Potentially dumb question about Christine leaving the band

[Matt Lucas]

Hello all---

I've remember reading all the interviews from the SYW era, but I need a reminder: Why, exactly, did Christine leave the band? From what I can recall, after THE DANCE tour, she decided she was tired of life on the road. When they agreed to record SAY YOU WILL, I think I remember her offering to join for the album but not the tour, and everyone else saying, basically, "It's all of nothing, baby."

It also seems like there was some implication that she wanted to retire, but then she turned around and released another solo album.

Also, is she estranged from the rest of the band, or did they split on good terms? I seem to remember all of their comments seeming a bit tense when the subject of Christine came up...as if they were more than a little mad at her. I always had the impression that she and Lindsey got along pretty well. I remember seeing a photo in Rolling Stone from her wedding [I think], and Lindsey showed up. The two of them co-wrote several songs for TANGO as well, which implies that they got along pretty well, artistically.

Has she ever commented on the split from her end of things?

Can anyone provide links to interviews, etc.?

For the record, I'm actually a Lindsey fan, but I think Christine was sorely missed on SYW. She really was, as one reviewer put it, "the band's center."

mattl

[KarmaContestant]

All I recall was that she didn't want to tour. Mick, specifically, was the one who told her she couldn't participate in the SYW sessions if she wasn't going to tour to support it.

Others may have a better recollection of events.

[SteveMacD]

Christine said back in 1990 that she didn’t want to be in the band when she was fifty. She was 46 or 47 (depending on the month) at the time.

Christine retired from the road in 1990, after the death of her father. She continued recording with the band in the studio until 1995, and left the band after the release of the “Time” album, which is why Fleetwood Mac was disbanded in February, 1996.

Christine, like Mick and John, became part of Lindsey’s “Gift Of Screws” sessions, which sucked everybody (“Rumours” band) back into a full-blown Fleetwood Mac Reunion mode. Christine even agreed to do 40 dates. Once those were done, the band had the option of extending the tour, but Christine declined.

Christine made it clear that she was done. I don’t think she really wanted to be a part of “Say You Will,” but offered her services out of a sense of duty. The others said no thanks, at least if she weren't going to tour. (Mick may have been the one to say no thanks, but the others made it clear that they completely agreed.)

As for “In The Meantime,” it was a very casual thing that turned into a full-blown album. I think she had written a few songs and figured that an album could be used as a stepping stone for her nephew, Dan Perfect.

As for Christine’s relationship with Fleetwood Mac, from what I understand, it’s very positive. She is supportive of the group, and did see them in England. She doesn’t talk as much to John and Lindsey, but she’s apparently close to Stevie and Mick.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

She doesn’t talk as much to John and Lindsey, but she’s apparently close to Stevie and Mick.

Which is really surprising...I would think she'd talk to John moreso than Stevie.

[macfan 57]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Which is really surprising...I would think she'd talk to John moreso than Stevie.

I think during John's Q & A here, he mentioned that they are a bit more in contact now than before. I don't think she has any contact with Lindsey at all.

Also, I don't think it was Mick's idea to tell her that she wasn't allowed to participate on the album unless she toured. In an online chat early on, he said that she would write a few songs & do some vocals...then nothing happened.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

All I recall was that she didn't want to tour. Mick, specifically, was the one who told her she couldn't participate in the SYW sessions if she wasn't going to tour to support it.
.

Originally Posted by Matt Lucas

When they agreed to record SAY YOU WILL, I think I remember her offering to join for the album but not the tour, and everyone else saying, basically, "It's all of nothing, baby."

mattl

I never read nothing about those facts. I do remember she didn't want to tour, and she didn't want to leave England not even for studio sessions. And she thought it was unfair to ask them to go to England to record.

I think she is just not interested in show business nor being in USA for long periods.

[GypsySongbird]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Which is really surprising...I would think she'd talk to John moreso than Stevie.

i thought her & john were still really close

[Matt Lucas]

Hello all---

I appreciate all of the comments. After I posted my initial message, I got over my own laziness and tracked down a few links myself:

BBC RADIO 2 INTERVIEW JULY 2004
http://www.fleetwoodmac-uk.com/artic...y2004-002.html

"...[I've] reached the point in my life where I've done forty years... loyal service to Fleetwood Mac and it's just time...I just felt that I wanted to come home and live back in England again."

"We'll they've already done a couple of tours without me, no... they have asked me and sort of tried to...break my arm. Well they asked me to, but I think... I think I just got stage shy in the end I just thought' I haven't done this for so many years I'll probably have a heart attack probably on stage' [laughs] now, you know."

ROCK VILLAGE INTERVIEW, JAN. 1998
http://www.angelfire.com/tx3/emerald...ckvillage.html

RV: So the million dollar question: Will you stay together after this tour?

McVie: "You can only speculate, really. We're taking it one step at a time. We don't really know ourselves yet. We're not taking any note of the managers or record companies or anything. We're concentrating on the five of us at the moment and seeing how we enjoy ourselves. We're doing this for each other and obviously doing it for a lot of fans. It's a coming together and a celebration. We can at least, at the end of this tour, kind of hug each other and put some positive closure to the last 20 years of what has been seeming hell and also the most uproariously wonderful times, too. But this way it's going to be a positive closure. And who knows? It may not be a closure."

Those comments at least give you an idea of Christine's mindset. She felt like she'd more than done her time in FM. Can't blame her there. Personality-wise, it sounds like she's not really a "rock star" kind of person, anyway, which makes me respect her even more.

This is a completely different issue, but with another anniversary coming up next year, people have talked in another thread about the idea of a more comprehensive boxed set. Part of me wishes the Rumors band would get back together one more time and record a few final songs together...perhaps songs that got away, like "Temporary One."

As much as I liked parts of SAY YOU WILL, the more I listened to it, the more I missed Christine, which is hard for a Lindsey fan like me to admit...!

And, since none of the band members are getting any younger, it would seem like a more fitting finale for FM. The likelihood of them reuniting once more seems pretty slim. That's my two cents, anyway.

mattl

[PsychCat]

Originally Posted by Matt Lucas

As much as I liked parts of SAY YOU WILL, the more I listened to it, the more I missed Christine, which is hard for a Lindsey fan like me to admit...!

As a long time Christine fan, her absence was deafening to me on SYW. Not to mention the live shows..... just. not. the. same.
She really did add a balance to the Buckingham & Nicks work. Even on "Time" her songs and contributions to the others are the identifying "Fleetwood Mac" mark.

I thought she was on SYW in a much smaller, non-credited way?

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by PsychCat

I thought she was on SYW in a much smaller, non-credited way?

She was actually credited. She's on, that I know of, "Bleed To Love Her" and "Steal Your Heart Away." While it would have been nice to have Christine on the album, I can't say that it suffers because she's not on it in any significant role. The biggest problem I had with SYW is that there were too many songs, some of which were better suited to solo projects than a Fleetwood Mac album or were just bad songs. I could say the same of "Mask" and "Time." There's a great FLEETWOOD MAC album in there, with the help of a CD player programmer. (I emphasize FLEETWOOD MAC, because I think Mick and especially John have their fingerprints all over this album.)