Enchanted ~ What Might Have Been...

mikebise · #1 04-12-2010, 09:52 AM

Looking through some old Stevie fanzines, I found one from my good friend Aine Foley from Ireland with some interesting tidbits. In the February 1998 issue of Crystal(Issue 15), Aine posted an article from ICE magazine about Enchanted. Now, I had the next issue of ICE, which detailed the full track listing of the original CDs, which included "Real Tears" instead of "Kind of Woman", but I did not have this earlier article.

I just thought it was interesting, so I've transcribed from Aine's fanzine the cool parts of the ICE article:

B-sides included are:
"Edge of Seventeen" - The unedited 8-minute [live] version, only released promotionally.
"Garbo"
"One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star"
"Real Tears"

"The third disc contains all the collector's items, and its contents were still being finalized at press time. Tentative plans called for the following 15 tracks to be included:

"Crying In The Night" - From the coveted Buckingham Nicks album. This marks the first official release on CD of any track from that album, generally considered to be 'America's Most Wanted' missing CD. We asked a source closely inviolved with the project how this track was chosen: 'We sat down with the tracks that had the bulk of her lead vocals on them,' our source says, 'and we all agreed that this was the catchiest track, and the one that people would probably enjoy the most. It was also the first single off Buckingham Nicks back then.'

"Whenever I Call You 'Friend'"
"Gold"
"Blue Lamp"
Sleeping Angel"
"Gold and Braid" - Unreleased outtake from The Wild Heart. Fans may be familiar with it from Nicks' concerts, but this is the unreleased studio version.
"Violet and Blue"
"I Pretend" - Performed with Sandy Stewart, from the latter's album Cat Dancers. 'Sandy wrote and performed with Stevie during the The Wild Heart/Rock A Little era,' says our source. 'She co-wrote and performs on "Nightbird". So this duet, from Sandy's album which is out of print, is kind of a payback.'
"Battle of The Dragon"
"Thousand Days" - An unreleased performance.
"Somebody Stand By Me"
"Free Falling"
"Twisted" - Nicks' songwriting demo of the song that would up on the Twister motion picture soundtrack. 'It's her playing guitar, with something like a percussion loop, and Jesse Valenzuela of Gin Blossoms adding a little mandolin part,' says our source. 'It's structurally different from the version that ended up on Twister. It's really nice, kind of pure and sweet. Recorded in her living room, by her, on a 4-track.'
"It's Late" - A cover of Ricky Nelson's hit, also with Valenzuela on guitar. 'It's an unusual side of her,' says our source. 'It has kind of a rockabilly feel.'
"Reconsider Me" - An unreleased outtake from Rock A Little, written by Warren Zevon, with vocal parts added by Don Henley.

*** Interesting about "Gold and Braid", huh? Well, I thought this was cool!

mikebise · #2 04-12-2010, 10:08 AM

Plus, we already know about the unreleased tracks that were leaked from Atlantic's office in Manhattan that Stevie herself delivered to the record company for consideration for the boxed set:

"How Still My Love" - outtake #1
"How Still My Love" - outtake #2
"Gypsy Beggar"
"The Nightmare" - piano demo #1
"The Nightmare" - piano demo #2
"Edge of Seventeen" - unreleased extended version
"All Over U" - Rock A Little outtake written and recorded with Prince (This has been confirmed a thousand times. Please, let's not start up the "That's not Stevie!" silliness.)
"Twisted" - demo without the overdubs
"It's Late" - demo #2

I think I'm missing something...

petep9000 · #3 04-12-2010, 10:27 AM

I think I rememeber hoping that Enchanted was going to be a lot grander than what was actually released, particularly the packaging. I thought in terms of demos and unreleased material it was light, another disc would have been great. But I can see how the businessmen might have really struggled with that, a 4th disc would have raised the price.

Christopher · #4 04-12-2010, 10:56 AM

Overall I'm pretty content with what what ended up on "Enchanted"

I am happy they ended up using "Long Distance Winner" over CITN. Although CITN is cathy, I find it repetitive and cloying as well. LDW has always been a favorite of mine from BN. The only better selection would have been "Frozen Love", which was probably not considered cause of time constraints, and or maybe Lindsey wouldn't approve letting go of that one.

Other than that I wish they had included the Album Tracks:
"Long Way To Go" (one of Stevie's best rockers & totally underrated) in place of "Desert Angel"
"Doing The Best That I Can" in place of "I Sing For The Things"
"Nothing Ever Changes" in place of "Two Kinds of Love"

Beside the fact that NEC & LWTG were FM radio staples and promotional songs released to FM radio only in the U.S.. And I believe NEC even charted on the Top Ten Rock Radio charts the summer of 83 along with "Enchanted". These songs also bring a more rock vibe to the overall flow of the box set.

On the 3rd CD:
Mirror Mirror (duh!)
Real Tears (respectable b-side)
I Pretend (love Stevie's vocal on this plus it's a great song)

And if they were going to include a "Rhiannon" demo....they should have included one of the old looser and far superior 70's demos. Preferably the "Birds Rising" one with the siren vocal and dramatic frenzied piano playing. From a marketing standpoint, the addition of any version of "Rhiannon" was a BIG PLUS....Just not a fan of Stevie's recreated demo, It boring and too calculated, I never listen to it. What a waste of space.......

