A RELEASE of two deluxe albums next month will see a whole lot more Stevie Nicks blasting from radios, stereos and iPods across the country.
On November 4, Warner Music Australia will release Bella Donna: Deluxe Edition and, two albums of classic songstress Stevie Nicks.
Bella Donna was the debut album of the now legendary performer, released originally in 1981.
The Wild Heart was Stevie’s following album, released in 1983.
Both albums achieved platinum status, with Bella Donna in fact being certified quadriple-platinum.
The album spawned four substantial hit singles during 1981 and 1982: the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers-penned duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” the Don Henley duet “Leather and Lace,” the iconic “Edge of Seventeen,” and country-tinged “After the Glitter Fades.”
Bella Donna: Deluxe Edition and The Wild Heart: Deluxe Edition will be released by Warner Music Australia on November 4.
Deluxe reissues of singer-songwriter’s first two solo albums, Bella Donna and The Wild Heart, out November 4th
On November 4th, Stevie Nicks‘ first two solo albums — Bella Donna and The Wild Heart — will be reissued via Rhino. Each deluxe release will feature not only the original LP but rarities and bonus tracks, like the previously unreleased demo of her solo debut’s title track, streaming below.
Stripped of its backing vocals as well as the raucous live band and synthesizers featured on the original album version, Nicks’ demo is a tender, intimate take on the song. She sings softly above just the piano track, nearly whispering “Bella donna, my soul” and barely reaching the full-throated belt she unleashes on the 1981 recording.
Later this month and just before releasing the reissues, Nicks will embark on a solo tour with opening act the Pretenders. Nicks’ tour is in support of her 2014 album 24K Gold, a collection of songs she had cut from her prior solo releases for various reasons. “These are the glory songs,” she told Rolling Stone of her reason to follow a multi-year world tour with Fleetwood Mac with the solo dates. “These are the sex, rock & roll and drugs songs that I’m actually not really writing right now, and these are the songs I could never write again.”
Brittany Spanos / Rolling Stone / Thursday, October 13, 2016
STEVIE NICKS TO RELEASE DELUXE EDITONS OF HER FIRST TWO SOLO ALBUMS
Legendary Singer-Songwriter Builds On Her Unparalleled Legacy With Deluxe Editions Of Bella Donna And The Wild Heart. Available From Rhino On November 4.
24 Karat Gold Tour With Pretenders Kicks Off October 25
LOS ANGELES – Stevie Nicks, the legendary singer songwriter whose highly acclaimed 30 year solo career includes seven studio albums, iconic hits, and record sales in the millions, will release deluxe editions with newly remastered audio and never before released live and recorded music from her first two solo albums Bella Donna and The Wild Heart. The end of October dual releases will come out in conjunction with the start of Nicks’ 24 Karat Gold Tour with Pretenders which begins in Phoenix on October 25. Complete tour schedule follows this release.
BELLA DONNA: DELUXE EDITION is a three-CD set for $29.98 and THE WILD HEART: DELUXE EDITION is a two-CD set for $19.98. Both will be available on November 4. On the same day, newly remastered versions of the original albums will also be available on LP ($21.98) and CD ($11.98). The music will be available digitally and through streaming services as well. A complete list of cuts on both deluxe editions follows this release.
“I’ve had so much fun reliving the making of Bella Donna and The Wild Heart while working on the liner notes and listening to all of the alternate versions and demo takes,” says Nicks. “The liner notes are so much more than liner notes. They are like a little novel. I tried to make whoever reads this feel like they were there. I think…I succeeded….”
Nicks joined producer Jimmy Iovine to begin recording songs for her solo debut, Bella Donna following the recording of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk and subsequent tour. The 1981 album was quickly certified platinum. Today, the album is 4x platinum thanks to Nicks classics like “Edge Of Seventeen,” “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and “Leather And Lace” (with Don Henley).
BELLA DONNA: DELUXE EDITION uncovers unreleased versions of “Edge Of Seventeen” and “Leather And Lace,” as well as rarities like “Blue Lamp” from the Heavy Metal Soundtrack and “Sleeping Angel” from the Fast Times At Ridgemont High Soundtrack. This deluxe edition also includes a concert from 1981 that features performances of songs from Bella Donna along with several Fleetwood Mac favorites.
Nicks returned in 1983 with her follow-up, The Wild Heart, which peaked at #5 on the album chart and has been certified double platinum. The album produced hits like “Stand Back,” “Nightbird” and “I Will Run To You,” which features Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. THE WILD HEART: DELUXE EDITION builds on the original album with unreleased versions of “All The Beautiful Worlds” a session version of “Wild Heart” and “Garbo,” the B-side to “Stand Back.”
