In The Studio With Stevie
 

SaraRhiannon posted a fascinating transcription of a studio session recording a piano demo of "Julia" at this site:

http://www.sararhiannon.com/juliaunmasbd.html

It's an interesting peek into Stevie's creative process, such as it is. Shelly (Yakus, the hapless engineer) is about ready to pull either his own or Stevie's hair out -- probably both.

Creating with Stevie can be a challenge, n'est-ce pas?

OMG...that would drive me crazy!! I can't believe she's so concerned with one note.
That was really funny though...thanks for the heads up on that David!

Re: In The Studio With Stevie
 

I definitely feel that this is a peek at Stevie's creative process, as it was, not as it is.
She's obviously very high there (and looking for more of the "toot"), and probably on little to no sleep.
It's funny and yet very, very sad at the same time.

It had to be exceedingly frustrating for her... being that she's not a "musician"... to always explain what she was trying to convey, or the sound she was after.
And, on top of that, having to do it while stoned!

Thankfully, those days are over.
And while she still requires outside "help" to shape her songs, I think she's come a long way. After all, when no one could capture the sound she wanted on "Bombay Sapphires," she just produced it herself! :D

I have heard the audio of this. Let me tell you her voice is too die for. Although I still ove her voice now, I miss that voice very much and appreciate it even more now when we get a glimpse of it like in the current concert's Say Goodbye and NGBA.

Also,the tone of the dialogue if prankish and jovial. She is not really angry. Shelly, however, kind of came across as a jerk - hence the mozzerella and tomatoe comment!!!!

:eek:

Her voice is whiny on it and whispery, I think she sounds awful. But it si HYSTERICAL!

I did not think so. I thought she sounded great. But, I really like most of the demos from this period and earlier.

I like a lot of the early eighties demos, but a LOT of the master ones are very cloying. I can't fault her though, she recorded it the day after it was written. I especially hate the ones with the drum machine as the main instrument. The versions of Julia that were worked on a lot are fantastic, though. :D

Not Stevie at her most attractive...but then no one was meant to hear these tapes. Julia turned out to be a great song (although I read that Jimmy Iovine hated it). Perhaps one day we'll get an official version. I do question the accuracy of the lyrics as they were transposed though.

Where did it say that Iovine hated Julia?

I do agree that she wasn't at her most attractive, but if you listen to it, it's jovial between her and Shelly. :D Julia turned out to be good in the end (this particular tape is unlistenable because she's sooo whiny), but to me, it's really missing something. can't put my finger on it, but it's missing something.

Oh my god! I think this is hilarious! It reminds me of the kind of conversations I have w/ my friends (minus the 'toot' remarks).

Does anyone know where I could hear this?

