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Stevie Nicks Live at Red Rocks. (video recording reviews) | People Weekly

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STEVIE NICKS LIVE AT RED ROCKS

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People Weekly, Feb 15, 1988
Ralph Novak

One reason this is such a splendid concert tape is that director Marty Callner, who has worked with Hall and Oates, Heart and Whitesnake, doesn’t seem compelled to show off his technique. He has a gorgeous setting, the outdoor Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver. And he has one of pop music’s most physically attractive, musically interesting performers in Nicks. Callner’s cameras record the event faithfully, without distorting it. The second reason the tape is so enjoyable is that Nicks herself, about 10 minutes into what begins as a listless performance (taped in summer 1986), literally puts her foot down. In the middle of Talk to Me, she stomps three or four times, as if to pump herself up, and the effect is galvanizing. Impassivity is part of Nicks’s style, but from that moment her singing seems to take on an undervoiced passion. Her backup musicians also seem to take themselves up another notch, particularly drummer Rick Marotta, guitarist Waddy Wachtel and Robert Martin, who plays saxophone for Talk to Me. The appearances by ”special guests” are overbilled. Anyone who turns away to eat a potato chip could miss the contributions of Peter Frampton and Nicks’s Fleetwood Mac colleague Mick Fleetwood. And Callner lapses during Dreams, patching in a phony sky full of lightning. There’s nearly an hour of solid music, though, with such Nicks hits as Stand Back and an extended Edge of Seventeen, complete with a real dove in honor of the song’s refrain (”Just like the white winged dove sings a song/ Sounds like she’s singing it to you”). When Nicks is shown under the closing credits walking out to the edge of the audience (where she is loaded down with stuffed toys and flowers), the crowd’s affection seems well earned.

Sony, $19.95 — Ralph Novak

Review Grade: A
Mag.Coll.: 44D0668

Archive News, Article Archive Pages, Lindsey Buckingham, Release Info, Reviews, Solo Activity

Lindsey Buckingham: Go Insane Review | People Weekly

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People Weekly, Oct 1, 1984
Go insane. (sound recording reviews)

GO INSANE by Lindsey Buckingham

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Buckingham–along with his former girlfriend, Stevie Nicks, and Christine McVie–provided the composing talent that boosted Fleetwood Mac to such overwhelming success in the ’70s.

Go Insane, Lindsey’s second solo album, is a manifesto of his intent to remain a rock ‘n’ roll force, even while the group itself seems to be a tabled proposition. The record is studded with power pop gems such as the title cut and I Want You, as well as Slow Dancing and Loving Cup. All of these continue in the tradition of songs that sold 35 million Fleetwood Mac albums after Buckingham joined the group in 1974. (Kind of makes you wonder why Mick Fleetwood has filed for bankruptcy.)

Lindsey flies off the handle of mainstream appeal with D.W. Suite, a seven-minute eulogy of Dennis Wilson that mixes Beach Boys-influenced harmonies with elements of prayer and traditional Irish music. There is also Play in the Rain, which closes out one side and continues as the opening cut on the other. An off-the-wall composition, it begins with high-tech surrealism before hitting a funk groove tinged with Indian sitar sounds. Those are, however, the only indications that Buckingham is indeed going off his commercial rocker.

Review Grade: A-

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Christine McVie takes off in solo flight…| People Weekly

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People Weekly
April 30, 1984
by Jim Jerome

Fleetwood Mac’s Christine Mcvie takes off in solo flight with a new boyfriend under her wing

Singer-songwriter in Fleetwood Mac has been a pretty good gig for Christine McVie. Plenty of travel; lots of perks; long stretches between albums. Pay hasn’t been too bad, either, what with some 35 million albums sold worldwide. As a result, among other things, she has been able to furnish her four-bedroom Beverly Hills home without ever eyeing a price tag. And yet McVie, 40, has managed to keep it all in perspective. “I mean, anybody can spend all their money if they work hard enough at it,” she says. “It’s not like I’ve got a piano-shaped Jacuzzi or walls full of Picassos and Monets or anything like that. I do put limits on myself: I haven’t bought the Queen Mary.”

