Ms Perfect

 

I never saw Christine McVie with Fleetwood Mac. I only saw Fleetwood Mac when Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan were fronting the band.

But I did see Christine Perfect (as she was before marrying John McVie) several times with Chicken Shack on the same 1960s club circuit.

My unforgettable memory is the way she used to walk unassumingly on stage with her handbag, put it down by the side of the piano and then start playing the blues.

Shack's lead guitarist Stan Webb was mostly the one in the limelight, but the showstopping moment tended to be when Perfect took over and sang – beautifully – I'd Rather Go Blind, an old slow blues standard that she made her own.

Everyone seems to be remembering Christine McVie from the huge musical soap opera that Fleetwood Mac became after the Peter Green era... I'm happy to remember Christine Perfect. She really was something...

Rhythm Twins

Why do some rhythm sections endure? And which is the longest-serving rhythm section in the business? My first thought was of Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar (above), but they've been together a mere 37 years.

That's nowhere near as long as Mez and I (then-and-now pictures, below), rhythm section with Russ Payne and the Shark Dentists, who have been playing for 44 years — although we have had a few years off here and there.

Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker first played together in 1963 and for the last time in 2008, so that adds up to 45 years. But they've probably had more time apart than Mez and I have — and certainly more fights. I can't even find a picture of just the two of them together.

So I think the rhythm section outstanding achievement award has to go to John McVie and Mick Fleetwood (below) who have clocked up 45 years (and spent most of that time playing together amicably). Unless someone out there knows better...