The one “dream” album Stevie Nicks has always been “most proud of”
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Ever since she wrote her first song at the age of 16, Stevie Nicks has been steadily amassing a catalogue to rival anyone’s.
The back catalogue that she has honed over the last 60 years means that she has recently been able to sell an 80% stake in her songbook for a whopping $100million. And yet, the fact that commerciality has never been much of a concern typifies her artistry: her profoundly emotive music simply has an inherent appeal by virtue of the way she weaves it into seamless pop melodies.
The starlet was thrust from relative obscurity to the biggest spotlight of the late 1970s when her partner, Lindsey Buckingham, was recruited for Fleetwood Mac. When he informed the band that he came as a pair, the initial reluctance made way for riotous success. However, ‘riotous’ was a word doing equal legwork. A cocaine frenzy soon followed, with Nicks being warned she was doing irreparable damage to her septum and could haemorrhage at any minute.
So, she decided to get away from it all, to ditch the drama and reconnect with the spiritual side of music that had made her want to be a musician ever since she strummed out ‘I’ve Loved and I’ve Lost, and I’m Sad but Not Blue’, her first ever song. “Bella Donna was a dream. I chose Lori Perry-Nicks and Sharon Celani as my army to go on that journey with me. I wanted us to sound like the girl version of Crosby Stills and Nash. I did not want the record to sound anything like Fleetwood Mac,” she wrote of her debut solo album, “That would have defeated the dream”.
Nicks’ fascination with witchcraft and the mystical realm permeates the album freely, evident in tracks like ‘Bella Donna’, where she delves into this culture to mirror her own fears and dreams. The title itself not only translates to “beautiful woman” in Italian but also refers to the deadly herb known as “belladonna”, often used in witchcraft tales for its poisonous properties. In a clever metaphor, the song encapsulates the rock and roll lifestyle – a path that, like belladonna, can prove fatal if one is not cautious, yet, in moderation, it holds the power to soothe like a painkiller.
The 1981 effort came six years after her eponymous debut involvement with Fleetwood Mac. During that time, she had lost plenty and loved plenty and was ready to pour that all into her music with a more purified edge. The record started with Nicks penning the title track and ode to her boyfriend’s mother, who had seen her lover banished to imprisonment in France following his involvement in the Chilean military coup of 1973. The lovers never saw each other again in the interim years, and this stirred a singular image within Nicks: the strength of femininity to bear heartache with grace.
Thus, she vowed that this track would be expanded into an album and that the project would be a bold, poetic statement of womanly defiance set soaring. She assembled her friends. “I never doubted for a moment that this song would be the title of the record and that it would change my life in so many ways – on so many levels,” she said. “It was ours – it defined how I would feel about love forever. It broke my heart and gave me the strength to fight for it – It was a fine line to walk between love and hate and passion – and the girls and I loved it. We never looked back.”
This became the decree of the album as she hunkered down with Jimmy Iovine for months on end, battling with addiction and troubles away from the studio but shunning them in a show of extreme focus hitherto unknown in her career. “I could not have been more proud of those songs – or the three months it took me, the girls – and Jimmy Iovine to craft it,” she remarked.
But that pinnacle of that pride came in the aftermath of its reception. “And then – as all never-ending dreams always do – it opened the doors of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, took my hand, and invited me in for my own work – for the women of the world.” She concluded that the record is the work she is “most proud of.”
“All because of a tragic love affair that caused an important and relevant song – to be turned into a story that the world seemed to love – Bella Donna.” Now, over four decades on, that tale still seems vitally important, not least because of the great stride forward it made for women in music.
Ultimately, Bella Donna is a compelling and well-crafted album that perfectly showcases Nicks’ talent as a singer-songwriter. Its combination of powerful vocals, thoughtful lyrics, and diverse musical styles make it a timeless and enjoyable listening experience – solidifying her as a powerful storyteller and a natural when it comes to forging deep connections with the listener.
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