Imaginary Lover: Atlanta Rhythm Section or Stevie Nicks?

[progressoid]

45 rpm playback incident

In 1978, an FM radio station accidentally played the song at the wrong speed of 45 rpm. The radio station received favorable calls and opted to let the song play at the incorrect speed. Sonically, the vocals resembled the voice of Stevie Nicks, who later heard of the incident and purchased the record. Upon playing the record at 45 rpm, she said that it gave her the chills and that it sounded "exactly like something I’d sing, the way I’d sing it". While Nicks was presenting demos for the Tusk album, she mixed in the sped up version of "Imaginary Lover" with her other material. One of her bandmates, Christine McVie, assumed that it was an original composition from Nicks and complimented her. Fleetwood Mac engineer Hernán Rojas later heard that the Atlanta Rhythm Section learned of the incident and "didn't find it as funny as we did".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginary_Lover

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Nicks’ Coat Gets Nicked
The Fleetwood Mac singer lost her signature black velvet jacket
August 24, 1978


It began when an FM station accidentally played the Atlanta Rhythm Section album cut “Imaginary Lover” at the wrong speed – 45. Favorable calls began to light up the switchboard, so the disc jockey let it play. Speeded up, the song sounded unmistakably like Fleetwood Mac, with Stevie Nicks warbling lead vocals.

News quickly reached Nicks in Los Angeles. She rushed out to buy the record and played it at the wrong speed. “I got chills,” says Stevie. “It sounds exactly like something I’d sing, the way I’d sing it. I even played it for Christine [McVie], mixed in with some other demos for the new album. She complimented me on it.”

With the aforementioned Fleetwood Mac LP still months away from release, Nicks has been keeping anything but a low profile. She spent a week in New York perfecting her duet with Kenny Loggins, “Whenever I Call You ‘Friend,'” for his new album. She has also been writing a batch of new songs, many of them for a proposed film fantasy of “Rhiannon” that she is developing with publicist Danny Goldberg.

All this activity, says Nicks, is a result of an “emotional bummer” she had wanted to throw herself out of. The reason? She lost an antique black velvet jacket – the good-luck piece she has worn onstage (during “Landslide”) every night with Fleetwood Mac – at a Warren Zevon performance at the Roxy in Los Angeles. Nicks has all but given up on it being returned. Facing the upcoming summer Fleetwood Mac tour without the jacket, she says, “It’s irreplaceable and means a whole lot more to me than to whomever took it.” Any information would be appreciated: call [phone].

...https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/nicks-coat-gets-nicked-198353/#ixzz2fABiy6ki

[ProfessorGAC]

1. That's Pretty Amazing!

For me, the only tell is that the piano sounds unnatural.
A little "munchkinized".
But, everything else sound pretty natural!
And, vocally it's awfully close. If I hadn't read the story, I might have missed the piano weirdness and just figured Stevie covered an ARS tune she always liked.

[progressoid]

2. Yeah, I kind of thought it was fake when I first heard it.

I was falling asleep when I ran across it. Then listened to it again the next day and was pleasantly surprised.