Let's Show Some love For... "Straight Back"!

[Phil]

Pretty image, fit for a fairytale. But according to the David Gans article in Record, Nicks wasn't showing up often enough at the Larrabee sessions to get much more than that recorded.

Like HejiraNYC stated, Stevie not only had the songs, but they were actually recorded. The Mirage versions of Smile At You and If You Were My Love sound virtually "good to go" to my ears, particularly the former song. It was my recollection too that the whole band were in France, committed to working as a team after what had been perceived as a fragmented, disunified approach during the Tusk sessions. Stevie may not have contributed majorly to Lindsey's and Christine's songs but that doesn't alter the fact that she had delivered up first rate material that basically pissed all over everything else on offer. Maybe the potential embarrassment of being overshadowed by her natural brilliance, not to mention her rising star at the time, put paid to the inclusion of any additional material?

Oh Diane is really the only song of Lindsey's, that I don't care for. I'll never understand the HATE that Empire State gets! It kicks Diane's ASS!!!

You say Stevie's songs didn't get "comprehensive production"? If Gypsy's not the ultimate example of Lindsey's tireless production, then I don't know what is!

The BD demos for "Gypsy" with the Heartbreakers are painful to hear. Just awful. This is the perfect example of Lindsey's (occasional) ability to polish a turd in the studio.

I realise I'm in the minority here but I don't consider Lindsey's production work on Gypsy to be exceptional - serviceable yes, but nothing out of the ordinary. I for one adore the demo versions with The Heartbreakers and believe the basic structure of the song was intact. Lindsey added a few flourishes here and there, but the real draw of the finished recording is Stevie's superb vocal delivery and the associated harmonies. A great song is a great song and it was there from the beginning.
(For an example of Lindsey's exemplary production skills, look no further than what he did on Thrown Down many years later. In it's demo form, I thought it was a lost cause, but he truly transformed it in the studio. A fine job indeed.)

Stevie's own production and vocal arrangement skills should not be underestimated either. Just because she's rarely been given credit for such doesn't mean she wasn't instrumental in shaping her own songs throughout her career. She always instinctively knew what she wanted in the studio and often coaxed the results out of her collaborators (who often possessed the musical prowess she didn't to achieve her aspirations). I'm aware she's given Lindsey credit over the years for arranging many of her songs but whilst I acknowledge his many talents and great work on a selection of her numbers, I don't think he "polished any of her turds".