Unearthed Vol. 11 - June '20

Jun 1

Featured Find: Bella Donna, Stevie Nicks

Bella Donna is the title track from Stevie Nicks’ solo debut album released in 1981. It’s worth noting that Nicks recorded many of the tracks on this album while also working on Fleetwood Mac’s third album, Tusk. Bella Donna would ultimately be Nick’s best selling album, netting over 4 million copies sold and featuring well known tracks like Edge of Seventeen.

I unearthed this album first while watching HBO’s documentary The Defiant Ones, which chronicles the rise and relationship of music legends Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine (highly recommend). The 2nd episode of the show highlights a romance between Nick’s and Iovine during a time when Iovine was also producing a record for Tom Petty.

Iovine convinced Petty to provide a single for Nick’s debut album after realizing that Bella Donna’s current lineup didn’t have a track that could be featured in that format
Petty agreed to give Nicks his song Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, which they sang as a duet. This was only after Petty had first offered Nicks a track called Insider. She refused to take it saying, 'I can't take this, because I can see how bad you want it. You just keep it, and write me another song, and we're even.’
For a deeper dive on Tom Petty, check out our write-up and playlist

Not long after watching that HBO episode, Bella Donna was featured as the Essentials record of the month on the Vinyl Me, Please record subscription and helped to solidify this record as one of my favorite discoveries so far this year.

Here’s what VMP had to say: “Italian for “beautiful woman,” belladonna is also a plant, and a deadly one at that. The plant gets its name from Renaissance Italy, where women used it to increase their pupil size for a more enchanting appearance, but in witchcraft lore, it’s often cited as the poisonous additive to potions and brews. It’s here—amongst the tales of witches she’d long been fascinated by and the adrenaline-inducing stories of undaunted risk and reward—that we find Nicks entranced by her blossoming solo career, and at her most powerful.”
If you’re looking to buy a copy, their release is just beautiful and comes complete with a marbled black and blue spattered record and a frameable photograph of Nicks

In her own words: “You can ride high atop your pony, I know you won't fall
'Cause the whole thing's phoney. You can fly swinging from your trapeze, Scaring all the people, But you'll never scare me. Bella Donna.”

Each month, we put together a playlist of our favorite discoveries new & old, sent on the 1st day of the month. Subscribe to receive the monthly Unearthed playlist, along with other Fresh Cut Finds playlists.

What is Unearthed?

You might have seen that we recently launched a new playlist series called Planted and Enchanted. We described that series as being akin to a search through your junk drawer, a series of discoveries and re-discoveries. Well, if that is the case, then our Unearthed playlist series is more like a relentless hunt through a flea market to find that next treasure. You might dig up something that is truly valuable, or perhaps something that is simply priceless to you. I bought my first vinyl record at an antique store. On another trip, I found a fox hunting painting that brought cascading memories of similar art in my grandma’s home (titled Picking up the Scent, it now hangs proudly on my bathroom wall). And on still another, I stumbled across a Lionel Barrymore etching in the theme of my family’s long-time vacation haunt.

Discovering music feels very much the same way to me. It is something that is both incredibly personal, but also has the potential to connect me to the memories, experiences, and people I treasure most. I spend countless hours listening to albums, playlists, and podcasts each month, searching for that next great treasure. With the Unearthed playlist, I want to share the latest discoveries I’ve made with you in the hopes that you too might find a song that resonates, sparks a memory, or catches you at just the right moment. Unlike antiques, a great song unearthed can be shared over-and-over again.

Spotify

Matt Williams

Unearthed Vol. 11 - June '20

Off the Beaten Path: Vol. 3 - Zac Brown Band

Off the Beaten Path: Vol. 2 - Tom Petty