It would have also been nice to have alt. takes on some of the previously released tracks.

mikebise · #5 04-12-2010, 11:15 AM

I'm also happy with Enchanted. There are a few things I'd add/delete, but overall it's very well done and sequenced.

I would DROP "Kind of Woman" ~ why oh why is it on Disc 2 instead of "Real Tears"???

"I Pretend" has an amazing wicked vocal by Stevie ~ The Wild Heart indeed!

"Long Way To Go" was a big rock radio hit, yes, and deserves to be on the collection. Since Stevie's 4 other album title tracks are on Enchanted, I also feel that "Alice" should have made the cut, to give more of that The Other Side of The Mirror feeling to the set.

I would have added the 1981 Live version of "Sara", plus "Outside the Rain"/"Dreams" from Red Rocks, dropping the LP version of "Outside the Rain", "I Sing For The Things" and "The Highwayman". Kind of a precursor to Crystal Visions, adding in live/alternate versions of Stevie's group hits. "Gypsy" from the 1983 Tour could replace almost anything, I love that song from that tour that much!!!

HejiraNYC · #6 04-12-2010, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikebise

Plus, we already know about the unreleased tracks that were leaked from Atlantic's office in Manhattan that Stevie herself delivered to the record company for consideration for the boxed set:

"How Still My Love" - outtake #1
"How Still My Love" - outtake #2
"Gypsy Beggar"
"The Nightmare" - piano demo #1
"The Nightmare" - piano demo #2
"Edge of Seventeen" - unreleased extended version
"All Over U" - Rock A Little outtake written and recorded with Prince (This has been confirmed a thousand times. Please, let's not start up the "That's not Stevie!" silliness.)
"Twisted" - demo without the overdubs
"It's Late" - demo #2

I think I'm missing something...

If these were "leaked," have they actually turned up somewhere?

I assume that if Stevie intended to include these songs, they must have been pretty high-fidelity recordings. However, the versions of "Gypsy Beggar" and "All Over U" I have heard have been of terrible quality. Speaking of which, I am still not convinced that "All Over U" is a Stevie song.

seekerj · #7 04-12-2010, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikebise

Plus, we already know about the unreleased tracks that were leaked from Atlantic's office in Manhattan that Stevie herself delivered to the record company for consideration for the boxed set:

"How Still My Love" - outtake #1
"How Still My Love" - outtake #2
"Gypsy Beggar"
"The Nightmare" - piano demo #1
"The Nightmare" - piano demo #2
"Edge of Seventeen" - unreleased extended version
"All Over U" - Rock A Little outtake written and recorded with Prince (This has been confirmed a thousand times. Please, let's not start up the "That's not Stevie!" silliness.)
"Twisted" - demo without the overdubs
"It's Late" - demo #2

I think I'm missing something...

I'm going to start it up. Where was this confirmed a thousand times? Is there some proof somewhere? Is it somewhere here on the Ledge?

Thanks!

seekerj · #8 04-12-2010, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikebise

I'm also happy with Enchanted. There are a few things I'd add/delete, but overall it's very well done and sequenced.

I would DROP "Kind of Woman" ~ why oh why is it on Disc 2 instead of "Real Tears"???

"I Pretend" has an amazing wicked vocal by Stevie ~ The Wild Heart indeed!

"Long Way To Go" was a big rock radio hit, yes, and deserves to be on the collection. Since Stevie's 4 other album title tracks are on Enchanted, I also feel that "Alice" should have made the cut, to give more of that The Other Side of The Mirror feeling to the set.

I would have added the 1981 Live version of "Sara", plus "Outside the Rain"/"Dreams" from Red Rocks, dropping the LP version of "Outside the Rain", "I Sing For The Things" and "The Highwayman". Kind of a precursor to Crystal Visions, adding in live/alternate versions of Stevie's group hits. "Gypsy" from the 1983 Tour could replace almost anything, I love that song from that tour that much!!!

"Kind Of Woman" is on disc 1. I don't see why both (this and Real tears) couldn't have been included. There's no need to sacrifice one of my favorite songs!

OH!!!! AND... you want to drop "The Highwayman"???? Are you kidding me???? One of the best poems she ever wrote?? Why not just kill me and get it over with????

"long Way To Go" got zero radio play in Connecticut. It was never played on the radio. But "Ghosts" was. Go figure. That's Connecticut for ya.

Mike or anyone else,

Do you have any information about what the track listing was going to be when the boxset was going to be 5-disc collection? It was reported that it would contain many unreleased versions and unreleased songs. When I first saw the title of this thread, that's what I thought this thread was going to be about.

mikebise · #9 04-12-2010, 12:04 PM

>Sigh<

In early 1998, Stevie turned over the above outtakes & demos listed in my post to Atlantic Records. An employee at the Manhattan office of Atlantic back then was a big Stevie fan, as well as the fiance of a good friend of mine. My friend is on my FaceBook friends list ~ who could she be?! (You'll never guess).

