Ken Caillat's comments
 

Has anyone been reading the comments on the Rumours board?

So Christine (along with Stevie and Lindsey) was "full of herself"

Is anyone surprised about this?

Personally I could imagine she could be difficult sometimes and I think making comments about what people were wearing is downright rude.

what does everyone else think?

Gail

It doesn't really surprise me all that much. I remember somebody posted a quote from Stevie that Chris would tell someone that they didn't look so good & to go home...lol. I think she was very direct & would say what she thought. It's funny that there have been quite a few other people who've described her as down to earth. Maybe it depends on the person. Both Bob Welch & Ken, to a lesser degree have had some negative things to say about her.

I would be cross if she said something like that to me and might be tempted to tell her so - provided I was sure of the exit and had fast car waiting :laugh:

Another thought I had was is Mr Caillat expecting the band's co-operation with this book or perhaps they are too full of themselves to have time?

Edit: I've just read the start of the thread and yes he will be talking to the band - I wonder if any of them ever look at this board?

Gail

John is a member of this board.

I thought Christine's shirt comment was great. :lol:

Remember Stevie complained about the band critisizing her for the way she dressed? Perhaps it was Chris she was referring to when she said, "oh-she's in gray today."

I've always imagined Chris to be pretty sarcastic and funny... I've watched some of the "unedited" videos of her...

I love her dry wit, sarcastic comments, and I totally believe that her Stevie and Lindsey are full of themselves...

I remember Lindsey say to Bob Welch... Oh my God, how did you ever deal with them... referring to the English bandmates.... later on he became them...

this was no "Mystery to Me"

The comment is in keeping with some article about some band I posted a few years ago on Christine's site and on FMlegacy. The long article was about them, but they mentioned Christine. They said Christine walked up to them and said they looked gay and that that crushed them. She didn't say the word gay. She used some kind of British slang that I don't remember. But she didn't even know them. She just walked up and said it.

That bothered me. It would be one thing to walk up to Lindsey in his mascara and say, "Hey you look gay," but to do it to strangers . . . Obviously, many would go unbothered by the comment and many would be proud, but it was decades ago and these musicians were upset. They said they looked up to her and were excited to meet her and were hurt by her comment. I think they knew her from Chicken Shack though. This was early on. Probably before 1975.

Michele

yeah I laughed when I read that...but then I thought, what if she had said that to me??
I would've given it right back to her LOL b/c she didn't always make the best clothing choices either....

Some chicks can get away with it no matter what and CM seemingly is one of them. If La Nicks has said that (which I do not really see her saying) - she'd be eviscerated as a cu*t :shrug:

hello!!!! have you seen some of her awful hats and outfits!!!!

pa lease!!!!!!!

Within FM though, one of the reasons that Christine could do anything is that she was unselfish. As Ken said, one of the guys. And she said she considered herself one of the rhythm section, and she acted like it, meaning she wasn't trying to butt heads with Lindsey or Stevie, which made them less likely to fight with her. So, I guess it's pretty easy to take it if someone says you look awful, if you know for a fact they aren't trying to stab you in the back musically.
Michele

that would have been Status Quo who she said looked liked "a couple of f*ck*ng ponces" which is somewhat rude. With that I always got the impression that she did know them but I could be wrong.

Gail

Yes talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

Gail

Yes, I found the article. Francis Rossi said:

I guess Francis got over it as the Quo did cover Don't Stop in later years

I take that as the UNDERSTATEMENT of the day.

Come on people, don't be shocked. She was a very british selfabsorbed lady in the heydays. She normally didn't act it out much in the media. Those other two were just shameless streetfighters. But in that perspective: more transparant.

And she boozed. That was a white whine MACHINE.

Based on everything we've read and known about Christine, I think its pretty safe to say that she's every bit the alcoholic that John is (although its effects manifested differently and more problematically with John). I have had concern for her in this regard, since she's an admitted recluse as it is.

I'm not saying any of this in a judgmental way- there's nothing wrong with the life she has chosen for herself. Its just an observation.

Let's try to find examples in Christine's career where her alcohol intake rendered her unfit to perform, record, &c.

I didn't say she wasn't functional. I think she was for the vast majority of the time. I would say "is", but we really don't know what she's been doing these days.

You misunderstood me. You thought I was being rude & sarcastic & facetious & snide. I was earnestly asking for people's opinions about specific times that Christine was obviously bombed or whatever. Some people say she was bombed when singing "Over & Over," for example, in St. Louis at the Checkerdome on Nov. 6, 1979.

bombed how? did she puke? fall down? sing off key? what?? you have me interested!!! lol

That's actually a funny comment about the Status Quo at that time (and I really like their music) but maybe have been a product of inebriation and Chicken Shack raucousness. She could have said the exact thing about the Jimi Hendrix Experience and it would've been hilarious in context.

Performers without substance abuse problems of some kind seem to pretty darn rare unfortunately...

I think she sounds great, but give a listen.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/dlkfvk

I'll say it again shack.... I'm not at all shocked or even surprised... I think she's hilarious... she was able to manipulate the media way more than SN and LB... but again I've seen some serious drunk Christine footage...

Nevertheless, she came off as a classy lady in perception.. where the other two did not... Maybe because she was British.. I'm not sure why...

Wow she sounds great!!

It's all in the accent...