Susie

Jimmy Iovine hated Julia? Ugh. I also thought Shelly Yakus was kind of an ass to her during the Julia session but hey, it was three in the morning.

~~~Just want to say what a relief for Stevie and her fans that those days are, thankfully, behind her.~~~

Well, I guess Stevie has at least one fan, among her millions, who liked her goofy & buzzed, but I'm probably just an anomaly!

I'm glad she made it but I have to say, back in the day, I loved her like that as well. I loved it when Stevie runs out towards the crowd druing the US Festival. She kind of jumps down off of the stage. It's not something you'd see her do now, not that I'd expect her to. Her wildness is what made her performances so compelling back then, imo.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gldstwmn
[B]I'm glad she made it but I have to say, back in the day, I loved her like that as well. I loved it when Stevie runs out towards the crowd druing the US Festival.

Gosh, gldstwmn, my second time quoting you in a matter of hours on this ( so-far sleepless) night. I just wanted to say- i was at the US Festival, i think it was my 2nd year of college. And she was fantastic that night, its like 20 years ago now. The concert was out in the middle of the desert SOMEWHERE in California, and it started like at noon, or earlier. Stevie was to come out next to the very last, maybe 9 pm, and David Bowie closed the show. Everyone did full sets. Prior to Stevie, bands that performed included The Pretenders, and an awesome U2 (this was before U2 had really hit it big, and it was obvious after he had sung his heart out and as he climbed 60 feet up the stage rafters that Bono had 'it' and was destined for mega-stardom). Lesser acts on the bill included Berlin, with lead singer Teri Nunn really excellent, and Quarterflash who really sucked (LOL)-- and lots of others--but anyway, it was so unbelievably hot all day long that airplanes were flying above spraying water on us (i think about 60,000 people were there- or was it 75,000?) and everyone cheered every time we got sprayed, it was THAT hot. Well, the sun sets, it gets dark-- and its FREEZING suddenly. "i can't stand this, i want to go home and never be hot or cold like this again, this f**n desert!"-- but i knew Stevie was next... So basically I jumped up and down all thru her set, and then thru David Bowie's set, to keep from freezing to death! and she was unbelievably ON that night, "Outside The Rain' never sounded better with a lot of spontaneous vocal screams and fluctuations, 'How Still My Love' was fantastic, and it was the first time ever that 'Stand Back' was performed, and i'm sure many of us still have the VHS bootleg of her approximately 90 minute set at the US Festival, and there's a really funny moment when she goes out into the audience during 'Stand Back' and has to climb back on to the stage, and it's really awkward and she clearly could use a hand to navigate her safe return to the stage- but no roadie or crew member is there, so CLUNK, she props one platform boot up and reaches up with her arms and ROLLS onto the stage, then she stands up, making a valiant (if ungraceful) return to her microphone to finish the song! There was a loose and fun version of 'Angel' that night too that went over really well. Her 'Stop Draggin My Heart Around' had high notes and hair-pulling as she reached over and yanked Waddy's hair (!) and sang it with mucho gusto like she never has since. Amazing. During the bridge of the song, she walked back to Sharon and Lori and is drinking from a wine glass and forgets for a second she has to go back and finish the song, her eyes grow wide and she races back to the mic maybe about 4 seconds late, but it didnt matter, it was rock and roll live and fun and spontaneous! She was clearly a bit buzzed that night, and in great humor, introducing Sharon Celani ("she's yours for $25,000") and talking about 'Stand Back' which she ended by singing 'you could be standing in it.'-- and then she repeats the line to the audience saying 'what does she MEAN by that- OK you'll be the only 60,000 people to know- its QUICKSAND. you could be standing in it...you're sinking"-- Tho it wasn't the first time i'd seen her, her performance that night was probably what made me unconsciously decide to see every Stevie Nicks tour ever since, with or without Fleetwood Mac. From my teenage years to now, at the age of 40. Ok, 41. Damnit :)
She was incredible. Lots of laughter, lots of talking with the audience, really interacting with them between songs, undeterred that it was such a huge crowd, winning everyone over, spontaneous bouts of emotion, gentleness, bawdiness, grace, a real gift for performance... "Welcome to your wild heart" she said near the beginning, and at the end, when people were going crazy after her performance, this menacing male voice announces 'STEVIE NICKS- THE FIRST LADY OF ROCK AND ROLL- WE WILL NEVER FORGET THIS NIGHT'-- and it turns out he was right :)
Maybe i can get some sleep now after hours of reading The Ledge and some other latenight maybe I'll go into how "i was there'' at the LA Forum, one year earlier in 1982 when the audience response at the end of Fleetwood Mac's 'Sisters of the Moon' made the Forum shake. It really seemed like an earthquake, not applause. I wasn't in a good seat at all that night, way in the back, but it didn't matter. This 'Mirage Tour' concert was released on home video back in the 80s...
I liked the 'Say You Will' tour, hey i went 4 times, it's STILL Stevie Nicks after all. 'Beautiful Child' and 'Stand Back' blew me away this tour. But i DO miss the unparalleled Stevie Nicks performances of the 1980s, especially the 2 unforgettable nights i just mentioned. She really burned up the rock and roll stage every minute she was on it, back in the day :)
If you're still reading this, gldstwmn, thanks for mentioning the US Festival Concert, it was fun for me to remember and write about it :)