BELLA DONNA: DELUXE EDITION
Track Listing
Disc One: Original Album
“Bella Donna”
“Kind Of Woman”
“Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” – with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
“Think About It”
“After The Glitter Fades”
“Edge Of Seventeen”
“How Still My Love”
“Leather And Lace”
“Outside The Rain”
“The Highwayman”
(Photo: Herbert W. Worthington, III)
Disc Two: Bonus Tracks
“Edge Of Seventeen” – Early Take *
“Think About It” – Alternate Version *
“How Still My Love” – Alternate Version *
“Leather And Lace” – Alternate Version *
“Bella Donna” – Demo *
“Gold And Braid” – Unreleased Version *
“Sleeping Angel” – Alternate Version *
“If You Were My Love” – Unreleased Version *
“The Dealer” – Unreleased Version *
“Blue Lamp” – From Heavy Metal Soundtrack
“Sleeping Angel” – From Fast Times At Ridgemont High Soundtrack
Disc Three: Live 1981
“Gold Dust Woman”
“Gold And Braid”
“I Need To Know”
“Outside The Rain”
“Dreams”
“Angel” *
“After The Glitter Fades”
“Leather And Lace” *
“Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”
“Bella Donna” *
“Sara”
“How Still My Love” *
“Edge Of Seventeen”
“Rhiannon”
THE WILD HEART: DELUXE EDITION
Track Listing
Disc One: Original Album
“Wild Heart”
If Anyone Falls”
“Gate And Garden”
“Enchanted”
“Nightbird”
“Stand Back”
“I Will Run To You” – with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
“Nothing Ever Changes”
“Sable On Blond”
“Beauty And The Beast”
Disc Two: Bonus Tracks
“Violet And Blue” – from Against All Odds Soundtrack
Stevie Nicks‘ debut solo album and crowning commercial achievement Bella Donna turns 35 today.
Packed with radio-friendly tracks, Bella Donna spawned four Top 40 singles: “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) (#3), “Leather and Lace” (with Don Henley) (#6), “Edge of Seventeen” (#11), and “After the Glitter Fades” (#32) To date, Bella Donna has sold than 5 million copies in the United States and Canada and 10 million copies worldwide. In 1982, Nicks earned two Grammy nominations for Best Rock Vocal Female for “Edge of Seventeen”; and Best Rock Vocal Group for “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”
(Photo: HBO)
Nicks supported the release of Bella Donna with a short 10-date national tour, dubbed “The White Winged Dove Tour.” The tour culminated with a series of concerts at the iconic Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, parts of which were later broadcast on HBO and NBC Radio. Nicks created one of the strongest set lists of her touring career, performing an unprecedented 8 tracks from a single album (Bella Donna); Fleetwood Mac classics “Dreams,” “Sara,” “Rhiannon,” and “Gold Dust Woman”; high-level deep cuts “Blue Lamp” and “Gold and Braid”; and even a Tom Petty cover, “I Need to Know.”
Jimmy Iovine and Stevie Nicks, 1981 (Photo: Chris Walter)
Nicks began her mission to launch a solo career in the late 1970s, planning the ambitious career move with record executives Paul Fishkin, Danny Goldberg, and Doug Morris. “I had all these tunes stored up,” Nicks explained. “I really needed to know that I could do something on my own” (People, 1982).
(Photo: Herbert W. Worthington, III)
Along the way, the Nicks A-team recruited Tom-Petty-producer Jimmy Iovine, who enlisted Petty and the rest of his band The Heartbreakers to play on Nicks’ record. Nicks rounded our her band with backup singers Sharon Celani and Lori Nicks, who remain dear friends and loyal bandmates to this day.
In 1981, Rolling Stone crowned Stevie Nicks as “the reigning queen of rock and roll.”
“I was particularly nervous about making this album,” Nicks revealed, “because I knew I wouldn’t have [the four other members of Fleetwood Mac] to blame if it didn’t do well. Fortunately, I had great people to work with who encouraged me constantly” (BAM, 1981).
Thirty-five years later, Bella Donna stands as Stevie Nicks’ most important recording, with timeless songs that continue to inspire and move generations of listeners. Fans would heartily agree “the feeling remains even after the glitter fades.”
During the week of August 8, In the Studio with Redbeard will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Stevie Nicks’ debut solo album Bella Donna. The nationally syndicated radio show will air tracks from the 5X platinum album and interviews from Nicks talking about the recording sessions and the beginning of her solo career.
