Stevie Nicks: A Memoir in the Music

Summary

Glamorous Trash: A Celebrity Memoir Podcast
Episode: Stevie Nicks: A Memoir in the Music
Host: Chelsea Devantez
Release Date: October 31, 2024

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Introduction and Context

In this groundbreaking episode of Glamorous Trash, host Chelsea Devantez delves deep into the enigmatic life and career of Stevie Nicks, unraveling the artist’s personal memoir as told through her music. Describing Stevie as the "head witch of all witches," Chelsea sets the stage for an intimate exploration of Stevie’s journey, emphasizing the long-held mystery surrounding her potential memoir, Wild Heart. The episode features insightful conversations with two Stevie Nicks experts: Melinda Thompson, co-host of the Hello Witches podcast, and Blake Luxury Robin, an LA-based producer and musicologist.

Stevie Nicks's Early Life and Career

Stevie Nicks, born Stephanie Nicks in Phoenix, Arizona, transformed her name to Stevie, symbolizing her dynamic and intriguing persona. Chelsea shares personal anecdotes about her connection to Stevie, including her friendship with someone who introduced her to Stevie and Fleetwood Mac in her 20s. The episode highlights Stevie’s significant achievements, such as being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice—once with Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and again as a solo artist in 2019.

Relationship with Lindsey Buckingham

Stevie’s relationship with Lindsey Buckingham is a pivotal theme in the episode. They met in college, fell in love while recording together, and moved to Los Angeles in 1973 to pursue music. Despite their musical collaboration, their personal relationship was fraught with uncertainty and eventual breakup. Melinda Thompson discusses the depth of Stevie’s feelings, noting, “She's valuing the music more than their personal happiness” ([26:50]).

Stevie's Musical Journey and Key Songs

The discussion transitions to Stevie’s songwriting, where her music serves as a memoir. Key songs like “Sorcerer,” “Landslide,” “Rhiannon,” “Dreams,” “Edge of Seventeen,” and “Silver Springs” are analyzed for their lyrical depth and autobiographical content.

• “Sorcerer” reflects Stevie’s early awareness of impending fame and addiction ([19:00]).
• “Landslide” signifies a turning point in her relationship with Lindsey, encapsulating feelings of loneliness and uncertainty ([21:22]).
• “Rhiannon” introduces her witchy persona, inspired by the novel Triad by Mary Leader, blending her fascination with the supernatural into her music ([27:52]).
• “Dreams” serves as a graceful farewell to her relationship with Lindsey, contrasting his more abrasive breakup song, “Go Your Own Way” ([35:07]).
• “Edge of Seventeen” portrays Stevie’s contemplation of her future and the impacts of her fame ([41:45]).
• “Silver Springs” culminates her memoir, depicting the lingering emotions of her breakup with Lindsey and her enduring presence in Fleetwood Mac ([64:23]).

Blake Luxury Robin emphasizes the simplicity yet haunting beauty of Stevie’s melodies, stating, “the melodies are so haunting and she has these little jumps” ([36:55]).

Struggles with Addiction

A significant portion of the episode addresses Stevie’s battle with cocaine addiction. After achieving fame, Stevie struggled with substance abuse, culminating in a stint at the Betty Ford Center in 1986. Melinda Thompson poignantly remarks, “If you know that song, it said that it's about her unborn child with Don Henley, the name Sarah” ([57:34]). Stevie's reliance on Klonopin, prescribed by a psychiatrist as a preventive measure against relapse, led to a seven-year dependency that deeply affected her personal and professional life. The episode highlights the emotional and physical toll of addiction, with Stevie referring to this period as the worst of her life ([57:41]).

Interaction with Prince and Influence

The episode explores Stevie’s unexpected collaboration with Prince during the creation of Fleetwood Mac’s Tango in the Night album. Stevie recounts an almost mythical encounter where she contacts Prince for inspiration, leading to his contribution to the song “Little Red Corvette.” Blake Luxury Robin discusses the influence Prince had on Stevie’s music, noting, “Prince was very inspired by both Sly and the Family Stone and Fleetwood Mac” ([46:58]).

Final Reflections on Stevie's Legacy

As the episode draws to a close, Chelsea and her guests reflect on Stevie’s enduring legacy. Melinda Thompson asserts that Stevie has effectively written her memoir through her music, maintaining her elusive persona: “she has done it in her magical language” ([69:48]). Blake Luxury Robin concurs, appreciating how Stevie’s art transcends the need for a traditional memoir: “she is beautifully living in this world that every now and then, we get to tap into” ([70:13]).

Melinda emphasizes Stevie’s strategic choice to keep her personal story veiled within her songs, preserving her mystique and ensuring continuous fascination: “the mission statement” ([69:48]).

Conclusion

This episode of Glamorous Trash offers a compelling narrative that intertwines Stevie Nicks's personal struggles, musical genius, and the enigmatic allure that has captivated fans for decades. By dissecting key songs and pivotal moments in her life, Chelsea Devantez and her expert guests illuminate the intricate tapestry of Stevie’s memoir embedded within her music, providing listeners with a profound understanding of the legendary artist.

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Notable Quotes:

• Melinda Thompson:
  “I'm ready to be. To begin again. And it is so sad with the Klonopin addiction.” ([57:34])

• Blake Luxury Robin:
  “...dreams keep coming, even when you forget to feel.” ([43:12])

• Melinda Thompson:
  “she has done it in her magical language.” ([69:48])

• Melinda Thompson:
  “No one knows how I feel what I say unless you read between my lines.” ([94:40])

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Additional Resources:

• Melinda Thompson’s Podcast: Hello, Witches – A Stevie Nicks-focused podcast.
• Blake Luxury Robin: Available on TikTok as L U X X U R Y and hosts the One Song podcast with Diallo Riddle on SiriusXM and various platforms.

For more insights and deep dives into celebrity memoirs through music, subscribe to Glamorous Trash and explore the rich stories behind your favorite artists.

Transcript

[Chelsea Devontez]

This episode is brought to you by Google Gemini. With the Gemini app, you can talk live and have a real time conversation with an AI assistant. It's great for all kinds of things, like if you want to practice for an upcoming interview, ask for advice on things to do in a new city, or brainstorm creative ideas. And by the way, this script was actually read by Gemini. Download the Gemini app for iOS and Android today. Must be 18 to use Gemini Live.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

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[Chelsea Devontez]

Welcome to Glamorous Trash. This is a celebrity memoir podcast where we dive into all of the glamour and all of the trash. I'm your host, Chelsea Devontez. I'm a TV writer, comedian, filmmaker, author, and sometimes I'm in stuff too. And today's episode is really special. It's the first of its kind on our show. It is a memoir. In the music episode, oftentimes people ask me who I want to write a memoir. Rihanna, Sandra Bullock. So many people. But Stevie Nicks has also been at the top of my dream list. Stevie has a really special place in my life. My best friend who I wrote about brought me to the depths of Stevie and Fleetwood Mac in my 20s and also backstage at the second city where I used to perform live shows. Every night we would play this video, this YouTube of Stevie getting her makeup done, singing a version of Wild Heart. That. That version doesn't seem to exist anywhere. I don't know why it wasn't the version they put out. It's so beautiful. And we would play it to get ready for the show. So Stevie has a big role in my life, but I also, I don't. I didn't actually know that much about Stevie and so I was really excited to do this episode. Now, Stevie Nicks was part of the legendary Fleetwood Mac, whose 1977 album Rumors is one of the top ten best selling albums of all time. She's also the first woman to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame, once for Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and again in 2019 for her work as a solo artist. Now, happy Halloween, my friends. This episode is coming out on October 31st. It is October. It is officially the Practical Magic Month. Who better to be with us in this moment than the head witch of all witches, which is Stevie Nicks. And that is why she's our first memoir. In the music episode. There's another reason. A big reason for this episode is because there's long been a rumor that Stevie did write a memoir called Wild Heart. For a moment, there was, like, an Amazon where it's like, this book is coming, and it's really hard to track down evidence of that being true. However, there are some very compelling Quora comments, but who's to say? But there's always been this, like, ooh, when's the memoir gonna come? Now. Now? In 2014, she told Billboard magazine this. The interviewer asked, why haven't you written a memoir? Stevie said, because I wouldn't be able to tell the whole truth. The world is not ready for my memoir. I guarantee you all of the men I hung out with are on their third wives by now, and all the wives are under 30. If I were to write what really happened between 1972 and now, a lot of people would be very angry with me. It'll happen someday, just not for a very long time. I won't write a book until everybody is so old, they no longer care. Like, I'm 90. I don't care that you write about me. I am loyal to a fault. And I have a certain loyalty to these people that I love because I do love them, and I will always love them. I cannot throw them under the bus until I absolutely know they will not care. The interviewer says, the world is ready, but the third wives are not ready. She says, the third wives are not ready. The husbands are not ready either. And here's where the interviewer reminds her of a quote that I gotta get art made of. This says Stevie, you once said, getting revenge is one reason it's good to be a writer. Incredible. Maybe that's my new religion. Also, Stevie is back. She's making new music. She just performed on snl. So I've been thinking about her a lot. And in other places, in other interviews, Stevie has made it very clear that. That her memoir is already in her music, if you really want it. And so our producer, Christina Lopez, made this incredible research document. Did so much work to bring you this episode here today. Christina also made a playlist of all the songs we're gonna mention, plus some deeper cuts. So we will link that in the show notes. And finally, I just wanna give you a trigger warning. We are gonna talk about very tough stuff like suicide and Drug use. So take care when listening. And now, let's begin the episode. Because if the memoir is in the music, then this podcast is here to uncover that memoir with some very special guests. Let's begin. Well, I've been afraid of changing.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Cause I've built my life around you.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I have two Stevie Nicks, absolute experts here with me today. First, Melinda Thompson, who is a Gen X steveologist and co host of hello Witches. It's a Stevie Nicks podcast where she and Leslie Nobles talk all things Stevie. Hi, Melinda. Thank you so much for being here.

