THIS is a big part of what makes The Ledge so awesome- The extreme generosity of its contributors- in this case, Haunted Song, who is not making a cent, eBaying it, or whatever, just sharing it with those of us who are so fortunate to see such priceless footage.
What a thrill to see something I never even knew existed,
thank you so much, HauntedSong for being willing to share it. Clips like this remind me of why I became so hooked on the band in my young teens. Drunk or not, the charisma of CM and SN here is stunning. Christine managed one really eloquent 'happy birthday' speech, oh, about 2:30 into the clip, and did it
off the top of her head. It was beautifully stated, very impressive. Even with a buzz on, CM had style and a real facility with words and a commanding presence. Having never seen this clip before, it provides more evidence of the quiet, formidable strength CM had in Fleetwood Mac, even in the context of this wacky footage.
And, Miz-Nicks, well, she is...breathtakingly gorgeous, isn't she? Certainly has 'the glow'- As a teen, I wasn't interested in rock stars who didn't know how to be wild, be funny, get high- It was all part of it; should a star, like Stevie, have the incredible talent that she had, 'Let her have a good time, I bet she'd be fun to party with', I think was what a lot of fans thought. In this clip, I'd say it's before 'it' became a huge problem, she was young enough to bounce back, was working hard, being brilliant, why
not have a good time?
In this clip, though having indulged in
whatever, it's fun to see SN enjoying living the dream of a being a world class rock legend; even in 1979, I'd say the legend had already been realized, with the '75, '77 and '79 Mac albums and especially with the concert tours.
To see her here, so young, 30 or 31, and she's just astonishingly beautiful, it's seeing 'another side of the vibe' I always got from her- it was all good then, and 30 years later, we see her young again and wow... the debauchery was somehow part of her charm in the early years. She'd write these amazing songs that I loved and made me take her
very seriously ('Silver Springs', 'Rhiannon' 'Beautiful Child') and she'd be captivating on record, and then that was just a small fragment of her awesome power as a performer. I loved how you just knew that whenever Stevie and Fleetwood Mac performed live, that you'd get rocked even harder than the studio versions of their songs, there was a great, spontaneous, 'in the moment' aspect to SN's performances that was just a thrill.
To see this behind the scenes clip for the first time, just confirms that what ran wild in my imagination as a kid, was pretty close to the life being lead, at times, by SN. The fun before the fall, I guess.
Thanks again for sharing- also, thanks to the poster of the 5 part Jim Ladd special from '79- I think her 'whisper voice' is explained by the introduction which states Stevie did the interview right after the 5th night (!) they played the LA Forum--
you try having a speaking voice left the same evening after having sung full-throttle 'Rhiannon' 'Angel', 'SOTM' and 'Sara' in one show!
Ya gotta love 1979 Stevie Nicks
'Go catch a fever' indeed- I finally get the week old reference from another Ledgie in another thread! It
was a 'perfect' Stevie moment, frozen in time, unthawed 30 years later.
I'm
missing 1979 right now