"The Feminine Touch"

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by David

Chris is pretty darn good on maracas, definitely. On Monday Morning on the Tusk Tour, she played the maracas with one hand & the organ with the other. It might not sound like much ... until you actually try doing it yourself! They're two different actions involved & they're both hard to synchronize. I've done it in performance. You wind up applying the maraca action to the keyboard & the keyboard action to the maracas.

Stevie's tambourine work is purely for show. (In fact, I've always believed that it was Mick playing the tambourine part on studio work like Go Your Own Way & Storms.) But I will say she's solid on the güiro on that filmed soundstage performance of You Make Loving Fun. That's not a particularly easy action to keep on beat.

Eyes of the World... Mirage Tour... I loved Christine's, perfect tamborine play... While Stevie was stumbling around with her tamborine, mouthing the words.... Christine was keeping beat... then doing a keyboard riff on her yamaha

[Gailh]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

Eyes of the World... Mirage Tour... I loved Christine's, perfect tamborine play... While Stevie was stumbling around with her tamborine, mouthing the words.... Christine was keeping beat... then doing a keyboard riff on her yamaha

Christine also plays her percussion instruments into the microphone and so we can all hear them.

Still it must be difficult for Stevie when she's not singing because she hasn't got anything else to do. Hence the prancing about.

Gail

[jbrownsjr]

oh and i love how christine wails on that maracas during world turning midnight special.... she was so into it!!!

sometimes she does a great organ call/response thing with mick and lb right before mick's weird drum solo and sometimes she doesn't....

i love when her lb and mick are trading off riffs before his stupid solo that makes no sense....

[nicepace]

I am enjoying this thread. When I think about Christine as a musician, I think of her piano and organ playing, but she sure is a good percussionist, isn't she? On what recordings (if any) does she play any percussion instruments?

And on what song did she play guitar live in concert? I remember seeing her play guitar on one song, and I'm sure I even have it in my concert notes, but right now I don't remember which tour it was and which song. One of you Macsters will know for sure.

And of course when discussing Ms. McVie's incredible instrumental talents, let's not forget the fabulous accordion on "Tusk."

[SortaSavageLike]

Originally Posted by nicepace

And of course when discussing Ms. McVie's incredible instrumental talents, let's not forget the fabulous accordion on "Tusk."

You know, you'd have thought someone over at USC would have noticed that their entire 110 man marching band just got upstaged by an English tea lady!

[bucklind17]

I've been looking at pictures of early Fleetwood Mac for years, but for some reason, it didn't hit me until recently just how unique it was that Christine had so much influence and her talents were used so efficiently as the sole female in a group of guys. It wasn't completely unheard of, but it wasn't common. She wrote songs, she sang them, she played instruments, she performed, she went on the road, she ran the gamut all before another woman joined the band. I'm curious, since I don't know a whole lot about other bands that featured women, but how does Christine's role in Fleetwood Mac before the arrival of Stevie and Lindsey compare to say, Grace Slick in Jefferson Airplane? It seems to me like Stevie sort of took on the more common role of women in multi-gender rock bands, while Christine happened to be a woman doing everything the guys did and better, but my lack of knowledge of other bands at or around the time of early-Chris FM may have me on the wrong track.

Has Lindsey ever made any outright statements about Christine as a musician? Obviously, he's commented on Stevie's musical talents and/or lack thereof, and I know he's mentioned being on the same sort of musical level with Christine and that they got along well musically, but I'd be curious to see more detailed comments about her musicianship from him, if there are any. I recently found an interview where someone asked about a collaboration he did with her, I believe it was "Mystified", and he essentially said that she started it and he finished it, alluding to the idea that they never actually worked on it together, but I feel like that wasn't really a common thing and arose more because of Lindsey's place with the band at the time Tango was being recorded.

I've always really admired Christine's place in the band. While Lindsey's work is my favorite overall, it's Christine's that gives Fleetwood Mac their defining sound. The level of her successes in a band where she was one of five very different and oftentimes intense personalities is pretty awesome, and I continue to think that she is one of the most under-rated female musicians of our time.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by bucklind17

I've been looking at pictures of early Fleetwood Mac for years, but for some reason, it didn't hit me until recently just how unique it was that Christine had so much influence and her talents were used so efficiently as the sole female in a group of guys. It wasn't completely unheard of, but it wasn't common. She wrote songs, she sang them, she played instruments, she performed, she went on the road, she ran the gamut all before another woman joined the band. I'm curious, since I don't know a whole lot about other bands that featured women, but how does Christine's role in Fleetwood Mac before the arrival of Stevie and Lindsey compare to say, Grace Slick in Jefferson Airplane? It seems to me like Stevie sort of took on the more common role of women in multi-gender rock bands, while Christine happened to be a woman doing everything the guys did and better, but my lack of knowledge of other bands at or around the time of early-Chris FM may have me on the wrong track.

Has Lindsey ever made any outright statements about Christine as a musician? Obviously, he's commented on Stevie's musical talents and/or lack thereof, and I know he's mentioned being on the same sort of musical level with Christine and that they got along well musically, but I'd be curious to see more detailed comments about her musicianship from him, if there are any. I recently found an interview where someone asked about a collaboration he did with her, I believe it was "Mystified", and he essentially said that she started it and he finished it, alluding to the idea that they never actually worked on it together, but I feel like that wasn't really a common thing and arose more because of Lindsey's place with the band at the time Tango was being recorded.

