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dollarbin · 4 months

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Dollar Bin #29:

Stevie Nick's Bella Donna

Stevie Nicks got zero favors from the patriarchal press or culture in the late 80's and early 90's. Much like Yoko Ono, she was the butt of sexist jokes and unfair critique that their male peers were never subjected to.

Let's compare Nicks and Stephen Tyler: both came of age in the mid-seventies; both fronted huge rock bands and both almost always appeared on stage without an instrument (even though they were hugely successful songwriters); both had major drug problems and overcame them; both were good looking young people who, unlike me, aged (seriously, people speak of me, always in hushed tones: how does he stay so young, they ask. Who else carries their paunch and bald spot with such panache?). Both had a thing for waiving silks around on stage. We could go on all day...

But did they get equal treatment? Hell no. Tyler was a hero for surviving drugs; I grew up cackling about the legendary destruction of Nick's nose from coke. Tyler became even more of a sex symbol as he aged and he dominated MTV in the late 80s and early 90s; Nicks, like Linda Ronstadt, was judged by one and all the moment she no longer looked 22, and Nicks couldn't get on MTV after 86 until Beyonce borrowed her iconic riff from Edge of Seventeen and insisted she show up to take credit:

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(That's Nicks with the guitar in the opening moments of this ridiculous and joyful video, showing us that, of course, she can play instruments: how else could she have written a few of the most popular songs of all time?)

But let's stop comparing Nicks and Tyler and never bring up Aerosmith in this blog again: after all, Nicks is a transcendent song writer and singer while Stephen Tyler occupies the rarrified air of pure suckiness inhabited by all famous rock stars named Stephen.

And that brings us to Nicks's debut solo album, Bella Donna. First off, good luck finding this record in a dollar bin: much like her friend Tom Petty, Nicks is rightfully revered by her fans, many of whom were not around to buy her first records when they came out. Plus, my almost famous niece tells me that some dude drank some juice while on a skateboard a few years back with Nicks's Dreams as the soundtrack and, in doing so, destroyed the internet. That previous sentence tells me the internet and people are dumb. Don't go and google the guy on the skateboard; rather check out my niece!

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Sweet song huh? Why isn't it destroying the internet instead?

Anyway, apparently the guy on the skateboard, and junk like that, are why busted up copies of Rumors went from dollar bin cloggers to $25 a pop in the last few years. I hope Stevie enjoyed and benefited from the slight renaissance of interest in her work; and, if you don't already own a copy of Bella Donna, know that some teenager without a working record player probably beat you to it.

Which is all a bummer, because Bella Donna deserves your full respect and attention. It's a great, and I think still largely overlooked, testament to her singing, songwriting and entire vibe.

The record opens with the title track, a complex and extended slow piece of soulful searching which summons up the opening gesture pioneered by The Band a decade earlier with Tears of Rage. Nicks is famous for her pop singles, but that genre is really the business of her bandmate Christie McVie; Nicks is a composer of songs, not hits.

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You can also hear right off the bat in Bella Donna that Nicks has assembled the right band. Imagine being in position to borrow Benmont Tench from the Heartbreakers, Roy Bittan from Bruuuuce and Waddy Watchel from Linda Ronstadt and Warren Zevon. Tench had no real business joining in - TP and the Heartbreakers were at the height of their fame and were touring nonstop - but he somehow found the time to step right in and lead the whole band. The other two dudes were conveniently available, at least for the moment. Bruuuuuuce was forever firing the E Street Band and was gearing up to make Nebraska on his own, and Linda was starting to move away from pop music for the first of many times; soon she'd be singing light opera with a young Kevin Kline.

Bella Donna is held together, however, not by the men but by the women. Nicks created the whole record through 2+ years of work with Sharon Celani and her soon-to-be sister-in-law Lori Perry. Every song features all three of them shimmering and gliding about one another and Nicks has been singing with the two women - and putting their photos alongside her on her records - ever since. Here's the way Nicks described their work and relationship to "The Last DJ" himself, Jim Ladd, a guy I listened to a lot as a kid:

Sharon [Celani] and Lori [Perry-Nicks] and I have a special thing that we have ~ that we have perfected ~- and we have perfected it by sitting around the piano... I'm not going to go sing on-stage alone. I don't want to. I want to be able to walk away and let them take it. Because I ~ there is nothing in the world that I would rather hear than beautiful singing. And so I have worked to get a sound that is not like anybody else. That is really beautiful, that is strong and that is like dedicated and devoted.

