"Well, I wonder what Greta would say..." A Street Angel Appreciation Thread
 

I was just listening to (my expanded version of) Street Angel, and, just like the first time I heard it, I got chills the final time Stevie sings the line:

"I wonder what Greta would say..."

Wow!!!! That background Stevie just comes out of nowhere and takes over ~ I LOVE it when Stevie does that!

"Greta" remains my favourite song from Street Angel, from 1994 to now. I got a huge amount of outtakes a few weeks before Street Angel was released in May 1994, and, even with all of the fabled classics, "Greta" had me the most excited.

One reason I love this song is Stevie's voice and ONLY Stevie's voice on this song (and "Blue Denim"). No damn pack of superfluous backing vocalists! (Sorry, Sara ~ don't UnFriend me!). I just think Stevie can harmonize herself the best. And "Greta" showcases this so amazingly.

Ooh! And if you listen to the end and crank it up, there's Stevie wailing away as the music fades, overdubbing herself...

She also does it wonderfully at the end of "Docklands". Just LOVE the ending, as the keyboards and guitars are swirling wildly, one of the Stevies is begging, "Give me your HAND!" as another Stevie implores, "Hold on..." The backing girls are okay on this song, but Stevie is the star, as she should be.

"Hold on..." just in the background... "I-I-I-I-I-I beg of you!!!!"

Listen, the very last thing is Stevie saying, "Hold on..."

This is just a rambling post about my love for Street Angel. No one will know how much my heart was broken in April 1995 when I first got on the old AOL Stevie Board, and every single poster (it seemed) absolutely hated Street Angel. I mean it, I was heartbroken. I love Stevie's music, and I took it personally to see her savaged so.

All these years later, I try to just ignore the Anti-Stevie "Fans", and just focus on my love for her wonderful music. Sure, I think I've improved the running order of Street Angel's tracks, including the three b-sides and "If You Were My Love", but the songs themselves are all good and feature some of Stevie's BEST vocals of her career.

As much as I love The Wild Heart version of "Destiny" (recorded here in Dallas in 1982), with all of its darkness and wild vocals, I still prefer the Street Angel version. Despite the sadness of some of the lyrics, Stevie still seems hopeful. Oh! Her voice on "Well,it wasn't like the others... it was nothing at all..."!!!!!! Listen to her, Unbelievers!!! ;)

Enjoy/hate my rave/rant. I'll be listening to Stevie rambling at the end of "Destiny" ~

"Heartbroken... unspoken..."

I love Street Angel! Blue Denim, Destiny, and Greta are among my favorite Stevie songs. The Street Angel era was just incredible anyway, and the album showcases those amazing vocals she had. Is it as great as Trouble in Shangri La? No. But it is still an exceptional album. For me, it is a million times better than Rock a Little.

There were some parts of Street Angel that I thought were great, and I thought she was in much finer voice. It was a lot more rocking and throaty than OSOTM or her BTM tracks.
My favorites are:

Blue Denim (dislike the mix she put on the Enchanted set though)
Kick it
Greta
MLWCYM
Destiny
Jane

and Inspiration (wish it were on the release here)

The Blue Denim mix on Enchanted was her preferred one, right Mike? That's why she included it on Enchanted? To me, it's vastly inferior to the album mix. My ear just can't find a comfortable spot to listen in that mix, it's missing something important and that's a shame, because it's a great song.

Are those old AOL postings still available somewhere? Remember, I used to post there too back then! That's how I came to know you, all those years ago.

Greta is my favourite song on Street Angel, there's just something wonderful about it that I can't quite put my finger on. It's just superb.

I'm not sure why (if) Stevie preferred the Enchanted mix of "Blue Denim" ~ I thought she did not like Glyn Johns' mixes. ?? To me, it is flaccid and weak. My favourite is the CD-single remix, same as in the video ~ just rocking like crazy!

This is just me, but I also love the official "Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind" and its single remix as well. Sure, it's cool to have the original version(s), but the 1994 post-Klonopin re-recording is far superiour, IMO. Stevie's voice is so strong and pretty! It was actually a pretty big hit on Houston radio, which was very hard to do in mid 1994, when everything was Cranberries and Belly and Counting Crows.

Same with "Jane". I love having the original piano-based version, but the new one is better overall (IMO).

But I'm not even talking about outtakes, but the actual official Street Angel and its official b-sides. When I make my own Street Angel, I always put "Playing In God's Garden" in the middle. It's kind of a Stevie cliche to end the album with the slowest song, so I put this one in the middle. Sometimes, I follow it with "Unconditional Love", to ease the playlist into high gear, and other times I'll go right to "Listen To The Rain" ~ taking no prisoners! ;)

BTW, are there outtakes of the actual album cover shots? Not other photo shoots (which have some amazing pics of Stevie ~ brown wigs and all!), but actual other photos from when the official front & back cover were taken?

Oh! Alicia once sent me a copy of a signed pic of Stevie from 1994, one of the shots with the black brimmed hat. This pic has Stevie smiling big time, and looking up and to her right. But the amazing thing is her sig, which quotes different lyrics of "Blue Denim"!

