«Золотая Пыль»: История Песни Fleetwood Mac

1977 song by Fleetwood Mac

"Gold Dust Woman" is a song from British American rock band Fleetwood Mac's 11th studio album, Rumours (1977). The song was written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released as a B side to the "Don't Stop" single (in the UK) and the "You Make Loving Fun" single (in the US). The song's title, "Gold Dust Woman", comes from Gold Dust Lane, a street in Wickenburg, Arizona where Nicks spent time as a child. The 2004 two disc special edition release of Rumours includes two demos of "Gold Dust Woman". One demo features vocal melody and lyrics in the coda which would later be developed into the stand alone single "If You Ever Did Believe" in 1997, which Nicks recorded with Sheryl Crow as part of the early sessions for her 2001 Trouble in Shangri La album. However, the track, "If You Ever Did Believe" was instead chosen as the theme song for the 1998 Warner Bros. film Practical Magic, starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, and is only available on the film's soundtrack album.

"Gold Dust Woman" originally started as a folk song, but Nicks sought a darker arrangement as production on the song progressed. Producer Ken Caillat remarked that "It evolved slowly. The basic track was very simple, kind of like a folk song. Stevie wanted it to grow. It just kind of snuck up on you. The next thing I knew it was getting kind of creepy." In its original demo form, the song was nearly eight minutes long and consisted of a few alternating piano chords and vocals. It was the third song the band worked on for the Rumours album. For basic tracking, Mick Fleetwood was on drums, John McVie played his recently acquired Alembic bass guitar, Lindsey Buckingham used a Stratocaster, Christine McVie played a Fender Rhodes electric piano, and Stevie Nicks laid down a rough vocal. For a couple of early takes, Nicks played the piano, although she moved exclusively to vocals once Christine McVie was more familiar with the song's structure. Eight takes were recorded, but none were satisfactory. On February 14, the band resumed work on "Gold Dust Woman" and recorded another seven takes, with the fourth being deemed the best. During this batch of takes, Fleetwood mounted a cowbell on his drum kit, replacing the hi hat. Several months later, while the rest of the band was away on vacation, Buckingham overdubbed some parts on a dobro, a type of resonator guitar. Caillat placed masking tape near the guitar's sound hole and used ECM 50 and AKG C 451 microphones to record the instrument. He then boosted the upper mid frequencies and attenuated the lower frequencies so that the instrument would cut through the mix. Many unusual instruments were used in the recording, including an electric harpsichord with a jet phaser. The keys of the harpsichord were marked with tape so Mick Fleetwood could play the right notes. To accentuate Nicks's vocals, Fleetwood broke sheets of glass.

A cover version by the American alternative rock band Hole was released on Geffen Records on 11 June 1996 as their ninth CD single. It was also featured on the soundtrack to The Crow: City of Angels and was produced by Ric Ocasek of the Cars.