[Melinda Thompson]

Hello. Thank you for having me.

[Chelsea Devontez]

It's such a dream. Another expert guest is Blake Luxury Robin, an LA based producer, songwriter and musicologist who is also the co host of One Song, one of the Atlantic Monthly's top 25 music podcasts. He is also the creator of songs in dozens of film and TV and games. And he's the guy who almost got sued by Don Henley for his white label remixes. And I want to say that Blake works on a podcast with our podcast engineer Marcus Hamm, who is also a musician. So that is also how we got connected here with you today. Blake Luxury is also huge on TikTok and your videos have been watched nearly a hundred million times. Hi, Blake. Thanks for being here.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Hello. My pleasure. Thanks, Chelsea. Thanks for having me.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay, I want to read a bit of Melinda, your note that you sent in to get both of your takes on it. Melinda, you sent this beautiful email. You said, Stevie insists her music will tell her story, but those stories are told in a language like no other. Enigmatic images conjure up those stories, but there is no narrator, a free floating cast of tormented lovers. No happy endings, sometimes no endings at all. Like a wish granted in a fairy tale, you are on your own when it comes to translating them. And that said, it takes a coven to write her story. And I'm honored to bring my cauldron to the party. That was just. It was such a beautiful email you sent. I love the themes and the point you drew out. And so I would love to hear you talk more about if Stevie's memoir really is in her music like she says. Melinda, tell me more.

[Melinda Thompson]

I think that Stevie's memoir is absolutely embedded in her music. You know, if you just go to one song lyric from Stand Back, she says, no one knows how I feel and what I say unless you read between my lines. And that's a mission statement if I've ever heard one. And that, to me, like I said, it's not for the. It's not for dilettante is not for, you know, dabblers. I mean, if you really want to get in there, you know, you gotta get out your spellbook. You really got to go there with her. So I've spent since I was a teen doing that.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Wow. You know, and I. I couldn't agree more. Which is also why we knew we had to bring the heavy hitters to this episode. I said I don't have. I don't have the full cauldron and coven to do this. Okay. Blake, do you agree that her memoir is in her music?

[Blake Luxury Robin]

I think that's a wonderful way of putting it. I think that memoirs can be so many things. Obviously. They can be salacious tales, they can be historical, they can be biographical. I think we have, though, enough from what is in the music to experience the music in the utmost richness that is available to us. I'm not sure I need more than what I have. I'm not sure it would make it better. It probably would not. The other thing, too, is that once you have anecdotes and stories, there comes a point where they start to inform your listening and change it. Possibly what was once abstract or what was once open ambiguous has more of a certainty to it, which changes it in a way that, again, is rarely better. I mean, it's nice to have information. We as humans crave knowledge. It's like an infantile need to know and understand, but. But there's something wonderful, and Stevie perfectly represents it when it is the pure art of it is when it is not certain, when it's ambiguous. So I think Stevie's art music, while commercially extraordinarily successful, which is part of her gift. And her trick is she's simultaneously making very personal, abstract music, but it's also massively popular, so that's part of her gift. I'd say.

[Chelsea Devontez]

That was beautifully said. Okay, I'm. I'm so excited to dive in. So let's do just a brief. Just the Wikipedia Stevie Nicks bio, and we'll get into the music. And I say that because, listen, I'm a fan. I love her, but I. I guess not enough.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

How dare you, Chelsea?

[Chelsea Devontez]

I know, right? First off, cast me off the podcast.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

I'm getting off this podcast right now.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Well, I didn't know. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and I am from the Southwest. I lived all over the Southwest. My family is in New Mexico. I now realize this must be why I was drawn to this desert witch, which is a different type of witch.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

That is interesting.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Wow.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Very true. Very Interesting.

[Chelsea Devontez]

So do you guys see her Southwesterness reflected in her life? Now that I'm looking through everything, I'm like, oh, it was always there, the long, dangly scarves. Like, that's New Mexico.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

It's Ojai, it's big, sir. There's, like, definitely kind of a thing. Yeah, there's a thing.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Melinda Thompson]

There was a time in the early 70s where she favored turquoise jewelry, but then again, the whole.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Everyone did. Yeah.

[Melinda Thompson]

Everyone was doing a squash blot, some necklace. I mean.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, I never knew that that was her. It was actually her Arizona heritage. Okay. So then Stevie, she was born Stephanie, and it becomes Stevie because she couldn't pronounce her own name and would call herself td, which brought us Stevie, which I can't. I can't see her as a Stephanie. It feels like the perfect renaming. What do you think?

[Melinda Thompson]

I think that the name Stevie has, like, this really kind of a dynamic feel to it. It's kind of unusual, too. At the time, women didn't go by mannish names, so it built intrigue. It did nothing but help.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

I think you're right. I think the power is. Again with the lyrics, is the ambiguity. It's like. It's part of that same swirl of, like, is she. Isn't she? Is she a witch? What is she? Who is she? What is her gender? And you're right to say at the time, and this is literally David Bowie's own. So this is kind of in the air. You know, this is like that 1970s, early 70s. People are starting to play around with this in a fun way because of people like David Bowie. There is this opportunity to kind of mess around with gender and also gives her strength. It's kind of like a mask and a shield, because what I'm sure we'll be getting into. She's a person. There's clearly a lot of fear. She was sheltered as a child. I'm sure about to get into that. So it gives her some armor, is what it feels like to me, to have a name like that. It's like it's protection.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. Do you want to talk more about how she was sheltered? She said her mother Barbara was very protective of her, and she was kept in than most people were. But then later, her mom is going to let her move to Los Angeles with Lindsey Buckingham. So can you speak to that?

[Melinda Thompson]

Yeah, she was highly sheltered. Her mom, if you look at the photos of her as a child, she's dressed up like a doll. She looks like a doll that her mother dearly loved and they were very close. They were a tight little nuclear family. One girl, one boy. It's such the classic boomer setup.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Melinda Thompson]

And yeah, she was absolutely, absolutely sheltered. And that was very common too at the time, you know, Good girl, gotta be a good girl, you know, Think about how, you know, she blossomed in the 70s. I can't even reconcile that little baby doll, you know, with this. This witch, you know.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Right. I am no expert, but hearing you talk, it almost gives me that like homeschooled confidence or like really loved confidence where like you will go to a high school party and just start singing along with some guy in the corner who's playing guitar because your mother just deeply loved you and you're like, yes, I can do this.

