Why weren't songs like 'Sorcerer' on Street Angel?

[bootylicous]

I have a question, forgive me if this has been discussed before:

Much has been written about how in the late 80's and early 90's Stevie Nicks' addiction to Klonopin left her uncreative and with a bad case of writers block, and Stevie herself says that the Street Angel album is not very good. I'm just wondering why she didn't just use this time to pull out the "vault" songs that were around at the time, such as 'Smile At You', 'Sorcerer', 'Planets of the Universe', 'Running Through The Garden'?

It seems like no matter how drugged up Stevie was at the time she still could have made a killer album with songs like these, instead of songs like 'Greta', or recycled lyric songs like 'Destiny', or covers like 'Just Like A Woman'. I wonder what she was thinking?

Cheers,
Evan

[Sorcerer386]

Well, actually, Greta, Destiny, Love Is Like A River, and Rose Garden WERE vault songs. Rose Garden from '65, Destiny from '73 (so ACTUALLY, Enchanted was the recycling song, not Destiny), and Greta and LILAR I believe were both Rock a Little era songs. Then take into account that she didn't write Docklands, Just Like a Woman, Maybe Love, and Unconditional Love, and that she collaborated on Blue Denim, Listen to the Rain, Kick It, and Jane. That leaves Stevie with one single song that she wrote herself during the 90's, which is of course Street Angel.

I believe Street Angel was not as shoddy so much with the songs themselves as was the production. Stevie said when she got out of Exodus she listened to SA before releasing it and thought it was terrible and got a new producer and tried to fix it, but it was beyond repair. So, she just turned the album in and hoped for the best. I hope this helps answer your question.

[Johnny Stew]

Everything Justin said is correct.
Stevie also recorded "If You Were My Love" for 'Street Angel,' but didn't end up using it.

She has talked many times of how she waits until "the time is right," to release her vaulted songs... so I assume she just didn't feel the time was right for the songs you mentioned, Evan.

I've always felt it was very cool (and a further example of Stevie's artistic integrity) that she doesn't just burn off her vaulted songs whenever and wherever possible... that she truly does wait until she feels they make a statement, or add a needed texture, within the context of a particular album.

And let's not forget... if she had released "Planets Of The Universe" on 'Street Angel,' or any of the other early albums, we never would have gotten all the additional lyrics she wrote for it in 2000. The first and second verses on the 'TISL' version are entirely new, and they're my favorite parts of the song.

Oh, and I agree with Justin... the true "fault" of 'Street Angel' does not lie with the quality of songs, but in the spotty production.

[gldstwmn]

There were fine musicians on SA and why If You Were My Love didn't make it is a mystery. It doens't really fit with the rest of the songs, though. If you listen to some of the alternate mixes of this record, stripped down, they really rock. And wasn't her producer mean to her? On her live shows for that tour, her voice was stronger than ever.

[ERigby818]

Wasn't Mirror Mirror (a RAL era song) released as a B-side for Street Angel song (I forget which one)? It blows me away that it wasn't on the album, or any album, for that matter. That song totally rocks and is gorgeous.
Also, did she re-record it for that B-side or what it a leftover from an earlier session? I wonder, because of its 80's sound and younger sounding vocal.
-Sonia

[strandinthewind]

Also, I have demo of Jane called Jane's SOng that sounds like it was RAL era based on the vocal. But, I could be wrong.

[Johnny Stew]

The version of "Mirror Mirror" that was released as the b-side to "Blue Denim" in the US, was a remainder from the 'Rock A Little' sessions, and was produced by Keith Olsen.

October 25th, 1991, was the debut of "Jane's Song," at a benefit concert for Jane Goodall, and I believe it was written specifically for the occasion.

As for Glyn Johns, the original producer of 'Street Angel'... I don't know exactly what went wrong there.
No one has ever said if Stevie chose him to produce the album, or if the record company (or her management) paired them up.
Since Stevie chose all of her other producers, I assume she chose Glyn as well.
Apparently they began butting heads pretty much from the beginning. It seems that Mr. Johns had a specific sound he was going for, and it didn't sit well with Stevie.
Another thing that definitely didn't sit well with Stevie, was Glyn's edict that, for some inexplicable reason, Waddy Wachtel would not take part in the sessions.

