10 UNDERRATED STEVIE NICKS SONGS - DON'T SLEEP ON THESE

Lots of people are really excited about Stevie Nicks' new album, In Your Dreams, and I'm glad for Stevie.  But when I hear people say that it's her best solo album since the '80s, I wonder if they were paying attention ten years ago to 2001's Trouble In Shangri- La.  My opinion: track for track, it's her best solo effort. It may not have a colossal hit like "Edge Of 17," but I don't think that there's any filler. I think she was really energized by the extremely successful Fleetwood Mac reunion, and the fact that the Mac had a huge hit with her song "Silver Springs" (a song which the Mac had declined when Stevie had presented it in the '70s). Also, Sheryl Crow was a huge fan, and helped to produce the album (probably the first time Stevie worked with a female producer). So, here's my list of Stevie songs (many from Trouble) that I think people sleep on. I chalk it up to ageism.

1. "Candlebright" from Trouble. She originally wrote it for Buckingham/Nicks, before she and Lindsey Buckingham joined the Mac.
2. "Sorcerer" from Trouble, which prominently features Sheryl Crow.
3. "Planets Of The Universe" from Trouble, another song that started in the Buckingham/Nicks era.
4. "Every Day" from Trouble. See, it's a great album.
5. "Blue Lamp" is one of my favorites - it is from the '80s animated midnight movie Heavy Metal. I told Stevie about that - she said it actually is about a blue lamp that she still owns.
6. "Reconsider Me" is her cover of the Warren Zevon classic.
7. "I Need To Know" is her cover of the Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers classic.  I saw her perform this backed by Tom and the HBs, it was pretty great.
8. "If You Ever Did Believe" is a collab with Sheryl Crow from the Boys On The Side soundtrack.
9. "Somebody Stand By Me" written for her by Sheryl Crow for Boys On The Side.
10. "You May Be The One" from her new album In Your Dreams, my favorite song from the new album.

JOINT (HA HA) TOURS: JAMES TAYLOR/CAROLE KING, EAGLES/FLEETWOOD MAC

Lots of boomers may have to take a break from recession-inspired austerity. This summer there are at least two co-headlining tours that are kind of big deals, and neither are likely to be cheap.  I'm being a jerk here: anyone who loves classic pop songswriting will probably dig these tours, especially the first one.

First off, James Taylor and Carole King. Two peers and incredible songwriters. In 2007, they did a handful of shows together at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, where I guess they used to perform back in the day.  I think the shows may have been based around their era-appropriate albums, Sweet Baby James and Tapestry. Judging by the photos that I've seen (including the one at the left,) it looks like they will perform at least a few songs together. Tapestry is an incredible album. It's weird that Carole is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a "Non-performer" (i.e. as a songwriter for other people, but not for her own recordings) but James is in as a performer. That seems, I don't know, sexist.


The other tour, which is only in the rumor mill at this point, is The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. Both are quartets that were more famous as quintets.  Fleetwood Mac's loss of keyboardist singer Christine McVie (to retirement) is a bigger deal to them than The Eagles' loss of guitarist Don Felder (who was fired). I imagine that this will be a greatest hits deal for both bands, and I doubt there will be any collaboration.  There's too much jealousy and ego between the members of the individual bands, and probably between both bands.

THIS WEEK ON OUTQ: SOLO ALBUMS - GOOD OR BAD?

Last week things got really interesting on the show when we discussed whether or not politics and music mix. I feel they do in a certain context, others felt that they just don't pay $100 (or $10) to hear what's on an artists mind. Others felt that if an artist (like Mel Gibson) has views that offend them, they don't want to support anything he or she does. 

My take is that I like to hear that an artist actually has something to say, with the caveat that if they talk about something, they better be able to back it up. Most artists that I like tend to have similar political views to me. But I don't love KISS any less because Gene Simmons thought that draft-dodging cokehead male cheerleader bush would do a better job defending us than war hero/hockey player/rock and roller John Kerry. Even the fact that Lemmy wears German army uniforms hasn't kept me away from Motorhead's music (although it does bug me, I gotta admit). 

This week is an even more controversial topic: are solo albums good for the health of a band? Do you get mad when someone from your favorite band does a solo project? I'm not talking about guys like Paul McCartney or Curtis Mayfield of Chris Cornell or Aimee Mann, who went solo after quitting their bands or after their bands broke up. I thought of this because Amy Ray of The Indigo Girls and Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes (I actually thought he sort of was Bright Eyes) have solo albums coming out this week, and I'm going to see Eddie Vedder do a solo show.  I actually chatted with Amy Ray informally today. She says that in the case of her band, her solo career has been a good thing. I heard that there was some tension in Pearl Jam over Eddie doing solo stuff (odd, as every other member of the band does their own thing), but I'd argue that it's been good for him to do some solo stuff. We'll probably also talk about Stevie Nicks, who maintained a very successful solo career for quite a few years while Fleetwood Mac were on top of the world. Apparently, there are some Stevie fans on the Larry Flick show! By the way, I'll be on Thursday instead of Wednesday this week. 

FLEETWOOD MAC: STILL A FOURSOME

Brad Loekle from OutQ In The Morning With Larry Flick probably saw this one coming: in a recent interview with Billboard, Lindsey Buckingham said that Sheryl Crow would not, in fact, be working with Fleetwood Mac. He probably doesn't want Sheryl and Stevie Nicks ganging up on him, and given that Sheryl has sold millions of records, she probably won't be intimidated by him. It's too bad, I think Sheryl would be good for the Mac. Sheryl helped to produce Stevie's last album, Trouble In Shangri-La, which I think was her best solo album ever. The Mac's last album, meanwhile, (Say You Will) wasn't that great in my opinion.

FLEETWOOD MAC'S NEWEST MEMBER?

After doing one album and tour as a four person band, Fleetwood Mac is now looking to replace singer/keyboardist Christine McVie according to internet buzz (which I think started at Spinner.com).

Yep, Sheryl Crow says she may be working with the band in the future, although she didn't really word it the way the media has been spinning it - she didn't say she's "joining."

I actually predicted this a few years ago. Sheryl did a great speech for the Mac at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - and by the way, she came off as a big fan of the pre-Lindsey Buckingham/Stevie Nicks version of the band, even mentioning that she had seen Peter Green perform in Europe.

Sheryl has also collaborated with Stevie a few times, including on the criminally underrated "If You Ever Did Believe," off of the 1998 Practical Magic soundtrack. Sheryl also produced on a number of tracks on Stevie's 2001 album Trouble In Shangri-La, which for my money is Stevie's best solo album (even if lacked a monster single). On that tour, Sheryl sat in with Stevie's band on a few shows: I went to one, and they have great chemistry together. It will be interesting to see if this will actually happen: I think it would be great for both Sheryl and the Mac.