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  #16  
Old 10-17-2016, 03:28 PM
lazy poker lazy poker is offline
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thanks for sharing your interesting opinion, aleuzzi.
i only know that christine was asked by stan webb to join the band - did she state herself that this was just for backing purposes?
what i can't go along with, though, is your judgement on the shack's rhythm section. but as this aspect is simply another story and quite a bit off-topic here, i don't want to dive any deeper into it.
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  #17  
Old 10-17-2016, 09:08 PM
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thanks for sharing your interesting opinion, aleuzzi.
i only know that christine was asked by stan webb to join the band - did she state herself that this was just for backing purposes?
what i can't go along with, though, is your judgement on the shack's rhythm section. but as this aspect is simply another story and quite a bit off-topic here, i don't want to dive any deeper into it.
Yeah, I'm one big opinion today. Sorry if I offended.

Christine has said in a few interviews the band were looking for a pianist to fill out the sound. Her singing was a plus, but not the main attraction. Or maybe she was just being modest? In another interview she said Chicken Shack was "all over" when she left, so I'm thinking she wasn't.

We can agree to disagree about the rhythm section, which I think is competent but not especially inspired either.

Last edited by aleuzzi; 10-17-2016 at 10:17 PM..
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  #18  
Old 10-18-2016, 09:10 AM
lazy poker lazy poker is offline
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Yeah, I'm one big opinion today. Sorry if I offended.

Christine has said in a few interviews the band were looking for a pianist to fill out the sound. Her singing was a plus, but not the main attraction. Or maybe she was just being modest? In another interview she said Chicken Shack was "all over" when she left, so I'm thinking she wasn't.

We can agree to disagree about the rhythm section, which I think is competent but not especially inspired either.
. . . don't worry (be happy), aleuzzi - no offence taken!

but keep the following facts in mind:
the shack's first 45 featured christine's vocals on the all-important A-SIDE, while their third single had christine singing on BOTH sides even, not to mention their biggest hit ever (single #4), "i'd rather go blind" - and by the time of this '69 paris concert, all that had already happened. so talking of christine as a hired sideman might have been true in the first place, but not in 1969 anymore.

on the other hand . . . in mid-april that year chicken shack already started the first recording sessions with christine's replacement, paul raymond. so we're talking about one of the last gigs before christine's departing from the group, which must have been decided and known to the band by then. so stan might have deemed it better not to feature her any longer explicitly, to avoid a potential striking gap between her and her future successor. it's a thought that popped into me head . . .

and, just by the way - this is what ace-producer mike vernon had to say about that chicken shack line-up:
"they had the it-girl of the blues world in christine perfect (. . .) and an OUTSTANDING HARD, DRIVING RHYTHM SECTION in andy silvester and dave bidwell." and: "a more solid bass man than andy silvester you will never find."
and paul raymond considered dave bidwell to be "possibly the best blues drummer around, next to mick fleetwood”.

so at least i'm in some pretty decent company with my point of view on this matter. but - as a very wise man once said: "one thing in common is we all are different." right?!

peace - martin
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  #19  
Old 10-18-2016, 02:43 PM
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. . . don't worry (be happy), aleuzzi - no offence taken!

but keep the following facts in mind:
the shack's first 45 featured christine's vocals on the all-important A-SIDE, while their third single had christine singing on BOTH sides even, not to mention their biggest hit ever (single #4), "i'd rather go blind" - and by the time of this '69 paris concert, all that had already happened. so talking of christine as a hired sideman might have been true in the first place, but not in 1969 anymore.

on the other hand . . . in mid-april that year chicken shack already started the first recording sessions with christine's replacement, paul raymond. so we're talking about one of the last gigs before christine's departing from the group, which must have been decided and known to the band by then. so stan might have deemed it better not to feature her any longer explicitly, to avoid a potential striking gap between her and her future successor. it's a thought that popped into me head . . .

and, just by the way - this is what ace-producer mike vernon had to say about that chicken shack line-up:
"they had the it-girl of the blues world in christine perfect (. . .) and an OUTSTANDING HARD, DRIVING RHYTHM SECTION in andy silvester and dave bidwell." and: "a more solid bass man than andy silvester you will never find."
and paul raymond considered dave bidwell to be "possibly the best blues drummer around, next to mick fleetwood”.

so at least i'm in some pretty decent company with my point of view on this matter. but - as a very wise man once said: "one thing in common is we all are different." right?!

peace - martin
Hey, I hear ya. I have the complete Blue Horizon Chicken Shack discs (and the first two individual ones) and enjoy them. To me, she is the main draw. They'd have otherwise been interchangeable from any number of blues acts from that time. Critic Samuel Graham called their albums "torpid" and typical of lesser acts from the British Blues Boom--but that's probably too harsh. I just think they're merely competent in comparison to Mac's blues offerings.