So a few months after Mr. Johns had gone back to England, Stevie and Thom Panunzio worked with the basic tracks that Glyn Johns had overseen, remixing what they had, and then adding additional instrumentation and overdubs.
Stevie brought Waddy in to add some guitar-parts. She also had Michael Campbell come back in to re-do some things, and Peter Michael (who has toured with her, and is Sheila E.'s brother) to add percussion (another thing Mr. Johns apparently didn't want on the album).

I'm sure all of this is the reason the overal production sounds somewhat "muddy," and they probably would have had to practically erase everything that had been recorded originally, and start from scratch, in order to avoid that.

Stevie has said that she should have spent more than just two months trying to fix the things she disliked about it, but finally decided that the album had already consumed three years of her life, and it was time to let it go.

[strandinthewind]

Originally posted by Johnny Stew
October 25th, 1991, was the debut of "Jane's Song," at a benefit concert for Jane Goodall, and I believe it was written specifically for the occasion.

Well, I did some research before I read your response - so I'll publish the results of the research anyway, etc.

The Nicksfix (kudos) indeed indicates Stevie performed "Jane's Song" (written for environmentalist Jane Goodall) on Oct. 25, 1991 at the "International Tribute To Jane Goodall" in Dallas, Texas, which was right after in the Behind the Mask era. However, I could find no articles stating it was actually written in 1991. But, in support of it being written and performed for the first time in 1991, here are two quotes I found at http://www.sararhiannon.com/streetangel.html (kudos to sararhiannon!!!) in which Stevie discusses the song, etc. The problem is, she never states with specificity when she actually wrote it, although she kind of implies it was 1991.
________________________________
"I became friends with somebody who was really good friends with Jane. [Goodall] They asked me if I would write a song. Michael Jackson said he would write it but he never did. So I agreed to write a song. It opened up a lot of wounds for me. It was a very difficult song for me to write. It's called "Jane's Song" and you'll hear it because it will be on the next record. We went to Dallas with Jane and I sang it live. It came out beautiful and it changed my life. It made me believe in a lot of things I didn't realize were possible. And she really is an angel. What she does is incredible. So I wanted to be lifted above once again, just being a rock & roll singer and do something time would remember. So that's why I'm trying to do other things."

~Stevie Nicks, Ed Shockey interview, 94.1 WYSP Philadelphia, 1991

"I was so inspired by her [Jane Goodall] books that I wrote this song ten minutes after I got to meet her."

~Stevie Nicks, Boston Herald, 7-94
__________________________________________

But - then I am still confused regarding whether the first incidence of this song was indeed in 1991 as I have a demo that sounds like a studio (not live) recording of "Jane's Song" in which Stevie sounds like the RAL/TITN'TOTOTM era in vocal quality. If that is true then, SN wrote it prior to 1991 but performed it live in 1991. I am leaving the demo in my Kazaa folder overnight for all interested. Just do a general search for "Jane's Song (demo)" It should pull up, etc. I must say I love the demo!!!!!!

I am sure I have left many confused

[gldstwmn]

Didn't The Eagles dislike working with Glyn Johns becasue he was a total control freak?

[bootylicous]

That was very interesting! Thanks to all who responded, I'll have to go dig out 'Street Angel' and give it a second chance, imagine it with different production,

Cheers!

[PenguinHead]

Does anyone have the only known live performance of "Jane?" I'm surprised it hasn't been seen floating around the web. Perhaps no one recorded it! I'm so obsessive ---especially about hearing/obtaining rare performances. Rumor has it that Kind Of Woman was performed at least once on the Bella Donna tour. So far, no evidence of it.

[macmar71]

1000 Days was also a B-side for SA and I think a demo of this song is from around the RAL era as well.