<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Here is a brief, two question music quiz to get your mental gears turning:\u00a0 Question 1 – True or False:\u00a0 Stevie Nicks was invited to join Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.\u00a0 Question 2 – Multiple Choice:\u00a0 So far in her career, multi-instrumentalist Celisse has worked with or on – A) Melissa Etheridge, B) Lizzo, C) Saturday Night Live, D) the national touring company of the Broadway show <\/span>Wicked, <\/span><\/i>E) the Broadway revival of <\/span>Godspell.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 I won\u2019t keep you in suspense.\u00a0 There have been various versions of the Stevie Nicks \/ Heartbreakers story, but the answer to Q1 is \u2018false\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n Q2 is a bit of a trick question because I left out F) All of the Above, which would have been a tipoff that A) through E) might all be correct responses.\u00a0 Let me add a little context to both of these short explanations, starting with the Stevie Nicks question.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Late in 1980, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were in the studio working on their next album, <\/span>Hard Promises<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 Producer Jimmy Iovine was orchestrating the proceedings as he had on the previous Petty album, <\/span>Damn the Torpedoes<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 Recounting this period in the 2007 documentary <\/span>Running Down A Dream, <\/span><\/i>Petty recalled, \u201cStevie Nicks was saying all the time:\u00a0 \u2018I\u2019m going to leave Fleetwood Mac and join The Heartbreakers.\u2019\u00a0 Yeah, that\u2019s good, Stevie, but there aren\u2019t any girls in The Heartbreakers.\u201d\u00a0 This does not exactly sound like an invitation to join his band, does it?\u00a0 In fact, the comments by Nicks kind or irked TP at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For her part, Nicks had spent the better part of the previous year recording Fleetwood Mac\u2019s <\/span>Tusk<\/span><\/i> album.\u00a0 According to <\/span>Classic Rock Magazine, <\/span><\/i>\u201c[<\/span>Tusk<\/span><\/i>] was at the time the most expensive and time-intensive rock album ever recorded.\u201d\u00a0 Intraband friction was also at an all-time high during this period, so perhaps Nicks thought a new band might be just the ticket to help her keep her sanity.\u00a0 Stevie said (also in <\/span>Running Down A Dream<\/span><\/i>), \u201cI almost preferred the Heartbreakers\u2019 music to Fleetwood Mac\u2019s music at that time.\u201d\u00a0 Whether she was totally serious about joining TP\u2019s band or just idly musing about her career, she did want to become friends with them.\u00a0 She admired their sound enough to enlist the Heartbreakers\u2019 producer, Jimmy Iovine, to work on her first solo record.\u00a0 Nicks reasoned the way to infuse her album with the TP and the Heartbreakers\u2019 sound was to work with the guy who got it down on tape.\u00a0 Iovine and Nicks would be romantically linked for a time, but there is no indication that Nicks was playing him just to get close to Petty.\u00a0 Iovine would end up being a pivotal player in the story and both artist\u2019s bank accounts would benefit greatly from his involvement.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The second option for getting \u2018the Tom Petty sound\u2019 on her record was to see if Nicks could get TP to write her a song.\u00a0 Again, Petty picks up the story:\u00a0 \u201cShe started a campaign for me to write her a song, and I kept saying, \u2018No, I don\u2019t have time.\u2019\u00a0 And she said, \u2018Please, just write me a song.\u2019\u00a0 So she wore me down.\u00a0 When you write for other people, you often write in their style.\u00a0 But the truth is if somebody comes to you looking for a song, they\u2019re really looking for something that sounds like you . . . She was more attracted to the bluesier music because it was something she didn\u2019t do.\u00a0 So I wrote her a song called <\/span>Insider<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 I played it for Jimmy and he was just elated.\u201d\u00a0 Petty sang the song with Nicks and in doing so, he found their voices blended well together.\u00a0 Once <\/span>Insider<\/span><\/i> was recorded and they listened to the playback, Tom changed his mind, telling her, \u201cStevie, I\u2019m really sorry, but I don\u2019t want to give you this song.\u201d\u00a0 The songwriter in Nicks understood.\u00a0 None-the-less, Petty \u201cfelt terribly guilty\u201d so he offered her another track that had not made the final cut for <\/span>Hard Promises.\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>Here, it gets a little complicated.\u00a0 As the Heartbreakers\u2019 producer, Iovine already had the music bed for <\/span>Stop Draggin\u2019 My Heart Around<\/span><\/i> on tape with Petty\u2019s vocals.\u00a0 Adding Nicks\u2019 vocals was the easy part.\u00a0 Explaining it to Petty, who was upset that Iovine had added Nicks to the Heartbreakers\u2019 track without telling him, took a little more doing.\u00a0 Tom said, \u201cJimmy, you just took the song!\u201d to which Iovine replied, \u201cThis is gonna buy you a house.\u201d\u00a0 The episode bothered Petty for a long time, but as his future dealings with Nicks illustrates, he didn\u2019t keep it in his grudge file.