Bella Donna question.
 

Hi. I just got Bella Donna on CD. I had to have all the tracks and couldn't settle for a best of. I loved it when it was new out on vinyl. Anyway, I never noticed the copyright dates on the songs before now. Does anyone know if any of the songs dated before 1980 were offered to Fleetwood Mac and passed on? Were some intended for the BNII album?

I see Duck Dunn plays bass on Stop Draggin'. He was from Booker T and the MGs! What a great album with so many names contributing. Russ Kunkel on drums is married to Cass Elliot's sister Leah Kunkel who had a solo album of her own out in 1979 that is worth getting. He also played on James Taylor tracks and Leah is the background vocalist on Handy Man. Lousie goffin, Carole King's daughter, has Russ on drums on her solo debut Kid Blue also from 1979. I wonder why I keep all this trivia in my head about music I enjoy. :^)

I really had to have Outside The Rain, Think About It and Leather And Lace on CD. But dang, those boots on the cover look dangerous!

At the TIME, Russ Kunkel was married to Cass' sister, they were divorced not too long afterwards...he later had a fling with Carly Simon and was married for quite some time to Nicolette Larson, in fact, up until the time of her death.

Duck Dunn also spent quite a bit of time in the mid-80s in Eric Clapton's bands (especially on Eric's 1983 album "Money & Cigarettes" & his 1985 album "Behind The Sun" and their subsequent tours)

"Think About It" was originally intended for Rumours. And, Rusty Weir (a country/rocker who is kind of a cross between Bob Seger & Waylon Jennings) covered it on his 1976 album Stacked Deck. On the same album, Rusty covered both "Don't Let Me Down Again" & "Lola (My Love)" of Lindsey's.

I think almost every song on Bella Donna was written before Bella Donna, therefore any one of them could have been Fleetwood Mac songs. Stevie's mentioned the song she thinks was "mostly Fleetwood Mac-ish" was Outside the Rain. And as chiliD mentioned, Think About It was in consideration. Stevie wrote it for Christine whenever she would think about leaving because of how John was acting. I think the song was too plain for them musically, because it didn't have that middle bridge until someone, can't remember who, wrote it, and that bridge does make the song a lot better imo.

Thanks for the info. Bella Donna is quite a collection of songs. I also dragged out the vinyl LP but the original inner sleeve is not there, probably in some other LP. I am sure I remember there being one.

I remember buying Bella Donna new at the record store about the same time as the Heavy Metal 2LP thing with Stevie's Blue Lamp on it (I also liked Devo so had to have it). Then Mirage was out before so long. It was a really good revival time. It seemed like everything had died with Tusk for about three years. Bob Seger came back too with Against The Wind. All this quality rock coexisting with experimental new wave synth, the tail end of English ska, and weird fashion stuff, and the first music video shows.

Yeah, just about all the songs were probably offered to Fleetwood Mac at some point.

I guess the only exceptions were "Bella Donna" & "Edge of Seventeen" & obviously "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" because Tom wrote that specifically for Madame Stevie.

I'm not sure it is accurate to say Stevie gave Fleetwood Mac first right of refusal on all songs. It's been my understanding that she gave only three or four songs apiece to the band for Mirage and Tango. Am I mistaken?

Well, that's kind of an interesting question, CV. We know for sure that she turned over "Gypsy," "That's Alright," "Straight Back," "Smile at You" & "If You Were My Love" to Fleetwood Mac for Mirage sessions, & "Seven Wonders," "When I See You Again," "Welcome to the Room, Sara," "Juliet" & "What Has Rock 'n' Roll Ever Done for You?" for the Tango sessions. But my impression is that she always made many of her demos available to the band for choosing. For example, in 1982 Stevie told Mick & Mary Turner that she had wanted the band to record "That's Alright" for years before they finally decided to record it.

So many songs on "Bella Donna," including "The Highwayman" & "Kind of Woman" & "Think About It" & "After the Glitter Fades," had been demoed back in the mid 1970s before Stevie had a solo record career, so you can sort of assume that Fleetwood Mac had the option to record them or not. Even "Leather & Lace" was demoed with Don Henley in the mid '70s, & once Waylon Jennings & Jessi Colter split up, Stevie could very well have offered it to Fleetwood Mac at that point (because she didn't want Waylon to sing it alone).

Fleetwood Mac finally did get around to playing "Leather & Lace," but it was at a concert in 1982. They made up their own chord progression!

A few others that we know Fleetwood Mac was given first crack at... "Sleeping Angel," "Beauty And The Beast," "Candlebright," "Sorcerer" (which Stevie had originally wanted them to use on 'Fleetwood Mac,' instead of "Rhiannon"), and the early version of "Planets Of The Universe" (about 23 years before the new verses were written, of course).


Have we ever figured out if "Joan Of Arc" is really a 'Tango' outtake, or if it's from Stevie's solo career, and just mistakenly credited as a Mac outtake?



Johnny Stew

I thought Sorceror was a track originally intended for the second Buckingham Nicks album.

