Bella Donna
is the
debut solo
studio album
by American singer
and songwriter
Released on
July 27, 1981,
the album peaked at
number one
on the
US Billboard 200
in September
of that year.
Bella Donna
was awarded
platinum status
by the
Recording
Industry Association
of America
(RIAA)
on October 7, 1981,
less than
three months
after its release,
and in 1990
was certified
quadruple-platinum
for four million
copies shipped.
Bella Donna
spent nearly three years
on the Billboard 200,
from July 1981
to June 1984.
The album spawned
four hit singles
during 1981 and 1982:
The Tom Petty
and
the Heartbreakers
penned duet
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"
(number 3),
the Don Henley duet
"Leather and Lace"
(number 6),
along with
"Edge of Seventeen"
(number 11)
and the
country-tinged
"After the Glitter Fades"
(number 32).
Bella Donna
would mark the
beginning of Nicks'
trend of calling upon
her many musician friends
and connections
to fully realize
her sparse
demo recordings.
Along with friends
Tom Petty
and
Don Henley,
Nicks brought in
session musician
Waddy Wachtel,
Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band
pianist
Roy Bittan,
and Stax
session man
Donald "Duck" Dunn
of
Booker T. & the MGs.
The album marked
the first recording
featuring Nicks'
backing vocalists,
Sharon Celani
and
Lori Perry,
who still record
and tour with
Nicks today.
The album was also
included in the
"Greatest of All Time
Billboard 200 Albums"
chart.
History
Nicks began work on
Bella Donna
in 1979,
in between sessions for
Fleetwood Mac's
Tusk album,
released in October
that year.
Nicks recorded
various demo versions
of songs in
early and mid-1980
but these recordings
were not used
on the album.
Following the end
of the Tusk tour
on September 1, 1980,
work with a f
ull band commenced
under producer
Jimmy Iovine.
Nicks recalled that
the album was recorded
piecemeal since several
of the session musicians,
including
Waddy Watchel
and
Russ Kunkel,
were operating under
a tight schedule.
"We didn't put on
50,000 guitars
because we didn't have
Waddy around
long enough to do
50,000 guitar overdubs.
We were lucky to get
him to do one guitar part."
The Bella Donna
recording sessions
also presented
Nicks with an opportunity
to work on arrangements
without Lindsey Buckingham,
who extensively assisted
with arrangements
on her
Fleetwood Mac material.
For Bella Donna,
Nicks instead allowed
the session musicians
to develop
their own ideas
for the instrumentation
based on the demos
she created.
Recording sessions
continued until the spring
of 1981
when the final songs
for the album were completed:
"Edge of Seventeen"
and
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around".
The 10-song,
42-minute album
Bella Donna
was released in the
summer of 1981.
Nicks wrote
"Think About It"
for her friend
and
Fleetwood Mac
bandmate
Christine McVie
during the
Rumours
recording sessions,
but the song
was never completed
until
Bella Donna.
After the Glitter Fades
was Nicks'
oldest song
on the record,
having been written
in 1972,
while
"Think About It",
"Leather and Lace",
and
"Highway Man"
were written in 1975.
A number of finished songs
did not make it on the album,
including
"Blue Lamp",
which was released
instead on
Heavy Metal soundtrack
later in 1981,
and
"Sleeping Angel",
released on the
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
soundtrack
in 1982.
These two songs
were included on
Nicks' Enchanted boxed set
in 1998,
along with another
unused
Bella Donna session song,
"Gold and Braid".
Three more songs
from these sessions,
"If You Were My Love",
"Belle Fleur"
and
"The Dealer",
were finally released on
Nicks' album
24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault
(2014).
"Julia"
was a song written
and recorded by
Nicks during the
Bella Donna
recording process
about her close friend
Robin Anderson.
In total,
Nick recorded 16 songs
for the album,
of which 10
were selected for
Bella Donna.
Rhino released an expanded,
three-disc version
of
Bella Donna
on
November 4, 2016.
The first disc
is the remastered
original album.
The second disc
includes outtakes,
alternative versions,
demos,
and material released
on soundtracks.
The third disc
consists of live tracks
from Nicks'
"White Wing Dove" tour
1981,
recorded at the
Fox Wilshire Theatre
in
Los Angeles, California
on
December 13, 1981
TRACKLIST
CD 1
CD 2
Edge Of Seventeen
(Early Take)
Think About It
(Alternate Version)
How Still My Love
(Alternate Version)
Leather And Lace
(Solo)
(Alternate Version)
Bella Donna
(Demo)
Julia
(Demo)
(1st Day, with entertaining talking)
Gold And Braid
(Unreleased Version)
Sleeping Angel
(Alternate Version)
If You Were My Love
(Unreleased Version)
The Dealer
(Unreleased Version)
Blue Lamp
(From "Heavy Metal")
Sleeping Angel
(From "Fast Times At Ridgemont High")
Belle Fleur
Julia
(Unreleased Track)
CD 3
Live Fox Wilshire Theatre
Los Angeles, California
12/13/81
Gold Dust Woman
Gold And Braid
I Need To Know
Outside The Rain
Dreams
Angel
After The Glitter Fades
Leather And Lace
Stop Draggin' My Heart Around
Bella Donna
Sara
How Still My Love
Edge Of Seventeen
Rhiannon
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