Monthly Archives: October 2016

Fleetwood Mac, Release Info, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks, Tour Info

Stevie Nicks dusts off rarities for 24 Karat Gold Tour | Miami Herald

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BY HOWARD COHEN
27th Oct, 2016

For fans craving something fresh on the concert stage, Stevie Nicks’ new 24 Karat Gold Tour is truly golden.

Photo Credit: Kristin Burns
Photo Credit: Kristin Burns

She rehearsed 30 songs with her band to come up with the 20 that made the cut for the tour, which comes to Sunrise’s BB&T Center on Nov. 4 with opening act The Pretenders. Her goal was to include tunes she has never (or rarely) done live in a career that dates to the 1973 “Buckingham Nicks” album with then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham.

Fleetwood Mac’s recently reissued “Mirage” album from 1982 includes a disc of outtakes. One of the songs, Stevie Nicks’ “If You Were My Love” is featuring for the first time live on her current 24 Karat Gold Tour.

Rarities like “Bella Donna” and “Wild Heart,” the title tracks of her first two solo albums that are also being reissued in expanded versions this coming Friday, are in the set. So is “Crying in the Night” from “Buckingham Nicks” that predates the couple joining Fleetwood Mac.

Fans will also appreciate the live debuts for a couple of tracks from her most recent solo album, “24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault” — “The sex, drugs, rock and roll glory songs between 1969 and 1987,” Nicks said of demos she polished and recorded anew in Nashville in 2014.

“I can never write those songs again. Those were songs I am very proud of. I pulled them off Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac records. The reasons were I didn’t like the production or I didn’t like the way they were recorded. I considered those to be my best songs so what I am going to do is go out with those songs and songs off “In Your Dreams” [her 2011 solo album] I didn’t do live, and it will be really fun.” Continue reading Stevie Nicks dusts off rarities for 24 Karat Gold Tour | Miami Herald →

Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood

Mick Fleetwood Says He Hopes Fleetwood Mac Finishes a New Album “Before We Hang It Up” | ABC Radio

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Before Fleetwood Mac launched its 2014-2015 world tour, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood worked on some new tracks that have yet to see the light of day. Fleetwood says that “before we hang it up,” he hopes the band will complete those recordings and release a new studio album, while admitting that he isn’t sure if that will happen.

Photo from Danny Clinch (via ABC News Radio)
Photo from Danny Clinch (via ABC News Radio)

“We have what we would call a large stash of great music. I’m not quite sure what we’re heading to do with it,” he tells ABC Radio. “I hope that we are able to [put an album together]. It’s just getting everyone on the same page to finish off the work that we’ve been doing.”

Mick admits that one Fleetwood Mac member who currently isn’t on the same page is Stevie Nicks , who will be launching a new North American solo tour on October 25.

“She’s busy doing her own stuff,” he points out. “And in this point in life, we’ve all dedicated so much time to Fleetwood Mac, you go, ‘Hey, it’d be great if we could, but if not, don’t worry about it.'”

Fleetwood tells ABC Radio that even if Nicks chooses not to lend her talents to the project, he hopes the music that’s already been recorded will be released in some form.

“I think there’s some thought that some of that lovely music would come out as a sort of duet album, maybe…from Christine and Lindsey,” Mick poses. “And if not, it will stay in a room, waiting for the day that maybe it would make sense that all of us can contribute to that being a Fleetwood Mac album.”

He adds, “Before we hang it up in the next few years, I truly hope there’s another lovely album that will come out.”

13th Oct 2016

Release Info, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks

Hear Stevie Nicks’ Intimate ‘Bella Donna’ Demo | Rolling Stone

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Rolling Stone
By Brittany Spanos
13th Oct, 2016

Deluxe reissues of singer-songwriter’s first two solo albums, ‘Bella Donna’ and ‘The Wild Heart,’ out November 4th

Hear a previously unreleased demo version of Stevie Nicks' 1981 track "Bella Donna," to appear on one of two reissues out in November. Herbert Worthington III
Hear a previously unreleased demo version of Stevie Nicks’ 1981 track “Bella Donna,” to appear on one of two reissues out in November. Herbert Worthington III

On November 4th, Stevie Nicks’ first two solo albums — Bella Donna and The Wild Heart — will be reissued via Rhino. Each deluxe release will feature not only the original LP but rarities and bonus tracks, like the previously unreleased demo of her solo debut’s title track, streaming below.

