By Jane Stevenson
The Sun (Canada)
Sunday, April 14, 2013 10:00 PM MDT
Two rock icons, Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks and Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics, worked together on Nicks’ first album solo album in a decade, 2011’s In Your Dreams
But their creative collaboration didn’t end there.
There’s also a Stewart-directed 2013 behind-the-scenes documentary of the same name about making the record, co-produced by Glen Ballard, that will debut in Toronto Monday night. The film then moves across Canada over the next several weeks.
“It’s a movie that Stevie Nicks’ fans love,” says Stewart, 60, from L.A.
“Obviously, she’s been a bit of an enigma and very sort of mysterious and there’s an insight not only into her world and her home and how she works but inside her mind as well. How she works creatively and how she thinks. What’s good is that if you’re not a Stevie Nicks fan in particular and you watch it, you get kind of surprised at how kind of intense and focused she is working. Because I think a lot of the views or people’s opinions about artists during certain periods of their life is kind of spaced out, hippie like. And then you see Stevie at work in the film and you go, ‘Holy s—!’ She’s like a force of nature.”
Turns out Stewart and Nicks met 30 years ago.
The occasion was an Eurythmics show in Los Angeles and Nicks came backstage.
“We got on really well,” says Stewart. “And I went back to stay in L.A. for a bit and we hung out and I was writing just experimental stuff with her and I ended up writing this song for her but then Tom Petty liked it and wanted to record it — Don’t Come Around Here No More — that’s why at the end (of the film, Stevie) says, ‘Hey, Dave, definitely come around here!’ Because it became this epic sort of song for Tom.”
Stewart and Nicks regrouped again significantly in 2006 when Nicks appeared on a pilot for Stewart’s HBO music-themed interview show and they performed a 15-minute version of Rhiannon together.
In the documentary, she reveals after that collaboration she knew she wanted Stewart to produce either her next solo album or a Fleetwood Mac record.
“It all sort of organically turned into the record and the movie,” says Stewart.
He says after recording the album with Nicks and shooting about 50 hours of footage — boiled down to one hour and 40 minutes on-screen — he learned two significant things about her.
“Stevie’s incredibly generous. She’s always kept the same backing singers, the same friends… even the sounds guys and everybody. They’ve all stuck by her. They’re so loyal to her. And that’s an amazing thing that I discovered about Stevie of how deep that runs within her, this loyalty. And then all of the time and effort she puts into putting her lyrics together. Training herself in books and reading so much literature. She’s steeped in her job. She said it herself. She purposely decided not to have children because she just knew she couldn’t do both. It’s a massive decision.”
In Your Dreams screenings in Canada:
Toronto / TIFF Bell Lightbox (350 King St W) / April 15 (7 p.m and 7:30 p.m. with Stevie Nicks Q&A) and then April 16-18.
Ottawa / Mayfair Theatre (1074 Bank St) / April 19 & 20
Winnipeg / Winnipeg Cinema theque (100 Arthur St) / May 4 & 5
Edmonton / Metro Cinema at the Garneau (8712 109th Street NW) May 14
Calgary / Globe Cinema (617 8 Ave SW) / May 16
Vancouver / Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour St) / May 18
Montreal/ Cinema du Parc (3575 Park Ave) / June 14-17
