Stevie's Extra Vocals on Tango
 

Does anyone have any info about Stevie's extra vocals on Little Lies, Big Love and Family Man? I know Mick said in his book that Stevie was mad that she was hardly on the album so they stuck around and added her extra parts but is there any other info or tidbits about this? Any demos that feature more of these extra verses? It sounds from the various mixes of Big Love that there was a bunch of extra vocals recorded but only certain bits were sampled and used. It would be awesome to hear a full demo with Stevie singing along with Lindsey.

The Little Lies extended (Jellybean) mix has a bit more of Stevie in it.

I'm assuming Buckingham didn't use a lot of Stevie's parts because, well, they weren't very good.

Also, I have a feeling that her contributions were minimal... Lindsey said she was "hardly" there (I think only a few weeks out of the year it took to make the record)... God knows.

Stevie's awesome extra vocals sound very 1986 ~ pre~Betty Ford. I don't think she recorded them in early 1987, as Mick seems to assert.

A few months ago, someone on here posted that LB had a fit and erased Stevie from everything except for "Little Lies". This poster said that the album sounded very different before he did that. Aside from those remixes, I have no idea what else she sang on.

Yeah, the extra vocals sounded great for remixes but I can't imagine the little bits on Little Lies and Family man would have mixed well into the original mixes without sounding tacked on. I always thought Tango was the least Fleetwood Mac sounding album because Stevie was hardly on it other than her few songs. But I have to say I love her extra vocals on Big Love. I didn't care for the album cut but the remix is one of my favorite songs from that era.

I was also surprised that they didn't use the extra vocals from the end of Seven Wonders because usually in the old extended remixes they often made use of vocals that went on beyond the album cut fadeout but on listening to the Seven Wonders 12" mix they end it on a much more dramatic note by stopping where they did, so I think they made a very wise decision there. I'm also amazed at how kick ass the Seven Wonders and Big Love remixes were compared to Little Lies. That one still blows me away. The original is so good and the remix really misses the mark.

This! I just listened to the remix on youtube to refresh my memory, and she sounds really good on it, I wish they'd kept her vocals in the main version, it would have added so much to the song, in my opinion, made it sound a bit more like Fleetwood Mac :laugh:

Right before Tango came out, Ginny Kamano sent out a letter to Stevie's fans. In it, she said that LB was only going to have TWO of Stevie's songs on the album, and NONE of her vocals on the rest. Warner Brothers intervened and insisted Stevie have THREE songs of hers on the album, as well as her vocals being on at least one other song.

If WB hadn't gotten involved, there would have been even LESS Stevie on the record.

You're absolutely right on that front. Other than the lead vocals on her 3 songs, the only Stevie appearance that I can hear is her counter-melody line on "Little Lies" (which sounds somewhat tacked on). Even on her own songs, it sounds like she only has a lead vocal, with no harmonies with herself as she had done on previous albums (e.g. "Dreams", "That's Alright" where she adds a harmony line along with CM and LB to create a very full block harmony sound). That is why the choruses of "Seven Wonders" and "Wecome To The Room Sara" sound a bit thin compared to Stevie's songs on previous albums.

This really makes me wonder which Stevie song was the added extra, and which two were the originals.

Excellent point about Stevie not having any harmonies with herself, or appearing in the backing of any of the others' songs too. Although, I could have sworn I can hear her in Everywhere.

Too bad, Christine shined on TITN.

her finest moments IMO!! Isn't it Midnight? Everywhere? Perfection!!

I really think Tango would've been one of their very best records (and it already is good) if Stevie had shined as much as Christine eh

Well she's there in the Tango live DVD. LOL! I always figured they used all that grainy behind the scenes footage to hide the fact that Christine would cringe every time Stevie would go "I wanna be with you..." in the chorus.

I think it was in Mick's book where he says they were in the recording studio listening to a playback of the album and Stevie was getting more and more upset. She complained that it was like she wasn't on the album at all. Mick asked specifically what she thought she should be on and Stevie replied "'Everywhere'....you should be able to hear me on 'Everywhere'". Christine then said that she had wanted Stevie on "Everywhere" but that they'd been working on the album for nearly a year before Stevie joined them so the fault was Stevie's. Stevie apologized for that, and then they supposedly added Stevie's vocals to "Everywhere" and according to Mick it "did sound more like Fleetwood Mac".

Thing is I can't really hear Stevie on "Everywhere". Maybe if I heard the original version that didn't have Stevie's vocals mixed in and then heard the one that ended up on Tango In The Night I might be able to say "oh yeah now I can hear her"....but just hearing the Tango "Everywhere" it doesn't sound to me like Stevie's voice is noticeable there. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

I think over-all Tango DOES sound very "Stevie light".....she's noticeable on "Little Lies" but that's about it. People think she's the female voice on "Big Love" but she's not....that's a computer-altered Lindsey vocal.