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Stripped of its backing vocals as well as the raucous live band and synthesizers featured on the original album version, Nicks’ demo is a tender, intimate take on the song. She sings softly above just the piano track, nearly whispering “Bella donna, my soul” and barely reaching the full-throated belt she unleashes on the 1981 recording.

Later this month and just before releasing the reissues, Nicks will embark on a solo tour with opening act the Pretenders. Nicks’ tour is in support of her 2014 album 24K Gold, a collection of songs she had cut from her prior solo releases for various reasons. “These are the glory songs,” she told Rolling Stone of her reason to follow a multi-year world tour with Fleetwood Mac with the solo dates. “These are the sex, rock & roll and drugs songs that I’m actually not really writing right now, and these are the songs I could never write again.”

Fleetwood Mac, UK Articles

Indulgent Showdown: Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tusk’ vs. The Clash’s ‘Sandinista!’ | The Observer

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Observer Music
By Tim Sommer
13th Oct, 2016

fm

Deep in the heart of every rock musician, from the most credible to the most commercial, there lies someone whining, “Je suis un artiste! If only the world knew what a deep, tortured soul I am, and how complicated my record collection is!”

The more practical of these musicians merely peppers their catalog with maudlin and heartfelt ballads. Let’s call this the Bon Jovi method: “Perhaps you will forgive that Slippery When Wet stuff if I sing another song that is the musical equivalent of the page in the yearbook dedicated to that 11th grader who died.” Other artists make severe left or right turns, and produce albums dripping with uncharacteristic drama and musical complication; here I direct you to Music From ‘The Elder’ by Kiss, a histrionic, incomprehensible, and orchestra-laden concept album from 1981 that very nearly ended Kiss’ career (it’s actually a pretty good record, by the way, and features two songs co-written by Gene Simmons and Lou Reed).

Pop/rock history is absolutely strewn with such artifacts, from Pet Sounds to Bad Religion’s Into the Unknown (a fascinating pop/prog exercise from 1983 that was so offensive to the group’s fans that the band excised it from their catalog). In between these extremes, there’s Springsteen’s bold and courageous Nebraska, McCartney’s remarkable Firemen albums, Neil Young’s fascinating genre exercises (like Trans, Everybody’s Rockin’ and Arc), the Beastie Boys’ game changing Paul’s Boutique, and, of course, the great daddy of all of these sorts of records, Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music. There are also entire careers that are built on thwarting expectations, e.g. Scott Walker, Beck, Bowie and Prince.[i]

In the autumn of 1979 Fleetwood Mac, a wildly popular and influential band at the peak of their visibility and commercial prowess, released a much-anticipated double album that was interpreted by fans and media as radical, even experimental. Almost exactly a year later the Clash, a wildly popular and influential band at the peak of their visibility and credibility, released a much-anticipated triple album that was interpreted by fans and media as radical, even experimental.

Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk is lean, effective and almost completely without waste or filler. It showcases a great band at their prime. Alternately precise and luxurious, Tusk is one of the most underrated albums of the era. Continue reading Indulgent Showdown: Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tusk’ vs. The Clash’s ‘Sandinista!’ | The Observer →

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac, Release Info

Christine McVie on Fleetwood Mac: ‘Without one of us, we’re incomplete’ | The Guardian (UK)

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The Guardian
6th Oct 2016
By Peter Robinson

The singer on the band’s half-finished album, the visitation she had when writing Songbird, and growing up with a psychic mum

Christine McVie: ‘We’re supposed to be talking about – what’s it called? – Mirage.’ Photograph: PR Company Handout
Christine McVie: ‘We’re supposed to be talking about – what’s it called? – Mirage.’ Photograph: PR Company Handout

Hi, Christine. What was it like growing up with the surname Perfect (1)?
It was difficult. Teachers would say: “I hope you live up to your name, Christine.” So, yes, it was tough. I used to joke that I was perfect until I married John.