\u00a0 Iovine was correct about the economic side of his decision.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Released as the first single from her solo album <\/span>Bella Donna<\/span><\/i> in May of 1981 (the album was released in July of 1981), <\/span>Stop Draggin\u2019 My Heart Around <\/span><\/i>was credited to \u2018Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers\u2019.\u00a0 Iovine miffed Petty a second time because the release no doubt affected the sales of the Heartbreakers\u2019 single <\/span>A Woman In Love<\/span><\/i> that had been released at the same time.\u00a0 Miffed or not, Petty got more from the experience than royalty checks as he and Stevie became fast friends.\u00a0 Nicks recalled that later, after she had been in and out of rehab, she was having a difficult time focusing on writing music.\u00a0 Over dinner, she asked Tom if he would write her another song.\u00a0 He flat out refused, saying, \u201cI\u2019m not going to help you write a song because you are, in my opinion, one of the premiere songwriters of our time.\u00a0 You just need to go back to your house and sit in front of your piano and start writing.\u201d\u00a0 Nicks recalled, \u201cSomething about the conversation really hit me.\u00a0 It gave me a new lease on life – if Tom Petty thinks I can do it, then I guess I can.\u00a0 I pretty much credit Tom with my solo career.\u201d The ever modest Petty never saw it that way, but in the end, Nicks still gives him the credit he deserves for kick starting her solo career and supporting her up when she needed help.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Benmont Tench, one of the Heartbreakers\u2019 founding members and keyboard player, commented about this same period for <\/span>CRM<\/span><\/i>:\u00a0 \u201cThere was no drama between her and the Heartbreakers.\u00a0 In Fleetwood Mac, there was a lot of personal stuff going on.\u00a0 Then she steps into the room with us, a rock\u2019n\u2019roll band that\u2019s fronted by a guy she adores.\u00a0 I think it was a breath of fresh air for her.\u00a0 Several years before Tom died, Stevie came on a tour with us and played tambourine and sang back-up.\u00a0 During the tour, Tom gave Stevie a sheriff\u2019s badge that was sterling silver with diamonds, and it said:\u00a0 \u2018Honorary Heartbreaker\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 Maybe Stevie Nicks joining the Heartbreakers would have worked out.\u00a0 Maybe things happened just the way things needed to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Celisse Henderson seems too young to have been touched by the short A) to E) list presented in the opening quiz.\u00a0 When she appeared playing guitar behind Lizzo on <\/span>Saturday Night Live <\/span><\/i>in December of 2019, her introduction to the national audience could only have been improved if she had been identified.\u00a0 She had received an Instagram query from music director Devin Johnson who had said, \u201c[Lizzo] loves your stuff.\u00a0 She would love for you to play with her on <\/span>SNL.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span><\/i>When she arrived at rehearsals, she was informed that Lizzo wanted her to do more than just play lead guitar for this appearance.\u00a0 Lizzo also wanted to use the spot to honor one of her heros, the late Sister Rosetta Tharpe.\u00a0 Wardrobe was even making the young guitar player a coat like the one Sister Rossetta wore.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Recalling the story, Celisse laughed:\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know if they knew how deep the Sister Rosetta thing was with me.\u00a0 I was like:\u00a0 \u2018I not only have a tattoo of Sister Rosetta on my arm –\u00a0 I happen to have her guitar!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 According to <\/span>CRM, \u201c<\/span><\/i>Celisse\u2019s cream-colored three-humbucker \u201863 Gibson SG reissue is like the one Tharpe famously wielded in the 60s and is her favorite.\u00a0 But her respect for Tharpe goes beyond the blues woman\u2019s guitar playing.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cSister Rosetta Tharpe is the sole reason we have the genre of rock\u2019n\u2019roll,\u201d Celisse told <\/span>CRM.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 \u201cSo often, the Stones and other big rock gods credit Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters for being the foundation.\u00a0 But the truth is Chuck and Muddy were all in the clubs and churches listening to Sister Rosetta Tharpe.\u00a0 She was playing this style in the 30s, 40s, and 50s.\u00a0 I think we sometimes have a bit of amnesia in music history.\u00a0 Luckily, over the last couple of years people have been discovering her videos, and she was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Not a bad take from a young woman who started tinkering on the violin at age two but claims her first \u2018real\u2019 instrumental training began when she started playing classical piano at age four.\u00a0 She explains, \u201cI have this big classical music background and I come from a super-conservative family, so electric guitar has never been their bag.\u201d\u00a0 It was assumed that Celisse would follow her parents career path, both of whom have master\u2019s degrees in choral conducting, but she had different ideas.