Christine McVie (Perfect)
Johnny Marr is an English musician, songwriter, and singer (born Johnny Martin Maher) in Manchester in October 1963 and at the age of 13 formed his first band, the Paris Valentinos. He played in several bands, the most recent being Freak Party. But by early 1982, after losing their singer, Marr approached Rob Allman, the singer with White Dice. He showed little interest and instead suggested Steven Morrissey, the singer with the Nosebleeds. In May, and through a third-party it was arranged for Marr to meet Morrissey at his home. They seemed to hit it off and with Marr’s first bass player, Andy Rourke, and Mike Joyce on drums they formed the Smiths.
Within months they signed to Rough Trade Records and in May 1983 released their first single “Hand in Glove.” Now with an ever-growing fan base they recorded their first album, which was released in early 1984 and reached number two in the UK Chart. This was quickly followed by their second album, the controversial, “Meat is Murder.”
Their third album “The Queen Is Dead” was awarded the accolade by Spin magazine as being one of the greatest albums ever made. This resulted in the NME dubbing the Smiths the most important rock band of all time.
Marr's guitar sounds are instantly recognisable, with his jangly Rickenbacker and Fender Telecaster and synonymous with the Smith’s sound. Marr said, when performing with the band, he wanted to play a music which was pop. "100% of my focus was on providing interesting guitar hooks and putting some kind of space-age twist on the guitarist's role. The pop guitarist crossed with the mad professor. That's how I thought of myself."
In early 1986, Rourke was fired by the band for his use of heroin, but within weeks he was reinstated. But other problems were already looming and despite their continued success, personal differences within the band and the increasingly strained relationship between Morrissey and Marr created a huge problem.
Marr left the group in July 1987, and despite auditions to find a replacement no one was considered suitable. So, by the time their next tranche of music was released the band had long split.
One of the reasons given by Morrissey was the fact that Marr was working and recording with other artists, however, he later told Tim Samuels, a BBC journalist, that it was due to the lack of a managerial figure and business problems.
Marr's guitar playing had a massive effect on many of the Manchester bands that followed the Smiths including: John Squire - Stone Roses, Noel Gallagher - Oasis, and no doubt many more. He has since performed with numerous other bands and singers including: the Pretenders, Pet Shop Boys, collaborating with Hans Zimmer, on film soundtracks, Talking Heads. Joss Stone, Bryan Ferry and so many more.
In 2010 in a poll conducted by the BBC, Marr was voted the fourth-best guitarist of the last 30 years and Phil Alexander, editor-in-chief of Mojo described him as "arguably Britain's last great guitar stylist." In 2013, the NME, honoured Marr with its "Godlike Genius" award: "Not content with rewriting the history of music with one of the world's greatest ever bands, the Smiths, he's continued to push boundaries and evolve throughout his career, working with some of the best and most exciting artists on the planet."
Despite several attempts at reforming the Smiths it seems very unlikely.
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BY-------Graham Sclater
I was playing at the infamous Star Club Hamburg in late 1967 when Chicken Shack, a blues band, arrived to play a two-week residency at the club. The Chicken Shack, led by singer and guitarist Stan Webb, featured a young woman playing the piano. She was Christine Perfect, and we got to know each other very well. I was playing Hammond organ for the Manchester Playboys, my fourth residency at the club, alongside other bands. Although I was only 18, I was considered a seasoned professional. I had been in Germany since January 1964 and played much of the time in Hamburg’s many clubs on and around the Hanseatic city.
Christine loved to play my Hammond, and it gave her playing a very special touch. Of course, she would go on to regularly play the organ with Fleetwood Mac.
Christine Anne Perfect was born in 1943, and her grandfather was an organist who had performed atWestminster Abbey. She was introduced to the piano at the age of four, but did not seriously study music until she was 11, when she was reintroduced to it by a local musician who was a friend of her brother, John. She continued classical training to the age of 15, but shifted her musical focus to Fats Domino.
