While it’s hard to imagine a rock ‘n’ roll universe without Stevie Nicks, for a brief moment in 1974, that became a very real possibility—luckily, Joni Mitchell was there to help. Between joining Fleetwood Mac and Polydor Records brutally dropping Nicks and her partner, Lindsey Buckingham, Nicks wondered if she was chasing down a pipe dream.
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As Nicks stared down personal and professional upheaval, she kept one album on repeat: Joni Mitchell’s 1974 Court and Spark.
Joni Mitchell Helped Stevie Nicks Through Dark Times
Prospects weren’t looking too great for Stevie Nicks and her romantic and musical partner, Lindsey Buckingham, in 1974. The folk duo’s label, Polydor, dropped them from their roster following the commercial failure of their 1973 debut, Buckingham Nicks. Nicks was working multiple jobs to keep her and Buckingham afloat, even as their relationship began to deteriorate. At this same time, Joni Mitchell released her sixth studio album, Court and Spark.
“This was one of those albums that I lay on the floor and listened to for three days straight,” Nicks recalled in a 2011 interview with The Guardian. “Lindsey and I were coming to the end of our relationship. I’d met someone else. So, I latched on to the title track, which is about a new relationship that doesn’t last.”
“This was a year after Buckingham Nicks came out, which had gotten critical acclaim. But Polydor dropped us like a rock,” Nicks continued. “So, we were back to square one. It was the only time I ever felt music might not work out. I talked to my parents about going back to school. I was tired of being a cleaning lady,a waitress, and a rock ‘n’ roll star at the same time. We were really poor.”
The Canadian Songwriter Spoke To The California Aspiring Star
Joni Mitchell’s ability to speak to the complex nuances of intimate relationships is certainly one of her musical mainstays, but that wasn’t the only reason Stevie Nicks felt particularly fond of Court and Spark. From Nicks’ perspective, Mitchell was singing about the very life Nicks was trying to lead as an aspiring rock star in southern California.
“We were already living in the world that Joni Mitchell was writing about because our producer, Keith Olsen, had introduced us to a lot of people in the industry,” Nicks told The Guardian. “So, I related to a song like “The Same Situation” whenever I’d go to a party and music business sharks were everywhere. They would look at me as the blonde who could sing and might make lots of money for someone.”
Nicks lamented over the way people in the industry looked at her as a commodity. But fortunately, she didn’t have to suffer through this treatment for much longer. By the winter of 1974, Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were in touch with British blues musician Mick Fleetwood. Fleetwood offered the folk-rock duo a place in Fleetwood Mac, and on the first day of 1975, they officially joined the band.
Photo by Richard McCaffrey/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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