Enchanted ~ What Might Have Been...
 

Looking through some old Stevie fanzines, I found one from my good friend Aine Foley from Ireland with some interesting tidbits. In the February 1998 issue of Crystal(Issue 15), Aine posted an article from ICE magazine about Enchanted. Now, I had the next issue of ICE, which detailed the full track listing of the original CDs, which included "Real Tears" instead of "Kind of Woman", but I did not have this earlier article.

I just thought it was interesting, so I've transcribed from Aine's fanzine the cool parts of the ICE article:

B-sides included are:
"Edge of Seventeen" - The unedited 8-minute [live] version, only released promotionally.
"Garbo"
"One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star"
"Real Tears"

"The third disc contains all the collector's items, and its contents were still being finalized at press time. Tentative plans called for the following 15 tracks to be included:

"Crying In The Night" - From the coveted Buckingham Nicks album. This marks the first official release on CD of any track from that album, generally considered to be 'America's Most Wanted' missing CD. We asked a source closely inviolved with the project how this track was chosen: 'We sat down with the tracks that had the bulk of her lead vocals on them,' our source says, 'and we all agreed that this was the catchiest track, and the one that people would probably enjoy the most. It was also the first single off Buckingham Nicks back then.'

"Whenever I Call You 'Friend'"
"Gold"
"Blue Lamp"
Sleeping Angel"
"Gold and Braid" - Unreleased outtake from The Wild Heart. Fans may be familiar with it from Nicks' concerts, but this is the unreleased studio version.
"Violet and Blue"
"I Pretend" - Performed with Sandy Stewart, from the latter's album Cat Dancers. 'Sandy wrote and performed with Stevie during the The Wild Heart/Rock A Little era,' says our source. 'She co-wrote and performs on "Nightbird". So this duet, from Sandy's album which is out of print, is kind of a payback.'
"Battle of The Dragon"
"Thousand Days" - An unreleased performance.
"Somebody Stand By Me"
"Free Falling"
"Twisted" - Nicks' songwriting demo of the song that would up on the Twister motion picture soundtrack. 'It's her playing guitar, with something like a percussion loop, and Jesse Valenzuela of Gin Blossoms adding a little mandolin part,' says our source. 'It's structurally different from the version that ended up on Twister. It's really nice, kind of pure and sweet. Recorded in her living room, by her, on a 4-track.'
"It's Late" - A cover of Ricky Nelson's hit, also with Valenzuela on guitar. 'It's an unusual side of her,' says our source. 'It has kind of a rockabilly feel.'
"Reconsider Me" - An unreleased outtake from Rock A Little, written by Warren Zevon, with vocal parts added by Don Henley.


*** Interesting about "Gold and Braid", huh? Well, I thought this was cool!

Plus, we already know about the unreleased tracks that were leaked from Atlantic's office in Manhattan that Stevie herself delivered to the record company for consideration for the boxed set:

"How Still My Love" - outtake #1
"How Still My Love" - outtake #2
"Gypsy Beggar"
"The Nightmare" - piano demo #1
"The Nightmare" - piano demo #2
"Edge of Seventeen" - unreleased extended version
"All Over U" - Rock A Little outtake written and recorded with Prince (This has been confirmed a thousand times. Please, let's not start up the "That's not Stevie!" silliness.)
"Twisted" - demo without the overdubs
"It's Late" - demo #2

I think I'm missing something...

I think I rememeber hoping that Enchanted was going to be a lot grander than what was actually released, particularly the packaging. I thought in terms of demos and unreleased material it was light, another disc would have been great. But I can see how the businessmen might have really struggled with that, a 4th disc would have raised the price.

Overall I'm pretty content with what what ended up on "Enchanted"

I am happy they ended up using "Long Distance Winner" over CITN. Although CITN is cathy, I find it repetitive and cloying as well. LDW has always been a favorite of mine from BN. The only better selection would have been "Frozen Love", which was probably not considered cause of time constraints, and or maybe Lindsey wouldn't approve letting go of that one.

