Multiple versions available this fall
Rhino is celebrating Christine McVie today (Wed, July 12th) on what would have been the beloved singer-songwriter’s 80th birthday. While she has been deeply missed since her death last November, the music she made, both with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist, continues to resonate with fans worldwide. In honor of McVie’s enduring legacy, Rhino is introducing new music and announcing plans to release remastered versions of her final two solo albums this fall.
Two new releases are available now with the first being a new Dolby Atmos and stereo mix of In The Meantime created by McVie’s nephew Dan Perfect, who helped write and produce the original in 2004. The collection also includes “Little Darlin’,” a previously unreleased gem unearthed from those recording sessions. The other release is by Mick Fleetwood, the legendary drummer and co-founder of Fleetwood Mac, who pays tribute to his bandmate with a touching new instrumental version of “Songbird” featuring ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro.
Later this year, McVie’s work as a solo artist will get its due when Rhino reissues two of her albums on November 3rd. Christine McVie will be released on CD and LP. Also, a cola-bottle clear vinyl version will be available exclusively from Barnes & Noble. On the same day, In The Meantime will be released on CD and as a 2 LP set featuring a “songbird” etching on the final side.
McVie’s solo journey began in 1970 with her debut, Christine Perfect, her maiden name. Soon after its release, she put her solo career on hold when she joined Fleetwood Mac as a full-time member. For the next 14 years, she wrote some of the band’s biggest hits (“Don’t Stop” and “You Make Loving Fun”) before releasing her second solo album Christine McVie in 1984. The album peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard 200, spending 23 weeks on the chart. The record produced two Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, “Got A Hold On Me” at No. 10 and “Love Will Show Us How” at No. 30. Notably, the album has been unavailable on vinyl since its original release nearly 40 years ago.
Although McVie semi-retired from Fleetwood Mac and public life in 1998, she continued to write music. In 2004, she returned with her third and final solo album, In The Meantime. McVie produced the album with her nephew, Dan Perfect. The album was remastered and remixed for the upcoming release, including the previously unreleased outtake, “Little Darlin’.” In The Meantime has never been available on vinyl until now.
McVie was involved in the creation of the new Atmos mixes for In The Meantime before she passed away last year. In the liner notes, Dan Perfect writes: “When my aunt Christine McVie died unexpectedly last year, plans were already afoot for the re-release of this solo album, which is perhaps her most personal and intimate project. Chris and I had been working for some time on remixing the original tracks in Dolby Atmos, and Chris was excited and intrigued by this process, which was bringing fresh life and contemporaneity to the songs… I dearly wish that she could have lived to see this re-release as she would have been delighted.”
The release of “Songbird” was years in the making. Fleetwood and Shimabukuro, who both live in Hawaii, have been eager to collaborate for over a decade. When the opportunity finally arose this spring to record some music at Fleetwood’s studio in Maui, it was Shimabukuro who suggested they record “Songbird.” Fleetwood recalls, “We cut it in April, and it turned out beautifully, but there was no plan yet to release it. But when I heard about Christine’s upcoming birthday, it felt like the right time to share this as a tribute to all the lovely music she created, both on her own and with Fleetwood Mac.”
“Songbird” holds a special place in the hearts of Fleetwood Mac fans around the world, and McVie’s impassioned vocals have made it an enduring classic since its debut on Rumours in 1977. That’s why Fleetwood says he was initially cautious about reinterpreting such a cherished song. “When something is that well known, it becomes hallowed ground to a certain extent. But when we did it, I remember there was a hush when we listened back, and we felt that we had touched on something.” At that moment, Fleetwood says, he felt McVie’s presence in a powerful way.
In his heartfelt dedication at the end of the instrumental, Fleetwood adapts a lyric from McVie’s original. He says, “As the songbird sings, now from the heavens, to you Christine, I wish you all the love in the world. But, most of all, I wish it from myself.”
Surprisingly, “Songbird” wasn’t the only Fleetwood Mac song inspiring them in the studio. The drummer reveals that the track’s soft, insistent rhythm was influenced by another instrumental piece, “Albatross.” Written by the band’s founder and guitarist Peter Green, the song topped the U.K. charts in 1969. Fleetwood describes the songs as musical siblings. “They’re as simple as can be, but Peter Green always used to say, less is more.”
