When did Christine join the band?
 

I just found an article from a chilean website (in spanish) that mentions Christine joined Fleetwood Mac on August 6, 1970. Is that correct?

Mick mentions in his first book Christine entered briefly during the Mr. Wonderful sessions (1968). Then the most formal date is around august's first date, 1970. But I didn't find anything about a specific event on august 6 (an announcement, a deal's signing, etc.). Does anybody has more info?


Mick's book:
Although Fleetwood Mac was officially a four-piece band when we cut Kiln House, we had help from the retired Christine Perfect. Not only did she draw the cover art, but she also sang and played on some of the tracks. By the time we finished the album, we were about two weeks away from a three-month tour of America, which began the first week of August 1970. We were worried because we were used to a three-man front line and our sound was thin without Pete. So, at the dinner table at Kiln House one night in late July, I asked Chris, "Do you wanna join the band?" She knew we needed to fatten our sound and she knew all the songs anyway, having been forced to listen to them endlessly in rehearsal. So she came with us on the Kiln House tour. Her first gig with Fleetwood Mac was at the Warehouse in New Orleans on August 8, 1970. We did all the stuff on Kiln House on our little Fender twins, and for the second part of the show Jeremy would play blues and some oldies.

That would sound about right to me. I knew about the New Orleans gig on the 8th...so I guess August 6th was the flight to America :laugh: I know later on there was some press on how she was just going to the US 'on a holiday with John' and was not really joining as a band member...? so at that point i don't think she'd signed any contracts, she was prob just looking at it as 'helping them out' on the road.

and i love that they all ate dinner together, too. :)


-Lis

And Christine did the cooking :-)

absolutely! John fondly recalled her great Sunday dinners... :nod:

--Lis

To go back in time and be at that table.... uhhhhfffff.. What a dream/fantasy.

I found a quote from Rock Magazine where Christine mentions the date that she joined.

"I joined five days before they were due to leave for an American tour. I can remember the exact dates. I joined on July 21, and we left for America on July 26, following five solid days of rehearsals."

Stop torturing me, damn you! :laugh: but yes...i know.

--Lis

Can you imagine what a special time that would have been? Before they were exploding?

Very good to know. We should update that info in her Wiki entry, which currently just says 1970. Do you have any more info on that magazine article?

Yeah, there is some additional salvageable information from this source. She mentions how around 20% of the audiences were unreceptive to the 1971 lineup without Green. "That gap is very hard to close. Sometimes we just don't make it. I think the audience are wondering what we are going to be like. Before Peter ran the band. Now there is no leader, we just take turns. Obviously, some of the people miss Peter's guitar playing. But then, the sound is different now and other people have said that they don't even notice he's missing."

She also discusses the house in Benifold and how Fleetwood Mac eventually plans on installing a recording studio there in the near future.

Here is the full article: https://web.archive.org/web/20160101...v2&id=1047&c=2

My question is when did Christine Perfect run off the stage and announce her retirement?

Mick said her retirement only lasted three months, which would have been some time in April, 1970.

Now, the conspiracy theorist in me notices that Peter Green announced he was leaving the band on April 11, 1970. It makes me wonder if the two things were connected?

I don't think she announced her retirement on the same night as she ran off the stage (and then had to come back on and finish lol)... and I'm not sure I'd trust mick's memory to be 100% accurate anyway... but this time period is confusing because I think her solo album was recorded in 69 and 70 and was released in June 1970..? But according to her and the other band members, she was sitting around doing nothing at that time besides making tie-dyes, cooking and smoking weed. so maybe the solo tour/retirement was earlier in the year, *before* the album release? so if we assume mick is correct, that would make her tour end in April, like you said.

But what made you think it was related to Peter leaving?

--Lis

Timeline.

She would have obviously been just as devastated about Peter leaving as the others and undoubtedly scared $h!tless about the band’s future without him. Add that to a solo project she was less than thrilled with and an opportunity to get extended time with John, and I could see it all hitting her at once.

Now, the cynic in me wouldn’t be surprised if getting 33%-40% of the band’s net hadn’t crossed their minds. Because, let’s face it, Christine was also playing and singing with them when they recorded and frequently jammed with them, not just sitting around and smoking pot. According to Jeremy, it was Christine, not John, who wrote those songs with Danny, which makes much more sense. Clifford changed it to John (and Mick, instead of Jenny) for tax purposes. I could totally see them letting Mick think it was his idea, too.

Thanks for the link to the article. Hadn’t read it in years and forgot most of it. One thing: the note about 20% of the audiences not being receptive is specific to UK and possibly continental audiences. By contrast, the US tours, by her own admission, were going well:

……

How have things been going since then?

"The American tour was very successful," she said. "Next time we go, all being well, we should clinch it over there. We're happy together, and I'm involved with the music and with them as people. We've all been living in the same house for months..We've (Danny, Jeremy and myself) been writing songs together and then deciding who's going to sing on them. The group is definitely more integrated than before; it used to be three individual people writing and singing their own songs. We will be doing a lot of our own material, but there will be some old songs as well. I enjoy playing and singing blues."

How has the group's sound changed?

"I think it has mellowed out," she replied. "There aren't two wailing guitars any more-there's just one. Jeremy is playing slide guitar, which gives a different sound. I think my piano playing makes the sound thicker, more mellow. Maybe we don't play so loud as the old band."

What has audience reaction been like to the new band?

"At about 20 percent of the gigs there is a definite barrier," she admitted. "That gap is very hard to close-sometimes we just don't make it. I think the audience are wondering what we are going to be like. Before Peter ran the band. Now there is no leader, we just take turns. Obviously, some of the people miss Peter's guitar playing. But then, the sound is different now and other people have said that they don't even notice he's missing."