After leaving school, she studied sculpture at the Moseley School of Art in Birmingham for five years, ultimately becoming an art teacher. While there, she met budding musicians Stan Webb and Andy Silvester who were in a band called Sounds of Blue. Knowing that Perfect had musical talent, they invited her to join them as the band's bassist. She also sang with Spencer Davis, who, at the time, was studying at the same art school. By the time Perfect graduated from art college, Sounds of Blue had split up. She did not have enough money to launch herself into the art world and moved to London, where she worked briefly as a department-store window dresser at Dickens and Jones.
In 1967, Perfect heard that Silvester and Webb were forming a blues band, to be called Chicken Shack and were looking for a pianist. She contacted them and was invited to join the band as pianist, keyboard player and backing vocalist. Chicken Shack's debut release was "It's Okay with Me Baby", which was written by and featured Perfect. She stayed with the band for two studio albums, and her genuine feel for the blues became evident in her style piano playing and her authentic "bluesy" voice.
Chicken Shack had a hit with a cover of I’d Rather Go Blind written by Ellington Jordan, featuring Perfect on lead vocals. In 1969 and 1970, she received a Melody Maker Award for the UK’s best female vocalist.
McVie was a fan of Fleetwood Mac, and while she was touring with Chicken Shack, the two bands would often meet. Both bands were signed to the Blue Horizon label, and McVie played piano as a session musician on Peter Green’s songs on Fleetwood Mac's second studio album, Mr Wonderful Encouraged to continue her career, she recorded a debut solo studio album, Christine Perfect which was later reissued as The Legendary Christine Perfect Album.
Christine Perfect McVie married John McVie in 1968, with Peter Green as best man. Instead of a honeymoon, they celebrated at a hotel in Birmingham with Joe Cocker, who happened to be staying there. Following her marriage and feeling that she would not be able to see her husband if they were in different bands, she left Chicken Shack. The couple divorced in 1976, but they remained friends and continued to maintain a professional partnership.
She was invited to join Fleetwood Mac as a keyboard player in 1970, following the departure of founding member Peter Green. Having already contributed piano and backing vocals, uncredited, to their next album,Kiln House, [28]she also provided the artwork for the sleeve. The band had been struggling to manage without Green and had needed another musician to fill in their sound. McVie had been a massive fan of the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac and learned the songs for Kiln Housed uring rehearsals.
It has been said that, "Christine became the glue [that held the band together]. She filled out our sound beautifully." The first studio album on which McVie played as a full band member was in 1971 on Future Games. McVie moved with the rest of Fleetwood Mac to California in 1974, and Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the band. The line-up now contained two female lead vocalists who also wrote songs. McVie bonded instantly with Nicks, and the two women found their voices blended perfectly. McVie wrote and sang lead on four tracks on the first studio album of the new line-up. The album produced several hit songs, with McVie's "Over My Head" and "Say You Love Me" both reaching the Billboard top-20 singles chart. "Over My Head" put Fleetwood Mac on American radio and into the national top 20.
She decided not to continue with Fleetwood Mac after 1998, stating that she had developed a phobia of flying.
McVie received a Gold Badge of Merit Award from BASCA in 2006,the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2014, and was honoured with the Trailblazer Award at the UK American Awards in 2021.
During the height of Fleetwood Mac's success in the 1970s, McVie resided in Los Angeles. In 1990, she moved to a Tudor manor in Wickhambreaux near Canterbury,where she retired after leaving the band in 1998, and worked on her solo material. For years, McVie found inspiration in the home's country setting, not only writing songs there, but also restoring the house. After rejoining Fleetwood Mac in 2014, she began spending more time in London and put the house on the market in 2015.
McVie died of a stroke in hospital on 30 November 2022, at the age of 79.
Following her death, Fleetwood Mac issued a statement saying that she was "The best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life". Stevie Nicks said McVie had been her "best friend in the whole world".
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