Jim Ladd just passed away; I hope he had Petty's mediocre album about him playing at full blast as he faded. As an LA kid I tuned into Ladd every night in late middle school and early high school, beginning to give up on him only when I decided that Roger Waters, Jim's favorite artist by far, was the problem with all things Pink Floyd from Animals onward. I had a few pretty sharp ideas as a kid!

I remember vividly the very last time I listened to Ladd: I was at the mall for some reason, in the parking lot, and Ladd had his hands on an advanced copy of U2's Zooropa. Ladd played us all Daddy's Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car, a song which he'd chosen by himself at random - the album was so new he hadn't had time to listen to it yet. Ladd thought the dull and overblown track was a triumph; he'd lose his head on occasion. I disagreed. And so we parted ways. Rest in peace Jim. But I digress!

Every song on Bella Donna shows careful polish and intention. A few tracks, like the instantly hummable, McVie inspired Think About It and the Waylon Jennings inspired Leather and Lace, are tracks Nicks had held onto all through Fleetwood's golden era; this was a record she'd built up to over years.

Indeed, Nicks could have easily turned Bella Donna into a defiant double album, an All-Things-Must-Pass-level declaration that the Mac held her back. Bella Donna contains zero filler and several of the songs left off the record are a big deal. Just take a listen to Gold and Braid, an outtake that other artists would have released as the first single; there's a studio take but it's a bit rough. Listen instead to the pulsating, hip swinging live greatness from the brief tour that followed the record:

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Jimmie Iovine, Nicks' producer and partner at the time, made a few key contributions to the record. And he seems to have gotten in the way a bit.

Yes, he connected Nicks to Tom Petty and hand delivered the album's substitute single in place of Gold and Braid, Petty's Stop Dragging My Heart Around. The song is great, sure, but it's the only song Nicks didn't write on the record and it stands apart sonically from everything else, all of which led to the troubling myth about Nicks from her Fleetwood work - that she was best as a karaoke/girl singer, good at showing up for nothing but the vocal polish long after the male musicians had done writing, playing and heavy lifting - following her into the birth of her solo career. The truth is far different: Nicks conceived all of Bella Donna on her own. Everything, that is, except the Petty track.

Iovine pushed Stop Dragging My Heart Around on Nicks specifically because he felt the album lacked a single. But take a fresh listen to the track alongside Gold and Braid, and consider my argument that the record would have been even bolder and better with Nick's track remaining in place instead of Petty's inclusion.

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Don't get me wrong, Iovine was right to bring Nicks into Stop Dragging My Heart Around. Stevie sings with TP better than any other human on the planet could have. But Dragging belongs, alongside Petty and Nick's incomparable Insider, on Hard Promises.

The craziest thing of all is that Iovine thought Bella Donna lacked a single to begin with. After all, Edge of Seventeen is on this record. The song is pretty ubiquitous: I feel like I've heard its riff and chorus at every sporting event I've ever been to. Obviously, I haven't, but it's one of those songs that its hard to imagine the world without.

And let's close this out with her live performance of that song from her far too brief tour in 82. Find me a more powerful and soulful performance by any white person. All of Nick's male peers, from Lindsey Buckingham to Van Morrison to Neil Young to Petty himself - would have fallen flat on their face had they tried to do anything this complicated, athletic and surging on stage at that point (make that ever). Stephen Stills would have somehow managed to fall on his face and ass simultaneously.

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OOO Baby. Oooo Baby. OOOOO.

And so, as this first partial year in the Dollar Bin rolls towards closure, may all praise raineth down upon Stevie.

My record melting/Neil Young questioning, big deal friend Greg points out that Nicks, Stephen Tyler and Stephen Stills have yet another thing in common: they all practically have the same first name!

