Feeling some sympathy for Stevie

[Jondalar]

As I listened to Stevie's radio interviews, it occurred to me that selling yourself and album at 63 years old is a hard thing. She has to explain to people why she is opening for Rod Stewart, why Lady from the Mountain is really the Twilight song, why she didn't make a record in 2005, among other things. It seems to me like she still is looking for some type of validation as a writer, which is bogus. Who cares if she is only get sole songwriting credit on 3 songs.Many of her songs have stood the test time. Who cares when they were written. She also has been explaining to people why she does Stand Back on Ellen.

I don't know, but she is 63 years old. The explanations need to stop. I feel sorta sorry for her. She obviously had a great time making this record. She fealt renewed by it. We are getting a new album and by all indications it's a good one. After hearing the interviews, I do believe it will be the last one. She is excited, but there is something in her voice that tells me she can't do this for much longer. All the little things about the Twilight song, opening for Rod, blah, blah, blah are casting a shadow over things.

Truthfully, I never really thought she would do another record. Well, we are getting one. Maybe her Swan Song. And think about it, she is the only in that band, that actually promotes Fleetwood Mac. I mean she works for the attention... and is still doing it at 63.

[Nikolaj]

Jondalar wrote:

She also has been explaining to people why she does Stand Back on Ellen.


I missed that. Will you share?

I think she's the coolest singer, ever. I think it's incredible she has a huge collection of all-new material we will soon hear. I find her inspiring, ageless in her own way, and vital. I always have taken her songwriting and singing seriously. I respect beyond words her internal strength to be doing this in her 60s. She can sing whatever she wants, and has. I have long wished for solo tours to be only her solo songs, but that's her choice, and her choice doesn't change.
If only Rhiannon and Landslide and GDW could be saved for Fleetwood Mac tours, and she'd save Dreams for the encore, they would have so much more impact, and her solo catalogue would get the respect it deserves from her and from her audiences. I'd be kvetching less about the security guards who always interrupt my enjoyment of her performances trampling over me when I have never once recorded or taken photos.
So, why did she do SB on 'Ellen'- and on 'Ellen', the year before, and at The Superbowl Pregame, and on many televised performances in the past decade? Did she cop to how it raises her BMI publishing royalties, the more the song is repeatedly performed on television, the more she earns from the publishing rights to the song that her BMI membership ensures that she is paid?
Publishing is lucrative, and every performer is only paid union scale for talk shows. But did she say it?
What did she say?

[louielouie2000]

The root cause of all of this is that Stevie is terribly insecure. She hasn't recorded a new album in 10 years because she was afraid it would not sell. She keeps dredging up musty old demos from her heyday because she's not confident in her songwriting abilities anymore. Further evidence of this is Stevie's using Dave Stewart as a crutch for songwriting on In Your Dreams. She's terrified at the reality she needs to downsize the venues she plays, so she decides to tour with Rod Stewart.

I think it's so unfortunate that the ultimatum/reality check Tom Petty gave her back in the '90s really didn't stick. She's a living legend... and nobody does Stevie Nicks better than Stevie Nicks. Stevie's slowly been poisoning her own well for many years now... I hate she doesn't see it herself.

[Nikolaj]

^
I may partly agree, but SN has used collaborators on every solo album. I think it's good that she recognized Dave Stewart's ability to musically enhance her lyrics- she's an incredible singer, and a one-of-a-kind lyricist who often writes very well- but DS is a musician's musician and a good producer. (who can't really sing a lick, so everybody has their strengths!)
I think it's for the good of her albums that she seeks people who have strengths she probably needs for the songs to be the best they can be.
Her voice, alone, when it's in peak form, is what's the biggest draw, for me. She writes lyrics well, often times- but I don't know that she is a musician, exactly. I think she herself knows this. She's a poet and a voice and a good performer.
So, I think the collaborations with Mike Campbell and Dave Stewart and Rick Nowels have improved her solo output. Well, I'm guessing about Dave and won't know for sure until May!
I really thought she and Nowels had some excellent collaborations, as recently as 'Everybody Finds Out'.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by Nikolaj

Jondalar wrote:

She also has been explaining to people why she does Stand Back on Ellen.


I missed that. Will you share?

