Fixing Street Angel - Page 2

Fannymac · #16 06-17-2009, 06:55 PM

There were around three or four songs from the original version that were left off the final version. I think I still have the WEA tear sheet....I'll look for it tonight!

golddustdrummer · #17 06-17-2009, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petep9000

Yes! I had the 'cassingle' of this (I think I was one of the last people in the US to buy cassette singles), and I remember the guitar just lept out of the speakers. I thought it was cool, and I kinda/sorta liked the cassette artwork where Stevie was in the big black hat.

describe this "cassette" thing you speak of...

drzubritsky · #18 06-17-2009, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

I might have to niggle on a few little issues with you though. I was into Natalie, Sheryl, Alanis, etc when they all first hit the scene. I remember thinking that their sounds were very distinctly retro 70s, especially Sheryl's self titled album. But that's the irony of it all... new artists can find great success and acclaim sounding retro, but if an older artist reverts back to their golden era sound, they're panned.

True, those artists did incorporate 70s styles into their 90s work. "All I Wanna Do", for example, is very reminiscent of Stealers Wheels "Stuck In The Middle With You". But somehow the production sounded fresher...maybe there was a "cleaner" feel to the production. The arrangements on SA sound cluttered in comparison.

The production style of Lisa Loeb's "Stay (I Missed You)" from that same year would have also worked well for SA. Another song with good production from the year before is "Look Up To The Sky" by The Indians, which had some interesting instrumentation that would have fit well on SA.

Another interesting aspect of SA is Stevie's voice. She was actually in good voice during this era, but it was quite different than the way she sounded on Timespace 3 years earlier or The Dance 3 years later. Her voice had kind of a congested quality on SA that was never heard again, and I don't think the recording of the vocals did justice to her voice. As evidenced by the House Of Blues radio broadcast, her voice was quite strong and she even hit the same high notes in the Rhiannon finale that she did in the 70s (though not with the same intensity).

All in all, SA is a fascinating near miss.

petep9000 · #19 06-18-2009, 07:43 AM

And it's funny, because I think it was 'Rolling Stone' that said in their review that SA "gets off to a creaky start with Blue Denim", which I couldn't understand. Because to me, BD was the strongest song on the album.

Ditto to a snotty, phlegmy quality to Stevie's voice, but I cant see any difference between SA and the mucous-fest that was OSOTM. However, at least in SA she had a bit more rock in her rather than crystal fantasies and castles.

Was David Crosby a late addition to the SA track? Was he added post-production to try to make the song better? I don't think he adds anything special that Sharon or Lori couldn't have added.

Travis · #20 06-18-2009, 07:48 AM

Just yesterday I was listening to Blue Denim live from Jay Leno and I was thinking – even though SA wasn’t the best era for Stevie (which she openly admits) her vocals are strong and passionate on most of SA and a lot of the live recordings. I thought she had a lot of emotion in her vocals from the Leno performance.

louielouie2000 · #21 06-18-2009, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petep9000

Ditto to a snotty, phlegmy quality to Stevie's voice, but I cant see any difference between SA and the mucous-fest that was OSOTM.

What's most interesting, is she had some SEARING vocals during the SA Tour! Just listen to this version of Outside The Rain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sscchs4RcJ4

I wish she'd let loose and belt those high notes and infuse some of that passion today! While I realize she's 15 years younger then, it still proves she can do it!!

petep9000 · #22 06-18-2009, 02:23 PM

Wow, almost like a RAL tour vocal, minus the twirling and kohl around the eyes.
I swear, I just can't remember the details of the one SA show I caught on that tour, and that's a shame. I can't remember if I thought her vocals were strong or not, I can't even remember the 'root perm'. I think it was because I was so far up in the highest balcony section of the Jones Beach Theater. Tsk tsk. My clear memories seem to skip from her Timespace (or was it 'Whole Lotta Trouble') shows to FM's 'The Dance' shows.

Oh, I do remember one detail. She sang 'Destiny', right? I had binoculars, and the guy next to me asked if he could borrow them because it was his girlfriend's favorite song.

Anyway, this was a cool little discovery, thanks for posting this clip. She was in fine voice.

Fannymac · #23 06-19-2009, 12:48 PM

OK, here's the track listing for the Glyn Johns-produced version!

BLUE DENIM
ROSE GARDEN
STREET ANGEL
JUST LIKE A WOMAN
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
DESTINY
I CALL YOU MISSING
INSPIRATION
MAYBE LOVE WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND
KICK IT
LISTEN TO THE RAIN
PLAYING IN GOD'S GARDEN

Never noticed this before, but I wonder if this is the same "Inspiration" that she dueted with Rick Vito in his KING OF HEARTS album?

markolas · #24 06-19-2009, 01:17 PM

Hmm...

Have the Glyn Johns versions ever surfaced?

SpyNote · #25 06-19-2009, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fannymac

OK, here's the track listing for the Glyn Johns-produced version!

BLUE DENIM
ROSE GARDEN
STREET ANGEL
JUST LIKE A WOMAN
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
DESTINY
I CALL YOU MISSING
INSPIRATION
MAYBE LOVE WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND
KICK IT
LISTEN TO THE RAIN
PLAYING IN GOD'S GARDEN

Never noticed this before, but I wonder if this is the same "Inspiration" that she dueted with Rick Vito in his KING OF HEARTS album?

I think you're thinking of "Intuition" from Rick Vito's King of Hearts album. Stevie sings backup on this song and duets with him on "Desiree." Ethan Johns wrote "Inspiration."

Fannymac · #26 06-19-2009, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpyNote

I think you're thinking of "Intuition" from Rick Vito's King of Hearts album. Stevie sings backup on this song and duets with him on "Desiree." Ethan Johns wrote "Inspiration."

Yep, you're correct! Something about that just didn't sound right!
(And I LOVE "Intuition"...one of my favorite tracks off of KOH!)

Fannymac · #27 06-19-2009, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markolas

Hmm...

Have the Glyn Johns versions ever surfaced?

I may be wrong, but I don't think so...everyone seemed to be in agreement that they were pretty weak and/or rocky.
Once again, I may be wrong, but I think some of the tracks with Thom were actually recut, while others were (considerably!) remixed!

markolas · #28 06-19-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fannymac

I may be wrong, but I don't think so...everyone seemed to be in agreement that they were pretty weak and/or rocky.

As opposed to the ones that were actually released?

Sorry, I couldn't resist. What makes it so maddening is that there are glimmers of decent/good material buried somewhere in the morass that is the SA album, but there's too much pure sh!t for me to want to listen to it much.

Chrislit18 · #29 06-19-2009, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JazmenFlowers

the Greta demo pwns the SA version.

100% ITA.

Greta is great either way, but the Demo version = <3333

chiliD · #30 06-19-2009, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpyNote

I think you're thinking of "Intuition" from Rick Vito's King of Hearts album. Stevie sings backup on this song and duets with him on "Desiree." Ethan Johns wrote "Inspiration."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fannymac

Yep, you're correct! Something about that just didn't sound right!
(And I LOVE "Intuition"...one of my favorite tracks off of KOH!)

And, the BTM outtake of "Intuition" is even better than the KOH version! (Mick & John vs drum machine/Rick playing bass....Christine & Billy singing backgrounds vs Stevie multi-tracked)