Christine McVie, who died in 2022 at 79, was a prolific songwriter with her band Fleetwood Mac and one of the most recognizable keyboardists in rock history. But before entering the rock scene, she had humble beginnings as a classically trained musician.
When McVie was born in 1943 in the United Kingdom, her father, Cyril Percy Absell Perfect, was a concert violinist and music teacher in Birmingham. Her grandfather was an organist at Westminster Abbey. But that was just the start of her classically centered childhood.
At 13, she transferred to a nearby art school, where she played piano. Her parents were supportive, but her classical interests faded. When she was 15, she was introduced to blues by listening to American pianist Fats Domino. From then on, she had a new musical love.
After college, she continued her work in blues and joined Chicken Shack, a British blues band, in 1967. Eventually, she met her future husband, John McVie, and joined Fleetwood Mac.
McVie later said to the New York Times that if it weren't for the blues, she never would have developed her music-writing skills. Her love and appreciation for classical music never really went away, as her early classical piano skills helped her create some of rock’s most lasting songs.
She told the Guardian in 2013 that all her writing all stems from the blues.
“'Don't Stop' and 'Say You Love Me’ all have that boogie bass, left-hand thing,” she said. “Even the more recent things, like 'Little Lies' and 'Everywhere,' they're all blues-based."
Her songwriting fits perfectly well in an orchestral setting, too. Earlier this year, composer Vince Mendoza set McVie’s “Songbird” to strings.
In a 2017 interview on BBC’s Desert Island Disc, she listed her favorite songs of all time:
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto No. 4 in F Minor
Fats Domino: “Ain’t That a Shame”
The Beatles: “Roll Over Beethoven”
Fleetwood Mac: “Man of the World”
The Everly Brothers: “Cathy’s Clown”
The Beach Boys: “Angel Come Home”
Ralph Vaughan Wiliams: The Lark Ascending
Etta James: “I’d Rather Go Home”
She went on to say, “This one always reminded me of my father; he was often playing Vivaldi.”
Her early love for classical says a lot about McVie as a songwriter and how she used that to approach blues and pop music.
Rest in peace, Christine McVie.
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