Saturday, April 25, 2015

Stevie Nicks admits she is still searching. (Young men are too dumb, older men are too, well, old!)

Living Legend Stevie Nicks
by Liz Smith
Quest Magazine
(Spring, 2015)

“I live in the world of romantic possibility,” says Stevie Nicks. Nicks is one of the most successful and iconic (overused word, but it’s appropriate here) singer-songwriters of the past fortysomething years. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona—but her millions of besotted fans know that cannot be true! Not only does Stevie live in a “world of romantic possibility,” she lives in a world of unicorns and benevolent magic; of flowing scarves and eternally windswept hair. She is a one-woman magical mystery tour.

Few artists have maintained the consistency of Stevie Nicks, in her presentation and in the quality of her distinctive voice (a compelling, keening sound: not quite beautiful, but seductive and soul-catching).

Stevie has been consistently linked—since her high-school days!—to Lindsey Buckingham. Both would be linked, this very moment, to the band Fleetwood Mac. Nicks and Buckingham joined the group in 1975, after several years of writing and performing on their own. The inclusion of the couple—romantically involved at that time—galvanized the group. Nicks’ songs “Landslide” and “Rhiannon” became instant classics, and drove the album to the top of the charts.  Her dreamy onstage look (created by designer Margi Kent) was at odds with her powerful, impassioned delivery. (The platform boots she favored gave her not only height—she’s tiny—but a certain grounded, solid quality. She still wears those boots!)

Yet success, as always, was a cruel mistress. Tension wracked the Nicks-Buckingham relationship and they parted, personally, during the recording of the follow-up album Rumors. This record, another hit, addressed some of the inside gossip about the end of their affair. But this was nothing compared to what came later, during the tour for that album. Nicks and Mick Fleetwood (who was married with children) began an affair. Nicks was horrified it had happened and anger from friends was a daily burden. The relationship would end, but, in a sick twist—it’s only rock ‘n’ roll!—Mick would eventually leave his wife for Stevie’s best friend!

Stevie, almost comically prolific—how much could a woman write and know and express?!—now began branching out. She appeared occasionally with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and in 1981 released her first solo album, Bella Donna. It was a smash. Her second solo effort The Wild Heart, came in 1983.  Another smash, more hit singles. Then came Rock a Little in 1986, which continued her streak of solo successes. Her lyrics were—and are—deeply personal but universal. “I write songs that people can’t write for themselves,” she has said.

Still working with Fleetwood Mac, Nicks faced a variety of issues, personal (i.e. cocaine, chronic fatigue syndrome) and professional. But the band played on, seemingly unstoppable despite the fact that Buckingham had left.

In 1995, Nicks and Buckingham reunited for the duet “Twisted” which is heard on the soundtrack to the popular tornado movie, Twister.

Stevie continued to split her creativity between Fleetwood and her own solo career, which she managed with apparent ease. When Fleetwood began a new album in 2001, Nicks was, for the first time, the sole woman in the band—Christine McVie had left, Buckingham had returned. The subsequent tour was successful but fraught.

Married only once, briefly to musician Kim Anderson in 1983, Stevie Nicks seemed to float above the gritty, grimy world of bruised egos, shattered dreams, and an industry that worships the new obsessively. Even when she’d speak of her once-upon-a-time drug habit, or about love or sex or growing older, there seemed to be a distance—great candor through gauze, so to speak.

I once sat in a room with Stevie, in the office of her press representative, Liz Rosenberg. I wasn’t there to interview Stevie, so I didn’t feel right about repeating, afterward, the conversation that poured out. There’s an old expression, “Ask a question, get a pageant.” Stevie definitely is a pageant. It’s almost stream-of-consciousness. She often asked and answered her own questions. She was quirky, fascinating, intelligent, and yet…the gauze was up.

As I write this, Stevie is back on the road with Fleetwood Mac. McVie has returned and—so far!—nobody’s backed out of the tour. One sophisticated woman I know fairly well took me by surprise when she told me she was a huge Stevie Nicks fan, and was rapturous after seeing her in concert. “A goddess, this woman is a goddess!” (The goddess also appeared on the popular and fabulously bizarre T.V. series American Horror Story: Coven. She played herself. Well, the fan fantasy version of herself, singing to a coven of witches. She was mesmerizing.)

A few years back, contemplating her enviably long career, Nicks said, “I never wanted to be just some ‘girl singer.’”