And so let me amend my earlier, definitive statement regarding the suckiness of musicians with that moniker (and redeem the unintentionally slighted Stevie Wonder and Cat Stevens in the process) with a bumper sticker ready (so long as your car is WIDE LOAD width) pronouncement: The Dollar Bin hereby proclaims that all WHITE MALE musicians with FIRST names derived from Steve/Stephen, (except, most of the time time, Steve Earle..) suck.

Here's looking at you Steve Miller! My curses upon thee Steve Vai!

#Youtube #stevie nicks #tom petty #the heartbreakers #stephen stills still sucks #so does stephen tyler

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jeffcbliss · 4 years

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“A Star-Studded Tribute to Eddie Money” - The friends of Eddie Money gathered to pay tribute to the late singer last week (2-20-20) , five months after his death. Among those celebrating “The Money Man” were (left to right): Metallica’s James Hetfield; John Waite; Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon; Sammy Hagar of The Circle/Chickenfoot/Van Halen/Montrose; Mickey Thomas of Starship; Dave Amato of REO Speedwagon; Tommy Heath of Tommy Tutone; Greg Kihn; and legendary guitarist, Waddy Wachtel. The event was hosted by comedian Louie Anderson, and proceeds went to MusiCares and the USC Eddie Money Cancer Research Fund. The concert was held at the Saban Theater; Beverly Hills, CA (2-20-20).

Photo: Jeff Bliss

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kbsd · 3 years

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waddy watchel THE session musician...i think i’ve cracked the secret to the browne-ronstadt-zevon-nicks-harris-parton industrial complex

#like obv hal blaine and carol kaye are all time #but if you've got waddy in the studio in the 70s? i'm in

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acab5023 · 4 years

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🇺🇸Karla Bonoff ‎– Restless Nights - 1979 I don't know if this is the best album of "Karla Bonoff", but, of course, it is an excellent work full of good compositions, which highlight the enormous compositional talent of the artist. Accompanying this wonderful album are the artist "Kenny Edwards", producer of the album Waddy Watchel and other great session men. https://labibledelawestcoast.blogspot.com/2016/08/karla-bonoff-restless-nights-1979.html Classic !! https://www.instagram.com/p/CBMRioIp19A/?igshid=jpqquabyppry

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trash-blam-baby · 4 years

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keep thinking your icon is a really spefici picture of waddy watchel

ohnmy god i KNOW the one ur talking abt but i cant find it

this is the image tho

#hot-tub-bob

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robrob1127 · 4 years

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Rock Legends Pay Tribute Eddie Money

By Rob Nagy

A near-capacity crowd of baby boomers recently gathered at Beverly Hill’s historic Saban Theater to pay tribute to the late great rock and roll legend, Eddie Money. Featuring some of the biggest names in music, the two-hour concert hosted by the Money family featured guests Sammy Hagar (Van Halen), Georg Thorogood, John Waite (Baby’s), Mickey Thomas (The Starship), James Hetfield (Metallica), Tommy Tutone, Greg Kihn, Kevin Cronin and Dave Amato (RED Speedwagon), Waddy Watchel (Keith Richards) and Comedian Louie Anderson, who served as master of ceremonies. Backed by members of Eddie Money's band, which included his daughter and vocalist Jess and his son Dez on guitar, the two-hour concert spotlighted each artist performing Money’s biggest hits, which included “Baby Hold On”, “Two Tickets To Paradise”, ”I Think I’m In Love”, “Shakin’”, and “Take Me Home Tonight”, among others. A large projection screen at the rear of the stage served as a backdrop throughout the evening displaying photos of Money throughout his career as well as pre-recorded messages and performances from a variety of entertainers and musicians, which included Kevin James, Steve Miller, Loverboy, Dennis DeYoung (Styx), Rick Springfield, Boston, and Huey Lewis. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, made an on-stage appearance sharing his memories producing the historic US Music Festival, which Money was a guest performer. For the grand finale, all of the artists returned to the stage to the stage to sing Money’s “Two Ticket’s To Paradise”. Following a thunderous emotionally charged standing ovation, fans exited the theater to a recording of the classic song “There Will Never Be Another You”.

