Who wrote Stand Back?
 

In a recent interview regarding SNL Stevie says:


“You know, we practiced and practiced, and everything went well. At the time, I had my friend who wrote ‘Stand Back,’ and she was gonna do the second song, which was called ‘Nightbird’ — and she freaked out and had terrible stage fright, so she couldn’t do it,” Nicks says.


I looked at the liner notes for the Wild Heart album and it says (S. Nicks) wrote the song…… so who is this uncredited friend? I thought she wrote Stand Back in the car when Kim was driving and they were listening to “Little Red Corvette” and she “desperately needed a pen and paper so she could jot down the lyrics”


So who is this friend who wrote Stand Back???

I am so confused.

Prince was supposedly in the studio with her for a few hours, and he came up with the synth part for it.

Stevie is getting older, and she often does, she misspoke in the interview.

My theory is that she meant to say her "friend" wrote the second song that was to be performed that night on SNL, which was "Nightbird". Her friend Sandy Stewart co-wrote "Nightbird". I can only assume that's what Stevie meant.

I did not know that Sandy was slated to perform with Stevie that night - but backed out at the last minute. To me, that is interesting considering that this was January 1984 and Sandy was soon to release her solo album "Cat Dancer" on Modern Records. Stage fright?

I think Stevie wrote the words and her musicians worked out the music to follow the “Little Red Corvette” chord modulation. I think one of her keyboardists created the main synth hook that you hear in concert with the drums, but I think Prince added the sixteenth-note synth bass and the octave tremolo on the chorus, which turn the song into a little bit of a funk-dance track (right up Prince’s alley).

Here’s what I heard about Stevie and Sandy. When that falling out happened, the story goes that Sandy had finished recording her first album (Modern Records) and Stevie had added a lot of backup vocals and duet vocals. But for some (stupid) reason, Sandy took off a lot of her vocals and just kept “I Pretend,” “Saddest Victory,” and “Cat Dancer” backup vocals. So Stevie got very annoyed and basically said, “Fine. You want to do your solo album by yourself, go ahead.” Stevie then started planning another tour leg for 1984. She had originally planned to have Sandy open the shows, but when they had this fight, Stevie reached out to Julian Lennon to open the show at Dodger Stadium and the shows after that.

But that was the story going around in 1984 — Sandy wanted her album to stand on its own two feet and just use Stevie a little bit, whereas Stevie wanted to basically make a Sandy Stewart + Stevie Nicks album. Sounds like a young artist wanted her efforts to be prominent and the mentor superstar wanted to push a team effort to draw enormous attention to it.

I've heard you mention that possible second Wild Heart tour leg in 1984 before. Besides the Sandy falling out, maybe she and her record company thought Nightbird was going to be another hit and keep the momentum going. Did you not say before Stevie also wanted to release All The Beautiful Worlds on the B side of Nightbird?
The Against All Odds soundtrack was also released in early 1984. Violet and Blue was big in rock station rotation. After Nightbird and Violet and Blue faded from the charts, it was quiet in Stevie world for a long time.
I think if she had done a video for I Will Run To You, Nothing Ever Changes or Enchanted as a possible third single would have extended the Wild Heart's run on the charts and bled into 1984.

Wow, I had no idea Julian Lennon ever opened for Stevie. I presume this was before he released the album that had a couple of big hits?

That’s understandable that Sandy would want her album to stand on its own, but I’m not sure Stevie expected or wanted the album to be considered a Sandy Stewart+Stevie Nicks album. Maybe Stevie was more irritated that she wasted her time providing vocals only to have them removed from the songs?

Maybe she felt that her addition to the record would have made a difference, in whether or not it was a hit?

Personally I have to wonder if Stevie was a little too bossy-pants with Sandy and Sandy was like, "look, I appreciate your help and support, but I want to also know that I can make it for my own talent". Who knows. Stevie could and can be a bit overbearing in the advice department (though is anyone did to her what she does to others she'd be rightfully annoyed, as they are). I think about Harry Styles, and how he invited her to listen to his new album and she and her entourage proceeded to tell him how he should have done this and that differently, sequenced it differently etc etc etc...and then she hung around til the wee hours not taking any hints that he really just wanted to finally go to bed. Let's just say her self-awareness can be rather limited. One of Joe Walsh's ex-girlfriends related a similar story where Stevie showed up at their house, hung with Joe, started playing stuff on the piano and asking him about songs she was working on for HOURS on end, also totally ignoring any hints that she had worn out her welcome. So...I can see that sort of telling someone how to do their album, no matter how well-intentioned, could get on your nerves if you're Sandy, and can offend your sense of being all-knowing and a STAAAR, Darling, if you're Stevie.:shrug:

What's more fascinating to me is, How did the Seven Wonders thing come into play years later on Tango?? Was Stevie desperately out of new material and hit up Sandy? Or was Sandy out there in no-hit land and back to sending material to Stevie hoping she'd like something and record it and give Sandy some income?? (I don't know if Sandy ever wrote for other artists besides Stevie or had any hits with anyone else)...

If I understand you correctly...... you're saying that she hasn't had a HIT in 40(FORTY FUKCING YEARS), yet she's offering advice?

I'll give it to her, she created a BRAND that the world fell in love with.

My internet search is showing that Tom Petty didn't tour at all in 1984 which would have made that a good time for him to film a nice-quality video for "I Will Run to You". But my vote would be for fourth single rather than third. And despite how synth-heavy the album was, that is one song that ought to have had NO synthesizer. It needed to be pure country. Stevie really needed to take the reigns on that one and say that it was going to be done her way since the song was being given to her. Should have been the fourth-single country song just like "After the Glitter Fades".

To take things back to Sandy Stewart, I only just learned that she co-wrote a song called "In My Blood" for a singer named Fiona that was on a 1986 album. Maybe in an alternate universe it would have been on Rock a Little or a soundtrack thing. You can decide for yourself whether you wish it had been a Stevie song.

I remember reading years ago that Sandy initially did not want to give the song to Stevie but someone in Fleetwood Mac's or Stevie's orbit told her " your bank account will thank you" so she ending up sending it and considering Tango's massive international sales I'm sure it was a nice check.Sandy also provided Maybe Love Will Change your Mind for Street Angel to far less returns I'm sure.

Tom busted his hand in 1984 and was out of commission.

I like Seven Wonders, but ranking it number 14 on Fleetwood Mac's 50 Greates Songs makes me wonder what Rolling Stone has been smoking. Specially if it's in better position than YMLF, Storms or World Turning.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...-songs-192324/

Julian Lennon’s first solo album was recorded in early 1984, then released in October of the same year. So depending when Stevie went on tour, Julian could have either: a) toured the recorded album before it was released; or b) started touring with Stevie once the album was released.

Yes, that’s some hot garbage nonsense. Though pleasant and catchy, “Seven Wonders” isn’t even in the top 20 of that lineup’s best songs.