Stevie Nicks – my white-winged dove (American Music Pt.6)

My great musical journey continues, and takes me to 1981…


Back in that year, did it really matter that in Fleetwood Mac there also were others? Hardly. After all, ‘Dreams’ would forever be associated with her. Stevie Nicks. And so, when Stevie Nicks’ debut album BELLA DONNA hit Nr. 1 on the US album charts in 1981, it hardly surprised anyone. It also hardly surprised anyone that of the three performers in Fleetwood Mac – Lindsey Buckingham, Christine Mc Vie, and Stevie Nicks – the latter was meant to become a star with a name of her own, when the glitter began to fade.


What is surprising, however, is the difference between this album and the sound of the band that made Stevie popular. Listening to ‘Bella Donna’, it is hard to get rid of the feeling that she wanted to liberate herself from Fleetwood Mac, from Buckingham’s musical dominance… well, if so, Stevie Nicks couldn’t had succeeded more.


Born in Phoenix, AZ, Stevie met and fell in love with Lindsey long before both of them joined the third incarnation of Fleetwood Mac. They had recorded some music together. But the first taste of real success undoubtedly came with ‘Fleetwood Mac’ of 1975. Two years later the legendary ‘Rumours’ followed, generating 4 huge hits and becoming the best-selling album of all time… The present reviewer never was a too big fan of ‘Rumours’. Well, of course FM are a legend, and ‘Rumours’ was a very good album…


Yet something there was missing for me. Something, and that’s just my opinion, Stevie Nicks found on her solo debut – BELLA DONNA.




You can ride high atop your pony
I know you won't fall
'Cause the whole thing's phoney

You can fly swinging from your trapeze
Scaring all the people
But you'll never scare me


This something is evident already from the title track, opening the album. It is still the same mainstream pop/rock sound of Fleetwood Mac, that made her famous 6 years earlier. Yet there’s more to this song… and the thing that has left the most lasting impression on me is that this something remains unsaid. Stevie’s lyrics seem to suggest it’s a song about struggle between being in love and being tired of constant disappointment love brings. Sung against a background created by relaxed guitars and piano, effortlessly speeding up on waves of hope in the chorus parts, and slowing down, becoming more contemplative in the verse… ‘Bella Donna’ is a pop masterpiece, opening one of the best pop albums ever and arguably the best pop album of the early 80s. The song ends as she finally reaches a shore of decision through these waves of doubt. Pay attention to how everything is said with just three lines:


You are in love with
And I'm ready to sail
It's just a feeling...



The lyrics seem to me so superior, compared to those of Fleetwood Mac (where Stevie’s songs are by the way my favorite)! If there was a creek of freedom Stevie Nicks was looking for, her creativity here testifies that what she found was more of a fountain. But, let’s face it, Ms. Nicks wouldn’t have made all of it on her own. Fleetwood Mac always were about a bunch of talented musicians – well, this girl knew that – and now if you wanna be impressed, please take a couple of seconds to run through the names of some of the people who helped create this album.




Tom Petty: guitar, vocals, duet with Stevie on ‘Stop Draggin’ my Heart Around’
Don Henley: drums, vocals, duet with Stevie on ‘Leather and Lace’
Benmont Tench (one of Tom Petty’s “Heartbreakers”): organ, piano, keyboards
Mike Campbell (another of Tom Petty’s “Heartbreakers”): guitar
Roy Bittan (worked with Bruce Springsteen, forever pleaded guilty in helping create the arresting ‘Born to Run’, worked with David Bowie): piano




With such band, a talented lyricist that she was (and a haunting voice, I must add), Stevie Nicks had the royal flush on her hands. And every song here is a winner, take for example the second – KIND OF WOMAN. The song is being sung by a woman, who knows her man is having another lover. Haunting, oozing danger, sad and hopeless, the melody is beautiful and the way Stevie passes the emotion in her voice on to her listener is something absolutely worth hearing. Roy Bittan’s gentle piano work is unforgettable… If this is not a masterpiece, you’ll forget this song. I personally doubt I ever will.


You didn't mean to meet her you cry
Oh but the sun goes down every night
She came to you
When you were alone
And yes, she matters
To you

Kind of woman that'll haunt you
She matters to you
Kind of woman that'll haunt you
She matters to you



There’s not a single weak song here. The duet with Tom Petty STOP DRAGGING MY HEART AROUND is wonderful, softly rocking, like most of Petty’s work of that period… THINK ABOUT IT suggests, but does not plead… AFTER THE GLITTER FADES (and ‘Edge of Seventeen’) is the possible inspiration behind The Corrs’ “Queen of Hollywood” – the Irish Siblings are known to be huge fans of Fleetwood Mac, and obviously, of Stevie Nicks in particular… HOW STILL MY LOVE is menacing in its devotion, LEATHER AND LACE, on the contrary, gentle, performed in duet with Don Henley… THE HIGHWAYMAN is the most wonderful closer imaginable! All these songs are different from one another, all are unforgettable, each in its own special way – this is what a real pop album is supposed to be. And that’s where, in its musical richness, ‘Bella Donna’ for me surpasses Fleetwood Mac. Too bad, but these days pop is being understood as something completely different.



Finally, a true highlight of the album is EDGE OF SEVENTEEN. Waddy Wachtel, whose guitar can be heard on most of the tracks here, is not mentioned by me above, but he’s a man that has played for Don Henley (‘Building the Perfect Beast’), Cher (‘Cher’ (1987), ‘Heart of Stone’), Iggy Pop (‘Brick by Brick’), Bob Dylan (‘Under the Red Sky’) and some other great artists. Of all songs on ‘Bella Donna’ this is where Waddy’s guitar truly shines in the forefront, its pulsation becoming the most arresting musical element, sending Nicks’ voice down a never-ending spiral of desperation, sometimes echoing her in brief bursts of anger, as she tells a story of a 17-years old…


The clouds
Never expect it
When it rains
But the sea
Changes colours
But the sea
Does not change

And so
With the slow
Graceful flow
Of age
I went forth
With an age old
Desire
To please
On the edge of
Seventeen


Just like a white-winged dove sings a song… Stevie Nicks sings the album of her life, song by song, 10 amazing pieces. If you think that the late 70s/early 80s pop is not your thing – try this – I thought so too, and Stevie made me a convert. A graceful, never overproduced, flowing effortlessly, ‘Bella Donna’ is a perfect pop album, an experience you once it has grown on you are guaranteed to be listening to over and over again.


Great Music to Play While: in the morning, it's fun to wake up to...


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