likes throwing a famous name around when it comes to writing or recording. The best part of the whole episode is the drive she says they took down the freeway in Minneapolis somewhere in his purple Corvette, her black chiffon stage clothes whipping in the wind. She's not totally clear on when that happened, but I think she says it was the day of a Fleetwood Mac show, which would make it Sept. 23, 1982 -- before she wrote "Stand Back."

That album is so ugh, it's a huge disappointment.
I have no idea why people are so keen for the Mac to work with dance and r&b acts and producers, when essentially they are a rock band with pop leanings. A remix of a song is one thing but a dramatic change in sound a la Chris Cornell is another.
It's weird, I can't imagine people wishing Tom Petty, for instance, would work with Timbaland.


Actually Chris Cornell doesn't suck, his new album just proves why what you've been saying for years is a bad idea.

I am a huge fan of Chris. I really like some of the new songs, and think some of them suck. I think it was an interesting idea, and one that was pulled off well on the good songs. I also got to see Chris debut the album (in its entirety) live a few months ago at a special show in Seattle, and some of the songs were really great with a full band. He sang them very soulfully with his amazing voice. However, I personally would have preferred that it be an interesting and experimental side project that resulted in a handful of really good songs and sold as an EP or official website downloads, etc.


I feel the same if Stevie were to work with Timbaland. It has the potential to be cool, and appeals to both Stevie's dance and R&B sides. But it should be kept to a fun, one-off "club" single (maybe with a couple b-sides). But they should definitely know when to stop and not make a full album!!!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

That disgusts me. Stevie has said that same exact thing in about a dozen interviews. If I worked in a small town paper and I covered back to school and Ground hog day and celebrities too, I wouldn't put much work into it. But if my sole job was to write about music . . .

Kim didn't delve into the estrangement between Prince and Stevie or probe her as to whether Stevie thought that Prince probably wanted to have sex with her, which has surely got to be worth a little research.

Yes, you're right about the driving down the free way being interesting. But then she fell asleep on his kitchen floor, which was also food for thought.

Michele

That whole forward Kim gave really made her look stupid. "She researched everywhere". Uh, really? Cause of the questions she's asked so far, we already knew the answers to - for years. If she's such a big fan, you'd think she could do better.

Listening to her, she sounded kind of nervous about the whole thing. Maybe she didn't want to piss Stevie off by asking her some more personal questions. So far, I'm not impressed with her interview.

FWIW, I thought Kim was way hotter when she was on ANTM. I didn't even recognize her in the photo with Stevie. I didn't think it was her. She just looked much more edgy and sexy with the shorter hair.

And what about Stevie falling asleep on Prince's kitchen floor? I would say that more people pass out on kitchen floors than "fall asleep" on kitchen floors. Especially after one has had too much to drink or too many drugs.

I know, right? That's why I always wanted to hear more about it. She said it was really hot in the house and the air conditioning was kaput, so she said that she fell asleep on the kitchen floor while he was mixing songs, because "it was the only place that was cool." Yeah, I've heard that one before;).


When she was on Mark and Brian's radio show she was saying that Prince was angry with her and wouldn't answer her calls and she didn't say why and so they asked if it was because she wouldn't go out with Prince and she said that that was sort of the reason. I always wanted to hear more about that too. If an interviewer really wants to do some Prince research, I've got ideas.


Michele

Stevie's 2009 Interview
 

I'm curious if anyone else (I'm sure you probably have) seen this interview Stevie did with MTV a few years back (forgive me if I'm just now catching up). But I thought it was so sad when the interviewer asked her when her relationship with LB was really over, and she said "When he had his little boy." *tear*

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/160...uckingam.jhtml

I also love that she wants to work with Timbaland. That would be one hell of a song if they made one together.

that was the story I'd always heard.... she'd done too much of whatever it was and fell asleep. And that Prince was not a big fan of all that and wasn't really "impressed" by her use of drugs.

The closest you've ever come to me
Was to help me up the stairs
You stood in the middle of the stairway
You nearly dragged me up the stairs
"You've been asleep" well
"I've been asleep for how long?" she says
"Oooh why do you question me?" he said
"You never cared about time before, my friend"

If they could sing something as beautiful as APOLOGIZE ("It's Too Late To") together then "I Can't Wait":xoxo:

I have to re mention this.I'll give her a chance to come out with a rap/hip hop tune.

I will listen to it.:shocked::shocked::shocked::shocked:

I did love Tammy's outing with KLF.