Christine Perfect - Christine Perfect [Vinyl-180g]-aksman

Artist(s): Christine Perfect

Album: Christine Perfect

Label: Pure Pleasure

Label Info: Blue Horizon 7-63860

Media Info: 180g

Mastered: by Ray Staff @ Alchemy, London

Thanks to: aksman

Kind: Vinyl 24-Bit/96kHz

Sound: Stereo

Genre: Blues, Rock

Year: 1970

Artwork: Cover Only

Fileformat: .flacOne of the great 'lost' LPs from the British blues crowd, this 1970 solo debut from the Fleetwood Mac mainstay is a classic of the genre. But more importantly, the non-blues component shows the way she would evolve into a mega-platinum chanteuse. For her devoted fans who only know her post-1970s work, parts of this will be a shock, but the unique qualities of her voice are unmistakable. And, blessed with hindsight, we could argue that it pointed the way to the Mk II version of Fleetwood Mac. - Reviewed in HiFi News Yearbook 2007 by Ken Kessler



Rating by Ken Kessler: 4 out of 5 Stars



Christine Perfect is a British-born singer who worked with Spencer Davis in the early '60s and later fronted Chicken Shack before going off on her own with this solo album in 1970. By then she had also contributed to recordings by Fleetwood Mac and become romantically involved with the group's bassist, John McVie. She then married McVie and officially joined the group, for which she served as vocalist/keyboardist/songwriter, contributing some of Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits.

In 1976, Sire Records issued the first U.S. release of what had been a mega-import of the Blue Horizon 1970 U.K. release, an album called simply Christine Perfect, the maiden name of Christine McVie. You don't need a crystal ball to tell you the album is classic and tremendous - the big surprise is that it didn't go multi-platinum in the States. There are 12 tracks, and 'I'd Rather Go Blind' went Top Ten in the U.K. It deserved to, but there's more here than the very good reading of the Etta James hit that 'I'd Rather Go Blind' was. 'When You Say' has strings and production that sound hauntingly like a Marianne Faithful track on London or Nico's work on Immediate. The big difference is that, by the time this album was released in America, Christine McVie was pretty much a household name. It doesn't sound like Fleetwood Mac but, surprise of surprises, John McVie and Danny Kirwan of the Mac are performng on that tune.

'Wait and See' is a real treasure, while 'And That's Saying a Lot' is such a shift in mood that it starts to sink in what a complex and complete recording this is. The listener really has to stand back from McVie's fame and just hear the music for what it is, a superb presentation by a commercial voice with solid backup. 'No Road Is the Right Road' changes the vibe again, and maybe that's a result of the array of talent, from Chicken Shack (her original band), to Yardbirds guitarist Top Topham, to Rick Hayward (later of Savoy Brown). 'For You' is neorockabilly with that Dave Edmunds sound from 'I Hear You Knocking,' but try on 'I'm Too Far Gone (To Turn Around)' - what a stunner - Fleetwood Mac performing a 50s style ballad. This could have been such a huge hit when Fleetwood Mac started to flounder a bit after all the dysfunction - dipping into the bag of old tricks would have been a neat ploy for radio play.

There is much more to The Legendary Christine Perfect Album than just hype. With the cover photos, and the phenomenal sounds within, when fans of Fleetwood Mac need a fix for their obsession, this is the album to pull out and play. by Joe Viglione



Track listing

Side A:

"Crazy About You Baby" (Little Walter) - 3:03

"I'm on My Way" (Deadric Malone) - 3:10

"Let Me Go (Leave Me Alone)" (McVie) - 3:35

"Wait and See" (McVie) - 3:14

"Close to Me" (McVie, Haywood) - 2:40

"I'd Rather Go Blind" (Jordan, Foster) - 3:52



Side B:

"When You Say" (Kirwan) - 3:14

"And That's Saying a Lot" (Jackson, Godfrey) - 2:58

"No Road Is the Right Road" (McVie) - 2:49

"For You" (McVie) - 2:46

"I'm Too Far Gone (To Turn Around)" (Hendricks, Otis) - 3:26

"I Want You" (White) - 2:23



Personnel:

Chris Harding, drums and percussion

Martin Dunsford, bass-guitar

Rick Hayward and Top Topham alternating rhythm and lead guitars

Danny Kirwan on guitar and John McVie on bass featured on “When You Say”

Chicken Shack form the line-up for “I’d Rather Go Blind”

Andy Sylvester plays bass on “Close to Me”

Christine Perfect featured on all keyboard instruments



Produced by Mike Vernon and Christine Perfect

Recording engineer: Mike Ross

Recorded in August & December 1969 at CBS Recording Studios, 28/30 Theobalds Road, London



Technical Log

RCM Hannl 'limited'

Music Hall MMF 5.1 Turntable

Goldring 1042GX reference Cartridge

Belari VP-129 Tube Phono PreAmp with Sylvania 12AX7WA

Tascam US-144 external USB 2.0 Audiointerface

Interconnections by "Goldkabel"

Wavelab 5 recording software



Vacuum cleaning > TT > Belari > Laptop > Wavelab 5.01 (24/96) > manual click removal analyze (no clipping, no DC Bias offset) > split into individual Tracks > FLAC encoded (Vers. 1.21)



No silence been removed, please burn gapless to match original tracklayout.