She sounds decent...except the part where she goes "what can I do to keep you around.." yeah. that isn't so nice. she sounds like a drunk at a karaoke bar. :sorry:

Yes, Christine has said things about "lezzies" and "poofters" in a few places--the former in a People magazine article from 1976!

Bob Welch has said she was downright sarcastic and that this could be quite funny and amusing--if you were on the right side of it. But remember too that Bob Weston felt she, as well as the other Brits in the band, had become "impossible" with their newfound success. I imagine Christine calmed down once she stopped using cocaine and once the mega-success of the band had run its course (around 1988). Most of her sidemen insist she is great to work with and very down to earth.

I interpret her caustic, even rude comments as a manifestation of some insecurity--of which I suspect she has many. But then I don't know her personally, so who knows? She once complained that she worked with "bitchy" people in that department store before Stan Webb rescued her. Perhaps she was projecting? Perhaps she has always been one of those "bitchy" people herself?

Oh, and she is NOT one to talk about bad fashion choices.

I don't know if she was bombed, but she was horrendously out of tune.

maybe she was just overly sarcastic....maybe she was just kidding and was able to keep a straight face. If I had a nickel for every time I called someone a derogatory name in a kidding manner...I'd be rich. Or maybe she was just an uber bitch. Either way, I still love her! I just can't help it :D

You know, I remember reading, shortly after she and John married, that Peter Green made some comment about them at a show, and she came up on stage and basically made a few Jewish jokes at his expense.

well, if we're going to go in that direction... what kind of person shows up at a Halloween party dressed in blackface in the late 1970's? That has always bothered me. Forget about political correctness (ex- I'm willing to recognize Al Jolson as a spectacular entertainer) what inspired her to make that specific choice?

OK, well I haven't read any of this thread, but I just wanted to say, don't get me started on Al Jolson. My Grandma was one of the founding members of the Al Jolson Society, so I know alllll about Jolson. (I even belong to the society. :/) She has about 3 rooms in her house dedicated to him. And most of the walls are covered with memorabilia, along with TONS of live shows and stuff. Most of which is on records. Sorry if I just wasted one minute of your life ranting about Al Jolson.

Well, I don't like that she made comments about Jews or wore black face, that's pretty out there. I can picture the bluesy group meeting the mod-hippy boogie group in all the feathers, ruffles and stuff though... a bit like that scene in Black Adder where Edmund is trying to be the Earl of Doncaster, an absurd picture, but then I laughed at all the morris dancers jokes too so I'm kind of weird. I definitely tend to prefer self-depricating humour to the put-down sort the Brits often wallow in.

Al Jolson should've lived longer just so he could have covered Which Way You Goin' Billy by The Poppy Family. "Billy, don't ya know me Billy? Which Way Ya Goin'? Oh Billy boy, Can I come too?" I saw a movie of his where he dances with giant watermelon slices and it was just so dumb it was kind of enthralling in an Eraserhead sort of way.

wasn't she Aunt Jermima ?... i can't remember the pic exactly...

she apparently doesn't drink any more which is a good thing. the recluse thing has been overplayed I think. Just because we don't see or read about her in newspapers doesn't mean to say she's a recluse. she's retired.

Gail

There is a certain level of outrageous behavior that is taken for granted among show business people that doesn't exist in normal social circles. There's usually a flamboyant side to someone who makes it in show biz, and they enjoy being able to show it. I also think this type of outrageousness serves as a sort of mutual self-defense technique among show business people. The very fact of being an entertainer means you're out there being scrutinized by the public, all the time. Thirty years later something you wore once is getting criticized by fans, for instance. (Cf. this thread.)

My point in saying this is that you really can't draw any conclusions about a show business person's real attitudes about Jews/blacks/gays/any minority because of a party costume or joke they told. If you see a pattern of behavior over time, then you can start drawing conclusions.

By the way, I think that performance of "Over and Over" is fabulous. I love Fleetwood Mac when they're a little rough around the edges. I don't think Chris sounds drunk in the sound clip. I think at the beginning she sounds hesitant, like she's having trouble getting the tempo of the song right, but she recovers halfway through the song. I think Mick/John save the day on this clip ... steady as a rock rhythm section.

Here's a picture from that Halloween party. John is dressed up as a Nazi. Pretty embarrassing...lol.

I don't like her gay, Jewish(I think she referred to Peter Green as a cocky Jew boy at one time) jokes & blackface at that party. But times were a bit different in those days. She'd never get away with that these days.

I don't remember that but I do remember reading parts of a biography of Peter Green where FM was onstage and Peter was introducing the band. This was before John & Christine married (I think). He mentioned that John was shy and took 6 months to pluck up enough courage to hold Christine's hand never mind "f**k the arse off her". John apparently got very cross and called him a "f**kin Jew".

You have to remember that this was a long time ago and language like that was common place. I'm not condoning it just pointing out that people in those days didn't even consider whether that might be disrepectful or hurtful in any way.

I heard Paul McCartney talking quite recently about Brian Epstein and he admitted that at the time they didn't say he was gay just "a poof"

Gail

it was hysterical :shrug:

I remember reading she was quitting smoking, not drinking but I could be wrong.

I also think it was easy for her to escape the spot light because other than The Dance she's been out of the spotlight since 1991 or so, with the exception of ITM, which was not a major success. Plus., she lives in a small town.