[Melinda Thompson]

I could do anything. My mom said so.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, yeah. In my house I do whatever I want. Let me walk over and start harmonizing. Okay.

[Melinda Thompson]

Right.

[Chelsea Devontez]

So that is how she meets Lindsey Buckingham. That's how she tells it. He was playing California Dreamin, I believe, and he's. Oh my God. Dude. Who brings a guitar to a party.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Especially in the early 70s, before it's. It's before it becomes such a cliche that the Barbie movie has like a 10 minute sequence based on that one joke. Right? Yeah. Back then it was just cool. Just plain cool.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. Okay, so she joins his band, Fritz. They would open for Jimmy Hendrix and one of Stevie Nicks idols, Janis Joplin. I just have to pause here. So they're in college, but that's still pretty young. They haven't moved to la. Like that's kind of is incredible success, it seems.

[Melinda Thompson]

Well, I think that they're the hot local band where they were, you know.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Melinda Thompson]

So when the band comes to town, Jimmy or whoever, they're looking for the hot local act to open. And this was an era where some concerts were like mini festivals in a three hour block where they roll one band in, roll another band in, roll another band in, and it was all over like within a few hours. So it sounds like a big deal and it is, obviously, but it was kind of how things were pretty much done.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I see. Okay.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

And also then as now, actually it hasn't changed that much. The headliner doesn't want to be upstaged. And by the way, also maybe drawing a local crowd. There's lots of little considerations. And by the way, they won't ask for very much money. So there's also a lot of like, it takes a lot of boxes to get like the local, you know, the kids that are popular around their School. Yeah. It fills a lot of goals.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I see. Okay. And they were at San Jose State, which is around the San Francisco area, so that makes sense. They were like, all in that area. Okay. So she then drops out of college. She calls up her parents to say, I'm going to LA with Lindsay. They have left the band, Fritz. They have fallen in love while recording an album together. We are moving to Los Angeles. She tells her mom. And she said they gave her her blessing. But they did say, you are financially cut off, though. Which, listen, I respect. Respect it hard. And she's like, okay, we're moving to LA. So Stevie and Lindsay moved to LA in 1973. They signed a record deal with Polydora Records. Stevie would then support herself and Lindsay during this time.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

That part always messes me up a little bit.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, please talk more about that. Because she said in Oprah's Masterclass, which, you know, I loved watching it. She said, I knew he couldn't work. She was like, that guy can play guitar, he can't do anything else. But I have other skill sets. So I paid the rent and he made music for me.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

That's just the 50s seeping in, you know, as much as she was a feminist powerhouse, there's also, she can't escape the world she's coming from and the life she's coming from.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Well, I, I, I want to hear more because a part of me was like, oh, no, she's paying for this fuck boy from the jump. Like, this is doomed. Like, get a job. But then when she said he would make my songs for me, I'd say, here's a song, here's an idea. I'd go make money, I'd come home, he'd have the whole song set up for me. And I loved that. And then I thought, maybe he's the trophy girl. Like, I don't know.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

I mean, they're setting up this infantilizing relationship. She's already a year older than him, which in high school is a big deal. And probably their whole lives, that's always there. Even though when you meet 50s, when it's a woman, and also when you meet young. I think, also, I think to this day, when I see, like, old high school people from high school, the seniors, when I was a freshman, it's still like a big deal. They're still so much older than me.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, yeah, good point.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

But the infantilization of the younger man and, like, doing cleaning jobs so that he can just focus on his art, it's like, just, it's bleh.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. Well. And, Melinda, this leads us to your song pick, Sorcerer. Can you take us through this song? Because it was originally written in the 1970s while she was making music for this Buckingham Knicks album.

[Melinda Thompson]

Correct? Yeah. You can actually find a demo of it out there on YouTube. The demo with Lindsay and how it originally appeared. This song is. Well, before this was where they had, like, just the hope of having fame. And this song I consider just, like, so eerie because she actually somehow sees ahead to Fleetwood Mac. The lyrics start out in, like, this desperate haze. You know, I'm tired, I'm thirsty, I'm miserable. She also speaks of the addiction, and this song does have a lot of addiction kind of imagery in it. She says, you know, Sorcerer, who is the master. This part just kind of kills me a little bit. She says, man and woman on a star stream in the middle of a snow dream Like a cocaine.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Little cocaine Y.

[Melinda Thompson]

Exactly. Yes, that is. And this is before. Before she was walking around with a little packet of it in her boot. Yeah, this is way before that. But it's kind of interesting, though, because Stevie and Lindsay, when they were a cute little couple, they were California Southwestern kids. They both loved the idea of snow. And they would, like, cuddle together. There's a picture somewhere of them, like, cuddle together and pretending to ice skate.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

They would pretend to ice skate? Not actually ice skate. They would just move around.

[Melinda Thompson]

Yeah, they were just, like, swaying back and forth and holding their hands like little, tiny, you know, ice skaters, you know, so cute. But, yeah, it's like man and woman in the middle of a snow dream. Well, they kind of were literally having that in their personal iconography between each other, you know, so there's a lot of levels for that.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Yeah. And then show me the high life Put you on ice. Like, there's a lot of cocaine in this song.

[Melinda Thompson]

But then again, they have that beautiful little thing together. It could be either one. But then we're talking about the high life, and we're talking about luxury, and we're talking about how much it takes from you. She saw this coming, and it's so eerie.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And the high life is they're going to join Fleetwood Mac and go from her being a cleaning woman, barely making enough money for both of them, to them being wildly rich and millionaires and where that takes them. Okay, fascinating. Okay, so the two of them have moved to Los Angeles. They put out this record, Buckingham knicks. And in 1973, their label decides it's not a commercial success, and the two of them are dropped from the label. And then Lindsay got a gig playing guitar on the Everly Brothers tour. And Stevie traveled with him to Aspen for the gig. And she stayed at a place that had a piano where Stevie could overlook the Aspen mountains. And this is where she writes Landslide. So now we're into the song Landslide. And this is an inflection point in both Stevie's career and her rocky relationship with Lindsay. And it's about how the relationship is breaking. Melinda, what is the memoir about their relationship that's hidden in Landslide?

[Melinda Thompson]

I think that there's the feeling of being alone there. She's standing alone in a cold place again. The snow imagery's coming back again, coming back to Lindsay a little bit. So I can see, like, that backdrop being kind of like she's in the middle of that snow dream in a way.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Melinda Thompson]

And she's just questioning the. This is. If this is the path, if this is truly the path, is this something that is going to lead me to a love? Is this going to lead me into a pinnacle of some kind, career wise? And it's kind of neat when you hear the live version of this song, because when you hear the live versions, you know, will I handle the changes of my life? She pauses and she says, I don't know. You know, I don't know. I mean, it's implied in the song, but when you hear it live, there's just this poignance of it. And she still doesn't know, you know, even as it's played later on in life.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Melinda Thompson]

So I think that she was very alone there. She looks, you know, to the mirror in the sky. The mirror in the sky is the moon, you know, what is love? Can the child within my heart rise above, you know? Or is this just going to make me old? Is this going to age me living this life with this man? You know, it's just like there's so many things you could think about here in terms of, well, my relationship with him. What's it going to do to me emotionally? What. Where is it going to take me? I mean, there it's. It's almost like the song is just like she's throwing down tarot cards for herself, just trying to see what could become of all of this.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Melinda Thompson]

So it's a beautiful song.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And. Okay, I love that take. Blake, what does this song say to you about this time in her life and her relationship?

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Well, I'm just struck by. Especially given how early on it is in her songwriting career and in her relationship with Lindsay, another through line ambiguity, being One of them, another through line is just. She's just, like, not sure. She's just not sure. And she's not sure kind of all the time, her whole life. It really is like a constant theme in the lyrics, in her life choices, like the marriage to the friend to help, but then not really in love. By the way, I love the fact. A fun fact for maybe listeners who don't know that she dated not one, but two members of the Eagles. This is, like, really funny to me.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Wait, which two members?

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Henley and Walsh, I think. Right?

[Chelsea Devontez]

Don Henley.

[Melinda Thompson]

There was a Glenn Frey moment.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Oh, wait, was that the third one?

[Melinda Thompson]

Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

It was three. It was three Eagles, so I thought it was two Eagles.

