Songs that show off Christine's Keyboard playing?
 

Okay so this question came up the other day when a friend of mine commented that Fleetwood Mac and Stevie's solo bands had little difference between them. I had to disagree, and listed a few songs where John's, Mick's and Lindsey's playing stood out as beyond exceptional, even on Stevie-written songs like Sara, Gypsy, or Destiny Rules.

Problem arose when I came to Christine... I love her keyboard playing but I struggled to come up with a song that truly shows off her understated talents.

The only ones I could think of were:
Some of the early live versions of Don't Stop
Never Forget
Believe Me
Keep Me There (at the end especially)
Songbird
Isn't It Midnight (the guitar gets most of the attention but the keys are great too)
and.. .maybe Rhiannon? I also always liked her keys on Landslide and its a bummer that they cut those out of the live versions.

I know she play keys more as part of the rhythm section, but to you guys what are some songs where her playing really grabs your attention?

Now that Chris is back in the band, I'd like the band to put the keyboards BACK in the live version of "Landslide" for this next tour.

Also, I know it's cliché to say, BUT "Songbird" is probably the BEST Christine McVie track ever recorded. It's also one of the greatest Fleetwood Mac songs on record.

I don't think Christine ever considered herself a soloist, per se, but more a part of the rhythm section. The MEAT of the song, if you will. Let the guitarist(s) show off, and I'll just "support the song" with Mick and John.

There aren't many songs that deviate from that platform of thinking in her repertoire.

Songs that show off Christine's keyboard playing: Sara, Gypsy, Hold Me, Say You Love Me, Not That Funny, You Make Loving Fun, Dreams, Crystal, That's Alright, If You Were My Love, Don't Stop, Angel, Over & Over, Beautiful Child,

I LOVE this thread but have been disappointed so far with the songs listed. C'mon guys there are so many great songs that feature her style of keyboarding.

Come a little bit closer
Prove your love (keyboard solo at 2:20) VINTAGE CHRISTINE STYLE HERE
Why
You make loving fun (HELLO!!!!!!)
Skies the Limit - vintage Christine style
Do you know - such wonderful Christine keyboard parts playing LOVE IT!
Hold me - just for the piano riff alone
Don't Stop - the shuffle of all shuffles
Nights in Estoril - probably one of my favorites GOD SHE IS SO GOOD HERE
Dreams - I give Christine full credit for the mood and success of the song!
Say You Love me
So Excited - some great piano playing

I could go on forever but I will be late for work. One of the reasons I almost like Behind the Mask better than Tango is because Christine returns with her vintage style keyboard playing. We get very little of it on Tango since its mostly pre-recorded keyboard tracks. BTM features Christine playing keyboards on almost all the songs. He playing on songs like Do you know are so vintage of her style that I cannot help but to like the song.

I always enjoy Christine's piano on Peter's tracks on Mr Wonderful particularly Love that Burns - it really adds to the atmosphere of that track.

And whilst I'm veering off from the Rumours era, there's The Way I Feel from MTM, which is a sort of early training ground for Songbird

Interesting, because Lindsey has stated that he always felt that his guitar playing in Fleetwood Mac was in an “orchestral” role. All four instrument players have always seemed to put the best interest of the song first, as opposed to extending piano, guitar, drum or bass solos. Lindsey, being involved in nearly every aspect of a songs development in FM in the Rumours era, he often gets the credit or blame (depending on your perspective) - the Tusk album being the prime example. However, he was pushing the experimental envelope even on Rumours, utilizing a leather chair for portions of the percussion on Second Hand News. As painful as it might have been for these five musicians to be in the same room for extended periods of time producing new music, the results were amazing.

Well of course her STYLE of playing is all over much of their work. I was thinking more in terms of her SOLOING, of which there isn't much!

The end of Don't Stop live...the end of Wish You Were Here...I always thought the Little Lies riff was a synth lead, but they use guitar to do it live...I suppose Songbird is a 3 minute solo!:laugh:

Oh yes I see. Her style is very trademark IMHO. If you listen to her solo in Prove Your Love...its so vintage Christine McVie.
To semi quote Christine and use her words on her... Maybe her style is not the most sophisticated in the world but its pleasing to the ears.;)

I really dig the way she played keyboards.

I've always dug everything about her, with the one exception(supposedly) of her keeping Bob Welch out of the R&RHOF.

Pre-Buckingham Nicks songs spring to mind;

Morning Rain
Homeward Bound (particularly at the outro)
Believe Me (particularly the intro)
Forever

+Say You Love Me

Most of the 'Christine Perfect' album features tasty keyboards from Christine.

As an amateur piano player, I have studied Christine's work for years. She may see herself as a rhythm player but there is more than enough evidence on record that she has a distinct style on the piano, organ, and electric keys, respectively.

My favorite Christine piano moments span across several decades. "Rolling Man" and "Love That Burns" from MR. WONDERFUL show what a fine blues pianist she was--especially with a superior supporting band. But "Smile I Live For" represents an entirely different aspect of her style--the haunting ballad, where her stately and expressive playing recalls her classical training.

Christine is a top-notch organist. Her bedrock work on any number of Mac tunes, including "Spare Me a Little," "Night Watch," "So Afraid," "The Chain," "Oh Daddy," and LB /CM's "Carnival Begin" is so distinctive I recognize the tonalities anywhere. She carries that over to "One in a Million" as well. "Crystal"--her most extensive and impressive feature on organ--is an anomaly: it's an all-out, front-and-center solo so well executed I wonder why she didn't do more of this.

My favorite tunes of hers combine the piano and the organ. "Sugar Daddy" is the perfect case in point. What a tune! You could remove the vocal and still have an entertaining track in large part because of they keyboard work. Same with "No Road is the Right Road" on her first solo record.

As an electric keyboardist, she's much sparer, avoiding the thicker chord style of the acoustic piano and relying on single choice notes. I think of "Bermuda Triangle" and "I Loved Another Woman" live from the 74 tour. Expert placement of a few notes. "Rhiannon" is another good example, as are "Angel" and "Brown Eyes." My favorite examples of her work on electric keys are when she structures the entire song around her parts, as in "Honey Hi" and the acoustic version of "Friend."

Finally, in the studio at least, she's a first-rate textural player. Think of all the keyboards in "YMLF," "Dreams," and "Don't Stop," "Nights in Estoril," and "Anything is Possible."

The riffing and interplay between her and Lindsey at the end of Sara on some of the Tusk Tour bootlegs have always left me wishing she'd done a little more soloing/improvisation back in the day!
Also, if you really pay attention to all the keys going on in Brown Eyes, there are so many amazing melodic bursts and frills happening over the beautiful main rhythm section.

I nominate her work on the Hohner in "Sands of Time." It's quintessential Chris McVie. It's that Sonny Thompsonesque rhythm-section style that Bob Hall also has. It works especially well when the pianist is left-handed, like Christine. It gives texture to a track, similar to the way that a rhythm guitar does. It's like playing conga drums on a keyboard. You keep your hands close together, trading off dyads and triads between the two hands (sharing fingering), sometimes sounding your chord on the downboat and sometimes syncopating it, or mixing the two. But you have to mix the two at just the right time--that's what makes your style.

Good list above - she also does a gorgeous piano intro on Wish You Were Here (Mirage album track). It's similar to her piano intro on the famous "The Dance" live cut of Silver Springs.

Similar? More like STOLEN!

It's only inversions down the keyboard. But the point is, she could play chopsticks and it would sounds beautiful. It's Christine F)()#( McVie