Stand Back (song)

Single infobox
Name = Stand Back


Artist = Stevie Nicks
from Album = The Wild Heart
B-side = "Garbo"
Released = May 19, 1983
Recorded = Studio 55, Los Angeles, CA
Genre = Rock/Pop
Length = 4:56 - Album Version4:18 - Single Edit/Mix
Label = Modern
Producer = Jimmy Iovine
Writer = Stevie Nicks
Chart position = * #5 (U.S.)
* #2 (U.S. Mainstream Rock)
Last single = "After the Glitter Fades"
(1982)
This single = "Stand Back"
(1983)
Next single = "If Anyone Falls"
(1983)"Stand Back" is a song by Stevie Nicks from her 1983 album "The Wild Heart". It was released as a single on May 19, 1983, and went to number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and to number two on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was a major success, and still receives reasonable airplay to this day. The song has also been a staple in her live shows, and she also performs the song with Fleetwood Mac (the only solo Nicks track to be done by the band). The main intro of the song features an Oberheim OB-Xa synthesizer. The synth-bass is played on a Roland Jupiter 8. On the Rock A little tour, the Oberheim is replaced with a Yamaha DX7. There were two mixes prepared for the song; the generally more well known Album Version (4:56) and the edited Single Version (4:18). Differences between the two are somewhat subtle, but the Single Mix tends to have more of a "collapsed" or "mono" sound to it and the electronic drum programs are mixed rather dry & flattened, especially in the song's intro bars; whereas the drum tracks on the Album mix are accentuated by a generous amount of reverb effect & harder compression. Acoustic drums were given a more backseat role on Stand Back.

Origin of the song

Nicks has often told the story of how she wrote the song. She wrote it shortly after she was married to Kim Anderson. The newlyweds were driving up to San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara when Prince's song "Little Red Corvette" came on the radio. Nicks states that she started humming along to the melody of the song, and "Stand Back" was born. They stopped and got a tape recorder and she recorded the demo right there in the honeymoon suite that night. Later, when Nicks went into the studio to record the song, she called Prince and told him the story of how she wrote the song to his melody. He came to the studio that night and played synthesizers on it, although his contribution is uncredited on the album. Then, she says, "he just got up and left as if the whole thing happened in a dream."

Music Video

There are 2 versions of the video. The first version, which was never aired, was directed by Brian Grant and features Nicks in the period sometime around the Civil War. This version can be found on her collection Crystal Visions: The Best of. The second version, or official version, was directed by Jeff Hornaday and shows Nicks performing the song in front of a microphone in a dimly lit room surrounded by walls and mirrors made of glass. Interspersed throughout are shots of male breakdancers dancing to the song who join Nicks toward the end.

Personnel

*Stevie Nicks - vocals
*David Williams - Guitar
*Sandy Stewart - Synthesizer
*Bobbye Hall - Percussion
*Waddy Wachtel - Guitar
*Ian Wallace - Percussion
*Russ Kunkel - Drum overdubs
*Steve Lukather - Guitar
*Marvin Caruso - drums
*David Bluefield - OB-Xa Synthesizer & DMX Drum machine programming
*Sharon Celani - Background vocals
*Lori Perry-Nicks - Background vocals
*Prince - Synthesizer (uncredited)

Production

*Jimmy Iovine - Producer
*Shelly Yakus - Engineer
*Chris Lord-Alge - Mixer

Re-releases

*The song was also later remixed and released again as a single on August 28, 2007 to promote the compilation album "Crystal Visions - The Very Best of Stevie Nicks". This time the single went to number two on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart. A cover version by Linus Loves was released in early 2004.

Performances with Fleetwood Mac

*A live performance of Stand Back from 1987 was included on the Fleetwood Mac box set "25 Years - The Chain". Stevie also performed the song again with Fleetwood Mac several years later on the 2004 CD/DVD set "Live in Boston".

Chart performance

Notes and references

*"Timespace - The Best of Stevie Nicks", liner notes
*"Crystal Visions - The Very Best of Stevie Nicks, liner notes and commentary