Sheryl Crow on Stevie in May's issue of Q

[trackaghost]

As many of you know there's a Women In Rock special in the new issue of Q. Part of it involves female artists choosing women in music who inspired them. For instance, Kim Gordon writes about Debbie Harry, Natasha Khan from Bats For Lashes writes about Kate Bush, Norah Jones about Dolly Parton and so on. Not surprisingly, Sheryl chose Stevie. Here's what she had to say:

“When I was 17 I remember listening to Go Your Own Way [from Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album Rumours] and feeling like that song was written for me. Her music represented this edgy freedom. I could listen to her music and feel this danger, even though I was a straight-up kid. She was a poet, she was beautiful and sensual, but she was also clearly the leader of the band. At the time it was a man’s world and she was the only woman competing in it. I wanted to emulate her.
“Landslide [from Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled 1975 album] is one of the greatest songs of all time. What I like about it is the vulnerability, not only in the words, but in the way she sings them. And also the simplicity. It’s very difficult to write a simple, memorable melody with that kind of lyric that everyone understands.
I met her after my first Grammys in ’95. One of the great things about Stevie is that she doesn’t disappoint you. I was really nervous, but she’s such a warm person; I felt like I’d known her forever. We worked together on the soundtrack to [1998 witchcraft movie starring Nicole Kidman] Practical Magic and I produced some songs on her [2001] album Trouble In Shangri-La. The first time she sang in front of me, I nearly dropped to the floor.
“Another great thing about Stevie is that she’s going to continue to make great music. I remember sitting with her in a hotel room in Atlanta and she pulled out her journals. She writes all the time. She showed me stuff and, before you knew it, it was a great song. That’s so unique and hugely inspiring. There aren’t many artists like that.”