I think she's the coolest singer, ever. I think it's incredible she has a huge collection of all-new material we will soon hear. I find her inspiring, ageless in her own way, and vital. I always have taken her songwriting and singing seriously. I respect beyond words her internal strength to be doing this in her 60s. She can sing whatever she wants, and has. I have long wished for solo tours to be only her solo songs, but that's her choice, and her choice doesn't change.
If only Rhiannon and Landslide and GDW could be saved for Fleetwood Mac tours, and she'd save Dreams for the encore, they would have so much more impact, and her solo catalogue would get the respect it deserves from her and from her audiences. I'd be kvetching less about the security guards who always interrupt my enjoyment of her performances trampling over me when I have never once recorded or taken photos.
So, why did she do SB on 'Ellen'- and on 'Ellen', the year before, and at The Superbowl Pregame, and on many televised performances in the past decade? Did she cop to how it raises her BMI publishing royalties, the more the song is repeatedly performed on television, the more she earns from the publishing rights to the song that her BMI membership ensures that she is paid?
Publishing is lucrative, and every performer is only paid union scale for talk shows. But did she say it?
What did she say?

She was going to do another song, but Ellen always wants her to do Stand Back. Stevie sounded apologetic about but what can she do. Like she said, Ellen gets what Ellen wants.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

The root cause of all of this is that Stevie is terribly insecure. She hasn't recorded a new album in 10 years because she was afraid it would not sell. She keeps dredging up musty old demos from her heyday because she's not confident in her songwriting abilities anymore. Further evidence of this is Stevie's using Dave Stewart as a crutch for songwriting on In Your Dreams. She's terrified at the reality she needs to downsize the venues she plays, so she decides to tour with Rod Stewart.

I think it's so unfortunate that the ultimatum/reality check Tom Petty gave her back in the '90s really didn't stick. She's a living legend... and nobody does Stevie Nicks better than Stevie Nicks. Stevie's slowly been poisoning her own well for many years now... I hate she doesn't see it herself.

That's your take on things. Like Stevie said, she only has to play 75 minutes with Rod Stewart and its a high profile tour. It gets her name out there before the records released. She's going to make a ton of money too.

As far as old demos are concerned, it wouldn't be a problem if people didn't steal her work. I'm happy that Lady from the Mountain is making it on one of her records in some shape and form. There are other demos like Three Birds of Rhiannon, Love You Enough and China Doll that should be recorded.

Colloborating with Dave Stewart was a smart thing to do. She's not getting any younger. With his help, she got the album done quickly and I'm sure the songs are going to be worth it. She shouldn't have to explain this. Choosing a writing partner to bring something new to the table is a smart thing to do. She's already explored the train of the thought stuff. This is new and she did it to put a good album out there that her fans would like.

[AliceLover]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

The root cause of all of this is that Stevie is terribly insecure. She hasn't recorded a new album in 10 years because she was afraid it would not sell. She keeps dredging up musty old demos from her heyday because she's not confident in her songwriting abilities anymore. Further evidence of this is Stevie's using Dave Stewart as a crutch for songwriting on In Your Dreams. She's terrified at the reality she needs to downsize the venues she plays, so she decides to tour with Rod Stewart.

I think it's so unfortunate that the ultimatum/reality check Tom Petty gave her back in the '90s really didn't stick. She's a living legend... and nobody does Stevie Nicks better than Stevie Nicks. Stevie's slowly been poisoning her own well for many years now... I hate she doesn't see it herself.

I disagree completely. She had said 1,000 times over the past year that she has made this record for herself and doesn't care if ten people buy it.

[Nikolaj]

She was going to do another song, but Ellen always wants her to do Stand Back. Stevie sounded apologetic about but what can she do. Like she said, Ellen gets what Ellen wants.

Um. So, if Ellen wanted a 3 way with Portia and Stevie, she'd get it? I believe YOU, Jondalar- but I think that's one bullsh*t story Stevie told. Sure, Stevie.
Ca-ching.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by Nikolaj

She was going to do another song, but Ellen always wants her to do Stand Back. Stevie sounded apologetic about but what can she do. Like she said, Ellen gets what Ellen wants.

Um. So, if Ellen wanted a 3 way with Portia and Stevie, she'd get it? I believe YOU, Jondalar- but I think that's one bullsh*t story Stevie told. Sure, Stevie.
Ca-ching.

Huh? Where did that come? Why did she need a BS story? I'm sure she wasn't lying about Ellen. That would be really stupid. She said Ellen always wants her to do that song. That's Ellen's favorite song I guess. She wasn't lying about that. It's not important anyway. Who cares? See, this is one of the reasons I feel sorry for her. She is 63 years old and getting picked to death. UGG! I swear the more interviews she does, the more I don't want to listen. I just want the album. Mystery is sometimes a good thing.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

The root cause of all of this is that Stevie is terribly insecure. She hasn't recorded a new album in 10 years because she was afraid it would not sell. She keeps dredging up musty old demos from her heyday because she's not confident in her songwriting abilities anymore. Further evidence of this is Stevie's using Dave Stewart as a crutch for songwriting on In Your Dreams. She's terrified at the reality she needs to downsize the venues she plays, so she decides to tour with Rod Stewart.