Other than that I wish they had included the Album Tracks:
"Long Way To Go" (one of Stevie's best rockers & totally underrated) in place of "Desert Angel"
"Doing The Best That I Can" in place of "I Sing For The Things"
"Nothing Ever Changes" in place of "Two Kinds of Love"

Beside the fact that NEC & LWTG were FM radio staples and promotional songs released to FM radio only in the U.S.. And I believe NEC even charted on the Top Ten Rock Radio charts the summer of 83 along with "Enchanted". These songs also bring a more rock vibe to the overall flow of the box set.

On the 3rd CD:
Mirror Mirror (duh!)
Real Tears (respectable b-side)
I Pretend (love Stevie's vocal on this plus it's a great song)

And if they were going to include a "Rhiannon" demo....they should have included one of the old looser and far superior 70's demos. Preferably the "Birds Rising" one with the siren vocal and dramatic frenzied piano playing. From a marketing standpoint, the addition of any version of "Rhiannon" was a BIG PLUS....Just not a fan of Stevie's recreated demo, It boring and too calculated, I never listen to it. What a waste of space.......

It would have also been nice to have alt. takes on some of the previously released tracks.

I'm also happy with Enchanted. There are a few things I'd add/delete, but overall it's very well done and sequenced.

I would DROP "Kind of Woman" ~ why oh why is it on Disc 2 instead of "Real Tears"???

"I Pretend" has an amazing wicked vocal by Stevie ~ The Wild Heart indeed!

"Long Way To Go" was a big rock radio hit, yes, and deserves to be on the collection. Since Stevie's 4 other album title tracks are on Enchanted, I also feel that "Alice" should have made the cut, to give more of that The Other Side of The Mirror feeling to the set.

I would have added the 1981 Live version of "Sara", plus "Outside the Rain"/"Dreams" from Red Rocks, dropping the LP version of "Outside the Rain", "I Sing For The Things" and "The Highwayman". Kind of a precursor to Crystal Visions, adding in live/alternate versions of Stevie's group hits. "Gypsy" from the 1983 Tour could replace almost anything, I love that song from that tour that much!!!

If these were "leaked," have they actually turned up somewhere? :shrug: I assume that if Stevie intended to include these songs, they must have been pretty high-fidelity recordings. However, the versions of "Gypsy Beggar" and "All Over U" I have heard have been of terrible quality. Speaking of which, I am still not convinced that "All Over U" is a Stevie song.

I'm going to start it up. Where was this confirmed a thousand times? Is there some proof somewhere? Is it somewhere here on the Ledge?

Thanks!

"Kind Of Woman" is on disc 1. I don't see why both (this and Real tears) couldn't have been included. There's no need to sacrifice one of my favorite songs!

OH!!!! AND... you want to drop "The Highwayman"???? Are you kidding me???? One of the best poems she ever wrote?? Why not just kill me and get it over with????

"long Way To Go" got zero radio play in Connecticut. It was never played on the radio. But "Ghosts" was. Go figure. That's Connecticut for ya.

Mike or anyone else,

Do you have any information about what the track listing was going to be when the boxset was going to be 5-disc collection? It was reported that it would contain many unreleased versions and unreleased songs. When I first saw the title of this thread, that's what I thought this thread was going to be about.

>Sigh<

In early 1998, Stevie turned over the above outtakes & demos listed in my post to Atlantic Records. An employee at the Manhattan office of Atlantic back then was a big Stevie fan, as well as the fiance of a good friend of mine. My friend is on my FaceBook friends list ~ who could she be?! (You'll never guess).

Her fiance made copies, gave them to her and she gave them to me and many of her friends back in 1998.

There: long story very short.

I know the fiance/now husband. He exists, a real person. So is my friend. Yes, her fiance copied these recordings illegally. Yes, "All Over U" was among these songs that Stevie herself (!!!!!!!) handed over to Atlantic. Stevie herself. Done deal.

And my copies of "Gypsy Beggar", "All Over U", "The Nightmare" and the rest are sparkling, crystal clear, perfect... just as they were when the Atlantic employee copied them and gave them to his soon-to-be-wife who gave them to me.

Thanks for the clarification. And thank goodness for friends in high places! But the proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the "sparkling crystal clear, perfect" recordings (hint, hint). To be honest, the quality of "All Over U" that I've heard is so bad that it could have been sung by Bob Dylan and I wouldn't know the difference.