[Melinda Thompson]

Three Eagles.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I thought it was two Eagles.

[Melinda Thompson]

No, there was a Glenn moment. There was a Glenn moment.

[Chelsea Devontez]

How many Eagles are in the Eagles? Isn't it four?

[Blake Luxury Robin]

The Eagles had five members.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Five.

[Melinda Thompson]

They had five.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

The rotating bass player.

[Melinda Thompson]

The other two guys who are like.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Yeah, the other two guys are like, what the fuck, dude? What about me, bro?

[Chelsea Devontez]

Like, what were you saying? She called Jo.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

She referred to Jo Walsh as her, quote, greatest love.

[Melinda Thompson]

What? Yes. The love of her life.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Indecisiveness. And her. She never finds the one. Maybe she did with Lindsay, but clearly he wasn't. We all know this. They weren't right for each other. He wasn't right for her. And just one thing. Cause I found it in my research. I hadn't seen this before, but really, in this discussion of what we're having right now, she does talk about the one time, apparently, Melinda, maybe you know about this, too. She went to a psychologist. So I'll just read this quote. The one time I went to psychologist, who said to her, I think that you sound like you're really a caretaker. And I said, I am. When people come to my house, I'm the one that makes sure the bed is beautifully made. I do that. No one does that for me. I'm the caretaker. She's the caretaker. Working, so Lindsay doesn't have to. She's, like, not really living for herself in a lot of ways.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, that really struck me. This is a slight tangent. I'm just absolutely curious. We did Linda Ronstadt's memoir on this podcast, and she is credited for kind of making the Eagles.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

They were her backing bands.

[Melinda Thompson]

They were her backing bag.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. And then they were like, hey, can we try and have a band? And she was like, go for it, boys. Did Linda and Stevie have a relationship at all? Cause that's not something I'VE ever come across, but it sounds like.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

I don't know. That's a great question.

[Chelsea Devontez]

They've got the same taste in musicians.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Yeah.

[Melinda Thompson]

Well, they were not. No. Not great friends. I think I've only seen, like, one picture of them together.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Melinda Thompson]

Oddly enough, the one celebrity I see her pictured with very frequently is Bonnie Raitt. It looked like she and Bonnie Raitt were party girls.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Love that so much. Just closing this Landslide chapter where she and Lindsay are not in a good place, but they're going to stay together for a long time. One of the lyrics that stood out to me again, having heard her on the Oprah Masterclass talking about how she built her life around Lindsay. And even though it was a bad relationship, she valued the music more. And so she said she was gonna try and keep that relationship together no matter what, because the music was more important than their personal happiness. And so the lyric. Well, I've been afraid of changing because I built my life around you. Sort of like I am outgrowing you. But I don't want that because then we're gonna break up and not be able to make this. Would you say that's right.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

She already knows this. At 23 or 24, whenever she wrote it, she already knew.

[Melinda Thompson]

This is young.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay.

[Melinda Thompson]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay. That brings us to our next song, Rhiannon. So this is also released on the Fleetwood Mac 1975 album and written around the time of Landslide. And again, this is before they joined Fleetwood Mac, because we're talking about the future album. But Stevie is writing these two songs before she joins the band. And Stevie first found out about the name Rhiannon after a novel named Triad, A Novel of the Supernatural by Mary Leader. So this is like more. More witch stuff. And the novel is about a woman who is possessed by a witch named Rhiannon, which is just made this name so popular. Stevie said, in the beginning of my career, the whole idea that some wacky, creepy people were writing, you're a witch, you're a witch, was so arresting. Stevie nicks told the LA Times in 2014. And here I am like, no, I'm not. I just wear black. Cause it makes me look thinner, you idiots. Can we speak to the witchness? Because first, let me just say this. This is. This is the kind of witch I like where she's, like, pretty trashy and is like, fuck off. But damn. Is wearing black not the original magic trick? I will wear black to appear thinner, you idiots. So. So what do you guys think about the witchiness of Stevie? Obviously, she's attracted to it. Obviously, she later leans into it, but at first she's like, I am not this person.

[Melinda Thompson]

Okay? It's just like you doss protest too much. You literally wrote your first song on your first. Your very first song on a huge album about a witch.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Melinda Thompson]

And then on the COVID of your next song, huge, epic album, you are literally dressed as a witch. And I think that a comment like that is just meant, you know, probably out of the annoyance of that, because I'll tell you, back then, that's all people would say about her. When I started, like, being a fan of hers, people would be like, oh, she's a witch. She's a witch. And I'm like, yeah, isn't that cool?

[Chelsea Devontez]

Oh, my God. By the way, if anyone becomes a fan of this podcast, please say, she's a witch. She's a witch. She's a witch.

[Melinda Thompson]

And, yeah, I mean, it was a rampant thing that was said, you know, Come on. I think she was just probably frustrated with all of that being said about her. Yeah. That's the only take I could get on it, because it's just like, you've come on.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Well, also, you know, witches famously burned at the stake, people afraid of them. Maybe the witch doesn't want you to know. She bewitching behind the scene, that is.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

I think you guys are both right. I think she's playing with it. I think we're coming out of an era again. Kind of think about. Think temporally what's happening, like, contemporaneously. Like, we've got Jimmy Page playing with witchcraft. We've got, like, all the Aleister Crowley, all the Zeppelin album covers with runes and mystery.

[Melinda Thompson]

Oh, my God, those are so scary, too.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

She's doing a similar thing. It is in the air to kind of play around with this. And I think you're right, Melinda, to point. Look, one of the things about this work that we do, which is trying to make quote, unquote sense out of artists in our world, part of the fun of it is that we will never get to any singular truth, because, first of all, I don't even know that really exists. Does an artist exactly know what they're going for? Have they communicated it perfectly? Did we receive it perfectly? That doesn't ever happen. But also, there's the part where one interview to the next, they're just fucking around. They're just having fun because they're bored or they don't like the tone, or they're tired or they're hungover, and then what I think happens maybe more in the time because it was newer then and maybe now. Sabrina Carpenter just sort of was born with the sophistication of like ambiguity is your friend. It just becomes part of the magic that you're building that I. Oh, wait, you said this last time. Oh, wait, what was that first song you sang? That actually is helpful. That actually is part of the fun that you're building. This sort of intertextual exchange with the audience and with the publications and interviewers. There's the music and then there's all this other stuff. And the questions help you. The questions make it more interesting.

[Chelsea Devontez]

That makes so much sense. And also witches. Gorgeous wear long sleeve dresses. Flowing stuff.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

That too.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Two things can be true at the same time. Where she's like, these fashions look good on me and sure, I'll cast a spell on you. I also believe she is a witch. And I will pull more evidence later in this episode.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Her publishing name, by the way, is Welsh Witch Music. So, like she's fully embraced it.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay, come on. So in this moment, Fleetwood Mac, it's a very long story, but the short story is they hear Lindsey playing and they're like, hey, you should join the band. You're a great guitarist. And he's like, I don't join unless Stevie joins. And they're like, ugh, okay. Fucking hilarious in hindsight, you idiots. But they sign on to the band and Fleetwood Mac makes this self titled record, Fleetwood Mac in 1975. And it's a huge hit. And they become millionaires. Their whole life changes. And she has held this relationship together with Lindsay so that they could be a part of this, they could make their music. So this brings us to the song Dreams. By the time Fleetwood Mac was getting ready to record their biggest album, rumors, in early 1976, Stevie broke up with Lindsey. You know, they had never married. And coincidentally, the other couple in the band, Christine and John McVie, for people who might be getting lost, also divorced in 1976. And Mick Fleetwood. Mick Fleetwood. So he's the Fleetwood and you know, Fleetwood Mac, he is divorcing his wife who had an affair with a previous guitarist. So this is where they're at when they're making rumors. Okay, we're going to take a quick break right now and we'll be right back. Thrive Cosmetics is my favorite makeup. They have thousands of five star reviews, they're cruelty free, and they have my brand new favorite product that I have used every single day since I got it. It is their brilliant eye brightener, the shade Stella. I use this in conjunction with their Liquid Lash Extensions mascara and it is gorgeous. I get so many compliments. It truly highlights your eyes and creates the most beautiful eyeshadow that has depth. Brighten your holiday look with Thrive Cosmetics Luxury Beauty that gives back. Right now you can get an exclusive 20% off your first order at thrivecosmetics.com glamorous trash that's thrive Cosmetics C A U S E M E t I c s.com glamorous trash for 20 off your first order, go get that brilliant eye brightener shade Stella the holidays are.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

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[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay, let's dive back into the episode. Lindsay wrote about their breakup in the song Go youo Own Way, and he wrote a second breakup song titled Secondhand News. And then Stevie wrote two songs about the breakup, Dreams, which reached the top spot on Billboard 100, and the other song we will talk about later. So let's talk about dreams. Give me your take on this song and what it says. What is the memoir she's writing about Lindsay and the breakup when she writes Dreams?

