Stevie's assistant, Karen.
 

Do y'all know what Karen looks like? Do we have pictures of her or something? I vaguely remember seeing her in the Destiny Rules doc. Is she someone that we should like? And how long has she seen Stevie's assistant? And what does assistant mean anyway? Does she live with her?

I heard a couple people say a long time ago that Karen was kinda rude or snippy or something. Just curious....at 12:45 am...cus there's NOTHING else I could be doing, like sleeping or anything like that.

Karen's job is to do most everything Stevie would otherwise have to do herself, and/or be the firewall between her and her fans. Its with this in mind that its no surprise that she has come off as rude to fans of Stevie.

Stevie couldn't care less about fans' letters, teddy bears, artwork, stories, etc- I can't blame Karen for barely mustering any kind of acknowledgment to fans. She's just doing her job. I can't imagine just how insane of a job it would be. I once turned down a personal assistant gig for a high maintenance A-list comic based out of LA (who wants to move to LA?) , and I imagine that would have been a cakewalk compared to half the **** Karen has to deal with.

Yes. I've seen her. She seems to be very no nonsense. I imagine you would have to be to do that job. I'm sure it has its' perqs though.

Quite a while. Before Karen, there was her sister Kelly (?). Kelly got busted taking a "care package" over to England during the making of TOSOTM. I'm not sure as far as the timeline of when Kelly exited and Karen took over.


According to Stevie, she isn't living in the 1 bedroom penthouse in Santa Monica. She may have lived in some of Stevie's larger homes. I doubt Stevie is alone very often if at all. She usually has some friends living with her.

I don't know if she's really living in that condo or not. She did her early interviews and photoshoots for the Unleashed tour from the big Southern style mansion.

Tired...
 

[QUOTE=LukeA;826845]
Stevie couldn't care less about fans' letters, teddy bears, artwork, stories, etc- I can't blame Karen for barely mustering any kind of acknowledgment to fans..[/QUOTE

and how do you know this?

[QUOTE=JohnL;826862]Unless he knows La Nicks very well, he couldn't and, therefore, doesn't. It seems he's just stirring the shiittee just like he was when he said that La Nicks' comparing being in FM to being in Iraq was an insult to the soldiers fighting in Iraq :rolleyes:

And, for the record, I know several people whose cards, bears, etc. she's acknowledged and even called them later about. So, I have first hand knowledge that she does care even though she may not acknowledge all of them that way. How could she?

In the end and to me, LukeA (who is still I believe kind of young) is either careless in his use of adjectives (etc.) or he used them to incite. To these and many others' ears they are rarely accurate in a literal sense.

He does, however, seemingly have a working knowledge of the way concerts are booked etc. And, that is pretty cool.

[QUOTE=strandinthewind;826866]Agreed. I know first hand that Stevie DOES care about her fans and what they take time to give her.
As far as Karen goes, a friend of mine that knows both of them put it in a nutshell - Karen is Stevie's "Purse". :p

~Jamie

I would give my pinky toe for Karen's job

Karen is a major hottie!

Well, she has curly dark hair :rolleyes: It's something we know from the DR dvd :)

I'm pretty sure you can see her in one of the pics from the Landslide Slideshow (Landslideshow?) from the Soundstage DVD, but you'd probably have to know what she looks like to notice.

In DR she even has a speaking role, during one of Stevie and Lindsey's thrilling , heated discussions about lawyers and record companies. :laugh:

That was so hilarious. Stevie kept saying, "you know that Karen is dead honest."

Lindsey didn't look like he knew that! Michele

Yeah, haha, she did keep saying that. I was like...ok ok, Karen is honest, and what? Lindsey never acknowledged that comment. That part is so hilarious to me on the dvd. But I'd have to say my most favorite Stevie moment from DR is when Lindsey is talking to her about "Thrown Down" and trying to get her to change the tense of a word and she just keeps saying "..but it's how I write, it's the way I write, it's the POE T that I am.." lol. I love it...Stevie...our little poet. But whats funny to me is the way Lindsey is trying to be very careful about the way he is talking to her, but she gets kinda defensive quickly. I love it, haha.

Just had to fix that :p

Wow....I see we know it word for word...I better brush up on my DR doc so that I am up with everyone else. Haha. You guys are intimidating. lol. I love it though.

I know - and, all I could think of was CM's "Skies the Limit" and LB's own "Pretending that she dont care" from Bleed to Love Her. Not to mention Dylan himself had some awkward moments and none of those three are Dylan!

Right after that she says something about... "you wouldn't tell Bob Dylan to change one of his songs" and you can just see Lindsey holding back...

"STEVIE, YOU ARE NOT BOB DYLAN!"

haha

I've heard that Karen runs a tight ship around Stevie. She has been known to be snippy and stand-offish, but she's not the star, her only loyalty is to Stevie.

I know at some point she lived with Stevie, maybe she moved out, who knows. But she has lived with Stevie for awhile.

This is completely and absolutely false!!! These things are precious to her and mean a great deal! The thought that goes into each and every gift cements the love and appreciation of fans and is what keeps her going, esp. on long, grueling and incredibly exhaustive tours! Any artist values these sorts of things, come on!