\u00a0 She laughs about it these days saying, \u201cEven after I\u2019ve had a good amount of success, I\u2019m kind of the shame of my family.\u00a0 My parents are still like:\u00a0 \u2018Oh, you never got your degree.\u2019\u00a0 I\u2019m like:\u00a0 \u2018I am doing okay.\u201d\u00a0 She put down $100 for an Ibanez guitar and enrolled in a guitar class about the time she turned 18.\u00a0 She had already done the national tour with <\/span>Wicked<\/span><\/i> by the time they asked her to play guitar on stage near the end of her song (<\/span>Learn Your Lessons Well<\/span><\/i>) in<\/span> the <\/span>Godspell<\/span><\/i> revival.\u00a0 She strummed along on stage but the two guitarists in the pit orchestra did the heavy lifting.\u00a0 She told <\/span>CRM<\/span><\/i> that when the <\/span>Godspell<\/span><\/i> contract was over, \u201cI was like:\u00a0 \u2018I should buy an electric guitar and just learn the basics.\u2019\u00a0 So I did that, and searched \u201812-bar blues\u2019 on YouTube.\u00a0 Suddenly I began hearing all my Hendrix, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters records differently.\u00a0 I began trying to learn things off them by ear.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Her next gig was running background vocals for Melissa Etheridge.\u00a0 A few weeks into the tour, Etheridge approached her and said, \u201cI hear that you play guitar.\u00a0 We should have you play on a couple of songs.\u201d\u00a0 Celisse continues, \u201cIt was a great opportunity so I prepared very thoroughly and learned all the parts.\u00a0 At our first show on the next run, as I played, she kept turning around and looking at me like:\u00a0 \u2018Oh, so you really do play!\u2019\u00a0 I just kept going with guitar from there.\u201d\u00a0 If one can find the video of her <\/span>SNL <\/span><\/i>performance with Lizzo from December of 2019, it will be apparent that she wasn\u2019t there just as window dressing.\u00a0 Celisse has only just begun what will likely be a long career in the music business.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Currently working on her own album, Celisse\u2019s songs run the gamut from rock, soul, funk, and even in to the gospel vein (as heard on her version of the classic folk and civil rights anthem <\/span>Keep Your Eyes On The Prize<\/span><\/i>)<\/span>.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 She may be young, but Celisse already has a deep understanding of the music business.\u00a0 Celisse (she is now recording under her first name) is adamant about doing a proper release:\u00a0 \u201cThe musical climate right now is exciting, but if you release your stuff without the right channels, it\u2019s kind of like a tree falling in the forest – does anybody hear it?\u201d\u00a0 Her new single, <\/span>Freedom <\/span><\/i>is now out and is available from <\/span>www.celissehenderson.com<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It speaks well that an artist as young as Celisse sees the big picture for her chosen profession:\u00a0 \u201cThe thing about being a black woman playing rock\u2019n\u2019roll is, so often it\u2019s looked at as a novelty, and people are like, \u2018Oh wow, it\u2019s so crazy to see you do this.\u2019\u00a0 To a certain extent, I understand that because there just hasn\u2019t been very much representation.\u00a0 But there\u2019s this other part of me that\u2019s like, \u2018It\u2019s actually the most normal thing, because it started with a black woman.\u2019\u00a0 We just don\u2019t talk about her as much as we do the other players.\u00a0 So I\u2019m here to remind everybody, \u2018Hey, this genre – it\u2019s a black art form,\u00a0 It started with a really incredible black woman doing this in churches.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Stevie and Celisse are two musicians whose early careers are separated by forty years, yet they share the same drive and vision.\u00a0 Some will claim that success in the music business is largely driven by luck,\u00a0 but it seems that the old adage still applies:\u00a0 You need to make your own luck.\u00a0 That they are \u2018women musicians\u2019 makes no difference.\u00a0 Both Stevie and Celisse have kept <\/span>Their Eyes On The Prize<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 Nicks has already had a phenomenal run and Celisse is just getting started.\u00a0 No doubt we will be hearing more from both in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 Stevie and Tom doing it right – live on stage!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Here is a brief, two question music quiz to get your mental gears turning:\u00a0 Question 1 – True or False:\u00a0 Stevie Nicks was invited to join Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.\u00a0 Question 2 – Multiple Choice:\u00a0 So far in her career, multi-instrumentalist Celisse has worked with or on – A) Melissa Etheridge, B) Lizzo, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,8,6,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bands-musicians","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-new-music","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1990"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1993,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1990\/revisions\/1993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}