Fair enough. Another, more concrete example of McVie’s sensible adjustment to fame and fortune at the top of rock is Christine McVie, a finely executed solo album containing the jaunty hit single Got a Hold on Me, and the follow-up, Love Will Show Us How. McVie’s LP is in the great tradition of solo efforts by members of Fleetwood Mac, following one in 1981 by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, two platinum monsters by Stevie Nicks and two obscure releases by drummer Mick Fleetwood. Only Christine’s ex-husband, bassist John McVie, has yet to try a solo and record sans Mac.

McVie may have thrust Christine from the shadow of her megaband, but it does have guest appearances by fellow L.A.-area residents Fleetwood and Buckingham. And ex-husband McVie, who lives on the island of St. Thomas, devotedly popped into the Montreux, Switzerland studio to check on Chris. “They all said they loved the album, and I have no reason to doubt them,” she says wryly. Only Nicks hasn’t weighed in. In fact, McVie hasn’t spoken to Nicks for a year “because our paths just haven’t crossed.” Like any major act, Mac is constantly rumored to be disintegrating—and Nicks’ solo triumphs have hardly silenced that kind of talk. Still, McVie downplays any intraband melodramas. “Any competitiveness—if that’s the right word—is all quite friendly,” says McVie, who certainly doesn’t want to rock the boat. “The album is a project, not a career for me. My main interest in life is still the band.”  Continue reading Christine McVie takes off in solo flight…| People Weekly →

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Christine McVie Album Review | People Weekly

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People Weekly, March 19, 1984
Christine McVie. (sound recording reviews)

CHRISTINE McVIE by Christine McVie
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There’s a loose, good-time feeling to this album. The tunes, most of them written by McVie and sometime Hall and Oates guitarist Todd Sharp, are snappy and full of rhythmic rock and roll hooks. The production by Russ Titelman is slick. For all that, there’s not much excitement in McVie’s first solo album since 1970 (shortly after she’d left the British group Chicken Shack to join then-husband John McVie in Fleetwood Mac). The subtle harmonic skills that make McVie a peerless ensemble singer and musician with Mac don’t necessarily translate into a solo act.

Her singing seems colorless at times and her keyboard work is overshadowed by her sidemen. Mac mates Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood sat in, as did Eric Clapton, Elton John, drummer Ray Cooper and rock ‘veteran Steve Winwood. McVie, in fact, calls Winwood “my idol,” and their vocal duet on One in a Million is the LP’s most striking track, though the no-frills rock tune Got a Hold on Me has become its hit single.

Maybe McVie’s heart wasn’t totally in this project–“It had reached a point where this record was expected of me,” she has said–but if nothing else, she has it out of her system.

Review Grade: B

Article Archive Pages, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks: Arizona’s Bella Donna Comes Home | Arizona Living

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arizona-livingINNERVIEW – Stevie Nicks

by Michael Lyons
September 1983
Arizona Living Magazine

ONCE UPON a time, there lived a golden-haired princess named Stephanie. She grew up with dolls and toys and all the worldly things which make little girls happy. But Stephanie wanted more from life. In her mind, she saw crystal visions of a mystical world filled with gypsies, angels, good witches and white-winged doves. But try as she might, she couldn’t fulfill her dreams.

Then one day, her fairy godfather, who lived in the enchanted world of Fleetwood, heard her melodic musings. He asked her to join him in a quest to discover musical adventures unknown. During their journey, they encountered enticing rumours and entangling chains. They saw silly penguins and mysterious tusks. Soon, everything Stephanie found turned to gold and she became the queen of rock & roll. Now, at last, she is contented.

PS–She expects to live happily ever after.

When Stephanie Lynn Nicks was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix on May 26, 1948, rock & roll was only a gleam in Bill Haley’s eye. It would be another eighteen years before Elvis Presley checked into Heartbreak Hotel and help create the kingdom which little “Stevie” would one day conquer. In some ways, her story is a dream-come-true fantasy. But her seemingly fairy-tale journey was also fraught with nightmarish interludes.

Herbert Worthington III photo
Herbert Worthington III photo

When Stevie was born, her father, Jess, was about to begin his own conquest–climbing the ladder in the corporate world. He eventually would become president of the Lucky Lager Brewing Co. of San Francisco, chairman and president of Armour & Co. as well as executive vice president of the Greyhound Corp.

Jess’ ambitions steered the family through a non-stop meandering trek around the country. Though Stevie actually lived in Arizona for less than a year, she still calls it home.