[Melinda Thompson]

Well, I think that this is such a graceful goodbye, given the acrimony that was expressed in Go youo Own Way. I mean, Go your own way is. It's mean. It's a mean song, he says. You know, packing up, stacking up is all you ever want to do. And that infuriated her. Yeah, for that to be sung again and again. But hers is like a graceful goodbye. You know, your loneliness is something you're going to have to deal with. You're going to have to grow somehow. You know, these reassurances like, well, thunder only happens when it's raining. And for her too, her thought is, well, players only love you when they're playing. And this is the thing about Stevie Nicks. Like, the points of view keep jumping around. It's like, who is she saying that to? What does this mean in this context? I feel as though, you know, she is kind of like a reassurance to Lindsay. You know, bad things are going to happen, but it's, you know, it's going to pass. And for me, players only love you when you're playing. Lindsay only loves you because you have something he can use. And there. I think that she was very cognizant of that. Maybe not an only, you know, exclusively. My contributions define my relationship. I don't think it's quite that extreme, but if you're gonna write a song and, you know, you have to have to be really clear.

[Chelsea Devontez]

So you think players only love you when they're playing? Cause this could go a few ways. And, Blake, I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Melinda, you're saying, like, he only loved her because he could get something out of her, like the music, the muse, the whatever. When I read that, I think he's playing around and thinks he loves her because he likes toying with emotions. Blake, how do you read it?

[Blake Luxury Robin]

I mean, I'm processing it in real time, thinking about it. It's clearly. It's her version of a breakup song. I like what you're saying. That it's sort of the softer retort, kind of the more sophisticated, cultured chill. Like, I'm not gonna, like, respond to your anger by rising to your anger and, like, you know, causing nuclear war. Look, there's something also. I just wanted to talk for a minute about the music, because there's something. It's also soft, and it's very simple. There's only two chords in this entire song. It just goes. I think it's F to G. But that would sound boring in theory were it not for the fact that the melodies are so haunting and she has these little jumps. It's only right, like, these moments that you're just like, chills up your spine. And of course. And we haven't actually addressed this yet, it's sort of important, like, there's the factor of harmony, because she is. As a songwriter, this is actually the rule more than the exception with Stevie Nicks songs. They're not complicated. I mean, unlike a Joni Mitchell of the era, whose lyricism is extraordinarily similarly not lyrical. Poetic, I would say, is a better word, and open to interpretation. But Joni Mitchell, she's got jazz, and she's a sophisticated performer as well. As a player, Stevie would never pretend to be like a Joni Mitchell, instrumentally or harmonically. She doesn't know those chords. But what she does know is storytelling. And what she does know is melody and harmony. And a lot of this comes from, I think, just in my reading, that her earliest musical loves were all of these sort of country and folk. And the richness of all of that music and country is in the storytelling. And then the chills up your spine come from the three or four part harmonies, the girl groups. She loved the Shangri Las. She loved all that Cherelle's Motown stuff. So in this song, kind of part of what I'm. When I listen to dreams and it takes me on a journey. Part of it is because musically you have the contrast between simple two chords, but then the storytelling can really fly as a result of it, because you're not. I love Joni Mitchell, but it's a little distracting sometimes. It's like. It's a little bit like, where the fuck are we going? Are we coming home ever again? Like, there's 50 chords. None of them are the same.

[Melinda Thompson]

I think you're right. I think that what we have here is like a very simple structure. Beautifully adorned.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

That's a great word.

[Melinda Thompson]

You know, just beautifully adorned with those harmonies. They're harmonies. Stevie, Chris and Lindsay, just so special, so unique altogether. And there's just so much subtlety within there.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay, let me pose this to you both in the memoir of it all. Pull a thread here. Would you say being able to harmonize well is the caretaking of a melody?

[Blake Luxury Robin]

That's beautiful. I love that. That is great.

[Melinda Thompson]

I like that a lot. Yeah, it honors the melody, it supports it, it lifts it. Yeah, I would say absolutely that would be the caretaking of the mouth.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

And it is, again, foundational to the kind of music she makes and loves. Because going back, Joni Mitchell's such a wonderful contrast for her because they're contemporary, but, like, you can't. You can harmonize Joni Mitchell, but you would need to, like, sit in a room with the group and write it all out with charts. It's complicated versus, but importantly, the tradition of folk music, which is intended for folks, you know, it doesn't require someone sings a melody. And once. Once you learn. Because this is what happens when you learn music or, you know, people in choirs, in church. You learn where that third is. You learn where that fifth is. I can give you any simple melody. Any other two people can jump in with their parts and harmonize it instantly, like, without requiring Sitting down and working it out. Joni Mitchell stuff. You can harmonize it, but it is complicated.

[Chelsea Devontez]

It's such a. Fascinating to learn about this through that comparison, too. Okay, so into her life story, she and Lindsay have broken up, but this album is extremely successful. And also lots of cocaine and drugs at this time. And that's also leading to, obviously, a lot of things going on in the group. And around 1979 to 1981, Stevie starts working on her solo album, Belladonna. And this is where she writes Edge of Seventeen, which. I love that it was a Southern woman saying, we met at the age of 17. But she heard it as edge of 17, which is incredible. And on this album is also after the Glitter fades. And this is sort of. Is it a bit of a psychic moment in after the Glitter Fades where she can see her future. She's again writing about what's gonna take place in her life. But in that current moment, would you say. That's right.

[Melinda Thompson]

I would concur. This song was actually written before they were famous. This one she actually wrote for Dolly Parton.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Whoa.

[Melinda Thompson]

Yeah. This was going to be something that she was going to try to sell. She was at a point where she was thinking of selling songs because they needed the money.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah.

[Melinda Thompson]

So she had thought of Dolly Parton when she had written this song. So. Yeah. I mean, after the glitter fades, the lines, you know, the timeless face of a rock and roll woman while her heart breaks, but the dreams keep coming, even when you forget to feel. I think that is extraordinary. Those two lines right there are extraordinary because she will often use the word dream or dreams in other songs later because she is actually referencing them. She is referencing the song Dreams. She's got another song I sing for the Things. It's just like a bonus track someplace. She says, you think I have everything, but I'm living on dreams and chains. Okay, that's chain. The chain from Fleetwood Mac. In dreams, she's literally living off those royalties. Wow. So, yeah, okay. For this. Yeah, for this song, you know, she's like. Her heart is breaking. She still has to deal with this dream. She still has to go out there and sing dreams. And, you know, she can't even feel anymore.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. I'm just thinking about her relationship with, like, you know, I mean, she's lost so much, but also she's doing her solo thing and. And how much, you know, how much she's changing finally.

[Melinda Thompson]

Yeah. It's like almost like a mirror that. That looks at herself older as an older woman. It's so Strange. But, yeah, this is certainly what she ended up coming through. She ended up being this timeless woman who's had her heart broken, and she still has to do the, you know, live through these dreams as the glitter fades. It's the only life she's ever known. You know, she has to keep going.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And that brings us to our next song. Stand back. Every time people have said, you know, who do you want to write a memoir? And I've said, Stevie Nicks, it's because I'm thinking of this exact story that we were about to talk about. And this is Blake's pick. And basically, the day that Stevie's solo album, Belladonna, reached number one on the Billboard 200, Stevie found out that her best friend from childhood, Robin Anderson, had leukemia, and Robyn was pregnant at the time. And so she chose not to get treatment for leukemia so that she could give birth to her son. And after giving birth, she passes away days later. This is the part of the story that I've heard Stevie talk about it, and I still can't wrap my head around it. So her best friend dies in 1982. Three months later, Stevie marries Robin's widower, another classically female name on a man, Kim Anderson.