Fleetwood Mac’s Mirage is being reissued as a box set for £50 (2). Does that seem like a fair price?
It’s a really nice item! It’s quality, isn’t it? It’s good value for money – you’ve got a lot of outtakes, a lot of previously unheard demo versions of songs, you’ve got the vinyl … a CD, I believe, is in there? I mean it’s a nice package! I haven’t had a good look at it, but the label has given me one to take home. I get a free one!

Have you listened to the demos and outtakes?
No. I’m not a big fan of those things. I know people are interested but for my own personal enjoyment I prefer not to listen to them. My songwriting, when I’m writing, is nothing like it is in its finished form – but you have to start somewhere.

Is the new album finished?
No, it’s half-finished. It’s just seven tracks that we’ve got, and they’re only with guide vocals. Continue reading Christine McVie on Fleetwood Mac: ‘Without one of us, we’re incomplete’ | The Guardian (UK) →

Release Info, Stevie Nicks

Rhino Expands Stevie Nicks’ “Bella Donna” and “The Wild Heart” In November

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The Second Disk
October 4th, 2016
By Joe Marchese

Stevie Nicks is launching her 24 Karat Gold tour later month, named for her acclaimed 2014 studio album consisting of new recordings of previously unheard compositions. Now, Nicks is looking back once more with two more 24-karat gold Deluxe Editions of her first two solo albums, Bella Donna and The Wild Heart. Both releases arrive from Rhino on November 4, along with remastered, stand-alone editions of the original albums on LP, CD and DD.

stevie-nicks-bella-donna-300x298
stevie-nicks-the-wild-heart

1981’s solo debut Bella Donna will be released as a 3-CD set. Produced by Jimmy Iovine, the album yielded such immortal Nicks tracks as “Edge of Seventeen” and two duets: “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and “Leather and Lace” with Don Henley. Disc Two of the upcoming set has nine previously unreleased cuts (including alternate versions of “Edge of Seventeen,” “Leather and Lace,” and the title song) plus Nicks’ soundtrack performances of “Blue Lamp” from Heavy Metal and “Sleeping Angel” from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The third disc premieres a 1981 concert featuring selections from Bella Donna alongside Fleetwood Mac favorites “Sara” and “Rhiannon.”

Following the 1982 release of Fleetwood Mac’s Mirage (recently reissued across multiple formats by Rhino), Nicks returned to her solo career with 1983’s The Wild Heart. The double-platinum smash is being reissued as a 2-CD set. It included such favorites as “Stand Back,” “Nightbird” and “I Will Run To You,” which reunited the artist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The 9-track bonus disc has seven previously unreleased cuts including demos and outtakes, plus the “Stand Back” B-side “Garbo” and Nicks’ recording of “Violet and Blue” from the Against All Odds soundtrack.

“I’ve had so much fun reliving the making of Bella Donna and The Wild Heart while working on the liner notes and listening to all of the alternate versions and demo takes,” Nicks commented in the original press release. “The liner notes are so much more than liner notes. They are like a little novel. I tried to make whoever reads this feel like they were there. I think…I succeeded….”

These two highly-anticipated reissues arrive from Rhino on November 4. In the meantime, Stevie kicks off her 24-Karat Gold tour (on which she’ll be joined by The Pretenders) on October 25 in Phoenix. It wraps December 18 at The Forum in Los Angeles!

Pre-Order on the links below:

Bella Donna (remastered 3CD deluxe edition)
Belle Donna (remastered CD)
Bella Donna (remastered vinyl)

The Wild Heart (remastered 2CD deluxe edition)
The Wild Heart (remastered CD)
The Wild Heart (remastered vinyl)

You can peruse the track listings for both Deluxe Editions below!  Continue reading Rhino Expands Stevie Nicks’ “Bella Donna” and “The Wild Heart” In November →