Well, thank you for (re)explaining. I must have missed this detail the other times you wrote about it, sorry. I didn't have an opinion, and I didn't care one way or the other if it was Stevie because I really don't like dance music. I was just curious.

I'm just BEYOND THANKFUL that "All Over U" wasn't used.

These actually did turn up. But they were being sold by Maureen Loftus on a CD titled Enchanted Outtakes. I have this on tape, and to my ears, these are no better than what's been floating around. Here's the track listing:

Edge Of Seventeen (lots of cooing on this)
2 fairly raw versions of HSML
All Over U
Twisted (demo)
Gypsy Beggar
The Nightmare (2 piano versions that sound like they were done at the same time as Gypsy Beggar)
If You Were My Love (SA version)
Running Through The Garden
The Charmed Ones
At The Fair
All The Beautiful Worlds
Love Is Like A River (demo)
Lady From The Mountains
Takes A Long Time
Listen To The Rain
and, oddly Do I Bring You Down, which isn't even a Stevie song.

After copying the cassette to my computer and going through it, I can honestly say the sound quality is crap.

Since Stevie had 'Gold' and 'Whenever I Call You Friend' on 'Enchanted' , too bad she left out 'Smiling Islands' (with Robbie Patton). Gorgeous song! :thumbsup:

She could have dropped 'Somebody Stand By Me' as that was a recent, easy to find track.

I don't know what Maureen did to the initial 8 songs, but those others were not part of the songs handed in to Modern that I wrote about earlier.

Maureen got those songs from her source and were not part of the Enchanted contenders. With all of her cassette dubbing in the Late 1990s, she probably degraded the sound on the actual Enchanted outtakes before she sold them. Or she was given them in cassette form from one of her trading friends.

But the actual Enchanted outtakes are not of poor sound, those 8 recordings listed above. Slight hiss on a few, but they are not the actual Masters, but copied from what Stevie turned in. Still, the sound is exceptional and much better than most demos & outtakes.

I'm in a Gay Pride mood right now and downloading several Stevie Dance Mixes. Maybe I'll get to the Enchanted outtakes tomorrow.

Well, happy gay pride, and I think I can speak on behalf of all of us here that we await your posts with bated breath. Whether you know it or not, I think you just may possess part of the Stevie Holy Grail- high quality versions of "Gypsy Beggar" and "All Over U." Did you assume that the high-quality versions were already circulating?

THANKS!! :xoxo:

I just came across another demo CD which has the 8 songs, (Edge - The Nightmare #2), which is really clear. It should be done uploading in about 5 minutes. I'll post the link for it in the Demos forum.

Yes, all of my Stevie Friends got them in 1998, just like me. All of them are Ledgies as well. I figured everyone has high quality copies. The source was a very good copy.


***Edited out my own silly bitchiness. Please ignore.

Feel like sharing??? I would love to hear All Over U in at least decent quality and The Nightmare demo/extended whatever I have is in poor condition. The Nightmare is a top 10 for me :nod: so this would be a real treat.

Dark Angel just posted these in the Demo/Live Request thread.

Ok, I think there's a lot of confusion here, due to the fact that different bootleggers called different collections by the same name!

And all of these collections had different levels of sound quality.

Somebody other than Maureen sold a cd in about 1999 that was called "Enchanted Outtakes". This cd's track listing was exactly (and even in order) what Mike posted above. The sound quality was really, really good.

A completely different bootlegger then started selling a cd shortly after that, and it was called " Enchanted Outtakes #1". The sound quality was inferior to the first. The sound was murky-bassy. The track listing was:

Gold Dust Woman (rehearsal 1998), After the Glitter Fades (rehearsal 1998), Battle of the Dragon, Talk To Me, Rock a Little, Mirror Mirror, The Nightmare, Silent Night, Edge of Seventeen, How Still My Love, All Over You, Twisted, I Wanna Talk To You, Something Exquisite, That's Alright.

Maureen's nephew, James, sold a 4-cd set called "Enchanted Dreams" in the late 1990s. Some people were copying it and trading and selling it under the name "Enchanted Outtakes". Some of the tracks had decent sound-quality, but not all. I bought my set straight from James, and a lot of the tracks (including "All Over You") were "clipped", meaning they were recorded from the source at too high of a level (if you're familiar with transferring or dubbing cassettes, you know that the visual manifestation of this is when the meter goes into the "red" section). This creates a a"scratchy" sound where it sounds like the "highs" are "topping out".

