Image: Rhino
Fleetwood Mac cofounder and drumsmasher Mick Fleetwood has celebrated the memory of his bandmate Christine McVie, who passed away in November, with a touching instrumental version of her signature tune, Songbird. The new version also features ukelele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro.
Last Wednesday’s release was the culmination of years of work. Fleetwood and Shimabukuro both live in Hawaii, and had been eyeing up the possibility of a collaboration for more than a decade. Then, the opportunity finally came up to lay down some tracks at Fleetwood’s Maui studio, and Shimabukoro suggested that they record Songbird. Says Fleetwood: “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.”
In his spoken word extro for the tune, Fleetwood references lyrics from McVie’s original: “As the songbird sings, now in the heavens, to you Christine, I wish you all the love in the world. But, most of all, I wish it from myself.”
Love, Dr. Scott James
