Stevie and Rick Rubin
 

I bought the new Neil Diamond record over the weekend, and it's great.
Anyway, ever since I heard of Diamond's pairing with producer Rick Rubin, I've been thinking about how wonderful it would be if Stevie recorded with Rubin. And it's not such a stretch, really. On the Diamond record, Rubin uses several musicians Stevie's worked with in the past (including Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench).
More important, I think Stevie's at a point in her career where she could actually meet Rubin's exacting standards. Much of her recent songwriting shows a new maturity and earthiness that would suit Rubin's stripped-down approach well. Examples: Fall From Grace, Destiny Rules, Say You Will.
Oh, how I would love to hear Stevie get back to the basics! I believe the results would be truly magnificent. :nod: Anyone agree?

I've been saying this for years. Rubin has produced Tom Petty's last three albums and of course there's his work with Johnny Cash. But I don't think Stevie would go for the stripped down sound myself. I think she likes a lot of production.

Those songs you mentioned are very produced though. Rubin's approach would be v. different if he went the Cash/Diamond route with them. They may be completely different songs. What do you mean by Rubin's "exacting standards" btw? Rubin's work has been very eclectic from Slayer to the Beastie Boys.

Bingo. I can't imagine her going for a sparse sound, she's all about the bells & whistles, sometimes to the detriment of the actual songs. It would be interesting and a nice change, but I doubt it would ever happen, especially since I don't think we'll ever get a new record from her.

I don't think we will either. But you never know she may be convinced to do one song with Rubin for a soundtrack or something. I can't imagine her commiting to a whole album though, especially one with a sparse, stripped down sound. The Petty connection might persuade her to do one song, which would be cool. (Hey, I can dream, can't I?)

I agree... I don't see it happening either.... a new Mac album is if-y.. I see a new Lindsey Buckingham album if anything.

ciao!
Ash
x

Yeah, I agree it could take some doing to get Stevie interested in this approach. She does seem to like epic production.

I was just saying that those songs are tightly written and wouldn't need lots of bells and whistles to sound good.

Diamond writes in his liner notes that Rubin kept making him go back and revise songs, write new ones, throw mediocre ones out, etc. I think Stevie has shown a new discipline in her songwriting of late and that she could handle such demands -- though it certainly wouldn't be the cushy treatment she's used to!

Oh, and I do think we'll see another album from her eventually -- though it could be a good long wait. I agree with others that we'll probably see another Mac album first.

Homegirl tore Liddy Buck a new areshole over his suggestion for "Thrown Down." I can only imagine the chaos that would ensue if a producer for her solo record told her to go write new stuff, revise her songs, and get rid of the mediocre crap.

Statues would collapse. Buildings would fall down. Clouds would gather. The sun would retreat. The ground would shake. Fire would shoot out of her coke-ravaged nose. Every copy of Street Angel would spontaneously combust in bargain bins nationwide.

LOL... Can you imagine Rubin's response to "It's the poet that I am"?
Yeah, this all would require some ego-swallowing on La Nicks' part. But she might be less combative with someone other than Buckingham.

Ah okay, I get you now. But I agree with Josh, I can't imagine she would appreciate that approach at all! :laugh:

But remember, it's Lindsey we're talking about here. Of course, she's going to get defensive if he tries to tell her how to change her lyrics.

She's mentioned before that Henley continually told her what was good and what wasn't good in "Leather & Lace," and what needed to be dropped and what needed to be improved.
We've also heard that Jimmy Iovine would do the same thing with her.
Even as recently as 'Trouble In Shangri-La,' she mentioned that John Shanks wanted to drop many of the verses in "Fall From Grace," and even though she brought in the cavalry to back up her argument (Sheryl Crow, et al), she and Shanks obviously reached a compromise, because many of the lyrics from the demo version are not to be found on the album version, and some of the other lines are reworked.

So... I think she CAN be persuaded to change/alter/re-work a song... but is far less likely to agree to doing it, or to be willing to compromise, if the person suggesting those changes happens to be Lindsey. Rightly or wrongly.

Oh look, fighting with Lindsey is like foreplay for the two of them. They LIVE for it.

I really hope it would happen. And maybe trying with one song, she would discover that a stripped down sound isn't the evil.

Romy

Stevie needs to strip down, I guess.

The stripped-down approach worked really well on "It's Only Love" on the last album.

I was just going to say that, too. It's actually one of my favorite songs that she's recorded. A real shame that it got lost in the middle of the album, sandwiched between stinker after stinker.