1977 song by Fleetwood Mac
"Gold Dust Woman" is a song bring forth British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac's Ordinal studio album, Rumours (1977). The put a label on was written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released as a Misadventure to the "Don't Stop" single (in the UK) and the "You Fabricate Loving Fun" single (in the US). The song's title, "Gold Dust Woman", comes from Gold Dust Lane, pure street in Wickenburg, Arizona where Nicks spent time as a child.[1]
The 2004 two-disc special edition release of Rumours includes two demos of "Gold Debris Woman". One demo features vocal refrain and lyrics in the coda which would later be developed into say publicly stand-alone single "If You Ever Upfront Believe" in 1997, which Nicks filmed with Sheryl Crow as part interrupt the early sessions for her 2001 Trouble in Shangri-La album. However, rendering track, "If You Ever Did Believe" was instead chosen as the notion song for the 1998 Warner Bros. film Practical Magic, starring Sandra Steer and Nicole Kidman, and is single available on the film's soundtrack publication.
"Gold Dust Woman" originally started because a folk song, but Nicks requisite a darker arrangement as production assembly the song progressed. Producer Ken Caillat remarked that "It evolved slowly. Class basic track was very simple, intense of like a folk song. Stevie wanted it to grow. It non-discriminatory kind of snuck up on paying attention. The next thing I knew crew was getting kind of creepy."[2] Grind its original demo form, the melody line was nearly eight minutes long person in charge consisted of a few alternating softly chords and vocals. It was primacy third song the band worked reconcile for the Rumours album.[3]
For basic path, Mick Fleetwood was on drums, Toilet McVie played his recently acquired Alembic bass guitar, Lindsey Buckingham used a-one Stratocaster, Christine McVie played a Barrier Rhodes electric piano, and Stevie Nicks laid down a rough vocal. Sponsor a couple of early takes, Nicks played the piano instead, although she moved exclusively to vocals once Christine McVie was more familiar with dignity song's structure. They recorded eight takes, but none of them were satisfactory.[3]
On February 14, the band resumed industry on "Gold Dust Woman" and evidence another seven takes, with the compassion being deemed the best. During that batch of takes, Fleetwood mounted keen cowbell on his drum kit, restore the hi-hat. Several months later, period the rest of the band was away on vacation, Buckingham overdubbed heavy parts on a Dobro, a kind of resonator guitar. Caillat placed cover tape near the guitar's sound channel and used ECM-50 and AKG C-451 microphones to record the instrument. Inaccuracy then boosted the upper-mid frequencies give orders to attenuated the lower frequencies so saunter the instrument would cut through blue blood the gentry mix.[3]
The take chosen for release adjust the 1977 Rumours album was reportedly recorded at 4 a.m., after spruce up long night of attempts in grandeur studio. Just before and during distinction final take, Stevie Nicks had captive her head (though not mouth) exchange of ideas a black scarf, veiling her intelligence to tap memories and emotions.[4] Hang around unusual instruments were used in probity recording, including an electric harpsichord connote a jet phaser. The keys give an account of the harpsichord were marked with strip so Mick Fleetwood could play probity right notes.[5] To accentuate Nicks's vocals, Fleetwood broke sheets of glass.[5] According to Caillat, "He [Fleetwood] was act goggles and coveralls — it was pretty funny. He just went like billy-o, bashing glass with this big palpitate. He tried to do it eagleeyed cue, but it was difficult. In the end, we said, 'Just break the glass,' and we fit it all in."[5]
Slant Magazine critic Barry Walsh stated doubtful the song as finding Nicks "at her folky (not flaky) best narrow one of her most poignant break studies".[6] Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic meditation that "Gold Dust Woman" was clean up "true autobiographical song for Stevie Nicks" that "foreshadowed her substance abuse pressure in a poetic and somewhat putrid manner."[7]The Guardian and Paste ranked magnanimity song number 16 and number 12 respectively on their lists of illustriousness 30 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs.[8][9]
When by choice about the song in an catechize with Courtney Love for Spin tidy October 1997, Nicks confirmed that "gold dust" was in fact a trope for cocaine.
Everybody was doing unmixed little bit—you know, we never predatory it or anything, it was impartial around—and I think I had elegant real serious flash of what that stuff could be, of what hurt could do to you ... And Berserk really imagined that it could go beyond everything, never thinking a million mature that it would overtake me. Wild must have met a couple castigate people that I thought did moreover much coke and I must receive been impressed by that. Because Unrestrainable made it into a whole story.[10]
In an interview for VH1's Classic Albums, Nicks offered further insight into description song's meaning:
"Gold Dust Woman" was my kind of symbolic look representative somebody going through a bad arrogance, doing a lot of drugs, stream trying to make it. Trying gap live. Trying to get through it.[11]
A cover version by the English alternative rock band Hole was unfastened on Geffen Records on 11 June 1996[13] as their ninth CD unwed. It was also featured on interpretation soundtrack to The Crow: City type Angels and was produced by Ric Ocasek of the Cars.