Farewell, Christine

Today we sadly said goodbye to Christine McVie, most notably known for her role in the band Fleetwood Mac.  It seems appropriate that she was born Christine Perfect for I personally think she was a beyond brilliant songwriter, someone that I've really admired for quite a long time.  There has been just a plethora of talent in the Fleetwood Mac catalog over the years, of course, but with the more well known line-up, I've always been slightly annoyed at the fact that Stevie Nicks got most of the attention while Christine seemed to be closer to what I think of as a songwriting genius.  I'll also say that Christine had such a unique singing voice that I really loved.  Stevie had one as well, of course, and she was certainly the sexy part of the band, but Christine always seemed like the anchor and reliable one that would always submit top notch writing.

I couldn't resist digging to find "Future Games" and playing it tonight.  It ended a bit ago and now I'm on to "Bare Trees", the follow-up.  Both albums are considered "weak" and a forgettable point in Fleetwood Mac's early career by many but I really love these two albums, and once again a sincere thank you to my friend CJ for turning me onto them.  I'm not sure that I would have ever ventured there without that necessary yet gentle prodding and I'm forever grateful.

I decided to pull out the Gibson 335 tonight.  I'm not really sure why but it's been in my brain for awhile to dust it off and play it.  The guitar is practically brand new, it's been played so little, but it's nearly 10 years old.  I know, despicable.  Anyhow, I hadn't even touched it in quite awhile and I was beyond tickled by how good it sounds and plays.  The guitar bends like no other instrument I own, or maybe I'm finally just getting the hang of the bending thing.  I will say that guitar and I have clicked on a whole new level over the past couple of years and I'm constantly amazing myself.  I truly believe that if I keep at it that I could actually one day be a decent guitar player (wow).  I have been mentally planning to use the 335 on the new Jazz Machine album, and since I'm going to start playing around with those ideas in a few weeks, it was time to get reacquainted.

Having said that, I'm having incredible issues with my pinky finger on my fingering hand.  The trigger finger has set in now to a point that I basically wake up with a completely stiffened pinky that needs to be massaged for about 5 minutes before it'll even think about bending.  Unlike how my middle finger acted at the crux of my trigger finger issues on it a couple years ago, my pinky can be quite painful when trying to get it to bend.  Getting old sucks, and I wish I could say it's my only issue but alas it isn't.

Wow..."Sentimental Lady" finished just a bit ago.  What a gorgeous song.  It almost brings tears to my eyes.  The other track that I simply adore is the title track from "Future Games".  Pure bliss.  But, not long after came Christine's "Spare Me a Little of Your Love".  Ah, that voice.