Beautiful tribute. Makes me wonder about the role you played in my boys' musical awareness, since they spent hours and hours listening to The Decemberists during those early years, often in car seats, often singing along.
I have a related story. One of my children, who was a pre-verbal tot of probably less than a year old, still rear-facing the car seat, once heard the opening lines of Calamity Song and sung out, clear as day, the Ah OOOOOO part. took me a minute to recognize what was happening as we were still at the beginning of the song. Guess I had listened to The King Is Dead a few times. Ahem.
Her early albums with Mac were excellent ---Fo=irst was Kiln House -1970 she does backing vocals and joined the group soon after. Then came the albums Future Games, Bare Trees, Penguin, Mystery to Me, and Heroes Are Hard to Find
Thank you so much for this! “Tusk” is a stone cold masterpiece and Christine’s songs are a huge reason why. Her songs were always the peace and calm amongst the tension of Lindsay and Stevie’s. She was the glue that held that fragile band together and the best songwriter in the group. Farewell Songbird. 😢
My first memory is also Mac related! Sitting in the back of my mom's 1990s honda pilot, a big chunky block of a car, drumming along to the intro to "TUSK" off of the then-new live album THE DANCE. "SAY YOU LOVE ME" was another favorite of mine from those days.
I share a severe closeness with the music of Fleetwood Mac as my late mother raised me on it - it was devastating hearing of the loss of someone as profound as Christine McVie. It was beautiful to read this entry and listen to this song with my husband. Thank you for sharing this beautiful tribute and catharsis with your fans.
I've always enjoyed the Decemberists spirited "Think About Me" version, featuring enjoyably rare vocals from Jenny Conlee (I think?). Those uptempo golden period Mac songs seem like they would be fun to play as covers.
Thank you for the memory, Colin. Basically all my favorite Fleetwood Mac songs have Christine on lead vocal; in fact, she's my favorite singer of all times. This is the celebrity death that has hit me hardest (since Steve Irwin in 2006, but that's another story). I, too, have a lot of roadtrip- and parent-related associations with her and with Fleetwood Mac in general, as well as other specific songs and memories that came to me when I heard the news yesterday. Others who grew up in the Pacific Northwest may remember our regional high school quiz show, High Five! The only question I remember from the entry quiz for that was "What band was known for hits like You Make Loving Fun and Gold Dust Woman?" Check!
And when I was on my honeymoon in Scotland, my husband and I were exhausted from so much tourism and scotch tasting, so we collapsed on our Glasgow hotel bed, clicked on the TV, and got pulled into a 5-hour marathon of Fleetwood Mac documentary content. Part of that was an interview with Christine about why she left the band in the 80s and how she unexpectedly found her way back to it many years later. So glad she did.
What actually got me, though, was your recall of a memory from when you maybe three years old. I find it incredible when people can recall anything from that age. Either my early years were super boring, I have zero recall ability, or more likely some combination of the two.
Beautiful tribute. Makes me wonder about the role you played in my boys' musical awareness, since they spent hours and hours listening to The Decemberists during those early years, often in car seats, often singing along.
I have a related story. One of my children, who was a pre-verbal tot of probably less than a year old, still rear-facing the car seat, once heard the opening lines of Calamity Song and sung out, clear as day, the Ah OOOOOO part. took me a minute to recognize what was happening as we were still at the beginning of the song. Guess I had listened to The King Is Dead a few times. Ahem.
This is wonderful on so many levels. Songbird was the first dance at my wedding. Thank you for sharing.
Her early albums with Mac were excellent ---Fo=irst was Kiln House -1970 she does backing vocals and joined the group soon after. Then came the albums Future Games, Bare Trees, Penguin, Mystery to Me, and Heroes Are Hard to Find
Thanks for this, Colin. Your initial strumming sounds a lot like the beginning of an acoustic version of Van Morrison's Madame George.
Thank you so much for this! “Tusk” is a stone cold masterpiece and Christine’s songs are a huge reason why. Her songs were always the peace and calm amongst the tension of Lindsay and Stevie’s. She was the glue that held that fragile band together and the best songwriter in the group. Farewell Songbird. 😢
My first memory is also Mac related! Sitting in the back of my mom's 1990s honda pilot, a big chunky block of a car, drumming along to the intro to "TUSK" off of the then-new live album THE DANCE. "SAY YOU LOVE ME" was another favorite of mine from those days.
I'm not crying, you're crying.
I share a severe closeness with the music of Fleetwood Mac as my late mother raised me on it - it was devastating hearing of the loss of someone as profound as Christine McVie. It was beautiful to read this entry and listen to this song with my husband. Thank you for sharing this beautiful tribute and catharsis with your fans.
I've always enjoyed the Decemberists spirited "Think About Me" version, featuring enjoyably rare vocals from Jenny Conlee (I think?). Those uptempo golden period Mac songs seem like they would be fun to play as covers.
RIP to such a fantastic songwriter!
Some of my earliest memories also involve RUMOURS -- playing on an 8-track in my parents’ Caprice Classic.
Simply wow.
Sweet wonderful you,
You make me happy with the things you do.
Thank you Colin. The world has changed, and not for the better. RIP Christine.
Beautiful memory, beautifully captured. Those moments we can never return to but that stick with us forever.
Thank you for the memory, Colin. Basically all my favorite Fleetwood Mac songs have Christine on lead vocal; in fact, she's my favorite singer of all times. This is the celebrity death that has hit me hardest (since Steve Irwin in 2006, but that's another story). I, too, have a lot of roadtrip- and parent-related associations with her and with Fleetwood Mac in general, as well as other specific songs and memories that came to me when I heard the news yesterday. Others who grew up in the Pacific Northwest may remember our regional high school quiz show, High Five! The only question I remember from the entry quiz for that was "What band was known for hits like You Make Loving Fun and Gold Dust Woman?" Check!
And when I was on my honeymoon in Scotland, my husband and I were exhausted from so much tourism and scotch tasting, so we collapsed on our Glasgow hotel bed, clicked on the TV, and got pulled into a 5-hour marathon of Fleetwood Mac documentary content. Part of that was an interview with Christine about why she left the band in the 80s and how she unexpectedly found her way back to it many years later. So glad she did.
Lovely. Lowery/CVB's version of this is also stellar.
That was a great tribute. Thank you!
What actually got me, though, was your recall of a memory from when you maybe three years old. I find it incredible when people can recall anything from that age. Either my early years were super boring, I have zero recall ability, or more likely some combination of the two.