Stevie has talked now and then about writing her memoirs. On the one hand, she says she wants to wait until everybody who could be hurt “is too old, no longer cares,” about what she might reveal. On the other hand, she demurs on the basis of sex—she won’t write about her sex life, she insists! Well, why not keep up that mysterious quality? (Madonna she ain’t!)

Personally, Stevie Nicks admits she is still searching. (Young men are too dumb, older men are too, well, old!) But professionally, Stevie got her wish. She never was, never will be, just some “girl singer.”

READ THE DIGITAL VERSION OF THE MAGAZINE ON-LINE:


STEVIE NICKS "24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT"
Out Now! Order from Stevienicksofficial.com

3 comments:

  1. (Young men are too dumb, older men are too, well, old!) What does she see herself as....she's no spring chicken....sounds like a bunch of excuses for not being able to keep anybody in a long
    term relationship....wonder why that is ?

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  2. My educated guess is that you're male, so I'm writing with that in mind. Consider that her statement triggered something you're sensitive about. You can't even imagine what hers or anyone else's life is like...you can only really know your own. But you can try to put yourself in her shoes.

    I'm responding as if you'd asked a respectful question... Here's why Stevie has chosen music as her long-term lover.

    Lucky for her, she was raised to believe in herself & be herself...to live for herself. That doesn't mean one should not consider others along the way, but that way of being beholds something very important that most people will never understand or experience. Self-love & self-respect.

    Imagine being a female performer who is rarely home. She absolutely loves what she does...so much so that her commitment is infallible. She has always known who she is & freely expresses that artistically. It's very difficult to sustain this type of career & a long-term relationship (let alone a family) simultaneously. And who knows? Maybe she can't have the type of relationship she'd want because she's too busy, or she can't give someone enough of her time. If so, I see her choice to fully commit herself to her music as an act of respect...both for herself & for any potential partners...circumventing a frustrating situation. You may say...Madonna does it, why can't she? Maybe that's simply not what she wants--to split her time & energy between two completely different worlds. It's HER choice. Just like what you do with YOUR life is YOUR choice.

    Re: her statement above about men... The scenario above that I suggested you imagine is in fact her own truth, which she has stated many times in interviews & articles throughout her career. If you put yourself in her shoes again, it has to be really tiring to go through that explanation for the most-likely thousands of interviews she's done. So she probably just came up with something quick...sounds like she was joking around. However, I think there is some truth to that statement, for her. Maybe not for you or others, but for her.

    I am 10 yrs her younger & I feel the same way, minus using the word "dumb." (I don't think she meant it as a slight.) She has (as I do) a very youthful playful spirit that she never lost. But many people do lose it or have never connected with it to begin with. Out of all the men I've met along the way, I only know one man who is older than me who matches my energy in that way. So that's rare, as it is also rare to find a younger man who has evolved emotionally to the level I'm interested in. It's much easier for me to meet people than it is for famous people...my chances are much greater to meet someone who possesses both wisdom & youth.

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  3. Continued from above...

    Now consider what a challenge it would be to meet men from the perspective of a high profile female singer-songwriter, & a uniquely attractive one at that (refer to her "Spring chicken" yrs if you like). How would you ever know that a man would want to really get to know you for who you are aside from the "famous Stevie Nicks?" They want to meet you because you're pretty, talented & famous, & can't wait to have sex with you. Maybe 1% of men wouldn't be driven by all of that.

    So in between hundreds of interviews/yr., countless photo shoots, meetings, song-writing & recording time, every day tasks, & hopefully some down time with family, close friends & oneself, exactly how would you negotiate meeting the man of your dreams? How would you even have enough time to meet someone let alone get to know someone? If you date someone as famous & busy as you are, you still have the same conundrum...there wouldn't be enough time to get to know each other, so you jump in too quickly (Joe Walsh, Don Henley) because you want to experience things a relationship can offer. The relationship doesn't last because you really don't know the person for who they really are...you know them as you want them to be...because it has to happen fast because you only have two weeks of concerts on the west coast (where you met a guy on tour in the VIP lounge of the hotel you stayed in) before your European tour starts. But when you start to see they're not who you thought they were or want them to be, things go awry. Jumping in too quickly is not exclusive to famous people with extremely busy lives, but it's almost impossible not to do that when you're that busy.

    Empathy goes a long way! :-)

    ReplyDelete