[Melinda Thompson]

Right.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And basically, she said that she was grieving so hard and wanted to protect Robyn's child and life so much that she just. Just, I'm gonna say, maniacally made this marriage happen.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

There's that caretaker again, right?

[Chelsea Devontez]

She's the caretaker, yes, but caretaker in a. Like, that's a dark way. Like, I. I will joke, like, should my husband find a beautiful love with someone I've never met, I may come back to haunt. Who's to say? Up to me. I may be haunting. And so it's. This is just such a wild choice. Blake, please tell us more of this story and how this leads to your song choice.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Well, I think it's a great setup for the song choice because. And she tells this story, I think, if not every show she ever does, certainly nearly all of them. It's come to the point where you can almost see her rolling her eyes out of this story again. But, of course, it's an incredible story, and the story is this. And, by the way, just a little bit of a connective tissue. So we're about to introduce a new character into this story, and this is an important person in Stevie's life, But this gentleman, Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson, not to give it away too soon, but he also finds Stevie's an important person in his life as well. What's really interesting. I'm a huge Prince fan as much as I'm a Stevie fan. Same. Yeah. When you go to Paisley park on the wall, he's got this mural of a lot of his idols and heroes and a lot of them maybe you'd expect. Okay, there's the Jimi Hendrix, there's the Carlos Santana, but Fleetwood Mac. Stevie Nicks is on this wall too. And part of that is the songwriting. Part of it is also, though, the makeup of the band, really. Interestingly, Prince was very inspired by both Sly and the Family Stone and Fleetwood Mac. To have a multiracial women like the combination of people, which was pretty revolutionary. Sly did it first, but Fleetwood Mac kind of did it next in a way. So the Revolution, Prince's band at the the time, is inspired by that. But also Prince was inspired by the last song we talked about, which is edge of 17. Just like the white winged dove, the song sounds like she's singing ooh, baby. Or is it who? Is it who? Or Ooh. I've never quite figured that out.

[Melinda Thompson]

Ooh, it's Ooh.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

But Prince, of course, then goes on to write When Doves Cry. And Stevie has talked about how she's connected the dots there. She thinks that's Prince's response to Edge of Seventeen. So as a connective tissue to the stand back story which we're about to get into, she's gotten married. As Stevie has told the story many times in concert. They are driving up to. And by the way, I looked up the dates on this just to be sure they're married on January 29, 1983. And she talks about how on the road to Santa Barbara for their honeymoon, like they're driving to begin their honeymoon. Song comes on and it's Little Red Corvette. And Little Red Corvette came out on February 9th. But maybe it was on the radio kind of early, you know, the radio station playing it. But also, I think Kim worked for Warner Brothers, the record label. Maybe he had an advanced tape. This is down a rabbit hole, which is what I do on my show. One song. So just a little taste. Sorry, I can't help it. I'll get to the main part and then I will stop talking.

[Chelsea Devontez]

No, this is great.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

So she doesn't know that it's Prince, but something's happening to her. She's like, I hear a melody. So the opening chords to Little Red Corvette. Should I just play it? I just brought a guitar just to like, kind of illustrate this.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. Oh, my gosh, please.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

So little red Corvette. Guess I should have known the way you bought your car sideways it wouldn't last. And she starts singing with the opening chords before he started singing. Or maybe in between, it's unclear. But she starts singing. No one looks as I walked by Just an invitation would have been just fine Said no to him again and again. You're the kind of person believes in making out once. Love them and leave them fast. I guess I must be dumb Shed a pocket full of horses Trojans, some of them loose but it was Saturday night. I guess that makes it all right. You say, what have I got to lose, honey? I say, whoa. It is the same set of chords. She wrote a new melody over it. Not only is this technically legal, it's extraordinarily normal. It is literally the basis of jazz music is chord changes that already exist, that somebody writes a new melody over it. You have George Gershwin, I Got Rhythm. And then you have Charlie Parker. But in Stevie's mind, she feels like, okay, I owe him something. I do need to connect with Prince because this is something he's a part of. Again, legally, not necessary, but wonderfully for our storytelling ear. As the recipient of hearing the tale as she tells it. She's like. She tells Kim to turn, pull over. We gotta get a pencil. We gotta get a tape recorder. They go buy a cassette recorder so she doesn't lose the idea. And they turn around and they drive back to la. There is no honeymoon. And they go to the studio and they're working it out with a band. And then she's like, something's missing. I gotta. Does anyone. We gotta get Prince's number. Somebody tracked down Prince's number. An hour later, somebody comes back with a phone number. She picks up the phone. She goes, prince, this is Stevie Nicks. And Prince goes, stevie Nicks, this is Prince. Prince is from Minneapolis. She's like, what's it like there? Is it really cold? And he's like, no, I'm in la. So she's like, what are you doing? Can you come down now? He's like, sure. And he comes in. Long story short, he performs the parts. Now, there's some ambiguity about which parts he's performing, in my opinion. From what I understand, I'm pretty sure he's programming the drum machine. Because before this, there's no drum machines on any Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks records. There's one or two other songs on this record that does. And in that era, that's hard. Ish to do. People aren't really doing it, and rock bands are anti it. So Prince probably programmed the drum machine.

[Melinda Thompson]

Yes, I think you're right. That. That was certainly the case. The drum machine. I think that little guitar solo, that clean guitar solos, that part, that funky bit, that's classic Prince. That funky little piece right there is classic prints.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

I think so too.

[Melinda Thompson]

But here's the biggest tell, though, is the keyboard that kind of. That vibrating do, do, do.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

He's playing 16th notes with his fingers. Because it's being performed. It's not a sequencer. You would have. Georgia Maroder would have been doing, like. If you think of a Georgiom Rotor song like I Feel Love Donna Summer. You're hearing these pummeling. Da da da da da da da. That's being done by a sequencer, not a human. It's been programmed the synth player for a rock band. The parts they're playing are more melodic. They're chords, they're little, like maybe solos. But this is a percussive. It's coming from a tradition that's more funk and disco. And very much what's in Prince's blood. I think he's doing the bass line. Da da da da da.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay, I wanna pull a couple things out from this. So first I just wanna really highlight that Stevie has married her best friend's widow three months after her death. And on the night of her wedding is writing a song with Prince. So let's just make sure that's clear.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

I think she made the right choice. Sex. They weren't gonna have it anyway. There was not gonna be any sex that night anyway.

[Chelsea Devontez]

You know, I think this is the only choice that I can get behind is like, we know we're not really married, right? Let's go write a song with Princess.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

So I love no one's bone in Santa Barbara. We're writing a fucking hit with Prince.

[Melinda Thompson]

No, no. In fact, they got annulled. It wasn't even like a divorce. It was just like this never even happened.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Right? Because like three months later, she says she, like, wakes up from a fog and is like, da fuck.

[Melinda Thompson]

What did I do?

[Chelsea Devontez]

Which I'm very grateful for. Okay, to pull it back to Stevie's memoir. Cause we're still finishing the story. They separate three months later. This is gonna be Stevie's only marriage. A maniacal three month. And I also want to call out something our producer Christina said. Which is that she wrote a song called Stand Back on the night of her wedding. She is a witch. But, you know, sometimes witches be fucked up too. You know what I mean? Sometimes they don't. They don't know what's going on until later. You know where she is singing a song about standing back from this fucking marriage that she got herself into in a song, but not actually taking her own message, but certainly knowing it. It's coming to her from somewhere. Now, Robin's son. Robin and Kim's son would later reunite with Stevie. And she said she put him through college and they're good now. She explains everything to him. There's obviously so much more to that. But this brings us to our eighth song, which is welcome to the room, Sarah. Now, for 10 years, Stevie used cocaine. And it was so intense. I remember in elementary school, people telling me that Stevie took cocaine through a straw in her asshole. I have no reference for that other than that's how the myth got.

