Christine’s piano playing in Chicken Shack
 

Today, I was listening to “It’s Okay With Me Baby” (always loved this tune) and let compilation album continue right into “When My Left Eye Jumps.” I hardly ever listen to the Stan Webb tracks so I was floored by Christine’s piano playing on the song. If you can put up with Stan’s singing, I urge to listen to it. Her attack is so confident and forceful, as if she’d been playing blues her entire life. And given the lack of overdubbing, the piano is foregrounded in the mix, so you can really hear her digging in.

With FM, Christine’s playing became more foundational. As part of the musical bedrock that inevitably featured whichever guitarist was in the lineup, this change helped give the band its signature sound. But I do wish she’d allowed herself an occasional opportunity to break out like she did on the first two Chicken Shack records.

The reason I got into Chicken Shack at the time indeed was Christine, not Stan Webb. Let's face it - he's a hardly bearable howler (to avoid the terms "singer" and "vocalist") and he's not much of a real blues guitarist. That said, it was the tracks that were mostly dominated by Christine's great piano playing and her haunting vocals (the like I've never heard before!) that drew me into the Shack. And - as I mentioned somewhere else here before already - another part that was responsible for that, was the tight rhythm section of Andy Sylvester and Dave Bidwell. So I could've done well without the eccentric Mr. Webb - with the Christine Perfect Trio, if you like. ;)

But that was certainly not to be and by the way she'd recorded her eponimous first album and had a few gigs with her band featuring Top Topham, she'd already changed her style pretty much. Thus I had hoped that it would actually come to a much-rumoured blues album of hers, to maybe once more bringing her fine piano style and her satin vocals to the fore in an according blues setting. But somehow I'm afraid this is nothing more than wishful thinking again.

I'll have to check this out. I've listened to all of their songs, but not often and mostly Christine's.

This one's a good 'un for a start:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iczNjo91dIE

Yes, I've hear that one a million times. It's amazing! ^^^

Yes, sadly, she’s never given us the twelve-bar blues album she threatened to do for decades.

But she’s never let the blues off the hook either. One in a Million, and about five songs from ITM are derived from the blues.

But yeah, that piano playing...we hear it on the first two Shack records and on Peter’s songs from Mr. Wonderful.

Yeah, exactly - she's done that so brilliantly . . . and I miss that! Just the same with her singing real blues stuff!

I was wondering if she's working on anything. Or, is she just enjoying the rest of her life. I want that next solo album. :angel:

In retrospect, it’s weird that she wasn’t asked to join Fleetwood Mac after Mr. Wonderful.

Maybe Mike Vernon knew Chicken Shack wouldn’t be viable without her and he needed at least one more noteworthy band.

I never thought of that. But, it makes sense.

I mean, Chicken Shack was absolutely Stan’s band. Christine only had two songs on 40BFFPARTS and 3.5 songs on OK Ken?

All of which makes the fact she was the lead vocalist on three of the first four Chicken Shack singles all the more telling of what Vernon really thought of Chicken Shack an Stan Webb.

Still Mike Vernon held on to the Shack for two more albums after Christine had left - but their success was dwindling down . . . which wasn't really surprising.

In retrospect it makes perfect sense, but in the minds of the Green band, they weren’t ready to consider it. Not even close. They needed to feel the devastating loss of their leader, record an entirely different kind of record (Kiln House) without any clear sense of direction before they realized what was in front of them all along. There’s an early 70s interview with Kirwan (cited in Samuel Graham’s book on the band) that supports this.

Ohhhh, I'd love to see that quote. :)

The book isn’t Samuel Graham’s. The quote is actually in a book written by Charley Walters. It was published by Billboard in 1978. I don’t own it but I remember it was in there. I’ll find a copy…