“She always felt that she was an Arizonan,” her father said. “We never really stayed in one place long enough for her to feel that she became a Californian, let’s say, or a Utahan or a Texan. And I was born in Phoenix and her mother was born in Busbee, so her roots have always been tied closely to this state.” Continue reading Stevie Nicks: Arizona’s Bella Donna Comes Home | Arizona Living →

Article Archive Pages, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks: That Magic Touch | Hit Parader

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Fleetwood Mac Star Proves That Beauty And Talent Go Hand In Hand.

by Stan Hyman and Vicki Greenleaf
September 1983
Hit Parader

There’s a certain mystique surrounding Stevie Nicks. Maybe it’s her spellbinding voice. Maybe it’s her bewitching good looks. Or maybe it’s her enchantment with the shadowy unknown. “I just like thinking that everyone is kinda magic,” Nicks said smiling. “It’s nicer than thinking it’s not.”

Whatever the magic that surrounds her, Nicks captivated audiences last year with her triple-platinum, debut solo album, Bella Donna. Not one to be intimidated by that success, the lead singer-songwriter of Fleetwood Mac fame has now released her follow-up solo LP. The album, The Wild Heart, retains much of the sound of her previous effort, according to Nicks.

“But,” she interjected, “it’s like Bella Donna’s heart is wild all of the sudden. It has that James Dean/Natalie Wood feeling to it. It’s just Bella Donna a little more reckless,” she said, explaining the new LP’s title and over-all feeling. “She’s just more sure of herself now, so she’s taking a few more chances. I’m very pleased with the album,” she added, “because there are no holds barred on it. It’s real strong and emotional.”

Nicks said she was encouraged, not intimidated, by the phenomenal success of her first solo effort. She foresaw such success intuitively, she claimed, and hopes for a repeat performance from The Wild Heart. “I just saw it in the stars that it would work,” Nicks recalled, “and it did! I’m almost sad that it went by so fast. It was over too quickly and I  didn’t get to spend enough time with Bella Donna. It was very special. I knew it would be. I knew in my heart that it would be exactly what it was. Continue reading Stevie Nicks: That Magic Touch | Hit Parader →

Article Archive Pages, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks: The Fleetwood Mac Siren Finds Solo Stardom | BAM Magazine

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Fleetwood Mac’s siren soars with her first solo album Bella Donna.

by Blair Jackson
September 1981
BAM Magazine

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THE VIEW FROM THE living room of Stevie Nicks’ Marina del Rey condominium is spectacular. As far as the eye can see there is nothing but an endless expanse of sand, ocean and sky. It is probably as close to a truly peaceful place as can be found in the Los Angeles area. Inside, the golden rays of late afternoon sun cast a glow on the warm pinks and beiges that dominate the room. Two rooms away is the bustling nerve center of the household, where workers have been handling phone calls and a stream of interviewers awaiting an audience with the hottest-selling artist in rock and roll.

Actually, the word “audience” is terribly unfair, because it implies pretension, and Stevie Nicks doesn’t leave a pretentious bone in her body. Though she has been a platinum selling artist for six years as a member of Fleetwood Mac, and her face has been steadily gracing the covers of magazines as long, the Stevie Nicks I interviewed for two and one-half hours recently seemed remark­ably unaffected by success and candid! almost to a fault.               ,

Her first solo album, Bella Donna, is already a smash hit — it is sitting at – Number One on Billboard’s chart as this is being written, and it looks like it will only he a week or two before –Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,– the gutsy, rock single that she sings as a duet with the song’s author, Tom Petty, also hits Number One. A new Fleetwood Mac album is due this fall, too, so it looks, as though the airwaves will belong to Stevie Nicks for the next several months.

Nicks’ rise to fame was a relatively-quick one. She and Lindsey Buckingham moved to Los Angeles in the early ’70s after several years as members of the once-popular Bay Area hand Fritz. ‘They cut an album as a duo (still available on Polygram) and then were asked to join Fleetwood Mac, which was struggling following the departure of Bob Welch. The first album the new five-piece Mac made Fleetwood Mac, was an enormous hit, thanks largely to the presence of Nicks and Buckingham, whose songwriting and singing totally dominated the LP. “Rhiannon,” a swirling Nicks tune about a Welsh witch, immediately established Nicks as one of the top women singer-songwriters in rock. Continue reading Stevie Nicks: The Fleetwood Mac Siren Finds Solo Stardom | BAM Magazine →