Eddie Money’s legacy will live on forever through his music, his quirky personality, and his engaging charm. His will be forever etched into the memories of generations of rock and roll fans for years to come.

In July 2019, Money underwent heart valve surgery and contracted pneumonia, causing him to cancel tour dates. On August 24, 2019, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer. Complications from the cancer resulted in his death in a Los Angeles hospital on September 13, 2019, at age 70. The evening's proceeds are being donated to MusiCares & The USC Eddie Money Cancer Research Fund.

Photos by Rob Nagy 2020

[email protected]

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eugesounds · 5 years

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Remembering Performances

Yesterday was the birthday of the great Joe Pass and I happen to send out a tweet that simply said “Happy birthday Joe Pass...on of my faves. #guitar #jazz” Despite the “on” versus “one” typo, the tweet garnered a bunch of retweets and likes. I started thinking about all of the great performers I have been lucky to see live (including Joe) and thought it might be cool to document them in a eugesounds blog. These are in no particular order, simply sorted by genre. I’d have to start with one of the most memorable rock shows ever, Bruce Springsteen. The picture above is from his 1978 show at the Springfield Civic Center, Darkness on the Edge of Town tour. It was the first of 3 Bruce shows for me, all fantastic.

Rock/Pop

Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Talking Heads, U2, Dire Straits, the Clash, Smokey Robinson, David Bowie, Ringo Starr, Peter Frampton, Van Morrison, Billy Joel, Nick Lowe, Warren Zevon, Frank Zappa, Joe Jackson, Stevie Nicks, Mink DeVille, Stray Cats, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, The Doobie Brothers, Cornelius Bumpus, Pierce Arrow, Pearl Harbor and the Explosions, Arlo Guthrie, James Taylor, Livingston Taylor, Waddy Watchell, Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, Mission of Burma, Clarence Clemons, Beach Boys, KC and the Sunshine Band, Elvis Costello, Grateful Dead, Aimee Mann, Smithereens, Squeeze, Little River Band, Paul Young, Toto, Foreigner, Boz Scaggs, Beaver Brown, Jonathan Edwards, Pousette Dart Band, Mumford and Sons, St. Vincent

Jazz

Benny Goodman, Marvin Stamm, Ray Mosca, Hank Jones, Urbie Green, Slam Stewart, Arhcie Shepp, Lionel Hampton, Phil Woods, Dizzy Gillespie, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Herbie Mann, Mose Allison, Maynard Ferguson, Jackie McLean, Sonny Rollins, Richie Cole, McCoy Tyner, Ron Carter, Lee Konitz, Frank Sinatra, Sam Butera, David Sanborn, Toots Thielmans, Manhattan Transfer, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, Bucky Pizzarelli, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Joe Henderson, Scott Hamilton, Chuck Mangione, Louie Belson, Walter Bishop Jr, Don Cherry

Randoms Oddities

Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Alan Jackson, (Farm-Aid Dallas) Robert Merrill (opera/stage), James Galway (classical flute), Alan Ginsberg, Seamus Heaney (poets), Michael Moshen (revolutionary juggler!), Gary Karr (phenomenal classical bassist), Ed Shaughnessy (drummer for the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson), Gary Burton (helped him wheel his vibes into a gig!), Jack Gilford (the Cracker Jack Man, met him in New Haven, CT), Muhammad Ali (saw him outside of his home in Cherry Hill, NJ), OJ Simpson (jumped on his back after a New England Patriots vs Buffalo Bills game)

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deiasilva10 · 6 years

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Regrann from @articulatedvinyl - Sweet Harmony is Maria Muldaur's third solo album, and to be honest I wonder if that woman ever had any sleep. Her musical resume includes working on this album with J.J. Cale, Waddy Watchel and Earl Palmer, opening for The Grateful Dead, becoming a backing vocalist for the Jerry Garcia Band and working with bluegrass icon Peter Rowan just for starters. Even her birth name of Maria Grazia Rosa Domenica D'Amato has Wonder Woman stretching intensely to mentally prepare for trying to remember that entire name and properly pronounce it. #mariamuldaur #sweetharmony #jjcale #waddywatchel #earlpalmer #classicrock #dccomics #wonderwoman #repriserecords - #regrann

#classicrock #sweetharmony #mariamuldaur #jjcale #repriserecords #regrann #dccomics #earlpalmer #wonderwoman #waddywatchel

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13thfloornz · 6 years

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Stevie Nicks brought her 24 Karat Gold Tour to Auckland for two shows this week. Fortunately, that also included bringing along The Pretenders.