I think it's so unfortunate that the ultimatum/reality check Tom Petty gave her back in the '90s really didn't stick. She's a living legend... and nobody does Stevie Nicks better than Stevie Nicks. Stevie's slowly been poisoning her own well for many years now... I hate she doesn't see it herself.

This is all a bit unfair. I don't know how you could say that a woman with the audacity to tour every year and command the stage at her age is exactly lacking in self-assurance. Self-awareness... now, well, that's another matter altogether...

Stevie herself explained in the radio interviews that there were multiple reasons why she didn't record immediately after getting off the SYW tour- her managers advising against it + she was tired, i.e., burned out. And I'm sure that the trauma of recording SYW was still fresh on her mind. And I can totally relate to being so traumatized by something that you will make any excuse to avoid being in a similar situation again, e.g., getting back into a car after a bad accident. It was a tough album to make and a really arduous tour, which resulted in her blowing up in weight from all of the steroids she was taking for her throat. If anything, I think it was shocking that she would be so gung-ho to get back on the road so quickly in 2005. If you factor in the fact that she was on the road with FM for a year (2009) and then recording for a year(2010), that only leaves 2005-2008 for her to fritter away needlessly. But during that time she went on several solo tours, released two CD packages, released two DVDs, toured with Tom Petty, visited soldiers at Walter Reed, etc. To the diehards, this was a totally wasted period. But I suspect that in Stevie's mind, she was still working, and productively at that, despite the naysayers on her management team and her post-traumatic lassitude.

As for writing songs, I don't think it's purely an accident that she has drawn repeatedly upon her initial cache of songs from 70s over the years. You have to realize that she wrote a lot of these songs back before she was "Stevi Nicks" and then "Stevie Nicks, the solo artist" and then "Stevie Nicks, the Klonopin addict." I'd say there is easily a 15-18-year span between the 80s and 90s during which she was either too busy or too zonked out of her gourd to write songs. Meanwhile she cranked out band and solo albums, one right after the other in rapid succession. As she finally emerged from her fog in the mid-late 90s, she probably came to the realization that her vault was largely tapped out and that she needed new songs and new inspiration to keep her career humming along, which inevitably led her to seek collaborators. I don't fault her for that. However, I do call B.S. on the fact that she considers herself a really prolific songwriter. Yes, she has written some amazing songs over the years. But I don't think she has written enough amazing songs by herself to sustain a solo career and a band career.

Sure, Stevie has nobody to blame but herself for her missteps and her troubles. But if it wasn't for all of the FM drama, the drug addictions, the drug recoveries, the highs and the lows, Stevie wouldn't be Stevie. Unfortunately, she had to suffer for her art.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

I don't know, but she is 63 years old. The explanations need to stop. I feel sorta sorry for her. She obviously had a great time making this record. She fealt renewed by it. We are getting a new album and by all indications it's a good one. After hearing the interviews, I do believe it will be the last one. She is excited, but there is something in her voice that tells me she can't do this for much longer. All the little things about the Twilight song, opening for Rod, blah, blah, blah are casting a shadow over things.

Where the hell do you come up with this?

[Fleetwoodmark]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

As I listened to Stevie's radio interviews, it occurred to me that selling yourself and album at 63 years old is a hard thing. She has to explain to people why she is opening for Rod Stewart, why Lady from the Mountain is really the Twilight song, why she didn't make a record in 2005, among other things. It seems to me like she still is looking for some type of validation as a writer, which is bogus. Who cares if she is only get sole songwriting credit on 3 songs.Many of her songs have stood the test time. Who cares when they were written. She also has been explaining to people why she does Stand Back on Ellen.

I don't know, but she is 63 years old. The explanations need to stop. I feel sorta sorry for her. She obviously had a great time making this record. She fealt renewed by it. We are getting a new album and by all indications it's a good one. After hearing the interviews, I do believe it will be the last one. She is excited, but there is something in her voice that tells me she can't do this for much longer. All the little things about the Twilight song, opening for Rod, blah, blah, blah are casting a shadow over things.

Truthfully, I never really thought she would do another record. Well, we are getting one. Maybe her Swan Song. And think about it, she is the only in that band, that actually promotes Fleetwood Mac. I mean she works for the attention... and is still doing it at 63.

Hold on a minute,

It's only the fans that are having many of these debates, Where has she had to explain her choice of song on Ellen ? Has she explained the Twilight thing ?

In the music business today every artist has to explain themselves and their intentions for the record - not just Stevie - these are routine questions by any interviewer to try and shed light on the new album - they are not trying to trip her up.

From past interviews I can gather that Stevie was not happy with either SYW or TISL. I think bringing in Dave Stewart was a move primarily as a mentor/producer to guide where the album is going and to have an outside opinion on what is going to work.

