New producers for Stevie? Is she too difficult? - Page 4

Rod~A~Little · #46 03-10-2012, 06:44 PM

And I love "All The Beautiful Worlds!"...But Somebody Stand By Me never blew me away! And Jane and the monkies of the world have gotta go!

I think another good producer for Stevie might be Daniel Lanois! He helps create such haunting atmospheres in the songs he produces.

Angel69 · #47 03-11-2012, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitzo

One of my faves. She really tore into the song and made a quasi-gospel un-Stevie tune into something her own. Interesting classic vocals from her, gorgeous arrangement, kept the Stevie mystique and allure!

^^^^^^^^^ absolutely!!!!!!

Angel69 · #48 03-11-2012, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivfox

The vocal on this is almost as pitiful as on Jane.

I like the vocal on Jane.....it's the...... "forgotten chimpanzee"..... that throws the song off.

mitzo · #49 03-11-2012, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angel69

I like the vocal on Jane.....it's the...... "forgotten chimpanzee"..... that throws the song off.

But the song is about Jane Goodall and her work with the endangered chimpanzees in Africa, so the lyrics actually fit if you know the context. To me Jane is a sweet and touching tribute to Ms Goodall, written and sung with an endearing kind of tender Stevieballad innocence and sincerity. I have always liked it. Pretty melody and nice sentiments.

michelej1 · #50 03-11-2012, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rod~A~Little

And I love "All The Beautiful Worlds!"...But Somebody Stand By Me never blew me away! And Jane and the monkies of the world have gotta go!

Yeah, put that on some fund-raising single, but leave it off the album. Michele

tabruns · #51 03-12-2012, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Stew

I'm a little confused... where have we gotten the notion that Stevie is "difficult" or that her relationship with her producers has been contentious? From all accounts, the only producer she ever really clashed with, was Glynn Johns.

Sure, her and Jimmy parted ways at the height of her craziness, but then they immediately worked together again when he asked her to record "Silent Night" just a couple of years later. They've also remained close friends. If she were that problematic in the studio, would he have wanted to work with her again so quickly?

It would seem there were no problems with Sheryl Crow, Rick Nowels, Keith Olsen, Mike Campbell, John Shanks and Thom Panunzio. And any issues with Rupert Hine seemed to arise only after the album was recorded, and for personal reasons.

What we saw in the 'Destiny Rules' documentary, was an example of the complicated relationship between Stevie and Lindsey. I highly doubt it's indicative of her relationships with other producers. Besides, as HejiraNYC said, her having an opinion on the way her songs are completed, doesn't make her "difficult."

As for multiple producers... Cher once said that it's important to find the right producer for the right song. She said that if one producer doesn't "get" a particular song, she finds a producer who does. Based on some of the comments Stevie has made regarding the process, it seems she has a similar approach.

Completely agree with this.

And mikephaz, protestations aside, yes you are implying she's difficult by putting in the topic heading "Is she too difficult?". Doesn't really work for you to blame it on the people who are calling you out on it.

seekerj · #52 03-12-2012, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitzo

But the song is about Jane Goodall and her work with the endangered chimpanzees in Africa, so the lyrics actually fit if you know the context. To me Jane is a sweet and touching tribute to Ms Goodall, written and sung with an endearing kind of tender Stevieballad innocence and sincerity. I have always liked it. Pretty melody and nice sentiments.

Thank you for taking the time to post this. I very much agree. At last, someone who isn't shortsighted enough to dismiss an entire song because they don't like one particular word in it, and especially a song with such serious subject matter. I think I love you. Thanks again.

HejiraNYC · #53 03-12-2012, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tabruns

Completely agree with this.

And mikephaz, protestations aside, yes you are implying she's difficult by putting in the topic heading "Is she too difficult?". Doesn't really work for you to blame it on the people who are calling you out on it.

Agreed! It's one of those classic "how often do you beat your wife" types of questions. I mean, if you had broken chairs in your office, would you be insulted if someone asked you "do you think you might be overweight?" I really loathe those kinds of insidiously disrespectful questions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitzo

But the song is about Jane Goodall and her work with the endangered chimpanzees in Africa, so the lyrics actually fit if you know the context. To me Jane is a sweet and touching tribute to Ms Goodall, written and sung with an endearing kind of tender Stevieballad innocence and sincerity. I have always liked it. Pretty melody and nice sentiments.

There is no question about the sincerity of the song... but I'm afraid Stevie should just avoid "literalism" altogether. Stevie is at her best when she sings in code- in which the words seem to paint a picture about a time/place that is foreign to us, yet seem to hit upon universally understood emotions. The lyrics to "Jane" just smack of bad high school English class homework assignment material- as if the teacher is asking the class to pick a person and write a 100-word ode about him/her. There is nothing personal, emotional or interpretive about it. I think a more effective approach would have been to extrapolate the learnings from Jane's research on chimpanzees onto human relationships and interactions, thereby removing the unfortunate "forgotten chimpanzee" element altogether.

vivfox · #54 03-12-2012, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seekerj

At last, someone who isn't shortsighted enough to dismiss an entire song because they don't like one particular word in it, and especially a song with such serious subject matter.