There are all sorts of "assistant" jobs, none are easy. Like with all employers, it all depends on who you're working for. Each position is unique. Some require constant availability and necessite traveling w your boss, etc. Other roles are more like telecommuting where you may not even be in the same state as the person most of the time but report in via the phone or e-mail or fax. Some jobs are as simple as scouting out media outlets and fansites and reporting back.

I agree. I think Stevie really cherishes the stuff that us fans have for her. Obviously it's hard to take everything that everyone has, but I think she really does care about us. She's said it over and over in several interviews. I mean, she gave up a family life for this career and without us, she would have no career. She knows that, I am sure. Obviously this is just speculation, but to me, Stevie seems like such a sweet and caring person.

I don't know if Stevie actually cherishes the objects that fans give her necessarily as much as the knowledge that people love her enough to want to give her things. It's more of the gesture that I think she appreciates.

And I love DR!!!!! That argument of fight of what we should call it is sooooo riddiculous!!!! Hahahaha!!!! :blob2: :blob2: :blob2: And it's fun to watch!!!

I showed it to a friend who is a fan but nowhere near as hardcore as I am, and it was almost a little embarassing at times. Kind of like when you watch a movie with your parents but forget about all the graphic sex scenes until they appear on the screen.

They can be a little whinny, but on the whole, it's a great thing for us to have on DVD.

I've never really known what that argument is about, or the details of its playing out. Could someone -- like Vanessa or Mish -- explain it step by step, providing the premises & conclusions necessary to understanding?

It has something to do with mixing a track or two, I take it?

Oh, I know you know perfectly well.

The conclusion is certainly that Chris Lord-Alge doesn't get to mix the tracks (other than the one, Destiny Rules, in the can). The unspoken premise is that Lindsey doesn't want Lord-Alge to mix them. Though Lindsey never says this and would, in fact, deny it. One gets from the premise to the conclusion by following a Goldberg diagram, studded with devices and contraptions which prevent the various players from: (1) communicating with one another directly, and (2) speaking their minds frankly during the indirect exchanges.

Karen is accusing Lindsey of delaying Lord-Alge's work by refusing to sign the mixing contract. Lindsey is offended by such calumny (and I myself would like to see Karen struck dead on the spot), calls his manager and cries that people are pointing fingers at them, causing Stevie to exclaim, "Lindsey!" Of all the mixing drama moments, I find that particular one the most delightful.

Michele

^^

Also - LB voiced that he was worried that FM's work would get the brush over or not enough attention as CLA was very in demand at that time. To me, that did not make sense because La Nicks had been using CLA for well over a decade by then and La Nicks likely was somewhat responsible for CLA's success. So, I doubt CLA would have given FM's work only a once over as opposed to a full on treatment. I do think LB wanted not to spend the money, which also was a concern of John. LB wanted to do it himself. Interestingly, the GOS songs seemingly had already been remixed or at least a mix model had been determined. I also think LB in a way was being obstinate for no good reason because, to me, the mixes on the DR doc sounded good. But, in the end and much later, La Nicks said that only LB could mix the songs because only LB knew all nuances of the many sounds. So, I guess she changed her mind regarding the mixing as opposed to actual production, which she said she was not all that crazy about when compared to the demos.

Personally, I think LB's production of many aspects of La Nicks songs on SYW was not that great. So, maybe CLA would have improved those songs to these ears.

Note - other than what LB actually said in the doc. -- this is all my opinion only.

I don't think Lindsey mixed the songs. Based on the liner notes and the doc Destiny Rules, I think Needham mixed them.

When he was talking to John, I believe Lindsey was talking about having them mixed again, rather than having them mixed in the first place. The $9000+ figure he was giving John was an additional option.

Michele

But the mix on "Destiny Rules" is the best mix on the album. The instrument levels are right where they should be. The delineation is matchless. All is balance, proportion, clarity. So if Buckingham didn't want that quality (let's call it ... oh ... perfection), then he was being perverse.

The question is, Why? Here's the direction in which my mind is wandering: Remember what Ken Caillat said about the guitar sound on "Tusk"? He said that Lindsey told him to distort the guitar until the attack & style were as different from "Rumours" as it was reasonably possible to be.

On "Say You Will," was Buckingham trying to avoid the clarity, compression, & balance that marked his engineering & production style in the past?

Why that bitch is even in the room, I'm sure I don't know.

Stevie Nicks & her umpteen Wormtongues. Had I been in the band, I'd have issued Madame Nicks the ultimatum a long time ago: "Either they leave, or you & they leave."

Friends, lovers, & spouses of band members should not interfere in the decisions a band makes. It's been said a million times by a million people -- because it's true. No good ever comes of it.

