How Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks Unlocked Her 'Songs From the Vault'

Stevie Nicks Unearths Her Hidden Gems For '24 Karat Gold – Songs From the Vault'
Fleetwood Mac singer heads to Nashville and cuts 45 years' worth of unreleased songs

By Rob Sheffield | August 28, 2014
Rollingstone.com

These songs are little jewels," says Stevie Nicks of her new album. "Each one is the story of what was going on at the time – new relationships, new friends, new Fleetwood Mac albums." 24 Karat Gold – Songs From the Vault (out October 7th) is full of songs Nicks had written but never previously recorded, dating back to 1969. Some are so private, not even her Mac bandmates have heard them. "'Lady' was on a cassette I kept in a box, in a sacred trunk that my mother had," she says. "It just said 'Lady' on the front."

Nicks faced a severe time crunch in the studio – she had to finish before rehearsals for Fleetwood Mac's fall reunion tour with Christine McVie began. "I called [producer] Dave Stewart and said, 'I've got the songs, but how do we make a record in two months?'" she says. "He said, 'Nashville. That's what they do.' It's like checking yourself into music rehab."

The Nashville session cats helped Nicks crash 17 tracks in just three weeks. It was a new experience for her. "I'm usually up till four or five in the morning, but [for this album] I had to get up at nine, do a vocal lesson at 10, then watch Wendy Williams just to wake up. I'm in the bathtub at 12, then dressing as fast as I can, and driving across town to be in the vocal booth by two." It was exotic in other ways, too. "I'm used to bands where we argue over how to do the song. These Nashville guys just say, 'Yes, ma'am.'"

The album is decorated with Polaroid selfies taken by Nicks over the years. "People would ask to model for me, and I'd say, 'Be at my hotel room at 2:30 a.m., dressed in lipstick and gowns and hats and rhinestones and diamonds,' " Nicks says. "And they'd say, 'Uh, no, I'm good.' So I was the model, photographer and furniture mover."

Like the photos, the songs document Nicks' private life. "'Lady' captures the mood of me and Lindsey [Buckingham] being scared to death when we moved to L.A. in 1971," she says. "Our producer Keith Olsen gave us this white carved piano – I wrote 'Rhiannon' on it. But I didn't know how to play. 'Lady' was me figuring it out."

Nobody from Fleetwood Mac has heard the album yet, but she's confident her mates will like it. "Lindsey will love it," she says. "Half the songs are about him!"

Pre-Order Stevie Nicks "24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault" from Stevienicksofficial.com
Available October 7th.

Preview - Sept 15th FLEETWOOD MAC On With The Show Tour Special

Surprisingly Fleetwood Mac is back to full strength with the mid ’70s line up that made them international superstars, and three of them, singer/songwriter/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks, and band co-founder Mick Fleetwood join us In the Studio on the eve of their North American tour for some of their most popular songs.

In The Studio with Redbeard

Sounds like it's an hour of Fleetwood Mac tunes with archival interview footage interspersed between tracks. Check your local listings to see if it plays in your area.

Pre-Order Stevie Nicks "24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault" from Stevienicksofficial.com
Available October 7th.

Canadian Television Premiere Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams Sept 7th Documentary Channel

Canadian Television Premiere 
Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams
September 7, 2014 at 9pm ET/10 PT
Documentary Channel

Watch this documentary that follows Stevie Nicks as she begins writing and recording her first solo album in nearly a decade.

Pre-Order Stevie Nicks new album "24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault"
from Stevienicksofficial.com Available October 7th.

FLEETWOOD MAC’S CHRISTINE MCVIE IS READY TO ROCK. AGAIN

By Ann Friedman
Elle Magazine

Christine McVie looks into the camera and asks, “How does it feel being a sex symbol in rock ’n’ roll?” Hanging out backstage on Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 world tour, McVie, the band’s keyboardist, looks as if she’s had a few vodka tonics (and if this night was like most on the Rumours tour, probably a fair amount of 
cocaine, too). She pauses for the perfect comedic beat, then delivers: “I don’t know; ask Stevie Nicks.” Her blond shag and shiny caftan shake as she emits a husky laugh. “Oh, listen, Stevie’s gonna know I’m kidding,” she says in her proper English accent. The two women of Fleetwood Mac have always been friends. There’s no need for competition when their roles are so clear: Nicks in front, twirling seductively in her shawls; McVie in back, stealthily ruling the keyboards. If Nicks is the band’s witchy goddess, McVie is its warrior queen, strong and steady. She’s also one of its key creative forces, having written half the songs on the band’s Greatest Hits album.

And so in 1998, McVie sent Fleetwood Mac into a midlife crisis of sorts when she announced she was quitting the band. After 28 years of late nights, she was done living out of a suitcase, finished with recording studios and sold-out arenas. She was also increasingly scared to fly. A few years earlier, she’d bought a rambling old manor in the English countryside, and, at age 54, the quiet life beckoned. “I did my last show, got everything shipped out from the house in L.A., went to catch my last flight back to London,” she says, “and didn’t look back.”

Until now. At age 71, after almost 20 years out of the spotlight, McVie has returned. She’ll crisscross North America with Fleetwood Mac on a 40-city megatour this fall, playing Katy Perry–size venues from Boston to Portland. “Serendipity is the only word I can think of to describe it,” she tells me over coffee and salmon-and-cream-cheese sandwiches at her London pied-à-terre. It’s in a modern building overlooking the Thames but made cozy with an overstuffed sofa, a leather chair, lots of Persian rugs, and keyboards pushed up against the floor-to-ceiling windows. McVie looks decades younger than her years and exudes well-earned rocker cool. She wears a simple tank top and jeans with a silver-plate belt and a tangle of bracelets. Her 
shaggy blond hair is almost identical to her Rumours-era cut, her skin so tan it’s as if she never left California.

“Since she’s been back, I’m already feeling the steadying effect of her presence,” says Mick Fleetwood, Fleetwood Mac’s drummer and jovial father figure. “There is no doubt that there was a void in the chemistry of the band. The band rose successfully to the creative withdrawal, but emotionally…the balance was challenged.”

New Song: Stevie Nicks "Lady" from 24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault

"Lady" a beautiful piano driven ballad is the latest song released from Stevie Nicks from the upcoming "24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault" scheduled for release on October 7th.  If you are familiar with Stevie's old demos, this song was referred to as "Knockin' on Doors".

The song is now available on iTunes and Amazon.

iTunes: http://bit.ly/YUiWE9
Amazon: http://amzn.to/YUmAhr

Stevie sounds pretty amazing on this... just her and a piano, which I don't think she's ever done before.

"What is to become of me

And I’m unsure

I can’t see my way

And, he says

Lady, you don’t have to see”



More clips from "24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault" can be heard here.

Pre-Order Stevie Nicks "24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault" from Stevienicksofficial.com
Available October 7th.

New Song Sample: Stevie Nicks “All The Beautiful Worlds”

"All the beautiful worlds

that I have seen so far have all fallen down.

Oh it used to be yours..."

Post by Stevie Nicks.

More clips from "24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault" can be heard here.

Pre-Order Stevie Nicks "24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault" from Stevienicksofficial.com
Available October 7th.