Some questions about Christine's songs on 'Time'
 

In response to the other thread I have relistened to 'Time.' I enjoy all of Chris' songs and Mick's 'These Strange Times' which I think is wonderfully brilliant and emotionally evocative. But I think the rest of the songs are pretty forgettable.

I think it's reasonable to call this album a Christine McVie EP embedded in a disjointed collection of songs featuring the Fleetwood Mac rhythm section.

On to the questions:

Who is Michael Thompson, who played guitar on Christine's songs on 'Time'?

Is it true she didn't sing or play at all on any of the tracks other than her five songs? Even Mick's number?

Did Mick and John play the rhythm section on her songs, and if so were they all in the studio together, or did she literally mail in the vocals, keys and guitar?

He was a renowned session guitarist (worked on the TV shows Fame & Miami Vice; and the movie Waiting To Exhale)...toured with Joe Cocker, Cher. Worked with Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds, during which he appeared on Eric Clapton's hit "Change The World"; and with Quincy Jones...was the guitarist on Shania Twain's album Up!...also was the guitarist in the 1988 Stewart Copeland, Stanley Clarke, Deborah Holland band called "Animal Logic" . Plus did two or three albums with his own band (The Michael Thompson Band)

As far as I can recall from the liner notes, yes. Heck, I don't think anyone else in the band played on Mick's "These Strange Times", except for John. Ray Kennedy was on keys, Mick's daughter did some singing, Mick did the rest; even LEAD GUITAR!!! :shocked: (I guess hanging around with some of the greatest guitarists in rock history wore off, he did a more than adequate job.)

Yes.

I would assume they were all in the studio together.

After I posted the question I did a little digging, and Michael Thompson is indeed a renowned session guitarist, and he is still in music. He has played with a bazillion people. His website:

http://michaelthompson.cc/

At first glance it seems odd that Chris would use a session guitarist on her tracks when there were two guitarists currently IN Fleetwood Mac, but I suppose it makes sense. We know that Christine didn't want anything to do with Dave Mason, and I suspect she thought Billy Burnette's playing style was too "country" for her songs, which are pure pop.

I'm not so certain. Without having the booklet in front of me, I think she played on the Bekka and Billy stuff. I don't recall seeing Steve Thoma listed on keyboards (or, if so, as additonal keyboards). On "I Do," Michael Thompson is only listed as "additional guitar," so maybe the others play on that one.

From what I can see, Christine and Dave are not on each other's songs, but that's it.

I had asked Billy Burnette in his Q and A whether or not Christine was even present when the other songs were cut and he insisted that she was. I can hear her backing vocals on "Got it in for You" but beyond that I didn't sense a real presence there. When I asked Billy about the "guest" guitarist on a few of Christine's things he said "it was just something we were trying." Neither response was too forthcoming, but make of them what you will.

I can hear her on Talkin to My Heart...

in fact her backing vocals on that song give me goosebumps....

You can also hear Christine on "Winds of Change" -- especially in the "You won't matter" part (can't mistake the accent).

I'll listen for Christine's voice on those three tracks and see if I agree that I hear her there. Thanks for the tip. It did seem odd to me that she should be so completely absent on the other singers' tracks. Did Billy claim to have actually played on any of Chris' tracks? I was assuming that Michael Thompson played all the guitars on those songs, but maybe not.

Oh, for a complete set of credits of who played what on every Fleetwood Mac song ever ... or has one of the incredible fans on this site already compiled such a list?

Oh my gosh, I forgot about this! Thanks. That song sounds like a Rumors-era hit to me.

Goosebumps! That is quite a recommendation. I'll go back and listen to that song for the first time in four or five years.

Okay, now I have the booklet in front of me...

1. Talkin' To My Heart: No other musician listed in credits.
2. Hollywood: Guitars: Michael Thompson
3. Blow By Blow: Keyboards: Steve Thoma
4. Winds Of Change: Additional Keyboards: Steve Thoma.
5. I Do: Additional Michael Thompson
6. Nothing Without You: Additional Background Vocals: Lindsey Buckingham
7. Dreamin' The Dream: No other musician listed in credits.
8. Sooner Or Later: Guitars: Michael Thompson, Trumpet: Fred Tackett
9. I Wonder Why: Additional Keyboards: Steve Thoma.
10. Nights Of Estoril: Guitars: Michael Thompson
11. I Got It In For You: No other musician listed in credits.
12. All Over Again: Guitars: Michael Thompson
13. These Strange Times: Keyboards: John Jones, Vocals: Mick Fleetwood, Bekka Bramlett, and Lucy Fleetwood, Guitars, Drums, and Percussion: Mick Fleetwood.

So, Talkin' To My Heart, Winds Of Change, I Do, Nothing Without You, Dreamin' The Dream, I Wonder Why, and I Got It In For You appear to be the full band.