Bella Donna marks its 35th anniversary on Tuesday, July 27.
For a list of radio stations that air the show, click here.
This rarely-seen video for “Edge of Seventeen” has moments of pure telenovela, which just beg for Stevie’s retrospective commentary. For example, why was brother Christopher shaking Stevie so violently (at 3:38)? Did he want her magical doll? Why is Stevie walking on the beach in her beautiful black dress? Many unanswered questions! So it’s a surprise to see it missing from the Crystal Visions…The Very Best of Stevie Nicks DVD video compilation, when the equally-campy “Scarlett Version” of “Stand Back” was included. Like that video, “Edge” has everything that we love most about Stevie Nicks videos: drama, passion, and endless spinning! Stevie’s lip-syncing skills, still in their formative years, would probably get her voted off RuPaul’s Drag Race, but there is certainly no shortness of creativity, uniqueness, nerve, and talent in this raw, over-the-EDGE performance.
“Gold and Braid” is a track from the Bella Donna recording sessions. Although it was never recorded for the album (or ANY album for that matter), it quickly became the elusive fan favorite, kind of like the “Silver Springs” of Stevie’s solo career. The iconic live version of “Gold and Braid” finally found a home on Stevie’s 1998 Enchanted box set.
Diehards will turn to this performance from the 1981 White Winged Dove Tour to rekindle fond memories of marching high kicks and a flying tambourine, as Stevie cheers “Don’t hide behind your hair, it’s a bit of gold and braid!” And that incredible band.
When Stevie performed “Gold and Braid” during her millennium shows in December 1999, she told the crowd — who had been singing and dancing along to the obscure song — how flabbergasted she was by its popularity among her fans. “This song was never recorded,” Stevie said with sheer astonishment, “That song we just played, I never recorded it. It was recorded as a demo and it went out on a million bootleg tapes. It’s amazing to me that so many people know this song that was never on a record.”
Why Stevie never completed the song in the studio remains unknown, but the enduring appeal of this concert classic is crystal clear: It’s “her life…her mystery!”
Lyrics
Though deep set and somewhat shadowed
Her life… her mystery
Well, it’s not so different than the way that he said
“Well, don’t hide your eyes from me that way, baby”
In his heart he wishes her stardom
His eyes want for her much more
That’s not so different
Than the way that he said
“There are so very few stars left”
Ooh ooh ooh…
Well, don’t hide behind your hair
It’s a bit of gold and braid
Easy come the tears
You see a pathway ending with a doorway
You slip toward the doorway
Been waiting there all day
All these years
In his heart he wishes her stardom
His eyes want for her much more
But that’s not so different
Than the way that he said
“Well, don’t hide your eyes from me that way, baby”
Well, don’t hide behind your hair
It’s a bit of gold and braid
Easy come the tears
You see a pathway ending with a doorway
You slip toward the doorway
Been waiting there all day
All these years
Don’t hide that…
In his heart (in his heart)
He wishes to forget her
Like to make her better
And to hold her like a child…
In his heart he wishes her stardom
His eyes want for her much more
But that’s not so different
Than the way that he said
“Don’t hide behind your hair that way, baby”
Well, don’t hide behind your hair
It’s a bit of gold and braid
Easy come the tears
You see a pathway ending with a doorway
You slip toward the doorway
Been waiting there all day
All these years
Don’t hide your eyes that way
Don’t hide anything not anymore
Because I never did not love you
I never did run from you
In a dream I said to you
That I’d always love you…
On August 1, 1981, MTV began broadcasting to the world. One of the first music videos played that day was Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, the hit duet by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty.
“I’d never done a video before. That was pre-Fleetwood Mac videos. If you watch it, you’ll see that the lip synching is particularly horrible because we’d never done it before. And it’s hysterical to watch. You see both of us look at each other like, what the…? What was that? And the film’s rolling. So anyway, of course it became this huge song because it was the first song off my first solo record. So really, it spun off my entire solo career. So, thank you Tom Petty for that!”
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (#213) and Edge of Seventeen (#229) made the list of The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born! in the October 2005 special issue of Blender magazine. The list ranks 500 songs, culling “the best tunes of the ’80s, ’90s and the totally awesome aughts.”
The Nicks Fix is reporting that Stevie Nicks’ 1981 album Bella Donna has reached 5X platinum (5 million units shipped to retailers), according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The latest certification was awarded on October 13, 2004.
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (#213) and Edge of Seventeen (#229) made the list of The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born! in the October 2005 special issue of Blender magazine. The list ranks 500 songs, culling “the best tunes of the ’80s, ’90s and the totally awesome aughts.”