Christine Perfect Complete Blue Horizon Sessions - Page 2

wetcamelfood · #16 02-01-2008, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicepace

As for the Christine Perfect album, has Chris ever said WHY she dislikes it?

This probably isn't definitive but I always think back to the quote in one of the '70's FM bio books where she says "they (presumably the Vernon's/BH/etc.) were trying to push me in to the black music thing" which apparently wasn't to her liking.

Just to be clear, I'm sure she didn't mean anything racial about this, I think she just felt it was more R&B or perhaps even soul sounding to her and she may have prefered more trad blues stylings back then?

I think I felt it kind of R&B-ish when I first heard it but as time goes on I hear less of that in the tracks, might've just been the times and/or me getting used to their sound.

John

aleuzzi · #17 02-02-2008, 12:38 AM

She also complained soon after its completion (and later) that it was a "rushed job" and a "desperate effort" to capitalize on her success with Chicken Shack. However, most of the reviews of the record itself have been positive. Rolling Stone Record Review in 1982 gave it four stars. An article from that same publication around the time of Christine's 84 album called it a "classic."

It's worst critic is Christine herself.

I think a more balanced assessment of the record is that it works very well as soft pop-blues for late 60s radio, but that Christine's voice lacks the depth and texture she exhibited on the first two Chicken Shack records. The reason for this is fairly obvious: she was stretching her capabilities and moving beyond twelve-bar blues. Thus, her songs and her performances are transitional. Compare the Christine Perfect version of "Crazy Bout You Baby" with her live-in-studio version with Mac six months later and it's a different story: with her husband's band, she sounds entirely comfortable and almost fully evolved.

macfan 57 · #18 02-02-2008, 06:47 AM

I have an interview that Chris did in one of the old English music magazines. This interview was from back in 1970, just after the CP album was released in England. She said that she only liked about half of the album, so even back then she was starting to dislike it. She later complained that she hadn't had any say in what went on the album, which is a bit of a slap at Mike Vernon. She's had a lot of reasons over the years about why she hates it. As aleuzzi said, she's just about the only one who really hated it. I've seen alot of positive reviews, just not from her.

fmfanatic · #19 02-06-2008, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

Compare the Christine Perfect version of "Crazy Bout You Baby" with her live-in-studio version with Mac six months later and it's a different story: with her husband's band, she sounds entirely comfortable and almost fully evolved.

I don't remember hearing this before, a Mac demo of Crazy Bout You Baby.... Does anyone have an MP3 or know where I can find this song??

macfan 57 · #20 02-06-2008, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fmfanatic

I don't remember hearing this before, a Mac demo of Crazy Bout You Baby.... Does anyone have an MP3 or know where I can find this song??

It's not really a FM demo. It was a BBC performance. It's on the Madison Blues box set that was released a few years ago.

fmfanatic · #21 02-06-2008, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macfan 57

It's not really a FM demo. It was a BBC performance. It's on the Madison Blues box set that was released a few years ago.

Hey, thanks for bringing that to my attention! (I'm looking this album up on iTunes and listening to the samples as I type, trying to find out how many of these songs are Christine's....)

I can't believe I wasn't aware of this.... Thanks again!

**jbrownsjr** · #22 02-07-2008, 08:59 AM

Maybe I'm crazy but the CP version of "Crazy About You Baby" is way better to me than the Madision versions... The bridge and keys to me are audible on the CP version.

aleuzzi · #23 02-07-2008, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

Maybe I'm crazy but the CP version of "Crazy About You Baby" is way better to me than the Madision versions... The bridge and keys to me are audible on the CP version.

You're not crazy at all. It's a matter of taste.

You're right that the CP version has great electric keyboards and this cool, easygoing soul feel. But I love the driving edge of the live-in-studio Madison Blues version. The two guitarists make their mark in precise solos and Christine herself sounds genuinely inspired, her voice so much more developed than on her solo record.

**jbrownsjr** · #24 02-07-2008, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

You're not crazy at all. It's a matter of taste.

You're right that the CP version has great electric keyboards and this cool, easygoing soul feel. But I love the driving edge of the live-in-studio Madison Blues version. The two guitarists make their mark in precise solos and Christine herself sounds genuinely inspired, her voice so much more developed than on her solo record.

First off... make no mistake... I'm crazy.... that's all.....

nicepace · #25 02-08-2008, 08:03 AM

The 'Christine Perfect' version features the keyboard more prominently and has that fabulous "live in the studio" feel to it that I referred to in my earlier post as being one of the reasons I love that album so much, but might be considered a drawback by fans who are used to the later, more polished Fleetwood Mac sound. And I really love that little drum surprise at the end.

The 'Madison Blues' version is more rocky, with the guitars up front and loud, which means the keyboard, while it's still prominent, isn't the lead instrument any more. Chris' singing does sound more confident. There was nothing wrong with her singing on the 'CP' version, but here there is a little more swagger to her voice; her singing here is a little hotter, on the 'CP' version it's cooler. The 'CP' version is an R&B song, this one is a rock song. I love both versions.

The 'Madison Blues' box set, by the way, is essential to have for Mac and Christine fans because of four unreleased songs recorded by the Christine Perfect Band, including one of my favorite Chris songs of all time, "Gone Into the Sun."

aleuzzi · #26 02-23-2008, 11:22 AM

Okay, so has anyone gotten their copy of the Christine's complete BH sessions? I wanted to know if there were good photos and liner notes.

wetcamelfood · #27 02-23-2008, 02:26 PM

Mine shipped today.

John

aleuzzi · #28 02-24-2008, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wetcamelfood

Mine shipped today.

John

John, could you let me know what it looks like (pictures, liner notes, etc...)? That'll make or break my buying it, since I own all the music elsewhere.

wetcamelfood · #29 02-24-2008, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

John, could you let me know what it looks like (pictures, liner notes, etc...)? That'll make or break my buying it, since I own all the music elsewhere.

I will, should be here sometime this coming week so I'll post then.

John

trackaghost · #30 02-24-2008, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

Okay, so has anyone gotten their copy of the Christine's complete BH sessions? I wanted to know if there were good photos and liner notes.

The photos are nothing amazing. There's a bunch of live shots takes by "Jet" Martin Celmins, the Christine photo that was in the Record Collector article about Blue Note a couple of years back (which incidentally is referrenced to in the linear notes) and the Melody Maker front page. All are quite small and nothing we haven't seen before (I think). But the notes by Mike Vernon are pretty fascinating. He clearly has great respect for Christine's talent but is still pretty pissed off that she has constantly rubbished the album in the press: it's obviously something he's still proud of.