You are right that the band chose McVie's "It's Okay with Me Baby" as its first single, but I thought Vernon said in the liner notes to the above compellation that this was determined by a coin toss. I know Vernon always held her work in high regard, more so, perhaps, than Webb himself. By the time "I'd Rather Go Blind" was chosen as a single, the critics and the fans--as I mentioned in the first of our post conversations--had made their interest in her singing and playing well known.
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  #20  
Old 11-05-2016, 06:26 PM
FuzzyPlum FuzzyPlum is offline
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Hey, I hear ya. I have the complete Blue Horizon Chicken Shack discs (and the first two individual ones) and enjoy them. To me, she is the main draw. They'd have otherwise been interchangeable from any number of blues acts from that time. Critic Samuel Graham called their albums "torpid" and typical of lesser acts from the British Blues Boom--but that's probably too harsh. I just think they're merely competent in comparison to Mac's blues offerings.

You are right that the band chose McVie's "It's Okay with Me Baby" as its first single, but I thought Vernon said in the liner notes to the above compellation that this was determined by a coin toss. I know Vernon always held her work in high regard, more so, perhaps, than Webb himself. By the time "I'd Rather Go Blind" was chosen as a single, the critics and the fans--as I mentioned in the first of our post conversations--had made their interest in her singing and playing well known.
Do you think Stan Webb was annoyed with Christine leaving (at the time)? I can appreciate he possibly looks back now with some bitterness about how their careers panned out, but how did he feel at the time? On the one hand I can imagine him being p****d off that the singer that brought the band some success wanted to leave. On the other hand I wonder whether he felt overshadowed by I'd Rather Go Blind's success and therefore not too displeased with her leaving. I tend to get the feeling he had a chip on his shoulder and may have had his nose put out of joint by Christine being a big draw. After all, I'm sure at the time he probably thought they were going to be a success with or without her.
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  #21  
Old 11-06-2016, 04:03 PM
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Do you think Stan Webb was annoyed with Christine leaving (at the time)? I can appreciate he possibly looks back now with some bitterness about how their careers panned out, but how did he feel at the time? On the one hand I can imagine him being p****d off that the singer that brought the band some success wanted to leave. On the other hand I wonder whether he felt overshadowed by I'd Rather Go Blind's success and therefore not too displeased with her leaving. I tend to get the feeling he had a chip on his shoulder and may have had his nose put out of joint by Christine being a big draw. After all, I'm sure at the time he probably thought they were going to be a success with or without her.
hard to say, i think.

stan has never been much of a team player and always very keen on grabbing the spotlight for himself. and what he lacked in feeling and technique (and that was quite a lot) he always tried to hide behind (acoustic and visual) gimmicks. and as aleuzzi quite rightly remarked: as the real musical highlight of the band chris quickly increased the draw for the band. and with that it must have dawned on stan that he found himself in a difficult position.

so what were his real thoughts like? i bet one wouldn't get an honest comment from the man himself on asking. as an interviewee he can be a real pain in the ass, especially on topics from yesteryears. speaking of which . . . at a chicken shack (sorry . . . STAN WEBB'S chicken shack!) gig some 15 years ago i stood right in front of the stage wearing a blue horizon t-shirt. when he saw that, he immediately started ranting into the audience about the blue horizon guys being a bunch of assholes, having ripped him off and still owing him a whole lotta money. so he surely looks back in bitterness anyway . . . but that's definitely not our christine's fault!
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  #22  
Old 11-06-2016, 05:04 PM
FuzzyPlum FuzzyPlum is offline
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so he surely looks back in bitterness anyway . . . but that's definitely not our christine's fault!
No, definitely not her fault but I've heard he's been quite bitchy about her at various times over the years. Not sure what their true relationship is like (if anything) these days.

I wonder about her departure from Chicken Shack; how legit was the whole 'leaving to become a housewife' thing that she's always maintained? With Chris being so down to earth I'm sure it was mostly true. However I wonder if perhaps there was some encouragement by Mike Vernon (for example) for her to leave and pursue a career as a solo artist. I mean, she had a lot of potential to be big.

Last edited by FuzzyPlum; 11-06-2016 at 05:07 PM..
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  #23  
Old 11-06-2016, 09:00 PM
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No, definitely not her fault but I've heard he's been quite bitchy about her at various times over the years. Not sure what their true relationship is like (if anything) these days.

I wonder about her departure from Chicken Shack; how legit was the whole 'leaving to become a housewife' thing that she's always maintained? With Chris being so down to earth I'm sure it was mostly true. However I wonder if perhaps there was some encouragement by Mike Vernon (for example) for her to leave and pursue a career as a solo artist. I mean, she had a lot of potential to be big.
From what I remember reading, Chicken Shack were about to commence their first tour of America. John had toured America with FM several times and didn't think it was suitable or safe enough for his wife to go there without him. So she quit as the band that was about to try to conquer the states. Christine was persuaded to go out on her own only after "I'd Rather Go Blind" became a hit--and she'd already left the band by then.

Then, Stan and the boys came out with another album and a single that flopped.
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