Watch the episode here.
‘Trouble in Shangri-La,’ was Stevie’s return to form. The genesis of the album goes back to 1994. After the disaster that was ‘Street Angel,’ Stevie’s confidence was at an all time low. At a dinner with Tom Petty at the Ritz-Carleton in Phoenix, she asked Petty to help her write some songs for her upcoming album. Petty responded by giving her a lecture on her abilities, telling her she didn’t need help writing. Inspired, Stevie then wrote ‘Love Is,’ and the title track to this album.
In 1996, Stevie recorded a song by Sheryl Crow, ‘Somebody Stand By Me,’ for the soundtrack to the film ‘Boys on the Side.’ Stevie was a big musical influence on Crow, and when they met at the premier of the film, they began conversations on a collaboration.
Also in 1996, Stevie reunited with Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood to record the song ‘Twisted,’ for the film, ‘Twister.’ It was the first time she and Lindsey had worked together in a decade. Randy swears there’s a quote from Mick Fleetwood somewhere that Stevie had considered Lindsey to produce her next album (Can you even imagine how those sessions would have turned out?)
As is often the case in the saga that is Fleetwood Mac, solo efforts by Both Stevie and Lindsey were put on hold for the Fleetwood Mac reunion album and tour ‘The Dance.’ While it may have delayed the album, it put Stevie back in the spotlight for all the right reasons, and she quickly followed up with the ‘Enchanted,’ boxed set and a solo tour in 1998.
During a taping of ‘Storytellers,’ in New York City, Stevie and Sheryl recorded two songs for the film ‘Practical Magic:’ ‘Crystal,’ and ‘If You Ever Did Believe.’
(Aside from Randy: I was a bookseller at B. Dalton when the book, ‘Practical Magic,’ by Alice Hoffman was released. I fell in love with it immediately, and suggested it to every customer in the store for months, single handedly making it the best selling title in our store. The book screamed to be made into a film, and I could just picture Stevie providing the soundtrack. I like to think I manifested this project into existence.)
Knowing how well they could work together, Stevie asked Sheryl to produce her next album, already titled ‘Trouble in Shangri-La.’ Sheryl ended up producing five of the album’s thirteen tracks before departing the project to complete her own album. The remainder of the album was produced by John Shanks, David Kahne, Rick Knowles, Pierre Marchand, and Stevie herself.
If you can’t tell from the podcast, we LOVE this album, even if our opinions on various tracks differ. One of the biggest departures on the episode is the track ‘Bombay Sapphires.’ We both love the track, but different versions. Anthony prefers the album version, whereas Randy likes the outtake attributed to the aborted Dallas Austin sessions. We really want to know which version our listeners prefer. Let us know in the comments or on the socials!
Did we mention how much we love the album design and packaging?????
Where’s Raven?
Beats us! Again, nowhere to be found. Sheesh! No wonder we complain that DC doesn’t know how to use the character. The only other character treated worse is Donna Troy (don’t even get us started).
Dig Deeper
Randy’s favorite alternate playlist comes from this album. Listen to Earth 2: Almost Shangri-La
In addition, there are many songs that were demo’d and/or recorded for the album that didn’t make the cut. Several surfaced on other projects, either solo or with Fleetwood Mac. We put them together on YouTube for you to enjoy. Do you have a favorite?
Further Reading
Obviously
The Generic, Non Specific Stevie Nicks Podcast 