Her fiance made copies, gave them to her and she gave them to me and many of her friends back in 1998.

There: long story very short.

I know the fiance/now husband. He exists, a real person. So is my friend. Yes, her fiance copied these recordings illegally. Yes, "All Over U" was among these songs that Stevie herself (!!!!!!!) handed over to Atlantic. Stevie herself. Done deal.

And my copies of "Gypsy Beggar", "All Over U", "The Nightmare" and the rest are sparkling, crystal clear, perfect... just as they were when the Atlantic employee copied them and gave them to his soon-to-be-wife who gave them to me.

HejiraNYC · #10 04-12-2010, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikebise

>Sigh<

And my copies of "Gypsy Beggar", "All Over U", "The Nightmare" and the rest are sparkling, crystal clear, perfect... just as they were when the Atlantic employee copied them and gave them to his soon-to-be-wife who gave them to me.

Thanks for the clarification. And thank goodness for friends in high places! But the proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the "sparkling crystal clear, perfect" recordings (hint, hint). To be honest, the quality of "All Over U" that I've heard is so bad that it could have been sung by Bob Dylan and I wouldn't know the difference.

seekerj · #11 04-12-2010, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikebise

>Sigh<

In early 1998, Stevie turned over the above outtakes & demos listed in my post to Atlantic Records. An employee at the Manhattan office of Atlantic back then was a big Stevie fan, as well as the fiance of a good friend of mine. My friend is on my FaceBook friends list ~ who could she be?! (You'll never guess).

Her fiance made copies, gave them to her and she gave them to me and many of her friends back in 1998.

There: long story very short.

I know the fiance/now husband. He exists, a real person. So is my friend. Yes, her fiance copied these recordings illegally. Yes, "All Over U" was among these songs that Stevie herself (!!!!!!!) handed over to Atlantic. Stevie herself. Done deal.

And my copies of "Gypsy Beggar", "All Over U", "The Nightmare" and the rest are sparkling, crystal clear, perfect... just as they were when the Atlantic employee copied them and gave them to his soon-to-be-wife who gave them to me.

Well, thank you for (re)explaining. I must have missed this detail the other times you wrote about it, sorry. I didn't have an opinion, and I didn't care one way or the other if it was Stevie because I really don't like dance music. I was just curious.

I'm just BEYOND THANKFUL that "All Over U" wasn't used.

Dark Angel · #12 04-12-2010, 01:52 PM

These actually did turn up. But they were being sold by Maureen Loftus on a CD titled Enchanted Outtakes. I have this on tape, and to my ears, these are no better than what's been floating around. Here's the track listing:

Edge Of Seventeen (lots of cooing on this)
2 fairly raw versions of HSML
All Over U
Twisted (demo)
Gypsy Beggar
The Nightmare (2 piano versions that sound like they were done at the same time as Gypsy Beggar)
If You Were My Love (SA version)
Running Through The Garden
The Charmed Ones
At The Fair
All The Beautiful Worlds
Love Is Like A River (demo)
Lady From The Mountains
Takes A Long Time
Listen To The Rain
and, oddly Do I Bring You Down, which isn't even a Stevie song.

After copying the cassette to my computer and going through it, I can honestly say the sound quality is crap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

If these were "leaked," have they actually turned up somewhere?

I assume that if Stevie intended to include these songs, they must have been pretty high-fidelity recordings. However, the versions of "Gypsy Beggar" and "All Over U" I have heard have been of terrible quality. Speaking of which, I am still not convinced that "All Over U" is a Stevie song.

greendaze5 · #13 04-12-2010, 02:02 PM

Since Stevie had 'Gold' and 'Whenever I Call You Friend' on 'Enchanted' , too bad she left out 'Smiling Islands' (with Robbie Patton). Gorgeous song!

She could have dropped 'Somebody Stand By Me' as that was a recent, easy to find track.

mikebise · #14 04-12-2010, 02:06 PM

I don't know what Maureen did to the initial 8 songs, but those others were not part of the songs handed in to Modern that I wrote about earlier.

Maureen got those songs from her source and were not part of the Enchanted contenders. With all of her cassette dubbing in the Late 1990s, she probably degraded the sound on the actual Enchanted outtakes before she sold them. Or she was given them in cassette form from one of her trading friends.

But the actual Enchanted outtakes are not of poor sound, those 8 recordings listed above. Slight hiss on a few, but they are not the actual Masters, but copied from what Stevie turned in. Still, the sound is exceptional and much better than most demos & outtakes.

I'm in a Gay Pride mood right now and downloading several Stevie Dance Mixes. Maybe I'll get to the Enchanted outtakes tomorrow.

HejiraNYC · #15 04-12-2010, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikebise

I'm in a Gay Pride mood right now and downloading several Stevie Dance Mixes. Maybe I'll get to the Enchanted outtakes tomorrow.

Well, happy gay pride, and I think I can speak on behalf of all of us here that we await your posts with bated breath. Whether you know it or not, I think you just may possess part of the Stevie Holy Grail- high quality versions of "Gypsy Beggar" and "All Over U." Did you assume that the high-quality versions were already circulating?

THANKS!!