Chris is also definitely on Bekka's "Nothing Without You" on backing vocals & probably keyboards. I KNOW her voice & she's definately there in the background.

I think it's safe to say that she had nothing to do with Dave Mason's songs & wouldn't let DM anywhere near her songs.

Accept for I Do and I Wonder Why.

I asked him a similar question and he said something like they liked the guitar parts so they kept them. I think I asked him whether Dave Mason played on any of Chris' songs but I can't remember if he answered.

Gail

Silence may have been an interesting answer;)

I do love Hollywood. It's a truly great song, perhaps Christine's best song of the 90s. The only thing I really don't like about her Time songs is her choice of keyboards. They sound surprisingly cheap, tinny--as opposed to the piano and organ she uses on a great tune like Heart of Stone.

I have a huge problem with her keyboard choices (with respect to timbre)

I want to throw that electric keyboard out.... but the compositions themselves are cool tunes...

On Time alone or on all her songs?

not all of her song....

Hollywood... I Do are the tunes that I cringe when I hear the timbre of the keys... it just sounds so dated to me...

What is it that you don't like about them, and what keyboards do you wish she played instead?

I'm not arguing with you, just curious to get more explanation of why you feel this way.

I have listened to the four songs that various posters said they could hear Chris on, and I agree, she's there, at least in the background mix, on all of them. I would also be surprised if that's not her playing the piano on that one song of Bekka's ("NothingWithout You").

About "Talkin To My Heart" -- is that Chris doing the sort of delicate background aaaaah's toward the end, while Bekka does a more aggressive backing vocal? If that is indeed Chris, it is very nice. (It's very nice anyway.)

By the way, not to start any arguments, but I really don't like the way Bekka sings. There are too many notes in there that don't belong in the melody. I understand she was trying to not sound like Chris, and especially not sound like Stevie, but I don't particularly like the result.

Oh I don't take anything on here personally... so you can ask me anything...

The opening piano riff of I Do... I wish it was an acoustic Grand Piano vs the electric piano voice/pad she's playing.. just a personal preference.... the timbre she's using sounds really late 80's to me.. and i believe this was 1994 or 5...

I love the song Skies the Limit as well, but don't like the choice of keyboard sound here either... (i know it's from BTM) just another example....

Sounds i do love from her...

Keys on Friend, Crystal, YMLF, Dreams, Hold Me, Born Enchanter, Angel, Believe Me, Morning Rain, Warm Ways, Oh Daddy, One in A Million....
just to name some...

the keys don't sound dated to me on these tunes... they seem timeless.... B3, fender sounds, AC Gpiano, upright piano etc...

and i'm not a keyboard expert... i'm just listening to sound she's creating and saying yay or nay... fresh vs stale... just my thing...

Agreed. It sounded dated even THEN!

Such great songs colored so badly with those awful, demo-sounding keyboards. I have no idea why she chose those colors and textures when she did such a bang-up job with the keyboards in Heart of Stone a couple years earlier.

Well, it's admittedly very different. Very in line with her parents' more soulful style, which is very different from the "classic" Fleetwood Mac sound. I happen to be a huge fan of her folks, and as such, I really enjoyed her stuff. I especially love how she and Billy sounded together.

Actually, the other thing about Time that rubs me the wrong way is that three of the songs had already been released. I will say I prefer Delaney Bramlett's 1975 version of Nothing Without You and Fleetwood Mac's 1994 version of Blow By Blow. But, I'm really glad the Mac remade Talkin' To My Heart, which was originally done by Deborah Allen.

and did a bang up job in tunes on BTM and Love Shines.. and In the Meantime

I would love to hear that version(TTMH)... as it's my favorite song on Time ... Sooner or Later is my 2nd fav...

Those musicboxy patches are derivatives of the DX-7, which left its influence everywhere. It's like a digitized xylophone, or an exec's fancy telephone. But even the current generation of synths & workstations heavily employs the DX-7 voices because you hear them everywhere (you even hear them on EVERYWHERE). You hear the same tick-tocky DX-7 derivative on the EVERYWHERE demo & on SKIES THE LIMIT, & you hear the digitized xylophony-baloney on the TIME songs.

It's a funny time for keyboards, because although these are popular patches & samplings today, there's still a widespread nostalgia for the older, "warmer" analog sounds of classic electric pianos like the Rhodes, the Wurly, & the Hohner. Some of the most popular sellers are digital "clones" of analog or tube-amp-style boards & organs.

then use the warm sounds vs the baloney soundS!!!! :mad::shocked:

I'm so glad it wasn't!!! Countless songs have that title, and it's a phrase that's been overused...in countless contexts. It's the king of cliches! Eeh! I cringed when I first heard that song on the Time album. My reaction was, "C'mon!..can't they find a more orignal phrase??!!"