John McVie is 69 years old today. A British bass guitarist best known as a member of rock groups John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Fleetwood Mac, McVie’s surname, combined with that of Mick Fleetwood, was the inspiration for the bands name. He joined Fleetwood Mac shortly after its formation by guitarist Peter Green in 1967, replacing temporary bassist Bob Brunning. In 1968, McView married blues pianist and singer Christine Perfect, who became a member of Fleetwood Mac two years later. John and Christine McVie divorced, however, in 1977. Around this time the band recorded the album Rumours, a major artistic and commercial success that borrowed its title from the turmoils in McVies and other band members marriages and relationships. McVie was born in Ealing, west London, to Reg and Dorothy McVie and attended Walpole Grammar School. At age 14 he began playing the guitar in local bands, covering songs by The Shadows. He soon realized that his friends were learning lead guitar so he decided to play the bass guitar instead. Initially, he just removed the top two (E and B) strings from his guitar to play the bass parts until his father bought him a pink Fender bass guitar, the same as that used by McVies major early musical influence Jet Harris, The Shadows bass player. McVie was in 3J class with Roger Warwick, a baritone sax player who had studied under Don Rendell and was to emerge in the London rock-jazz scene. Their teacher, Mr. Howell (a pianist), although not really appreciating this funny music, was intelligent and open-minded enough to give pupils space and time to use school facilities to practice and listen to the new wave. McVie’s first experience making music with a group of like minds was in the back room of a house in Lammas Park Road, Ealing with his long term friends John and Peter Barnes who later went on to form a group called The Strangers with friends Tony Wells and Ken Pollendine performing Shadows covers. At this time, although only possessing a Framus acoustic with top two strings removed John showed a determination and ability that would take him to success as a professional musician. McVies first job as a bass player was in a band called the Krewsaders, formed by boys living in the same street as McVie in Ealing, West London. The Krewsaders played mainly at weddings and parties, covering songs from the The Shadows. Around this time, John Mayall began forming a Chicago-style Blues band, John Mayalls Bluesbreakers. Initially, Mayall wanted to recruit bass player Cliff Barton of the Cyril Davies All Stars for the rhythm section of his new band. Barton declined, however, but gave him John McVies phone number, urging Mayall to give the talented young bass player a chance in the Bluesbreakers. Mayall contacted McVie, and asked him to audition for his band. Soon thereafter, McVie got offered to play bass in the Bluesbreakers. McVie accepted while still holding down his daytime job as a tax inspector for a further nine months before becoming a musician full-time. Under Mayalls tutelage, McVie, not having had any formal training in music, learned to play the blues mainly by listening to B. B. King and Willie Dixon records given to him by Mayall. In 1966, a young Peter Green was asked to join Mayalls Bluesbreakers as the bands new lead guitar player, after Eric Clapton, the third guitarist with the band (after Bernie Watson and then Roger Dean), had left. Some time later, after the recording of A Hard Road, drummer Aynsley Dunbar was replaced by Mick Fleetwood. Green, McVie and Fleetwood quickly forged a strong personal relationship, and when John Mayall gave Green some free studio time for his birthday, Green asked McVie and Fleetwood to join him for a recording session. Produced by Mike Vernon, they recorded three tracks together, Curly,” Rubber Duck and an instrumental called Fleetwood Mac.“ Later the same year, after having been replaced by Mick Taylor in the Bluesbreakers, Peter Green opted to form his own band, which he called Fleetwood Mac after his preferred rhythm section (Fleetwood and McVie). Mick Fleetwood immediately joined Greens new band, having been dismissed earlier from the Bluesbreakers for drunkenness. However, McVie initially was reluctant to join Fleetwood Mac, not wanting to leave the security and well-paid job in the Bluesbreakers, forcing Green to temporarily hire a bassist named Bob Brunning. A few weeks later McVie changed his mind, however, as he felt that The Bluesbreakers musical direction were shifting too much towards jazz, and he joined Fleetwood Mac on bass in December, 1967. With McVie now in Fleetwood Mac, the band recorded its first album, the eponymous Fleetwood Mac in the following months. The album was released in February, 1968, and became an immediate national hit, establishing Fleetwood Mac as a major part in the English Blues movement. While on tour, Fleetwood Mac would often share venues with fellow blues band Chicken Shack. It was on one such occasion that McVie met his future wife, the lead singer and piano player of Chicken Shack, Christine Perfect. Following a brief romance of only two weeks, McVie and Perfect got married with Peter Green as best man. With the couple being unable to spend much time together because of the constant touring with their bands, Christine (now McVie) quit Chicken Shack to become a housewife to spend more time with John. However, following the departure of Peter Green from Fleetwood Mac in 1970, McVie successfully persuaded Christine to join him in Fleetwood Mac. On October 27, 2013, Fleetwood Mac announced on their Facebook Page that McVie had been diagnosed with cancer and would be undergoing treatment. Here, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers perform “Eye for an Eye” with Mick Taylor and John McVie.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 12:01:02 +0000
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