So it's very easy to understand why Mike would have been under the impression that everyone already had the clear-sounding versions.

Hmm, I downloaded those songs y'all are talking about, and found them to be rubbish. I'm rather happy with what Enchanted turned out to be. Plenty of strong rare songs, and different mixes of the well known ones. Gorgeous packaging, beautiful never before seen pictures. I just don't think there's anything to complain about.

I've got many complaints but too busy at work to type them all out! Disc 3 should have been very different IMO. Again, I'm wondering how much influence the record label had as to which songs were chosen vs. Stevie strictly picking them on her own. I guess we'll never know but I always wonder about these things...

Wait, what is this "I Pretend" song?

It's the duet Stevie did with Sandy Stewart on 'Cat Dancer'. Very pretty song.

With a wonderfully raspy voice by Stevie, perfectly from The Wild Heart era!!!

Stevie also sounds wickedly Wild Hearted on "Get My Way" and "Cat Dancer"!

More 1983 vocals that should have been on Enchanted - "Sorcerer" where Stevie takes over from Marilyn Martin and takes over her own song!!! (Recorded in the Summer of 1983).

Oh yes - "Get My Way" is a very cool funky number! Very Michael Jackson-esque.

Love Stevie's "Owww!" (after Sandy sings the line about leaving a light on the terrace at night... 'you never know when you might'...).

Oooooooh! I'd love to hear the crystal clear copies from the record company!!! You should post them, Mike!!! :blob2:

original Enchanted setlist
 

I remember seeing the original tracklist -does anybody have it ?
i always thought there should have something from Red Rocks on it too:angel:

I love that! And when Stevie growls out, "Hey HEY!!!"

And on "Cat Dancer", when Stevie slips in the "He cried!" on the chorus!!!!!!!

BTW, here in Texas, the song "Cat Dancer" was a HUGE rock radio hit in Spring 1984, with the DJs always announcing: "Stevie Nicks on 'Cat Dancer' from the new Sandy Stewart album!" (And variations thereof).

Even if The Wild Heart did not sell as much as Bella Donna, Stevie was more popular than ever in 1983 & 1984, especially due to MTV and her videos for "Stand Back", "Gypsy" and "If Anyone Falls". Cat Dancer probably sold a lot of copies because of Stevie!

I hear ya.....Now at the 'time' when Enchanted was released in '98 I was totally excited(Plus the tour was awesome!!! One of the best ever!!same with SA tour!!) but I didn't have too many demos or UR songs/or extended versions other than what I'd known...not what I know now anyway.....or UR photos too.....so with you I do think it could've been better as well. A 4 or 5 disc set would've been really nice or 4 cds and one dvd....Plus many many more outtake photos from all her solo LP's.....I mean up to that point it would've included BD/WH/RAL/Mirror/SA (not including TS since it was a GH cd anyway and most of the pics were either from Mirror/Mask eras).....esp with all of the pics I've seen online now....its totally sad. Plus the front cover I still think could've had Stevie's actual photo on it not the feather....the feather could've been on the inside. Esp more BD/WH photos.....don't even let me get started on all of the songs.....disc #3 I would've had more Stevie solo on it than duets etc. I do like it but still I do also think it could've been better.......anyway, no offence.....it is what it is.....I don't think I've heard the better quality versions of those songs Mike talked about either.....most of the versions I have are also from Maureen......anyway.....this is an interesting thread.....if others here would've liked a 'different' Enchanted.....I do wonder what songs you /meaning everyone here....what songs would you have included on it.....???? Just wondering.....thanks......:shrug::D

I can tell you off the bat what I would not have included (in no particular order):
Oooh My Love
The Highway Man
Kind of Woman
Somebody Stand By Me
Twisted
Gold
Whenever I Call You Friend
2 Kinds of Love
Destiny
Free Fallin
I Sing for the Things
Reconsider Me

