Rhiannon Demo
 

I just "came across" what is titled as a demo of Rhiannon which has quite a bit of talking in the beginning.....with just piano....I didn't quite get the whole line but she is talking about finishing the song then she goes on to "ask" Lindsey if he likes the name Rhiannon...then she sings....does anyone know anything about this talking demo????

Thanks!!!

Yes - this is a great song! She is speaking to Richard Dashut and Lindsey while recording the song. I don't know the date on it, however.

Ahhh... Thank you mad4Stevie... I wondered who the Richard was - you'd think I would've figured it out. I'd thought it pre-dated 1975, but then of course they knew (indeed lived with) Richard well before then.

And I always thought she was talking to herself at home ... :shrug: I guess not.

I think she is talking to herself (while recording the demo alone for Richard and Lindsey to listen to later) however, I always found it odd when she says:

"Lindsey, don't you think Rhiannon is a beautiful name?"

and then she says softly, as if mimicking his reply:

"Yes, Stevie, I do, I think Rhiannon is a beautiful name."

All the stuff she says about birds rising is just notes for Richard to think about when listening to the song, I think.

I seem to remember and article perhaps in Rolling Stone where Stevie talks about FM going to or thinking about going to a park and recording the sound of birds rising (the quick flapping noise) for the song, but it never made the recording, etc. I think the sound she was going for is represented by Mick's brief cymbal 1/16 note thing at the very beginning of the song, which can really be heard on the single version of Rhiannon on the VBOFM CD.

Re: Rhiannon Demo
 

Yeah, she sounds nutters on this demo. She asks Lindsey if he liked the name Rhiannon and then she answers for him like, "Yes Stevie, I think Rhiannon is a beautiful name." Kooky, but also pretty funny IMO. She must have been high or exhausted or both!

Wow, that's really insightful Strand. Thanks for pointing that out.

I thought the Richard was Richard Dashut.....she does sound quite stoned, and the whole thing is really odd. I was like "what the hell?" when I started listening to it. Sometimes I will hear things like this and think "man...she is so crazy". I wonder if she heard it now what she would think of it herself......

Anyway, thanks for all the feedback!!!!

Was Lindsey there? Or was Stevie talking to herself? I know she's said that she asked Lindsey about the name Rhiannon and he did say it was beautiful, so was she just chatting away with herself on tape, "reliving" the convo btwn her and Lindsey? Or is she just crazy? LOL

I think she was just chatting with herself......all stoned carrying on a 3 person conversation with herself complete with responses from Lindsay....poor crazy girl

Hmmm - I didn't really get that vibe at all when I heard it. It sounded like she was just playing and Richard Dashut and LB might have been in the sound room or something. The reason I think this is because after she talks about "going to the park and recording the sound of birds rising, you know, the rustling" . . . "its really important" . . . "ok?" That made it sound to me like she was waiting for Richard to acknowledge what she was saying with a nod or something. It just made me think that the beginning she was playing for them to get the sound stuff right and then she started. But that is just my opinion.

That's my favorite Rhiannon demo.
 

This is the demo where she says to Richard (sort of, as I'll explain) that they need to "go to the park to record the sound of birds writhing...you know, writhing in the trees" or something close to that - the first time I heard it I thought she might be saying "rising" but "writhing" makes more Stevie sense and is what it sounds like. Then she has the Lindsey lines somebody here quoted about the name Rhiannon.

I believe she is NOT really talking to herself or to the guys.
Rather, it sounds like she is adding a talking verse to the start of the song, a verse that refers to/quotes older conversations with each guy. It is not a real conversation where she's stoned, but rather quotes from older conversations that she is repeating slowly to set to the rhythm of the song. Because of this intentionally odd speech pattern, it does sound like stoned talking if you believe it to be one real conversation in real time, but like I said, I don't. I hope this makes sense.

- Jake

Re: That's my favorite Rhiannon demo.
 

What exactly is "Stevie Sense?" I think we on The Ledge, in order to understand her better, MUST take "Stevie Sense 101"-- LOL!!! Thanks for the insight!

Re: Re: That's my favorite Rhiannon demo.
 

This took some work, but I tracked down the catalog for USL, the University of Shangri-la. Here are the requirements for mastering different levels of Stevie Sensibility:

B.A. (Bachelor of aaaaAAAAAh) - Be able to understand the vocals of the SYW Smile at You chorus on the first listen.

M.S. (Master of the Sorcerer) - Recognize patterns in lyrics such as the words moon, crystal, fire, etc. Recognize subtle lyric changes between demos, studio versions, and live performances. Demonstrate foreign language proficiency in deciphering poorly recorded demos from the cocaine years.

Ph.D. (Philosopher of the Docklands) - Prove to a committee of Stevie's critical ex-producers that you are so in tune with her lyrics that you can theorize on deeper meanings of lyrics such as telephone, chimpanzee, and laundromat.

You are a Stevie Sense Zen Master Kabbalist if you can make sense of Stevie's lyrics in Mirage concert SOTM and the Rock a Little album's The Nightmare.

Please send me cash or front row concert tix to enroll in university courses. (I am an Honorary Trustee.)
Credits earned from Jonathon Todd (Lack of) Community College will NOT transfer. However, you may qualify for a grant to study abroad in Emmiline.:cool:

- ZenJake, PhD

:laugh: THAT is awesome :)