I forget right now what Stevie wrote, but it was like maybe a different line to go with the chorus.

Mike, you're my new best friend for a SA appreciation thread!

I could rant on and on, but i won't. Street Angel is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE STEVIE ALBUM. It inspired my username and is one of the most underrated album's of Stevie's and remains the only Stevie album that hasn't been nominated for a Grammy, which is just insane. Her voice is absolutely INCREDIBLE and it's the album with my favorite guitar work and just all around has a great atmospheric sound - Especially on Kick It. Stevie was going through a rather rocky time in her life at this time and i think the last thing she needed was for all her fans to hate the album. (I'm exaggerating!) Regarding B-Sides, Street Angel has by far the best selection. "Inspiration", "If You Were My Love" and "Thousand Days" remain forever and always on my favorite Stevie songs list.

Bottom line, if you haven't really listened to the album and only go by popular opinion, give the album a chance...you may be pleasantly surprised!

Oh, that's so nice to read!

I loved in interviews how Stevie talked about "Love Is Like A River", when Joe Walsh dumped her, telling her that her life was too wild. Stevie said something like, "My life?! You think my life is wild? Compared to what lifestyle?! Yours? Give me a break!" LOL!

I know Stevie wrote it in 1984, but 10 years later it was still relevant, especially after Stevie finally revealed in 1991 that Joe was the one True Love of her life. And her vocals are SO wicked on it!

However, someone online once described "Love Is Like A River" (a little accurately!) as a song you'd hear on Hunter when Detective DeDe McCall would go undercover as a rock singer in a nightclub to suss out some bad guys, and this was like a song you'd hear her do in the Early Nineties. Okay, I always thought that was pretty funny and got the humour in that description.

Oh, but I love the Street Angel version of "Love Is Like A River"... even the gals shrieking: "Straight back!!!" and "Worth it!!!" ;)

And Stevie is SO cutting when quoting her fight with Joe:
"I think you're uptight, lady!"
Ooh, outta sight!
"Well, that's just I wanted to hear!"

And fading... "Ooh, outta sight, outta sight, baby! Ow!!!"

BTW, contrary to how some "fans" refer to Street Angel as outdated and a throw back, I feel Stevie had some clarity when she was trying to fix the problems she saw with the album Glyn Johns turned in. The 1994 version of "Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind", produced by Stevie & Roy Bittan, actually sounds more in line with then-current jangly guitar bands that were hitting it big in the Early to Mid Nineties, like Toad the Wet Sprocket, Gin Blossoms and others. Much more so than the original version, which was pretty typical rock and not very distinctive.

"Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind" is a great single and was on several hits collections in the UK. I remember being so excited in Houston when I got the 2 different UK CD-singles back in June 1994! The single remix makes the guitars crisper and the drums a little more distinctive, as well as refining the backing vocals. A wonderful remix!

She actually released If You Were My Love as a B Side? I thought that was just a Mirage Demo that she also Demo'd for Street Angel, at least, I have a Bluesy sounding version of If You Were My Love that I always thought was a Street Angel Demo...

No, it wasn't a b-side, but it also wasn't a "demo". It is a fully-produced song that was on the original line-up for Street Angel and turned in to Atlantic in February 1993 with the rest of the songs (including a Street Angel version of "I Call You Missing").

"If You Were My Love" and "I Call You Missing" were on the final track listing as of March 1994, but were both eventually cut from the final release.

BTW, "If You Were My Love" was written and demoed in 1980, long before Mirage, and was also recorded for Bella Donna.

The Street Angel official extra songs are:

"Inspiration" ~ B-side of "Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind" UD & UK; Bonus track on Japanese release of Street Angel.

"Thousand Days" ~ B-side of Dutch "Blue Denim" CD-single; Longer version on Enchanted.

"Playing In God's Garden" ~ Bonus track on Japanese release of Street Angel.

The version of "Mirror, Mirror" from the US cassette-single of "Blue Denim" is a 1984 recording from the Rock A Little sessions.

"If You Were My Love" is the only known outtake from the sessions in mass circulation amongst fans, although some claim to have the Street Angel version of "I Call You Missing".

You know, I should have known that. As I was reading your post, the Bella Donna demo of IYWML comes on shuffle. I feel silly xD

I love how every version of that song is different, but potent in it's own way. It's such a shame it's never been officially released!

I love when Mike posts like this.

Street Angel is pretty okay, overall - Greta is just amazing. 'Alone in his chamber, he dreams of his home..well, outside!!' Of course, the RAL versions of it are much better.

Docklands is another great track. 'And there are ship passin' in the night!!'

Love Is Like A River. 'Well, I believed in love - I called it worth it'.

I much prefer the earlier versions of If You Were My Love though.

The Bella Donna outtakes are fabulous. 'Where is the wiiiiild white rose...'

Street Angel was the first Stevie new materials album I got as a fan. My parents saw a used copy in a store and brought it home for me. I didn't know anything about it, but played it twice within the next two hours and immediately loved it. It has since remained my fave. We even named our newest cat Greta!!!