Stevie's vocals

[brad975]

I recently revisited this short People magazine article from late 1977 (http://www.people.com/people/archive...069899,00.html), mentioning the vocal nodules she had formed by that time. The article says she wasn't smoking and limiting herself to two glasses of wine a night to facilitate her healing (wonder how that long lasted).

Other singers who've had vocal nodules removed (Robert Plant in the mid-'70s, Elton John in the late '80s) never again hit notes as high as in their prime.

In 1986, I bought an unauthorized biography of Stevie Nicks (which unfortunately has long disappeared from my possession) that referenced her nodule problem. But since then, I haven't been able to find an online source that specifically mentions her undergoing nodule surgery.

But surely she had to! I've long wondered if it was sometime during the lengthy recording of Tusk between 78-79. On some songs, she still has some of that high, reedy quality to her voice ("Beautiful Child"), but on "Storms" (and some demos from this era, like "The Dealer") she sounds quite a bit rougher.

Then the lengthy Tusk tour (and poor lifestyle decisions) really took a toll.

Those nodules can reoccur, and I've wondered if she hasn't required a subsequent surgery or two. I believe that modern technology has improved the outcomes of these surgeries (Justin Timberlake had some removed a number of years ago), but scar tissue can be left behind that can limit the cords ability to produce pleasing sounds.

I love Stevie. I was delighted by the high quality of IYD, but I have to admit that The Wild Heart was the end of her sounding consistently good to me (even with the overactive vibrato of that era).

Whatever was going on with her in 1984-85 during the RAL recording (possibly another nodule surgery, cartons of cigarettes, mountains of coke) pretty blew out what was pleasant to my ears.

I rarely listen to anything from the Klonopin years anymore ('87-'94). She's hitting lots of bum notes during that time and sounding like she could care less.

I'm also intrigued by Stevie's seeming vocal transformation between The Dance and TISL. The increasing nasal quality to her voice made it oddly seem like she was simultaneously singing higher and lower at the same time.

I think she did mention that the painful hole in her septum continues to grow, but she won't get it fixed because she's worried it would hurt her voice. I'm not a doctor, but I have to wonder if it wouldn't help to plug it up.

Glad she's been taking better care of her voice and hopefully not smoking. Listen to "The Second Time" (if you can handle it a second time), and you may marvel that she sounds as good as she does today.