I agree that Tango could have been truly great if Stevie was more a part of the album and if she'd turned in better songs.

She turned in:

"Seven Wonders"
"When I See You Again"
"Juliet"
"Whole Lotta Trouble"
"What Has Rock And Roll Ever Done For You?"
"Joan Of Arc"
"Welcome To the Room... Sara"

Pretty good songs to me!

I'm surprised "What Has Rock And Roll Ever Done For You?" hasn't turned up somewhere else. Like on a soundtrack or one of Stevie's solo albums or a b-side or something. That was a pretty wild song.

If Stevie is singing on "Everywhere", then her vocals have been mixed so low as to be inaudible. Her voice is so distinctive that it is almost always recognizable on any recording, but I don't hear it here. If you listen closely to the background response vocals at the end of the chorus, there are some vaguely Stevie-like vocals but they sound much more like LB's voice slightly manipulated (ala "Book of Love").

Compare the TITN version of "Everywhere" to The Dance to get a sense of what the song sounds like with Stevie on backing vocals. I actually like The Dance version better because of the more prominent guitar and the richer backing vocal harmony. The song has a bit more oomph on The Dance as opposed to the light-as-a-feather TITN version.

Oh speaking of that, Stevie said once in an interview that originally "What Has Rock'n'Roll Ever Done For You" was supposed to close the Tango In The Night album, but that Christine thought it was too negative of a song. They opted instead for "You and I".

Hmmm.....and the band picked the ones that they wanted from there? I haven't ever heard "Joan of Arc" so I can't comment on that. "Seven Wonders" is good but I always preferred to see Stevie-penned-only songs on Mac albums. "Juliet" is a good one, I love the "sky is crying, no the sky is blue" section. I've just never liked "When I See You Again" or "Welcome to the Room...Sara"....they both seem like weak songs, the latter one in particular, and definitely the weakest songs on the whole album (and I like Stevie's stuff more than Christine's or Lindsey's normally).

I guess I go against the majority opinion. Of Stevie's three songs on Tango, the one I think is the most unique and intriguing is 'Welcome to the Room Sara." So very Stevie! It's more logical when you know the story behind it. Of course, she wrote it in the most obtuse manner, yet it made perfect sense to her!

Although I intially liked 'Seven Wonders" the most, it hasn't aged well with me. Her modifed lyrics leave a lot to be desired -- butchered, pedestrian and awkward. Definately a missed opportunity for a much stronger song. I feel for Sandy!

I strive to find something redeemable in "When I See You Again," but it's hard to do. Her delivery, as well as the questionable/reeking lyrics don't help the song at all. It could have been her new 'Landslide," but instead it reveals her severe limitations/issues at that point in time. Another missed opportunity, almost as if she didn't really care. That's a shame.

The other attempted song "Joan of Arc," had potential. Yet it succumbs to similar shrill repetition similar to 'When I See You Again." It's choice between " baby, baby baby.." or "Turn it to the wall, turn it to wall." It's a lot of blatent filler to pick up the slack for lazy/poor writing.

Obviously "Juliet" was attempted, but all that emerged from that was the b-side intrumental "Book of Miracles." I remember wondering, at the time, why Stevie would have a song writing credit on an intrumental song. Now we know why.

About the other songs, like "What Has Rock and Roll Ever Done For You?" ...did Fleetwood Mac actually attempt them? I always considered the demo we have of that song is a Stevie-generated demo that she brought to the band for consideration ( like the 'Welcome to the Room Sara" demo). Is there documented studio band work on that song, or on 'Whole Lotta Trouble?"

I wonder if Stevie has any regret or shame over how she behaved during that era, and how she was the weakest link in the band, and how her questionable contributions prevented Tango from ever being a really great album.

Okay now this is a case where I really like Stevie's demo MUCH better than what Lindsey ended up doing to the song. Here's the demo of "Welcome to the Room...Sara":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AtfCZWIoZk

The demo has nice velvety synths.

I think what really throws me off is Lindsey's "island" style musical arrangement. Those tropical-ish synths and the congas in the song just serve to emphasize how meandering the lyric is, whereas Stevie's original demo grounds the lyrics better.

BTW the "Juliet" demo is better too....it shows that Rupert Hine hindered the song with keyboards when he produced it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_zGH...eature=related

I think if they picked Seven Wonders, Joan of Arc and Whole Lotta Trouble, then Tango would have been an even better album. I would have liked to see What Has Rock And Roll Ever Done For You? Close the album too, I think that's a great little song :laugh:

On the four albums preceding this one, in my opinion, Stevie had the strongest material. On this one, she sank like a lead balloon, while Lindsey and Christine - especially Christine - were on fire.