Yes, you're right... "Sorcerer" was originally intended for a second Buckingham Nicks album.
As were "Rhiannon," "Landslide," "Monday Morning," "I'm So Afraid," and, if I remember correctly, "I Don't Want To Know."

When they joined Fleetwood Mac, "Sorcerer" was the track that Stevie has said that she was rooting for them to record, over "Rhiannon."

It may have been intended for a Buckingham Nicks album, but it was definitely offered to Fleetwood Mac before Stevie embarked on her solo career... but you're right, "first crack" isn't exactly accurate in that case. :)



Johnny Stew

I don't think Tom Petty wrote SDMHA FOR Stevie. In the Timespace liner notes, Stevie writes that Tom didn't have room for it on his album and Stevie could have it if she wanted it...

Another observation, I could never see the Mac doing Edge of Seventeen...Any of the other Bella Donna songs, but Edge is so Solo Stevie...

Randy

Oh. My. Gawd!!! Rusty Weir lives here and plays at the Saxon Pub at least once a week!! I had no IDEA about all his Mac/Lindsey covers...guess I should go check him out sometime.

Chili D, your vast knowledge is impressive!!

That definately was a good time for music...in my opinion, it was the last great era for rock and roll. "memories........"

was it good? i always wanted to hear it....also, wasn't Don Henley at that show?

i always thought that "Joan of Arc" was "Rock a Little"-ish myself.

Well, to add, Stevie has been quoted in saying that whatever song Fleetwood Mac wanted to record, she gave to them, and then the rest she put into her solo career. I'm sure over Mirage and Tango, they also had all the old songs to choose from. But they seemingly only wanted three Stevie songs on both of those (or actually TWO for Tango if you don't count Seven Wonders as a Stevie song). I've always questioned why, if they liked Sorcerer but there wasn't room on Fleetwood Mac, it didn't go on Rumours or Tusk, as well as the notorious Silver Springs dilemma. If they really liked Silver Springs but had no room, why didn't it go on Tusk or Mirage?

I think the fact that for Mirage and Tango they only have 4-6 outtakes for Stevie is because these were the songs they liked and were considering. It would be pointless to record Stevie's ton of demoes and then decide. I'm also sure Lindsey was quite aware of MANY of Stevie's demoes, at least the 70's ones, and therefore he really only needed to hear the newer ones. But, if they know they are only going to need three or four songs by Stevie, there's no point in picking ten of them to try to record, then cutting the number more than half. So, I DO think she offered any song, Fleetwood Mac picked some to record, and the rest went into the "vault" or solo. Then again, who knows for sure? All we really have is Stevie saying that any song was available to Fleetwood Mac.

Hello - I have read these posts with interest for many years and, considering the new record and all, have jumped into the game.

I have been folowing FM for years. I seem to remember every time Stevie is asked the question about what songs she "holds back" from FM, she responds the Rhainnon series of songs because they are a set. Having said that, she has incorporated many of the Rhainnon songs into FM songs, e.g. the whole "close my eyes softly . . . part of the wind deal in Angel.

Also, FM obviously recorded Rhainnon and now, at least according to rumors, "The Tower" where, despite other possible meanings, she is apparently talking about when Rhiannon's child was taken away immediately after childbirth and a dead child was substituted. Rhiannon then receives a punishement (see Forest of the Black Roses).

Also, I seem to remember seeing an interview around the time of TISL that POTU was part of the Rhiannon series.

So, while Stevie may have indeed held back the Rhiannon and related songs, she appears not to have held back any others, at least while FM was an ongoing concern.

I thought she had read in detail about the Welsh myths/sagas involving Rhiannon only after she wrote the song Rhiannon? I wonder if she would rewrite it now? It sounds interesting if she has gone on to have an almost operatic based cycle of songs telling the story and would be interested in compiling a chronology of listening order and when the song was written.

Rhiannon was a huge deal with kids I knew when it came out, it was the ultimate in cool.

Hi Becca

I agree. On Rosie, Stevie said she wrote Rhiannon and then came to now the whole story/myth. Stevie said that she was surprised at how much her original words unknowingly reflected the myth of Rhiannon. Then, apparently, she wrote the subsequent songs. According to several interviews at the time, Stevie was in negotiations to make a Rhiannon movie in the late 70's but, inter alia, movie people freaked her out so she did not do it.

You know, I often wonder how many more Rhiannon based songs are out there; the ones not stolen. I also wonder if she will ever actually do them as a set on a CD and then tour (chills!!!!). Conversely, I also often wonder whether she has already released any or part of any of these Rhiannon demos on a record and not said anything about it, etc. It seems some would have in some fashion made their way into Bella Donna.

When you listen to the demos (The Tower, Forest of the Black Roses, Three Birds, etc.), her voice is positively and numbingly ethereal. Yet, despite that, it does not have the other strength or qualities it has now. So, who knows what sound it would take on. Our only example would be to compare the same ethereal, youthful voice in the demo of "No Light" to the released POTU which is in her current voice. I am still unsure which one I like "better" as they are so different to me. Same thing for Silver Springs. I just wish she would do it and not take three years to do it. :] I want it now I want it now I want . . . .