Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks

Born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1948, Stevie Nicks moved with her family to San Mateo, California in 1964, where she met guitarist Lindsey Buckingham at a church gathering while she was in high school and experimenting with singing and songwriting. The two collaborated in a band and began living together in a cocaine and hashish fueled haze; Ms. Nicks worked as a waitress and house cleaner while the extremely talented, but martinet Mr. Buckingham practiced his guitar and slept off his highs. Eventually, in 1968, they joined the San Francisco band called Fritz, opening for Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, and then in 1975, Mick Fleetwood asked them to join his popular English blues band, which was looking for new life after a series of show more musicians left. Both Ms. Nicks and Mr. Buckingham, along with Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie, were the primary songwriters of the newly configured band, all of them using their personal tortured relationships as inspirations for their songwriting that produced the songs on the wildly successful Rumours. Mr. Buckingham was very controlling of Ms. Nicks, belittling and sometimes physically abusing her; and the belligerent sexual tension between them was fuel for many songs each of them wrote. Mr. Davis chronicles Ms. Nicks’s musical career both with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist, her heavy drug use and subsequent rehabilitation, and her entourage of women friends, with whom she was extremely generous but who made her feel safe. Overall, an entertaining rock biography. show less

I have always been enamored, almost obsessed, with Stevie Nicks. I think my Dad had more than a little crush on her when she and Lindsey Buckingham brought old British blues band, Fleetwood Mac, to the front of the music scene with splash and glory and twirling chiffon. I can't blame him. I had a crush on her, too, but in a little girl's way--the I-want-to-be-her way that little girls get for women who awe and inspire them. That crush has never gone away. I still admire Stevie Nicks, more and more all the time! Listening to this book on HooplaDigital, I was able to often feel like I was in the same room as Stevie. (It must be pointed out, she did not read the book--it was written by Stephen Davis, and it was read by Christina Delaine--a show more talented voice-over actress.) I had read a little bit about Fleetwood Mac in the past, but this book really gave insights into Stevie's part of that world... from her constant drawing, painting, journaling, to her rocky relationship with Buckingham, to other relationships she had over the years--all inspiring her music. I would recommend this to anyone who even just likes the Mac a little bit! It's a story worth reading/hearing!!! show less

I'm not in a position to judge the accuracy of author Stephen Davis's unauthorized look into the life of Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks, but I do know that he got her birthdate wrong on the book's first page. Despite that gaffe (and there may be others) this is a mostly-engaging retelling of Nicks's rise to fame, descent into bad romances and drug addiction, and finally her triumphant return to form with the band that made her famous. This book is unsympathetic to Nicks's abusive former lover and musical partner, Lindsey Buckingham, for whom "high strung" is the kindest adjective the author can muster. Nicks's definitive biography has yet to be written, but until that time, this is an entertaining, if not overly show more insightful, placeholder. show less

Very interesting biography, I'm amazed at the level of detail that is possible. But the author had contact back in the later 1970s with Mick Fleetwood and the members of Fleetwood Mac, so the details seem credible. This was a good walk down memory lane to a Fleetwood Mac concert on 8/21/1980 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, NE. Hard to believe but the set list for that concert in online. The sad reminder in this book are the constant stream of drugs that fuel the music and the concerts. An engaging story of music, angst, relationships, and everything that went with the rise of big 1970s music.

This book took me right back to Junior High and High School - years when Fleetwood Mac was in constant rotation on the radio.

I had to stop reading to go re-listen to the songs and watch old concert videos on YouTube.

I had some idea of the messy love affairs, but I hadn't known how extensive the drug use was. Although thinking back to the 70s I think it was almost assumed that rock bands were using drugs.

I also had no idea of the all-star line up of musicians who collaborated with Stevie once she started her solo career. Really well-written and well-researched biography.

I enjoyed the first third or so of the book. The rest, not so much, but that’s because I’ve never really been a big fan of the sound (even though it was an extremely popular and successful one) that Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham brought to Fleetwood Mac, preferring instead Mac’s early years with Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan, and the much more enjoyable voice (I think) of Christine McVie, née Perfect.

But that aside, if you love Stevie Nicks, you’ll probably find Gold Dust Woman to be an interesting biography that covers her pre-Mac days, her joining the band, her contributions that moved the band towards its more commercial and successful years, the troubles that finally made her leave the band, and beyond to show more her post Mac years. show less

Gold Dust Woman:The Biography of Stevie Nicks🍒🍒🍒🍒
By Stephen Davis
2017
St Martin's press

I truly enjoyed this biography. Stephen Davis, for me, has a style of writing that is personal and makes me feel like I know the subject and understand them. It makes this a fun and memorable read.
I have been a fan of Stevie Nicks, and loved her music and mystique. Her legend and talent, her ability to persevere and always move forward, and her love of music are inspiring.
This bio delves into her past relationships and affairs, her long successful career and her magnetism. Using interviews and reviews, he shares her days in Buckingham Nicks, her affairs and their influence on her life and lyrics, and how she has influenced so many young show more rising talented artists throughout her life and still today. He explores her relationship with Buckingham, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Mick Fleetwood.
She is a legendary figure that will never be forgotten. Her lyrics will be recited for years. Her mystique is soft and light, but full of a deep and hard lived past. Her life shiny stories, her larger than life image .....she is like Gold Dust. But so much more.
Well written, well researched. An easy, enlightening fun......highly recommended. show less