Without a doubt, Christine and Lindsey were in their moment. A very good thing, because they had to pick up the slack. Perhaps without Stevie's lack of involvement, they had better chemistry and worked especially well together.

I totally agree. Stevie had a hell of a run from Fleetwood Mac through Mirage but stumbled badly on Tango In The Night....which was really too bad, because, as you pointed out, Lindsey did some good work and Christine turned in really strong songs.

I think Stevie was spotty on Behind The Mask too, as well as "No Questions Asked" on Greatest Hits. It wasn't until "Paper Doll" that I thought there was a glimmer of the old Stevie magic returning. "Twisted" showed some promise as did "Sweet Girl" but it was the Trouble In Shangri-La album where I thought she'd really returned to form as a great songwriter, which was maintained by most of the new songs on the Say You Will album (In fact "Thrown Down" may be my favorite song of hers, ever). I have high hopes for In Your Dreams.

I'm just amazed so many people hate "Affairs of the Heart"...which I absolutely adore....It's always on my Stevie best of comps I make from time to time...


As for Tango...yeah Stevie was clearly on autopilot..her songs on the LP, maybe beside "Seven Wonders" (is there a 7" remix?), are very weak...Lindsey and Christine's songs are def the strongest.

I believe All The King's Horses was also submitted for Tango.


And I love Affairs of the Heart and No Questions Asked very much!

totally agree with you about What Has Rock N Roll...it should have turned up somewhere...as so many of her demos should have...but that one seems to sum things up so well up to that point...I always thought if nothing else, it SHOULD have at least been on Enchanted ...
as to Tango, I wish there had been more Stevie on the (non SN) tracks, but I do love the album...the 'extended' versions are the ones I listen to most, though, as they do have more Stevie...

Erm if I recall correctly, the extent of Stevie's "modifications" on Seven Wonders are limited to a misheard word that morphed into "Emmiline". The rest is all Sandy.

Yeah, the original line was something like "All the way down you held the line" and she changed it to "all the way down to Emmiline". I don't think it changed the song that much.

And I've always totally loved No Questions Asked. I can get that not everyone is gonna like every song but I'm always amazed at how many people just hate this song.

I def agree about the inclusion of Joan Of Arc, that song would have segued nicely after Tango In The Night - the song. However, I disagree about WLT, it has never been my favorite song, in fact, as it has aged, it's fallen even further near the bottom of all Stevie songs written, never been a fan of the Stevie lryical mash-up songs (*The Nightmare excluded). For Stevie's third song I would have gone with Juliet or Welcome To The Room...Sara - provided Lindsey ditched his tropical-ish arrangement:nod:. WTTRS had potential in demo form. And I also agree, it should have had layers of vocal overdubs by Stevie herself, and many more from Chris & Lindsey.

And it's a flat out crime that Stevie's harmonies are not on Everywhere at the very very least!! Because, if they are, to my ears they buried her under any audible trace of existence. Ahhhh, so many could of been moments in Fleetwood Mac & Stevie Nicks history.:o

I'm adore the song, just not a fan of the nanoscale production and arrangement! Sounds like the band was on auto-pilot when the whisked through this song. Even the widely traded outtake if far far better. This is a song that probably would have benefited from Lindseys help and arrangement.

I really agree with your opinions on Tango. Good observations. Tango hasn't ever been one of my favorite Mac lp's just like RAL hasn't ever been one of my favorite Stevie lp's either. I think 'When I see You Again' version we have with Lindsey and Stevie' s vocals at the end are better than just Stevie by herself. Seven Wonders really have not ever cared for. Just like Joan of Arc to repetitive verses for me. I agree with you about the lazy writing aspect of that.I think FMac would've done better with the LP if more Stevie had been on it. I do think without Stevie on it more it makes it 'less' of a FMac record to me. Its more of a Lindsey/Christine record really. Which if I'd been a member and wasn't really aloud to contribute to it that would've made me angry. Yes, Stevie had 'issue's than but they should've had some sort of understanding really. Its not like they didn't know her. I just don't think they handled well on all fronts really. Yes, Stevie was at fault too but so was FMac. Though I know this LP sold well it probably could've sold even better with more Stevie than less. Some thoughts. :shrug:

Agreed.

Nobody was very mature or sensible, & nobody laid down the law. Stevie Nicks should have said, way back at the Village Recorder in 1979, "The next time somebody in this band makes fun of me or my contributions, or criticizes me in a destructive rather than constructive way, I'm walking. I'm not going to stay in this band just to be belittled & mocked." And Fleetwood Mac should have told Stevie, "When this band is recording, you are expected to attend most, if not all, the sessions. Demos mailed to us in the studio from your sojourns in Australia or elsewhere will be marked RETURN TO SENDER."

