![]() ![]() The horn section on I’d Rather Be Blind was arranged by Terry Noonan who also wrote the wonderful string arrangement for Fleetwood Mac’s single Need Your Love So Bad. Ross recorded all of Fleetwoood Mac’s early albums, including the single Albatross, as well as The Who’s Happy Jack and I Can See For Miles. The single was recorded at CBS studio on New Bond Street in London, ran by engineer Mike Ross. Musicians on that single were Christine Perfect (Organ, Vocals), Stan Webb (Guitar), Andy Sylvester (Bass Guitar, Organ Bass Pedals) and Dave Bidwell (Drums). In February 1969 Chicken Shack went into the studio to record their version of I’d Rather Get Be Blind. But before that she recorded with Chicken Shack the band’s most successful single, one that climbed to number 17 on the charts on Jun 14, 1969. Wonderful in August 1968, Perfect married John McVie and eventually left Chicken Shack with the intent of becoming a housewife. You can hear a spirited piano accompaniment she contributed to Rollin’ Man.įollowing the release of Mr. Wonderful, the band’s second album from 1968. The two bands recorded their albums for the Blue Horizon label and shared the same manager and producer, the label’s founder Mike Vernon.Ĭhristine Perfect loved the sound of Fleetwood Mac and came to see them playing live gigs when she had the opportunity. Her association with the band also included guesting on piano on Mr. This was Fleetwood Mac’s first incarnation, and they didn’t even have one of the band’s namesakes yet, as John McVie was reluctant to leave his steady position at John Mayall’s group. A small sample of the participating artists included Pink Floyd, Yusef Lateef, Small Faces, The Move, The Pentangle, Cream and Jeff Beck. Chicken Shack were the new kids on the block and acted as the opening act for Fleetwood Mac who had better audience recognition due to its members work with John Mayall. The bands first met at the Windsor National Jazz and Blues Festival in 1967, a three-day outdoor event with a lineup that you can only drool over. Ken? with Get Like You Used to Be and A Woman Is the Blues, both of them co-written with Stan Webb.Ĭhicken Shack had strong ties to Fleetwood Mac in the late 60s. On the band’s 1968 debut album 40 Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed and Ready to Serve, she composed and sang When the Train Comes BackĪnd You Ain’t No Good. Two more contributions followed with the next album, O.K. ![]() While this was not her main focus at the time, Christine Perfect contributed a number of songs to Chicken Shack’s repertoire. Stan Webb bought me a Freddie King album… and that was the beginning of my absolute love for the blues.” Perfect was listening intently to Sonny Thompson, the legendary pianist who played and co-wrote many songs with blues guitarist and singer Freddie King. ![]() She remembers: “I didn’t have a clue as to what to do on piano. While switching to piano was not a problem for her, playing blues with the instrument she began to study as a child was a different story. She was 79 years of age.Christine Perfect’s story is unique, as she was maybe the only female musician in the emerging British blues movement of the mid to late 60s. Christine Perfect, aka Christine McVie, died on November 30, 2022, after a brief illness. Stan Webb kept Chicken Shack going, with a revolving door of other musicians, all the way into the 1980s, though he briefly disbanded the group to join Savoy Brown for a while in the mid-'70s. Chicken Shack never recovered from Christine's loss, commercially or musically. But around that time, she quit the music business to marry John McVie and become a housewife, although, as the world knows, that didn't last too long. In fact, she sang lead on their only British Top 20 single, "I'd Rather Go Blind" (1969). Although Webb took most of the songwriting and vocal duties, Christine Perfect also chipped in with occasional compositions and lead singing. They were signed to Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon label, a British blues pillar that had its biggest success with early Fleetwood Mac.Ĭhicken Shack was actually not far behind Mac in popularity in the late '60s, purveying a more traditional brand of Chicago blues, heavily influenced by Freddie King. The frontperson of Chicken was not Perfect/ McVie but guitarist Stan Webb, who would excite British audiences by entering the crowds at performances, courtesy of his 100-meter-long guitar lead. Although they were one of the more pedestrian acts of the British blues boom, Chicken Shack were quite popular for a time in the late '60s, placing two albums in the British Top 20. This British blues-rock group is remembered mostly for their keyboard player, Christine Perfect, who would join Fleetwood Mac after marrying John McVie and changing her last name.
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