*prepares for tomatoes to be thrown at her*

I know this might sound harsh but keep in mind...these are not songs that I don't necessarily dislike (some), just not on my long list of favorites. Songs I would have included without a doubt:
All the Beautiful Worlds (I know, I'm a dreamer)
How Still My Love (instead of The Highwayman)
Sable on Blond (although that would have made it a little WH heavy)
Alice (instead of Ooh My Love or 2 kinds of Love)
Jane - just kidding!
More demos from the vaults on disc 3! I have a feeling some of what was on disc 3 were songs they were pushing at the time instead of spaces that could have been filled with old demos. Bastards! lol

Doing The Best That I Can
 

I too, was ecstatic that "Long Distance Winner" was chosen for the box and not "Crying In The Night". "Doing The Best That I Can" WAS in the original track listing in that ICE article that Mike quoted from. It was dropped for some reason!

I've never been disappointed in ENCHANTED - I think it's a great set. It should have had DTBTIC, and the "Rhiannon" piano demo SHOULD have been the "birds rising" one.....AND "Mirror Mirror" and "Real Tears" SHOULD have been included - they are both listed as bsides under their asides info in the liner notes! But I think it was a great package nonetheless.

I've always assumed more demos and outtakes weren't included so they could be released in their OWN boxset. You all know Stevie needs to release a boxset of unreleased material!! With these long years of no new albums, she really should release her RHIANNON album or at least a box of demos including "Running Through The Garden", "Prettiest Girl in the World", and "All The Beautiful Worlds"!

All Over U
 

I've never understood "All Over U". I sort of hear Stevie, but it sounds like Sheryl Crow is singing with her. Stevie herself has said that Prince came into her life - at the recording studio while recording "Stand Back" then walked out of her life never to be spoken to again. Now we know Stevie changes her stories from time to time, but she's mentioned Prince several times and it's always the same. I actually don't think it sounds much like Prince vocally, just his style. So maybe that's the answer. Maybe it isn't Prince! LOL

Have there been any interviews with Stevie OR Prince that have mentioned the history behind this song? Has anyone done a copyright check on when it was written or recorded?

Mike, have you uploaded your first generation copy yet? The one I downloaded from DarkAngel doesn't sound very great. I've always loved this "Edge of 17" with the dove coos......and the "How Still My Love" (Still of the Night version) is my FAVORITE!!! So glad Stevie likes it herself - I sure wish they'd put it on ENCHANTED. I've always wondered - is that version on a Master Reel?

Interesting about that. There are four outtakes of "How Still My Love" that are performed in the same style on the Masters (among the 25+ full versions of the song, not to mention the many, many demos of it). All are completely different recordings and Stevie sings them all very differently. However, neither of the two takes that Stevie turned in to Atlantic in consideration for Enchanted are on the Masters. Four similar takes, but not these two.

I got "She Still Loves Him" to upload this morning, and then when I tried to upload "Fire Burning" for someone, Mediafire crapped out on me. Actually, it's my crappy connection. I'll try another day again.

Stevie ~ She said Prince was "in & out of her life and that was it". Well, she saw him and spoke with him at the Purple Rain premiere a year and a half after "Stand Back" was recorded. Who knows?

In 1999, I did give "All Over U" to several huge Prince fans I'd met online and they all believed it to be their beloved Prince, the artist they worship and know the sound of his voice. Who knows?

The only issue I ever had with Enchanted was that I thought the "duet" songs (Gold, Whenever I Call You Friend, was there another?) shouldn't have been on there. They're not really Stevie songs, and I don't care that much for them, besides. More demos would've been nice - lord knows she's got a treasure trove, and even if she did an album a year for the next 7 years with nothing but old demos, she'd barely scratch the surface of what she's got.

I didn't really get a couple of the soundtrack choices - "Somebody Stand By Me" doesn't do much for me - "If You Ever Did Believe" was much better, but I'm not sure if it came out before or after Enchanted.

The songs chosen from her studio albums were spot on, IMO, and the Enchanted remix versions of the SA tracks are far better than what was on the album.

"Midnight Wind" is more of a showcase for Stevie than "Gold". That might have been an interesting substitution.

Neither song was truly a duet and she really was just a prominent background vocalist, so I don't either really had a place in the box set. I like both those songs, but I would have much rather had a demo or previously released rarity (such as "The Nightmare" 12" version or "Mirror Mirror") in place of "Gold".