Christine McVie’s favourite song by The Beatles
The late Christine McVie brought so much to Fleetwood Mac. Grace, ability and a calming presence, it’s no coincidence that after she joined the group, they started to construct much more engaging and refined music.
Demonstrative of her importance to Fleetwood Mac, frontwoman Stevie Nicks recently asserted that she could see “no reason” for the band to reform following McVie’s passing in November 2022. “When Christine died, I felt like you can’t replace her,” Nicks told Vulture. “Without her, what is it? You know what I mean? She was like my soul mate, my musical soul mate, and my best friend that I spent more time with than any of my other best friends outside of Fleetwood Mac. Christine was my best friend.”
“We protected each other,” Nicks continued, revealing that she and McVie were drawn together as the band’s only women. “Who am I going to look over to on the right and have them not be there behind that Hammond organ? When she died, I figured we really can’t go any further with this. There’s no reason to.”
Given her importance to the story of Fleetwood Mac and that of rock music in general, McVie was asked at points throughout her career to discuss influences. Her appearance on BBC’s Desert Island Disc proved one of the most enlightening peeks into her inner workings, as McVie listed the eight songs she couldn’t live without.
As part of the collection, McVie revealed her favourite song by The Beatles. Proving how big of a fan of the Fab Four she was at the height of Beatlemania, she chose the group’s 1963 cover of Chuck Berry’s ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ from With the Beatles as the one.
“My parents bought me this album for Christmas, and it was during Beatlemania. I was one of the Beatlemaniacs. I must have been about 19-20; oh, I played this record until there was nothing left of it,” McVie said of The Beatles track ‘Roll Over Beethoven’. “It was all about the melodies, the songs, the harmonies. The voices were so upfront and crystal clear. I think their use of space was so crucial.”
Interestingly, McVie also showed herself as a fan of her ex-husband and Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie’s efforts with the band before she was a member. She chose original frontman Peter Green’s 1971 composition ‘Man of the World’ as one of her picks, saying: “This was towards the end of his musical career with Fleetwood Mac. You can hear that, it is kind of a reflective song.”
Listen to The Beatles’ cover ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ below.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.