The 1970s artist Stevie Nicks called her “strongest” musical soulmate
If there was ever an artist who could prove that music was a way to channel emotion, it’s Stevie Nicks.
We know her as the musician who was able to write about love and heartbreak both as a solo artist and in Fleetwood Mac. Songs like ‘Silver Springs’, ‘The Chain’ and ‘Edge of Seventeen’ get crowds moving all over the world, as her tracks reach into the listener and pull something buried deep within them to the surface.
It’s no surprise that Nicks wound up writing such emotive songs, because the first time that she knew she was going to be a famous musician was when she was given a guitar for her birthday and started playing it. Tears began streaming down her face as she began thinking of the person she was in love with and was using music in a bid to channel that love.
“I think I absolutely knew I was gonna be famous. I knew from when I first wrote my first song about the first love of my life, and sat there on my bed and watched myself play it in the mirror with tears running down my face,” she said. “It was my 16th birthday, my mom and dad gave me my Goya classical guitar that day. I sat down, wrote this song, and I just knew that that was the only thing I could ever really do: write songs and sing them to people.”
Of course, while she wrote music that was supposed to be a reflection of her emotions, she was also open to having other musicians tap into her emotions as well. This is why she was such a collaborative songwriter. We know that things wound up turning sour following her time with Fleetwood Mac, but there was a time when they could all work together in a pretty unified fashion, and it led to the creation of some truly great music.
However, when Nicks was talking about the artist she likes to listen to and connect with the most, it wasn’t a member of her former band. Instead, it was Waddy Wachtel, a famous guitarist who helped a number of artists bring their songs to life. One of the biggest hits that he was responsible for was Warren Zevon’s ‘Werewolves of London’.
Nicks was a fan of his work, and the two formed an incredibly collaborative partnership. So many of the great solo songs you know from Stevie Nicks had Wachtel playing the six-string. They liked the same music and had the same musical vision, which meant they were able to put together their creative minds in the best possible way.
“There was a time when I was falling out of one love into another, when nothing else seemed to matter except this person,” she said, “I adored him…he was everything I wanted to be; a real rock and roller and a lover of The [Rolling] Stones…small and frail sometimes, but in many ways the strongest person I have ever known. His word was law. I became him, he became me, and no one dared intrude upon this union. He is no longer with me, but his spirit twin never leaves him.”
When we think of Stevie Nicks’ great music with Fleetwood Mac, naturally, we think of her collaborative relationship with the members of Fleetwood Mac. However, with her solo career, she was creatively linked with Waddy Wachtel.
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