For me it's not the subject matter or the chimpanzee that I find annoying. It's the vocal that I find horrendous. She could have repeated chimpanzee a thousand times throughout the song and I wouldn't have cared less as long as she had laid down a decent vocal. To me she didn't sound vocally confident with this track.

michelej1 · #55 03-12-2012, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

I think a more effective approach would have been to extrapolate the learnings from Jane's research on chimpanzees onto human relationships and interactions

She could write a song based on what she said about the Everyday video. Even the black swans that mate for life, fight incessantly.

Michele

PolishStevieFan · #56 03-12-2012, 01:21 PM

I really like "Jane" even though I don't think it's one of Stevie's glory moments. It won't go down in history as a remarkable, career-defining song but on the other hand who expected this from Stevie in 1994 during "Street Angel" era? I don't mind listening to words like "chimpanzee" or something and don't think her voice was especially weak on this track. The song is just a lovely tribute to a lovely lady who did something important. I really don't understand why there are so many people who dismiss "Street Angel" album. I love this album! There are so many highlights: "Greta", "Blue Denim", "Listen To The Rain", "Destiny", "Unconditional Love", "Maybe Love Will Change Your Mind", "Rose Garden", "Kick It"... This album is full of rich melodies, lyrics and decent vocals.

mikephxaz · #57 03-12-2012, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tabruns

Completely agree with this.

And mikephaz, protestations aside, yes you are implying she's difficult by putting in the topic heading "Is she too difficult?". Doesn't really work for you to blame it on the people who are calling you out on it.

Tabruns We will have to agree to disagree on this one.

I've always been interested if it has been Stevie's substance abuse or her temperament in the studio that created the friction with Lindsey and was the reasoning for producer selection....she has made no secret that her time in the studio with fleetwood Mac hasn't always been as enjoyable as her time with Dave. If you think I have somehow declared or confirmed that shes difficult then that is your choice and I don't particularly care. What I was implying is that I have followed Stevie since 1978 and it appears that in the last 20 years she has surrounded her self with producers that don't experiment or push her as much a "I" wish she would. Of course this is my wish...not your wish...my wish. Imo Her first three solo albums were incredible and until IYD the other albums seem to be sometimes just poor imitation or produced by individuals who couldn't "rope in" Stevie's sometimes unedited and undisciplined approach to music. To clarify , these are my opinions..not yours not any other ledges....if this bothers you or anyone else than I suggests you skip over my posts. Thanks. Mike

Macfanforever · #58 03-12-2012, 08:34 PM

I have not really listen to "Jane" enough to annoy me.Every artists have "filler" tunes to get their total song count on their cd's.As all of the years of listening and buying albums.There will be always some bad duds on their album.Which sound like crap and does not make sense in recording them in the first place.With Stevie's music.I have to give her 99 1/2 percent of her music is great.Some of filler tunes on other artists albums sound even better then the released tunes.As I said I've been buying albums since the 1970's .You get the hits plus a couple good filler tracks and the duds.Stevie's IYD cd is a winner on my list.I love them all.I hope her upcoming cd will be too.If Dave or whoever she will hire to produce her new cd will be the same ic IYD cd.

mikephxaz · #59 03-12-2012, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macfanforever

I have not really listen to "Jane" enough to annoy me.Every artists have "filler" tunes to get their total song count on their cd's.As all of the years of listening and buying albums.There will be always some bad duds on their album.Which sound like crap and does not make sense in recording them in the first place.With Stevie's music.I have to give her 99 1/2 percent of her music is great.Some of filler tunes on other artists albums sound even better then the released tunes.As I said I've been buying albums since the 1970's .You get the hits plus a couple good filler tracks and the duds.Stevie's IYD cd is a winner on my list.I love them all.I hope her upcoming cd will be too.If Dave or whoever she will hire to produce her new cd will be the same ic IYD cd.

I agree! Maybe if Jane hadnt been the closing song...She usually has such a strong closer on her cds.

Angel69 · #60 03-12-2012, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mitzo

But the song is about Jane Goodall and her work with the endangered chimpanzees in Africa, so the lyrics actually fit if you know the context. To me Jane is a sweet and touching tribute to Ms Goodall, written and sung with an endearing kind of tender Stevieballad innocence and sincerity. I have always liked it. Pretty melody and nice sentiments.

I know the back story to the lyric and I do like the song....it's just that lyric...