Well, I'm sure Stevie agrees with you, then. I think she did a Sheryl Crow Mother's Day thing with this. We eventually saw her telling Lindsey that she wasn't going to use Chris because the album would take 2-3 months and Chris didn't have that kind of time open on his schedule. Lindsey, by contrast, said that they spent 4-5 days with Chris and he wasn't the guy, indicating that the quality of Chris' work wasn't any good -- at least in Lindsey's opinion. I think Stevie cited Chris' schedule as the excuse that he wasn't going to mix her songs,to be professional, the way she did in explaining why Sheryl Crow was not in the band. Lindsey on the other hand, would have trashed Chris, given half the chance, they way he did in explainng why Sheryl Crow was not in the band.

Interestingly, Lindsey said they DID go ahead and let Chris mix one of his songs. I wonder how that one turned out and which song it was that Chris mixed.

When Lindsey told John $9000 I got the impression that that was the cost not of all mixing but the cost of the sample mixing (the taste test) that they wanted to do. I thought that the experimental cost of letting each mixer do one of the other writer's songs as a test was the additional cost that Lindsey was quoting to John.

Oh, I hated it, but Stevie was trying to avoid arguing with Lindsey herself. So, they used a buffer. Lindsey, in turn, didn't confront her or Karen (and he shouldn't even stoop to arguing with Karen). Instead, he picked up the phone and brought Dimitriades into the mix, another buffer. Maybe they do this to avoid fights that might disable the whole tour. But there's no question that the use of intermediaries (necessary or not) muddies the process.

As to why Lindsey wants his songs to sound the way they do -- um, I'm still not sure why he embarassed me by whisper singing throughout all of UTS so that when I went proselytizing with the CD door to door, trying to convert unwashed heathen, they threw me out of their houses unceremoniously, repulsed by his croaking. His motives are a mystery.

Michele

Ahhhh - I forgot.

But, I do remember La Nicks saying that they left LB there and went to Hawaii so LB could mix the songs for those reasons.

Oh well.

Here is an audio of the doc.



They are talking about LB not wanting to give over his tracks and they lost a day.

I also do not get all the hate on Karen. She is just doing her job and handling those spoiled brats cannot be an easy thing to do :shrug:

Yeah, when the SYW publicity was first starting, I remember LB talking about Hawaii too and how he wanted to go to Hawaii, but someone had to stay and mix the record, but I gather he was just talking about being the one to stay and approve what Needham was doing. I think Stevie was saying that Lindsey knew all of the nuances over her and John and Mick, rather than over Lord-Alge.

Michele

^^

Perhaps. I wish I could find that interview. I tried a google search, but did not see it.

Then, LB with the whole she still hasn't thanked me thing :rolleyes:

It should not be the job of Stevie's personal assistant to contribute anything to a musical decision-making among the band members. Although she may be surprised to hear it, Karen is not a member of Fleetwood Mac.

Alternatively, it is Karen's job to ensure that Stevie Nicks gets to her hairdresser on time, & packs her favorite jammies for the tour.

Agreed. His mix of Say You Will was fantastic also.

besides Stevie laughing at the fish...THAT moment u described in my most favorite from DR :lol: it's like, Linds, no, we're not gonna fight about this, lindsey stop being a baby. Karen, stop making this worse. Mama just wants a rest :laugh: all rolled into one

Jason, was your opinion of Luke really necessary here? :confused:

And, wasn't JohnL directing his question to Luke?

If LukeA makes statements like that, he will get a response. In the end, I like LukeA and find most of his posts informative. I was just calling him on his BS, which he has been
called before by me and others.

As for JohnL asking LukeA and not me, anyone can respond to anything
around here :shrug:

Having said that, if LukeA wants to explain how he
knows this, I'm all ears :cool:

Oh...
By the way, I call BS on your above post. :laugh:

I guess I get Luke's humor...mosttimes I'm laughing. IMO he provides a differing, yes sometimes controversial, POV and I like that. Oh, and I could verywell say the same of you. :D

I find a lot of similar familiarity statements when viewing various topics on this board and other boards...the knowing of this.that about a band member. I've learned best to use the words maybe and perhaps a lot.

As for gifts and such that Stevie receives, IMO I think it may depend upon when she receives. I think she is a very in the moment type of person...providing heartfelt smiles and sincerely appreciating the adoration, thoughtfulness from the fans...etc. and perhaps, as you mention, taking the time to contact lateron those that really touched. Does she take items home to cherish forevah? I'd be more curious if that happened.

Based on her comments anything written that looks like a song likely goes unread because she was sued (unsuccessfully) for plagarism regarding "Sara.". Personal notes are sometimes read because people have been contacted later about them. Flowers and other things with just a card likely are appreciated but not acknowledged because how is she going to find some chick named "Jane" after the concert. Even if the card had contact information, she certainly cannot be expected to personally contact and thank like 100 people a night or take them home with her - but that does not mean she did not appreciate the present :shrug: there was an interview a few years ago where she said she gives the stuffed animals to charity and makes potpourri/shachets out of the flowers. That indicates she cares.

In the end, I think she appreciates them based on what I personally have seen and what others have told me.

She got a diamond and sapphire bracelet once, she had it appraised and it was worth thousands, I bet she cherished THAT gift forevah (even though she sings for the things money can't buy...)