With two huge musical legacies to get through, it was an early start at Spark Arena, with The Pretenders hitting the stage at the very un-rock & roll hour of 7pm.

No matter, Chrissie Hynde and band, including original drummer Martin Chambers, were in top form.

Whether they played new songs (Alone, Gotta Wait) or old favourites (Back On The Chain Gang, Message Of Love), Hynde and company, including guitarist James Walbourne, bass player Nick Wilkinson and keyboard player Eric Heywood, played as if their lives depended on it.

Chrissie herself was full of rock & roll swagger, strutting the stage, striking poses with her guitar and generally proving that, over 35 years after forming the band, she has the spirit.

There were a few classic Chrissie moments as she castigated a fan in the front for using their phone during a song, or directed her wrath at a sound tech when she couldn’t hear her guitar.

The highlight for me was a hard-rocking version of Night In My Veins.

I’ve seen The Pretenders on a number of occasions, including the original line-up, and I think this may have been the best of the lot.

After a brief (almost too brief, in fact) intermission, Stevie Nicks and her band took over.

Along with veteran guitarist Waddy Wachtel (you know his work as session man for just about every LA 70s rocker from Warren Zevon to Linda Ronstadt), Stevie had an 8-piece band that included two guitarists, two keyboard players and two backing vocalists. Yet despite all of the on-stage chatter, and there was plenty of that, Stevie never got around to introducing the musicians.

Now, about that on-stage chatter…Nicks explained at the beginning of the set that she would be telling the stories behind most of the songs, and that she did, in almost exhaustive detail.

The first long-winded exposition came before Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around in which Stevie took us through the process of her telling the other members of Fleetwood Mac that she wanted to make a solo record, to her meeting a record company president, to her meeting producer Jimmy Iovine, then moving in with him, then eavesdropping on Iovine and Tom Petty’s conversations before finally recording the iconic duet.

At least the pay-off came in the form of a great song and a great performance with Chrissie Hynde returning to join in and Watchel singing Petty’s parts.

The same cannot be said of her 10 minute + description of how she met and recorded with Prince. That little interlude ended with a performance of an obscure Buckingham/Nicks tune and I spotted several concertgoers getting up and leaving at this point.

But those who remained were treated to excellent versions of Gold Dust Woman, Edge Of Seventeen, Rhiannon and Landslide.

Stevie was in good voice once she warmed up a bit, with the backing vocalists filling in the holes.

Some of the details in her stories…how she attempted to abbreviate sessions for Fleetwood Mac’s Mirage album so she could concentrate on writing songs for her next solo record, or how she forced members of her crew to watch a film twice (until they appreciated it as much as Stevie) made her come across as a bit self-centred and narcissistic.

I imagine your enjoyment of last night’s show was dependant on how much you worshiped at the altar of Stevie Nicks. As for me, I’m afraid Stevie, I’m just not that into you.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by David Watson:

Pretenders set list:

Alone

Gotta Wait

Message Of Love

Kid

Down The Wrong Way

Let’s Get Lost

Hymn To Her

Back On The Chain Gang

Stop Your Sobbing

I’ll Stand By You

Don’t Get Me Wrong

Night In My Veins

Thumbelina

Middle Of The Road

Brass In Pocket

Stevie Nicks Set list:

Gold And Braid

If Anyone Falls

Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around

Belle Fleur

Gypsy

Wild Heart

Bella Donna

Enchanted

Outside The Rain

Dreams

Starshine

Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)

Stand Back

Crying In The Night

If You Were My Love

Gold Dust Woman

Edge Of Seventeen

Rhiannon

Landslide

Stevie Nicks & The Pretenders – Spark Arena November 21, 2017 Stevie Nicks brought her 24 Karat Gold Tour to Auckland for two shows this week. Fortunately, that also included bringing along The Pretenders.

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