BRUNO DEL GRANADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She is one of rock music's most respected and enduring superstars. Since her early musical ventures in San Francisco with then boyfriend, Lindsey Buckingham through the rollercoaster days of Fleetwood Mac, she's always possessed one of the most creative minds in music. Writing classics such as "Rhiannon," "Gold Dust Woman" and "Dreams." Now she returns with a new album, "Trouble in Shangri-La," regarded by many critics as her finest work in years.
WORLDBEAT talked with Stevie Nicks at her home in southern California for this week's "Inside Track."
( Stevie Nicks, "Every Day")
STEVIE NICKS: I started to do this record in '94, and what happened is that the Fleetwood Mac reunion sort of came along in the middle of it. So that really stopped me, because for a good six months, while we were thinking that it might happen and it might not happen, it was really hard to do any other work.
(Fleetwood Mac, "Silver Springs")
NICKS: It was hard to work on my album when I thought that Fleetwood Mac was going to come back into being. So that's really what took the time. If Fleetwood Mac hadn't have done the reunion thing, the songs that were on this record wouldn't be on it.
DEL GRANADO: Now, what is the album about, starting with the title, "Trouble in Shangri-La"?
NICKS: "Trouble in Shangri-La" was written in 1995 around the time of the O.J. Simpson trial. And it wasn't written about that, it was just simply written about relationships.
( Stevie Nicks, "Trouble in Shangri-La")
NICKS: You know, just the idea of making it to paradise, making it to Shangri-La and not being able to handle it once you get there. And you always think, oh, I -- if I ever get there, if I make it to the top of my field, you know, I'll be able to hang in there. And so many people aren't able to hang in there. So that was my first little, kind of clue-idea as to my concept of "Trouble in Shangri-La." And so that's really how it started.
(Fleetwood Mac, "Sara")
NICKS: My original reason for doing all of this was to write songs that would affect people. I think that's what it is; I think it really is all about the content of my songs. And that's why, you know, I love to write so much. I mean, because I really do think it effects people, and that maybe they do learn something from one of my songs, or something that I say might help them through a rough period. You know, I mean, I'm kind of a teacher/songwriter.
(Fleetwood Mac, "Sara")
DEL GRANADO: Did you ever imagine all the success in this incredibly long career you've had?
NICKS: I believed whole-heartedly in Lindsey and I. I would never have gotten in the car and driven to Los Angeles with him and left my home and my family and my friends in San Francisco and come to L.A., you know. I totally believed that we would be totally famous.
(Fleetwood Mac, "Go Your Own Way")
NICKS: Three years ago, when the Fleetwood Mac tour ended, it really ended because Christine decided she did not want to do this anymore. And bless her heart, she has every right to say that. So we've given her three years now. She's very happy in England, she has a fabulous life.
(Fleetwood Mac, "You Make Loving Fun")
NICKS: I think we'll go ahead and do another record. And that will be interesting because that will send the focus a little bit back to guitar, so we're -- by taking the keyboards out, we're pushing Lindsey and Mick and John back to more of a guitar, blues-oriented thing. And Chris is happy with it. If she wasn't happy, we wouldn't do it.
DEL GRANADO: Stevie, going back to the album and the collaborations, how did you hook up with Sheryl?
NICKS: I met Sheryl, I think, for the first time at a benefit for Don Henley, the Stormy Weather Benefit that we did several -- many years ago. And I just really, you know, talked to her a little bit about it that night. And I asked her if she would be interested in production, and she said, yes.
( Stevie Nicks With Sheryl Crow, "It's Only Love")
NICKS: You know, Sheryl probably would have produced the whole record if she hadn't have been also releasing the Grove Sessions right in that time. So she really couldn't do it all. So -- but our friendship, you know, we've become such good friends now, that even on the songs that Sheryl didn't produce, she was pretty much there.
( Stevie Nicks, "Every Day")
NICKS: I worked very, very hard on this record, and I love these songs. And the last five years has been a really, kind of, a precious journey for me. So to be sitting here talking about a record that I love now, is so different than sitting and doing interviews on a record that I didn't love. So it's, you know, the whole experience is -- it's what I wanted. I mean, this record is really what I wanted it to be. And many times you can't say that.
( Stevie Nicks, "Every Day")
(with thanks to Heather who posted this on the Stevie Nicks newsgroup)
