Quote:
Originally posted by CarneVaca
As for ChiliD's points about Chris' keyboards, you are quite right. It becomes almost subconscious because she does not solo. That is why the Don't Stop version in The Dance is so interesting, in addition to the brass band of course. Chris does a little blues solo thingy there, and it's very cool.
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"Little" is right.
She used to do longer & splashier solos on "Don't Stop" on the Tusk & Mirage tours, when the band would crank out a 12-bar & carry it home. Have you heard any of those? On some nights, she seemed kind of pooped & didn't do much but put texture to the rhythm but on other nights she laid on plenty of her trademark blues riffs (none of them technically demanding but all of them played at just the right points & with what I would, for want of a better word, call delicacy).
Her occasional "little" solos (as opposed to fills) were on almost all the blues shuffles -- "Get Like You Used to Be," "Don't Stop," "Stop Messin' Round," "Roll With Me Henry" -- as well as on "Tear It Up" & even a little organ solo on "Spare Me a Little."
As much as I enjoy her occasional soloing (& have learned all her licks), I am really much more fascinated by her rhythm patterns, particularly in the left hand. It's a style that hinges on the fact that she's left-handed -- no one else does quite what she does with her left hand. In general, the piano player who sounds most like her is (or was) Bob Hall; but Carole King's work on "Smackwater Jack" has the flavor of Christine's style, too, despite the fact that there couldn't have been any direct influence.
Where do you hear Christine's singular left-hand rhythm patterns the clearest? Grab any live version of "Angel" from the Tusk tour. It's essentially the same pattern as what she used on "Hold Me" & "Honey Hi" & "Got a Hold on Me" & others. I'm actually pretty good at it, but only after studying it for a long time.