If Stevie says she doesn't care if it sells or not, to me, that is just smoke and mirrors. Stevie defines herself on her success and this is the reason she did "Stand Back" on Ellen. Lindsey on the other hand has accepted his solo work will not reach a massive audience.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by Jondalar

As I listened to Stevie's radio interviews, it occurred to me that selling yourself and album at 63 years old is a hard thing. She has to explain to people why she is opening for Rod Stewart, why Lady from the Mountain is really the Twilight song, why she didn't make a record in 2005, among other things. It seems to me like she still is looking for some type of validation as a writer, which is bogus. Who cares if she is only get sole songwriting credit on 3 songs.Many of her songs have stood the test time. Who cares when they were written. She also has been explaining to people why she does Stand Back on Ellen.

I don't know, but she is 63 years old. The explanations need to stop. I feel sorta sorry for her. She obviously had a great time making this record. She fealt renewed by it. We are getting a new album and by all indications it's a good one. After hearing the interviews, I do believe it will be the last one. She is excited, but there is something in her voice that tells me she can't do this for much longer. All the little things about the Twilight song, opening for Rod, blah, blah, blah are casting a shadow over thing.

You may be partly projecting. Technology now allows us to stream all these radio interviews, which come across as rote after the 2nd and 3rd one in a row. So it does seem like a laborious task to have to talk about the same themes over & over & over again. However it also appeared that they were taking their cues from Stevie & Warners. To me it seemed obvious that the radio interviewers were each sent a "memo" of sorts about "In Your Dreams" and the contents that were highlighted were the collaboration with Dave, the inspiration drawn from a scene in the "New Moon" movie which motivated Stevie to write and finish a song & thus begin a new solo record after such a long absence from the studio..blah blah blah! This is par for the course for Stevie. She did the exact same rote interviews with every single album she has released. Its just that now we have access to all of them. With TISL, I remember the whole Tom Petty "grow a pair" conversation repeated in interviews ad naseum!

I think your really trying to convey that now at Stevie's age it probably is a bit more tiresome to drag herself through the motions. The thing is, that Stevie obviously has chosen to do so to a certain extent right now. Lord knows she has earned the right not to! But because she loves this new record, She is really trying to promote it as much as she can and obviously has the energy and enthusiasm to do it.

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

The root cause of all of this is that Stevie is terribly insecure. She hasn't recorded a new album in 10 years because she was afraid it would not sell. She keeps dredging up musty old demos from her heyday because she's not confident in her songwriting abilities anymore. Further evidence of this is Stevie's using Dave Stewart as a crutch for songwriting on In Your Dreams. She's terrified at the reality she needs to downsize the venues she plays, so she decides to tour with Rod Steward.

I disagree with this. At this point Stevie knows who she is. She is confident in her body of work, and in her standing as Rock n' Roll Grandma. Poet. Priest of nothing. LEGEND!
Stevie has already walked through her insecure phase which really began after RAL and became magnified after OSOTM through the mid 90's, when she was trying to figure out where she fit in the musical landscape, was she even relevant anymore. Stevie was a prolific writer from the early 70's through the mid 80's. During that timespane she wrote a ton of songs. Many good ones are still left in the vault as we know, so why wouldn't she drag out 2 or 3 per album now. They are her songs, they are good, and it is her prerogative. And her collaborating intimately with another writer is a sign of a strong, brave and secure Stevie, not to mention a smart move at this juncture in her career, and one that I don't begrudge her for anymore. And finally Stevie tours the arenas with FM or Rod Stewart because she still can

[MacMan]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

The root cause of all of this is that Stevie is terribly insecure. She hasn't recorded a new album in 10 years because she was afraid it would not sell. She keeps dredging up musty old demos from her heyday because she's not confident in her songwriting abilities anymore. Further evidence of this is Stevie's using Dave Stewart as a crutch for songwriting on In Your Dreams. She's terrified at the reality she needs to downsize the venues she plays, so she decides to tour with Rod Stewart.

I think it's so unfortunate that the ultimatum/reality check Tom Petty gave her back in the '90s really didn't stick. She's a living legend... and nobody does Stevie Nicks better than Stevie Nicks. Stevie's slowly been poisoning her own well for many years now... I hate she doesn't see it herself.

Wow... All this is mighty presumptuous. You actually believe all that you wrote?

Did it ever occur to anyone that she brings up these old musty demos because she actually believes they are worthy of being on an album?

[markolas]

Some of you are talking about Stevie like she's packing up for the nursing home. She's 63, not 83.

Why should anyone feel sorry for her? She's just made an album that she clearly likes, and clearly loved doing. She's got fans who adore her (and she knows this), people are still coming to her shows in droves, and she'll never have to worry about where her next Prada suitcase is coming from. I mean, really.