TANGO's problems, as everyone seems to agree, seem attributable to drug use, unprofessionalism, & emotional fragility. Given Stevie's & John's absence & Mick Fleetwood's drunkenness day & night, Lindsey made the mistake of continuing to captain the project on through to completion. He should have said to the band during the troubled sessions, "We're done. There won't be an album -- at least one that I am creating or even participating in. I'd like you all to leave. When Stevie, Mick, & John decide to take the album seriously & commit their time & effort to it, we can reconvene & finish these tracks. If that takes six months or if that takes six years, it's up to the band members."

I now think that's what Lindsey should have done: sent everybody home. Stevie might have gone ahead with her cocaine treatment, Mick might have sought help for his drug & alcohol use (which had rendered him an obnoxious idiot by that time), & John too might have put the bottle down. The band might have reconvened in much better circumstances in 1988, 1989, or even 1990, & finished the album & toured.

Great post also!! Yeah, maybe none of those projects really should've been completed. For Stevie maybe RAL should've been shelved too. She should've continued her treatment instead of rushing to get out so she could tour for RAL. Of course alot of fans will probably be mad that I'm saying that but when the work is released and its really not the 'best' and you only get junk that passes off for an LP its kinda sad when you know what potential exsists esp with said members involved. I agree with your comments about Tango. It really sounds like no one in Fmac really should've been making that LP. Execept maybe Lindsey/Chris. It really should've just been Lindsey's solo LP and a Christine solo LP than. Of course thats not what occured. Other than emotional issue's with Lindsey and Stevie as well. Its just said that no one else in the FMac camp spoke up but really the record company (Warner Brothers) wants a new LP cause of the $$ aspect so why would they stop them. Sad but true. I'm guessing they were there cash cow's than still though I would think they had other bands in the 80's that were more cash cow's than (not sure whom though?).I just think and feel personally cheated with that LP so I guess thats why its not my favorite. Its ok though if others love it. Just isn't the best to me really. It could've been so much better really. :shrug:

Interesting post but then we might never have gotten Big Love, Little Lies, Everywhere, Isn't It Midnight and Seven Wonders...

Well I think that's the thing.....the band felt that they really had something with "Big Love", "Little Lies", "Everywhere", "Isn't It Midnight", "Tango In The Night" and "Caroline". That's what kept them going through the record, even though Stevie was absent. If Stevie had turned in three strong songs, like she had every prior album, Tango In The Night could have potentially rivaled Rumours.

Imagine this:
Big Love
Seven Wonders
Everywhere
Smile At You (original demo-style mix)
Tango In The Night
Mystified
Little Lies
Family Man
Planets Of The Universe (extended single version)
Caroline
Isn't It Midnight
You And I, Part II

Not true.....when I was interning at Modern, I heard an early copy of the disc....Stevie was ALL OVER the disc, travelling back from the Petty/Dylan tour and just before Betty Ford....and she sounded GREAT!

It was Lindsey who got his nose in a snit about something and ERASED almost all of her vocals....he almost took her off of "Little Lies" as well, but Christine put her foot down.

Trust me, they did exist at one time, but I believe that they're long, looong gone!

This confirms what Ginny Kamano told fans in Early 1987 ~ Fleetwood Mac/Lindsey had decided she would only be on TWO songs period after all the recording had finished. Warner Bros. said, "No way!" and forced FM/LB to make sure Stevie had three songs of hers and could be heard on at least one other song. That was their edict, and LB kept strictly to it, deleting all of Stevie's other vocals that she'd recorded from the finished product.

Wow, that's really interesting. Why did Lindsey have a little bitchfit and take all her vocals off? I'm not really sure on why he'd do that at all.

I thought the "I am what I am..." on the breakdown of the album version of "Family Man" was her. You can tell better on the extended remix I think.
I mean, not that it really sounds much like Stevie, but that's one other song she's on. I wonder if Lindsey even meant this as a cruel joke... Like, "Yeah I'll keep your vocal on this one but manipulate it to the point it doesn't even sound like you."

Yeah, Stevie is totally obvious on the Remix. I remember delivering flowers in Austin in Fall 1987, and one of the radio stations did a dance remix lunch hour. "Family Man" came after some other song, and I hadn't bought the 12" because of being poor then. Suddenly, that sped up part slowed down and it was TOTALLY STEVIE!!!!! And then her extra vocals that had been stripped off ~ "He is what he is! Whoooaaaa OWWW!!!"

So, even there, Stevie had recorded more vocals that were taken off, and she was disguised in the track on the album.

Great tunes... And I don't care the she didn't write Seven Wonders.. I think it's a fantastic FM tune..