[Melinda Thompson]

No, that was a huge urban legend.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, exactly. I was like, that's just. How would I don't. Okay. So Stevie really struggled with cocaine use. It's really intense. There was obviously a lot of, like, urban legends and myths about it. It becomes a story. In Fleetwood Mac's album credits, they would include a thanks to their dealer. This is how much it was influencing the music. And this is. This story always catches me because no one stops down to talk about this in what I've seen, which is that a plastic surgeon tells her there is a huge hole in her nose and she has to stop snorting coke or else she might die. And no one ever stops to ask the question I'm going to ask you both, which is, so she was getting a nose job in 1986. Like, what do you mean a plastic surgeon advised you to stop snorting coke? What was that? What was that?

[Melinda Thompson]

Do I not had the nose job?

[Chelsea Devontez]

No, I know she hasn't had enough job, but is it because she went to get one and he said, you can't. You have no nose cavity. For me, why is plastic surgeon looking up Stevie Nicks's nose? This has not been answered for me.

[Melinda Thompson]

She's always been, I think, very vain. She loves her. She loves her nose. She loves her profile. If you've not. If you looked at it, she does have a pretty unique, cool looking nose.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I think she's stunning.

[Melinda Thompson]

Yeah, she is.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Why is she at that plastic surgeon?

[Melinda Thompson]

Yeah, you know what, though? It's clear that she's done some since then, you know. Oh, yeah. So, but maybe in the course of a routine kind of pre.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, your routine checkup at the plastic surgeon, you know. Yeah, okay, I'll move on. But she then enters treatment at the Betty Ford center for cocaine addiction in 1986. I also want a new Dringo Square. Should be added to our podcast Dringo, which is, you know, you talk about Betty Ford and how incredible she was and how much she changed her life. Tammy Wynette was there at the time, and Fleetwood Mac is working on their Tango in the Night album. And Stevie would contribute to this album with her song, welcome to the room, Sarah, because she used the name Sarah to check in.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

This is a dream, right? Deja vu. Did I come here on my own? Oh, I see. Welcome to the room, Sarah.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And so she gets out of rehab at the Betty Ford Center. And for some reason, and she talks about this, she goes to a psychiatrist. They want her to see the psychiatrist. And the psychiatrist is like, are you ever gonna do cocaine again? And she says, absolutely not. I promise. Betty Ford, my life is turned around. And the psychiatrist is, okay, but just in case, I'm gonna prescribe you Klonopin. I'm gonna give you a lot of Klonopin as you have just left rehab. And I think you should take three Klonopins a day. And after a year, she's beginning to put on weight. She loses interest in work. We know that Stevie was wearing black to appear thinner. Weight is a big issue. This is also, I think, why cocaine was, like, the drug of choice for many women. It was a vanity thing often. And she then, eight years into this, she's taking Klonopin all the time. She senses something was wrong and instructs in Oprah's Masterclass, she says, her friend in our research, we think it's her personal assistant. I'm curious if, you know, she instructs her personal assistant or friend Glenn to take everything she takes in a day to see what happens.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

That's awful. A beef eater.

[Melinda Thompson]

That's absolutely medieval. It's like a poison taster.

[Chelsea Devontez]

It is medieval. What I'll give to her is that she has been on Klonopin for seven years at this point. So, like, I don't think her. I think it's kind of a miracle. She was even like, is this dosage wrong? And the way she used Glenn as a lab rat, not great. Anyways, Glenn falls down at the end of the day and believes he's dying. They go to the hospital, and Glenn's like, I can't survive off this. And they go to the psychiatrist, and she's like, hey, all these drugs almost killed my friend Glenn or my assistant, which. Jesus. And the psychiatrist says, are you trying to kill him? And Stevie says back, are you trying to kill me? I'm almost done with this story. She has a 47 day stay in a hospital to detox off of Klonopin in 1993. She says, I think it's very good to talk about this, to get the message out into the world about addiction to this particular drug. That's the worst period of my life. They stole my 40s. It was eight completely wasted years of my life. So to bring it to you both, what are your thoughts on this time period in Stevie's life and the song welcome to the Room Sarah? And you know, she's spoken about how she wants drugs to be a small footnote in her life story. So I've tried to make it that way in this episode. But what, what are your takeaways about this part of her life?

[Melinda Thompson]

I think that the fact that she signed in with the name Sarah is incredibly poignant and heartbreaking. If you know that song, it said that it's about her unborn child with Don Henley, the name Sarah. So she comes in signing the name of someone unborn, you know, and to me, that is, you know, it's just like saying, I'm ready to be. To begin again. I. I am going to come out here as a live, fully functioning person. And it is so sad with the Klonopin addiction. And she, I mean, she was having these. Just this zombie walk through the 90s. And yeah, I mean, other fans were doing Stevie Nicks death watches. It was so clear to everyone we weren't gonna have her for much longer. It was a very scary time. The Rock a Little era itself is just. It's just so mired and so. Just so aggressively depressing sometimes when you do it. But yeah, I mean, she, she had every intention to become a new person from that and to have had it just taken away from her as it was is just. It's sad how much we missed.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. Yes, that is, that is really what I took from this as well. Like how what she could have done with her 40s in the 90s, that was stolen because of this. Again, someone in control of her care. The person put in position to be like, I'm going to help you not to cocaine again, giving her this amount of Klonopin. Blake, I'm curious your thoughts on this period of her life.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

I mean, honestly, where my brain went is not Stevie Nicks, but I had a friend who was a little older than me, like an older sister figure who was around the same age, 38, 39, and she took her own life. And as you're talking about this, the fact of having the unborn child and the sort of idea of what could have been and the fact of the number 40 kind of coming up, it all kind of came to my. Into my brain with Teresa. Like, I'm thinking of Theresa right now. And so it's sort of the power of art, is that that happens. I've been very focused on this podcast, and suddenly I was like. Like, I. I went there. I went back to that moment when I found out that my friend had passed. And what then happens when a friend. When that happens is you're like, what was going through their mind? What did I miss? What was in their lyrics, such as it were. And I went back and looked at all the old emails, et cetera, et cetera. Long story short, I do feel like there was this similarity in the what could have been. I'm not going to be a mom. Oh, no. I missed my chance. Some of this regret, some of this remorse. So I'm feeling connected to that idea, which Stevie and her art has put out there. It's connecting it to my own life.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. Well, thank you for being open to that and being vulnerable here. That means a lot. And also, I really feel that, too. And Stevie's spoken about how she only has that one marriage. She doesn't have kids, but she's this great auntie. And also she goes back to earlier songs and is like, I think I saw this for myself, that I was gonna be in this small house later on in life, and this is how it was meant to be. I think that leads us beautifully to our final song, which is Silver Springs. And I just want to share a little, which is similar to you, Blake. I used to play Silver Springs and think of this best friend breakup I had and just cry and cry and cry. And I still sometimes do. Even though our story has changed and I didn't know the story to Silver Springs that we're about to say now. And it's now haunting me that this song hit me this way. Now, knowing the backstory, which is that Stevie was on the mend and joins Fleetwood Mac for the dance, which is a 1997 concert, MTV Special and live album that coincided with the 20th anniversary of the release of Rumors. So Fleetwood Mac, everyone's back. And Silver Springs was a song that Stevie wrote about her breakup with Lindsey Buckingham, and it was kept off the Rumors album for being too long because back then, you could only put so many songs on a vinyl. But to rewind To a moment we've already visited. Lindsay has written Go youo Own Way, this vicious song. And he has written the song Secondhand News. And they kept both of his songs on the album. Stevie has written Dreams and Silver Springs. But they pull Stevie Nicks aside to say Silver Springs is not going on the album. And while it was a B side on the single release of Go youo Own Way, for many people, the first time they hear this incredible song is when Stevie Nicks performs it live in 1997. And people believe you can see the exact moment when Stevie puts a curse on Lindsey Buckingham. Never gets away from this.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Never get away.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Listen, I, I, I didn't know any of this. And I press play on the YouTube that Christina sent me of the moment she supposedly puts a curse on Lindsay. And I. You know those tears that come where, like, you're not, like, they're just kind of on your face, and you're like, I don't, I didn't even know how did those tears. That's what happened. And I, I've watched it maybe 27 times before recording. I just keep watching this video. I can't stop watching. And it's. I'll follow you down till the sound of my voice will haunt you. You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loved you.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Oh, my God.

