Chicken Shack Video Live, 1968
 

Holy crap!!!!! Here’s Chicken Shack in France, 1968. That is most certainly Christine on the piano. It’s colorized and everything. All the songs are sung by Stan Webb, but the piano is prominent on every tune.

Wow! Wowza!!!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XRfaX31AtLM

wow, very nice! only saw a tiny bit of chris but she sounded great. i doubt that's january 1968 though...she has her wedding ring on...i'd guess maybe jan 1969.

--Lis

Watching Stan try to play “Hideaway” is especially rough considering Christine’s husband or soon to be husband had already played that with Eric Clapton, and Stan Webb wasn’t close to that.

I still wonder how adding Christine never crossed Peter’s mind. Maybe it’s a hindsight thing, but she was the only thing that remotely stuck out in this.

I think Peter added her in bits—she played piano on the second and third album. But I get it.

And yes, instrumentally, Chris is the only standout on the recording, but what a standout! Stan plays some frenetic guitar but he ain’t Peter or Danny. Christine however is top notch here.

That’s definitely possible. But wouldn’t that have made her decision not to sing a bit stranger, right? By 1969, weren’t fans of the band expecting her to sing on some things?

I don't know.... I mean, I'd Rather Go Blind was not a hit until 1969, though, right? Maybe after that, people expected her to sing. and before that single, maybe she just preferred to play piano and be part of the band...? it wouldn't surprise me. Stan seemed to definitely be the 'frontman' type of guy....i never cared for his voice or playing lol. her piano sounds so great though.

--Lis

You have to remember that this was Stan Webb's band, it's always been - and through all of the band's history he was anxious to be the star of the show. On stage he was only allowing Christine the odd vocal spot to give himself a breather. And considering this short 5-song set (opening up for "The Gun"), I'm sure that it wasn't Christine's decision not to sing but Stan's, being intent to keep the attention solely on himself. He didn't even give her one single solo, and I guess that says it all!

BTW - this was in 1969 (not 68), but "I'd Rather Be Blind" wasn't out yet at the time, so folks didn't know it - let alone expect it.

Sure, yes, I’ve read about her singing when Stan needed a breather or a beer. But it is a little surprising still, considering she had vocal spotlights on both records and the crowd audibly appreciated her in the intro.

She didn’t solo—not surprising. She rarely did with FM, either. But her piano throughout was upfront and center. It’s functioning here in a prominent way. And that is so cool to hear.

When I came upon that footage some years ago, I was VERY surprised - about both no vocals and solos from Christine, despite the pretty obvious reason. And although I had hoped for a bit more inspired picking by Mr. Webb (something of a rarity) than his usual cheap speed play, I wasn't surprised on that front at all.

On the other hand I was more than glad to witness Chris playing with the Shack, because this 69 performance and the "See See Baby" clip from a 68 "Bouton Rouge" episode seem to be all there is . . . or is there more? In that case please let me know!!!

I have never seen this footage before. We ledgie freaks have been clamoring for more Chicken Shack footage with Christine., so if you know of more, please let us know….

I reviewed this footage - although in its original b&w form (which I still prefer) - as early as 2016 in this thread:
https://www.ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/s...ad.php?t=52276
And it was there where we both already discussed matters of Christine's role in Chicken Shack. :)

I, for one, don't know about more footage being in circulation - sorry! :shrug:

I remember that old thread. It started because someone saw “See See Baby.”

Since the footage I posted was referenced by you many years ago, where was it? I’m always on the lookout for pre-Fm Christine footage. So I’m curious where you first saw it…

I'm afraid, I can't say anymore for sure. I think I got the original b&w footage in a swap from another collector at that time (2016, I believe it was). In the same form it also appeared a short time later on YT. And as things go on YT - stuff appears and vanishes and reappears . . .

But I'd dug out this info on the material (again I can't recall where I came upon these details): Contrary to what it says elsewhere, it wasn't recorded for "Bouton Rouge", but for a programme called "Forum Musique". A given date of April 26 (1969) is most probably the day of the broadcast, as Christine must've left the band by that time already.

I agree. My first thought was, "Stan is good but sloppy. Christine was enormously tight and leading the band, (While he solo'd)

Also, her choice of fills were fantastic.