Bella Donna (album) 1981
Bella Donna is the debut studio album by American singer, songwriter and Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks. Released on July 27, 1981, the album reached number one on the U.S. Billboard charts in September of that year. Bella Donna was awarded Platinum status by the RIAA on October 7, 1981, less than three months after its release, and has since been certified quadruple-platinum. ‘Bella Donna’ spent nearly three years on the Billboard 200 from July 1981 to June 1984. The album has sold over 4 million copies in the US alone with approximately a million copies since 1991 in the US according to Nielsen Soundscan. It is Nicks’ best selling solo album to date.
The album spawned four substantial hit singles during 1981 and 1982: the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers-penned duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (#3), the Don Henley duet “Leather and Lace” (#6), the iconic “Edge of Seventeen” (#11), and country-tinged “After the Glitter Fades” (#32)
The album spawned four substantial hit singles during 1981 and 1982: the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers-penned duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (#3), the Don Henley duet “Leather and Lace” (#6), the iconic “Edge of Seventeen” (#11), and country-tinged “After the Glitter Fades” (#32).
Bella Donna would mark the beginning of Nicks’ trend of calling upon her many musician friends and connections to fully realize her sparse demo recordings. Along with friends Tom Petty and Don Henley, Nicks brought in famed session musician Waddy Wachtel, Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band pianist Roy Bittan, and Stax session man Donald “Duck” Dunn of Booker T. & the MGs. Though Bella Donna’s personnel list includes some 20 musicians, the album is very much Nicks’ own work, with all but one of the songs on the record written by her.
The album also marked the first recording featuring Nicks’ backing vocalists, Sharon Celani and Lori Perry, who still record and tour with Nicks today.
Track listing
No. Title Lyrics Music Length
1. “Bella Donna” Stevie Nicks Stevie Nicks 5:21
2. “Kind of Woman” Stevie Nicks Stevie Nicks, Benmont Tench 3:12
3. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) Tom Petty Michael Campbell 4:06
4. “Think About It” Stevie Nicks Stevie Nicks, Roy Bittan 3:35
5. “After the Glitter Fades” Stevie Nicks Stevie Nicks 3:31
6. “Edge of Seventeen” Stevie Nicks Stevie Nicks 5:28
7. “How Still My Love” Stevie Nicks Stevie Nicks 3:54
8. “Leather and Lace” (with Don Henley) Stevie Nicks Stevie Nicks 3:44
9. “Outside the Rain” Stevie Nicks Stevie Nicks 4:18
10. “The Highwayman” Stevie Nicks Stevie Nicks 4:48
Personnel
The Band
Stevie Nicks – vocals, tack piano (track 9)
Lori Perry – backing vocals
Sharon Celani – backing vocals
Tom Petty – vocals, guitar (track 3)
Michael Campbell – guitar (tracks 3, 9, 10)
Don Felder – guitar (track 10)
Benmont Tench – organ, piano (tracks 1–7, 9)
Stan Lynch – drums (tracks 3, 9)
Don Henley – vocals, drums, backup vocals (tracks 8, 10)
Additional Musicians[edit]
Waddy Wachtel – guitar (tracks 1–2, 4–8)
Davey Johnstone – acoustic guitar (tracks 1–2, 4–5, 7, 10)
Bob Glaub – bass guitar (tracks 1–2, 4–7)
Duck Dunn – bass guitar (track 3)
Tom Moncrieff – bass guitar (track 9)
Richard Bowden – bass guitar (track 10)
Dan Dugmore – pedal steel guitar
Bill Elliott – piano (track 1)
Russ Kunkel – drums (tracks 1–2, 4–8)
Bobbye Hall – percussion (tracks 1–2, 4–7)
Phil Jones – percussion (track 3)
Roy Bittan – piano (tracks 2, 5–8)
Billy Payne – piano (track 4)
David Adelstein – synthesizer (track 1)
Photography
Herbert W. Worthington
Production
Produced by Jimmy Iovine & Tom Petty
Engineered and mixed by Shelly Yakus and Don Smith
Assistant engineers: Dana Latham, Tori Swenson, Niko Bolas and James Ball
Additional engineering by Thom Panunzio
Mastered by Stephen Marcussen
Tour and HBO television sp