"If You Were My Love" alternate Mirage Outtake DL

louielouie2000 · #1 01-04-2010, 04:22 AM

Fascinating little outtake... thanks for sharing! "If You Were My Love" has always been one of my favorite unreleased Stevie songs. I hate it never made it on one of her or the Mac's albums. So much passion... this song could have made for one hell of a live performance back in Stevie's coked out glory days!

mikebise · #2 01-04-2010, 07:27 AM

It does ~ as she's wailing away and dancing to it on her Rolling Stone photo shoot!!!

It's almost like having an actual video for "If You Were My Love"!

PenguinHead · #3 01-04-2010, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Fascinating little outtake... thanks for sharing! "If You Were My Love" has always been one of my favorite unreleased Stevie songs. I hate it never made it on one of her or the Mac's albums. So much passion... this song could have made for one hell of a live performance back in Stevie's coked out glory days!

It's one of my favorites too. It has such a cool vibe to it, and would have been a great Fleetwood Mac track. There were so many recording attempts with this song, both with the band and solo. Obviously she saw its potential, and given all the time and effort to realize it, you think that she would have revisited it somewhere down the road. There are many songs that she was hyped about, yet they never saw the light of day. I remember when Rolling Stone wrote about her impending album 'The Other Side of the Mirror,' they mentioned the tracks 'Don't Treat Me Like a Stranger' and...memory loss...but they didn't even get released as as b-sides. What others do you like? 'Something Exquisite' is another favorite of mine.

mikebise · #4 01-05-2010, 07:33 AM

That interview mentioned "Don't Treat Me Like A Stranger", "Dial The Number" and "Tragedy of One's Own Soul". All three are incredible songs and would have added greatly to The Other Side of The Mirror.

I was always haunted by the Bay Area Music interview from November 1981 when Stevie was talking about her finished songs for the upcoming Mirage: "If You Were My Love", "That's Alright", and "Smile At You", although she thought that "Smile At You" might be replaced because when she first wrote and recorded it, she was very angry, and she wasn't any longer. Really, Stevie??? "My heart... My heart was BROKEN!!!"

No anger there!

I love the Bella Donna and Mirage versions of "If You Were My Love", but I remain in the minority with the Street Angel outtake being my favourite. Yes, the fire and anger of the earlier versions is exciting, but the looking-back-wistfulness of the Street Angel version just breaks my heart. Just my feelings...

"Now, now if I were the one who watched over your sleeping, you would never have been frightened at all... at all..."

petep9000 · #5 01-05-2010, 08:45 AM

Is the SA version the one with the slow country style vibe?

HejiraNYC · #6 01-05-2010, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petep9000

Is the SA version the one with the slow country style vibe?

I think some called it the "bossa nova" or "tropical" version. That is, assuming there is only one SA version. But perhaps you're referring to the pedal steel that is featured prominently, which I guess lends it a bit of a country vibe as well

. It's an interesting take on the song but comes nowhere close to the original Mirage take. Speaking of the Mirage version, does anyone have a high(er)-quality version of IYWML playing in the background at the Rolling Stone photo shoot? That version is definitely different from the other versions I have heard/downloaded over the years...

mikebise · #7 01-05-2010, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petep9000

Is the SA version the one with the slow country style vibe?

Yes, John, and it's directly from the studio Master of the original, completed, finished-and-turned-in Street Angel from February 1993.

I love how the piano clinks away at the end when Stevie & The 3 Girls sing at the end:

"They say everyone... everyone... must remain... faithful..."

petep9000 · #8 01-05-2010, 10:30 AM

This version sort of reminds me of something Norah Jones would do in a few years in that first big album of hers

AgeOldDesire · #9 01-05-2010, 02:28 PM

The RS photo session is epic. Not only does a killer version of IYWML play in the background; but Stevie sings along to it as the camera snaps away. Her voice was so good then it makes me weep.