[Chelsea Devontez]

And you won't forget me. And also, like, I wanted to love you and you wouldn't let me. I just very overwhelmed thinking of this song and all that it was saying about her and Lindsay's relationship. I'm dying to hear your thoughts on this. Melinda, let me go to you first. Like, in this sort of Fleetwood Mac is back. The Stevie Nicks as we know her now, the button they put on this relationship, she will later boot him out of the band. What do you think of this?

[Melinda Thompson]

I think of this as Stevie's final word. I do. I think this is the moment she's had to endure him singing Go youo Own Way for decades and him telling everyone she's packing up and shacking up. And that is always pissed her off to hear that. And this is the moment. This is the comeback. This is the. I'm finally going to say what I needed to say all along. And. And yes, there is that hex moment, I swear, where she just takes those two eyes and just burns him right there on stage in front of everyone. And that was. That was a beautiful moment. As a Stevie fan, I agree. So, I mean, it just, you know, you just want to just get up there and just. Yeah, it's like the final touchdown in the big game for Stevie Nicks fan is to see that moment happen.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I totally agree. Yeah.

[Melinda Thompson]

Yeah. And this song did mean a lot to her.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah. It's just such an incredible song. And also on this podcast, I talk about loving grudges. Love a motherfucking grudge. This is like the greatest.

[Melinda Thompson]

This is such a. I would love to see a feud series of Lindsay and Stevie because there's so much I can tell you about how mean he is.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Like, what's your take on the memoir of Silver Springs? And sort of this. There's so much more to Stevie's life. But this moment of resurgence and Fleetwood Mac and all of that.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

I'm just saying this to you guys in the room. I'm gonna be super brief. Cause I feel like I had such a long answer earlier. And I think you have plenty on this, but I'll just give you a real quickie. I mean, look, I kind of. I have to agree that I love the fact that she, especially as we were just discussing on Dreams, she was so sort of soft with her reply. Now she's like, you know what? I fucked up with that. Being too chill. I'm coming back hard, and I'm coming back petty. It's hex time, motherfucker. I think that that is. Yes, I think I'm here for it. And frankly, let's not forget Lindsey Buckingham, who is in Lindsey Buckingham's court. I love the man's music. I love his solo stuff, but no one's taking Lindsay's side. He's such a child. He's a real baby man child. To this day, he still seems like a baby man child to me. So I'm glad Stevie put down her kindness. Gentle.

[Melinda Thompson]

Put her boot down.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

She deserved to have one petty moment, and she got it. She got it.

[Melinda Thompson]

Gorgeous.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I love that. On this podcast, I sometimes say, we ride at dawn, but now I think I'm gonna start saying we ride at sunset. Cause it's hex time. It's hex time, motherfuckers.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Right?

[Chelsea Devontez]

Okay, so bringing us to the end of this beautiful memoir episode. Obviously, there's so much more of Stevie's life, and I hope she does change her mind and does that moment of like, you know what? I am going to be fucking petty and gives us a memoir at the very last second. I just want to close this episode by asking you. I know we spoke at the beginning of, like, her not having a memoir is almost better. And you get to see the stories in her music. What do you think the chances are that Stevie, of all you know about her, what do you think the chances are she will stop down and do a classic memoir for me?

[Melinda Thompson]

Not. It just does not seem very bloody likely. It's simply because she has done it. She's already done it. She's done it in her magical language. And additionally, I mean, it's a pretty smart business model to not write those memoirs because she knows that she's got an enigma, she's got a puzzle. So she's like, you know, it's like the song you're so vain by Carly Simon. Everyone's, like, still trying to figure that one out. Shoot. She's got, like, 12. You're so vains. So I feel as though for her, that's so smart. That mystery will always generate fascination and will give her the, you know, the glow of legend. And I just simply can't see it again. No one knows how I feel what I say. Unless you read between my lines. Stand back again. I feel like that's the mission statement.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I think that's beautiful. And yes, I mean, she did the memoir in her music. It's why we're here. And I will also say Carly Simon did write a memoir, and in her memoir, she still does not give up who those lyrics are about. She said each verse is about a different guy. And, yes, one is Warren Beatty, and you can obviously see that one's about James, and then she won't tell the third because she knows it's cachet. Blake, your thoughts?

[Blake Luxury Robin]

I thought Melinda, what she said was perfect. I will only add that I agree, and I think it's better that way. I think she clearly is motivated. It's funny what popped in my head, and I'll just say it because it's a strange comparison. But as we try to psychoanalyze this person in the 45th president in our lives, what I've learned that helped me understand him is that he's not motivated by being a leader or making money. He's motivated by revenge. That's all that matters to him. So once you see it through that lens, it all makes sense. Like, oh, he's just trying to be the president for retribution against his enemies. So too with Stevie Nicks. So too with Stevie Nicks. Maybe at one point, money was important and it was a driving factor. What is driving her is art. What is driving her is art. She is an artist. Every cell in her body is about art. She is beautifully living in this world that every now and then, we get to tap into because we're listening to her music or as artists ourselves, we have an experience where we're like, oh, this transcends all the other stuff that's challenging about being an artist. She's really reached the top of the mountain. She's not gonna landslide on down. And at the top of the mountain is this pure state of, like, what I have made is living differently in the ears of every listener on planet Earth forever. And that is much better than explicitly, like, it's kind of the opposite of how Bob Dylan has many books. No shade on Bob Dylan. But he really wants you to understand, like, this came from this, came from this came from this. But he also does it with ambiguity. It's not a perfect analogy. My point being, clearly, she has reached the goal of what she's been doing all this time and why fuck it up?

[Chelsea Devontez]

Yeah, I think that is so.

[Melinda Thompson]

Agreed. 100%.

[Chelsea Devontez]

So beautifully said. Thank you both so much for being on this episode. We've never done one of these before. So everyone listening. If you have another artist where you're like, the memoir is in their music, that is where you find it, let us know. Okay, so, Melinda, we are going to link to your podcast in our show notes, but will you please tell everyone the name of it again so they can go and hear more about Stevie?

[Melinda Thompson]

Of course. The name of our podcast is hello, Witches. It's a Stevie Nicks podcast. Got the title from her appearance on what's that show? Coven, I think. And she walked into the scene and she goes, hello, Witches. And I'm like, that's the name of the podcast?

[Chelsea Devontez]

That's amazing. Yeah, that's from American Horror Story. Amazing. Okay. And luxury, aka Blake. Tell us where everyone can find you on TikTok. Listen to your stories like your podcast.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Yeah, I'm luxury with two X's pretty much everywhere. So L U X X U R Y. And you can find me on Spotify, where my music lives. You can find my videos on Instagram and TikTok. L u x X U R Y. And the podcast is called One Song. It's on SiriusXM new episodes every Wednesday live on SiriusXM, Kevin Hart's channel, and on the Internet for free as a podcast the next day. So I do it with my buddy Diallo Riddle. And every week, we break down a song, we listen to the stems, we go deep in the analysis, and, yeah, check it out.

[Chelsea Devontez]

I love it. And Marcus obviously works on that show. Who works on this show. So. So the coven has come full circle.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

That's the second time you're hearing my voice this week. Thank you.

[Chelsea Devontez]

Amazing. We're going to link everything in the show notes because I'm sure people want to go find you and follow you. And I just want to thank you so much for helping me bring this story to life. Dream come true for me to be able to piece together this memoir. So thank you.

[Melinda Thompson]

Thank you so much, Chelsea. I had a wonderful time.

[Blake Luxury Robin]

Thanks for having us on, Chelsea. That was really fun.

[Chelsea Devontez]

A huge thank you to our podcast producer, Christina Lopez, our executive producer, Jordan Moncada, our sound engineer, Marcus Hamm, and our amazing associate producer, Jaron Padre. I also want to let you know that if you love audiobooks but you want to support independent bookstores, go to Libro fm, where it is easy to download audiobooks and support local bookshops. And right now you get two Libro FM audiobooks for the price of one with your first month of membership using code TRASH. That's right, TRASH. T R A S H. Two audiobooks for the price of 1 at Libro FM. And if you have questions, go to the Patreon Chat Lounge and I will see you there.