I've always really admired Christine's place in the band. While Lindsey's work is my favorite overall, it's Christine's that gives Fleetwood Mac their defining sound. The level of her successes in a band where she was one of five very different and oftentimes intense personalities is pretty awesome, and I continue to think that she is one of the most under-rated female musicians of our time.

The great thing about Christine was that she automatically liked writing pop songs... hence, you need a great guitar solo vs any kind of piano solo in pop at that time.. She liked to set the tempo and beat of the song... "Don't Stop" "Say You Love Me" "YMLF" "Hold Me" Sometimes LB and CM drive me crazy with too much pop... repeating the chorus until you kill yourself (Little Lies) but thank God those Chorus are just so damn good!! I play the chords out on the piano and the progressions are so simply great...

Most people don't think so, but I think LB and CM really got closer and closer as they neared Tango, and really created a lot of magic. Because of that,I think they had an understanding of what their roles were, and both were very powerful voices.. I think LB sometimes resented his role much like Roger Waters resented his role in that, he did all the work, loved all the power that it gave him, then got pissed cos he "felt" he was doing all the work...

Most don't like LB's Mirage work, but I feel that if it were a better recording, people could hear what I heard on the record album vs the cd.

To me, LB's problem has always been that he doesn't take his songs to the next level in terms of composition and tries to make up for it in production.

Christine has the opposite problem...

[macfan 57]

Originally Posted by nicepace

And on what song did she play guitar live in concert? I remember seeing her play guitar on one song, and I'm sure I even have it in my concert notes, but right now I don't remember which tour it was and which song. One of you Macsters will know for sure.

During the beginning of the Tusk tour, she played accoustic guitar on "Save Me A Place". There's also rehearsal footage of her playing guitar on "The Ledge".

[nicepace]

Originally Posted by macfan 57

During the beginning of the Tusk tour, she played accoustic guitar on "Save Me A Place".

That's it -- no surprise it's MacFan who knew this bit of Christine trivia.

As for the accordion, I remember thinking that when FM played "Tusk" in concerts, Chris' accordion was taking the place of the entire marching band. Did she ever play the accordion on any other song, either in the studio or live?

[David]

Originally Posted by nicepace

As for the accordion, I remember thinking that when FM played "Tusk" in concerts, Chris' accordion was taking the place of the entire marching band.

It's a metaphor. Christine just played the riff on the accordion, repeatedly. Her keyboard tech, Jeff Sova, was backstage playing (or triggering) something closer to the brass arrangement of the original on an Oberheim. On the 1982 band tour, Jeff played a phat string patch undergirding Christine's piano on "Hold Me."

Did she ever play the accordion on any other song, either in the studio or live?

On the band tour with Vito in 1990, Chris played the accordion on "When the Sun Goes Down."

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by nicepace

That's it -- no surprise it's MacFan who knew this bit of Christine trivia.

As for the accordion, I remember thinking that when FM played "Tusk" in concerts, Chris' accordion was taking the place of the entire marching band. Did she ever play the accordion on any other song, either in the studio or live?

She played accordion on "So Excited" off the Christine McVie album....

[littlewolf]

Originally Posted by David

That wasn't Christine's primary importance to Fleetwood Mac -- that she was a caregiver & a problem-solver. That's of secondary importance. Christine's primary importance was as a singer, songwriter & musician.

I think both were her primary importance.
Solving problems in as mad band as Fleetwood mac is of big importance.
That factor shouldn´t be undervalued.
Though i don´t think she was the only one doing her part on solving problems.
She also had her problems to include with others,
drinking and liason with Dennis Wilson couldn´t have helped.

[David]

Originally Posted by littlewolf

I think both were her primary importance.

I use the phrase primary importance in a stricter sense: the single most important.

Solving problems in as mad band as Fleetwood mac is of big importance.
That factor shouldn´t be undervalued.

I don't think I undervalue it. I merely assign it ... secondary importance. From the point of view of aesthetics, Christine's personality & character -- both sociological and/or psychological factors -- play secondary roles. Steve MacDougall will tell you that I am, in any discussion of aesthetics, firmly anti-sociological. Beethoven's nobility of spirit & his kindness are of secondary importance to his compositions: of primary importance are the formalistic properties of the compositions themselves. It isn't Christine's inclination to placate co-workers in a dither that jumps out at me when I listen to "Hold Me." It's her singing, songwriting & playing that do so.

You may have a different opinion, & that's fine. I just want to be sure I'm understood properly.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by David

I use the phrase primary importance in a stricter sense: the single most important.

I don't think I undervalue it. I merely assign it ... secondary importance. From the point of view of aesthetics, Christine's personality & character -- both sociological and/or psychological factors -- play secondary roles. Steve MacDougall will tell you that I am, in any discussion of aesthetics, firmly anti-sociological. Beethoven's nobility of spirit & his kindness are of secondary importance to his compositions: of primary importance are the formalistic properties of the compositions themselves. It isn't Christine's inclination to placate co-workers in a dither that jumps out at me when I listen to "Hold Me." It's her singing, songwriting & playing that do so.

You may have a different opinion, & that's fine. I just want to be sure I'm understood properly.

As Ethel Merman once sang, "Everything is beautiful... in it's own way...."

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

As Ethel Merman once sang, "Everything is beautiful... in it's own way...."

Nowadays people say, "It's all good." I prefer Ethel.