Summary
Christine McVie is the second solo album by the English musician, singer, and songwriter Christine McVie, released in 1984.
| Christine McVie | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 27 January 1984 | |||
| Recorded | 1983 | |||
| Studio | Mountain Studios (Montreux, Switzerland); Lower Dean Manor (Gloucestershire, UK); Additional recording at Olympic Studios (London, UK)[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 43:48 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Russ Titelman | |||
| Christine McVie chronology | ||||
| ||||
It was McVie's first solo recording since her 1970 self-titled release (under her maiden name). It features two singles that reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Got a Hold on Me" and "Love Will Show Us How", which reached numbers 10 and 30, respectively. The album itself also achieved modest success in the United States, peaking at number 26 and spending 23 weeks on the Billboard 200.[2] In the UK, the album reached number 58 on the UK Albums Chart.
The cover art was shot in Wiltshire, two hours outside of London. McVie arrived at the location at six in the morning, although the photo was not taken until three in the afternoon for the purpose of getting optimal lighting. Some studio shots were arranged for the single sleeves.[3]
Background edit
On February 5, 1983, Christine McVie revealed that she was assembling songs for a solo album with the intention of releasing it by Christmas.[4] Although McVie previously produced one of Robbie Patton's solo albums, she still felt unprepared to tackle that responsibility on her own album, so she hired Titelman to fulfill that role.[5] McVie did not expect the recording sessions to begin until June 1983 as producer Russ Titelman was occupied with Paul Simon's Hearts and Bones during the first half of the year.[4]
The majority of the album was recorded in Montreux, Switzerland over the span of three months with additional work taking place in the UK. Following two weeks of initial recording in Switzerland, the band took a brief break while McVie fleshed out some lyrics. McVie then traveled to Steve Winwood's house to work on "Ask Anybody", after which the rest of her studio band arrived to spend approximately five days recording additional instrumentation.[6] McVie wrote the lyrics to "Ask Anybody" three years prior about her relationship with Dennis Wilson,[7] but the song lacked a melody, so Winwood invited McVie to his studio "where he found just the right ambiance, the right vibes, for the words."[8] Mick Fleetwood also stopped by Winwood's studio in Gloucester to record drums.[9]
Later, McVie asked Eric Clapton to work with her on a song titled "The Challenge". "To my delight, he agreed. Like all of my songs, it's about life and remorse and rejection."[10] Clapton recorded his guitar part in roughly an hour. The next day, Ray Cooper came into the studio to overdub percussion,[6] although McVie was preoccupied with an appointment that morning and was unable to meet Cooper.[3] Following this recording session, McVie returned to Montreux and wrote "The Smile I Live For". Lindsey Buckingham stopped by the studio as did John McVie, although the latter did not play on the album in any capacity.[6] Buckingham was in London at the time looking for someone to engineer his Go Insane solo album and traveled to Montreux for a week to overdub guitars and vocals. His contributions included the guitar solo on "The Smile I Live For" and vocals on "Who's Dreaming This Dream".[3] Danny Douma, who previously opened for Fleetwood Mac on the Tusk Tour,[11] came up with the title of "Who's Dreaming This Dream" and co-wrote the song with guitarist Todd Sharp. "I'm the One" was solely written by Sharp and presented to McVie, who agreed to record the song. Sharp recalled that "I had a demo of that and played it for Christine. She really liked it and was very encouraging to me at that time with my writing".[6]
Another recording session was arranged in Gloucester where Winwood added vocals to the second verse of "One in a Million" and a Prophet synthesizer on "The Smile I Live For".[3] The album was then mixed in New York City.[6] One song, titled "Too Much is Not Enough", was recorded as a studio jam during the Christine McVie sessions, although it was not included on the album. No other unused songs were recorded; McVie stated that "We didn't over-record like some bands do - we were very compact".[7]
Live performances edit
McVie was initially hesitant to tour, but ultimately agreed to assemble a live band that included all members of her studio band along with her future husband Eddy Quintela and future Fleetwood Mac member Billy Burnette, who also co-wrote "So Excited". The tour included nine of the ten songs from the Christine McVie album and some deep cuts from the Fleetwood Mac catalogue such as "Just Crazy Love" and "Spare Me a Little of Your Love". McVie commented that "It's very different from when Fleetwood Mac tours. It's a lot smaller scale. We're not doing the limousine treatment this time around."[12]
Critical reception edit
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [13] |
| The New York Times | (Mixed)[14] |
| People | (Mixed)[15] |
| Rolling Stone | [16] |
| Robert Christgau | B+[17] |
AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine retrospectively called Christine McVie "a collection of soft rock/pop and ballads that are pleasantly melodic and ingratiating." However, he also commented that McVie's songs are too lacking in variety to be completely effective outside the context of a Fleetwood Mac album.[13] The album received generally mixed reviews from critics upon its release, mostly due to the same reasons as above. McVie addressed these criticisms in a 1987 interview with Larry Katz:
A lot of people suspected it [sounded] more like Fleetwood Mac than Fleetwood Mac. I couldn't understand for the life of me why that would be so wrong since I felt that I contributed a lot of the hit songs. Part of Fleetwood Mac's sound was mine.[18]
Track listing edit
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Love Will Show Us How" |
| 4:14 |
| 2. | "The Challenge" |
| 4:40 |
| 3. | "So Excited" |
| 4:05 |
| 4. | "One in a Million" |
| 5:02 |
| 5. | "Ask Anybody" |
| 5:29 |
| 6. | "Got a Hold on Me" |
| 3:53 |
| 7. | "Who's Dreaming This Dream" |
| 3:35 |
| 8. | "I'm the One" | Sharp | 4:05 |
| 9. | "Keeping Secrets" |
| 3:34 |
| 10. | "The Smile I Live For" | McVie | 5:07 |
| Total length: | 43:48 | ||
Personnel edit
- Christine McVie – lead vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, percussion
- Todd Sharp – guitars, backing vocals
- George Hawkins – bass, backing vocals
- Steve Ferrone – drums, percussion
Additional musicians
- Steve Winwood – synthesizers (4, 5, 6, 10), lead vocals (4), backing vocals (4, 5), synth piano (5)
- Eddy Quintela – additional keyboards (10)
- Eric Clapton – lead guitar (2)
- Lindsey Buckingham – backing vocals (2, 7, 10), guitar (3, 6), lead guitar (10)
- Mick Fleetwood – drums (5)
- Ray Cooper – percussion (2, 3, 5, 10)
Production
- Russ Titelman – producer
- David Richards – engineer
- Toby Ellington – second engineer
- Larry Franke – second engineer
- Thomas P. Price Jr. – second engineer
- Elliot Scheiner – mixing
- A & R Recording (New York City, New York) – mixing location
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Sterling Sound (New York City, New York) – mastering location
- Patrick Byrne – equipment
- Kimberly Boyle – production coordinator
- Chris Kable – production coordinator
- Mary Melia – production coordinator
- Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff – art direction
- Larry Vigon – art direction, cover design
- Brian Griffin – cover photography
- Sam Emerson – inner sleeve photography
- Tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 & 10 published by Alimony Music/Cement Chicken Music. Track 7 published by Alimony Music/Cement Chicken Music/Doumaditties. Track 3 published by Alimony Music/Cement Chicken Music/Billy Beau Music. Track 5 published by Alimony Music/Cement Chicken Music/Island Music Ltd. Track 9 published by Alimony Music/Cement Chicken Music/Itsall Music.
Chart positions edit
| Chart (1984) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[19] | 67 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM)[20] | 39 |
| Dutch Albums Chart[21] | 49 |
| Swedish Albums Chart[22] | 19 |
| Swiss Albums Chart[23] | 25 |
| UK Albums Chart[24] | 58 |
| US Billboard 200[25] | 26 |
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)[26] | 39 |
References edit
- ^ "Christine McVie – Christine McVie (1997, CD)". Discogs.
- ^ "Top LPs and Tapes". Billboard. 21 July 1983. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Christine McVie - Press Kit". Fleetwood Mac UK. January 1984. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ^ a b Tebbutt, Simon (5 February 1983). "Record Mirror, The Macs Factor". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ Hunt, Dennis (26 February 1984). "Los Angeles Times (02/26/84), Getting A Hold On Mac's McVie". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ a b c d e "Todd Sharp, January 18 - 31, 2000 - Section 2". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ^ a b Leviton, Mark (9 March 1984). "Fleetwood Mac's Songbird Flies Solo: Christine McVie". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on 12 February 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
- ^ Walker, Johnnie (2022). Songbird (A Solo Collection (Liner Notes). Christine McVie. Warner Records.
- ^ Fleetwood, Mick; Davis, Stephen (1990). Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures with Fleetwood Mac. New York: William Morrow and Company. p. 256. ISBN 0-688-06647-X.
- ^ Greene, Andy (16 June 2022). "Christine McVie On Her New Solo Collection 'Songbird,' Uncertain Future of Fleetwood Mac". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ^ Richmond, Dick (6 November 1979). "Fleetwood Mac Concert Fills Checkerdome". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 48. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ Graff, Gary (1 December 2022). "How Christine McVie Finally Completed a 'Real' Solo Debut". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "AllMusic Review: Christine McVie". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (12 February 1984). "Pop Disks Contrast Romantic Styles". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ "Picks and Pans Review: Christine McVie". People. 19 March 1984. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ Shewey, Don (15 March 1984). "Rolling Stone review: Christine McVie: Christine McVie". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
- ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: Christine McVie". robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Larry Katz (1987). "Interview with Christine McVie, English singer, songwriter, keyboardist and member of band Fleetwood Mac". The Katz Tapes (Podcast). Event occurs at 20:03. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 187. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums - March 17, 1984" (PDF).
- ^ "dutchcharts.nl Christine McVie – Christine McVie" (ASP). dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ^ "swedishcharts.com Christine McVie – Christine McVie" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ^ "Christine McVie – Christine McVie – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Retrieved 1 May 2011.
- ^ "Christine McVie > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ^ "AllMusic: Christine McVie : Charts & Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista (fizikai hanghordozók) – 2023. 45. hét". MAHASZ. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
External links edit
- Christine McVie at Discogs (list of releases)