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John McVie | |
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![]() McVie in 2018 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | John Graham McVie |
Born | Ealing, Middlesex, England | 26 November 1945
Genres | Rock, blues |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument | Bass guitar |
Years active | 1963–present |
Labels | Reprise, Blue Horizon |
Member of | Fleetwood Mac |
Formerly of | John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers |
John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) [1] is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of drummer Mick Fleetwood, was the source for the band's name.
He joined Fleetwood Mac shortly after its formation by guitarist Peter Green in 1967, replacing temporary bass guitarist Bob Brunning. McVie and Fleetwood are the only two members of the group to appear on every Fleetwood Mac release, and for over fifty years have been the group's last remaining original (or almost original in McVie's case) members.
In 1968, McVie married blues pianist and singer Christine Perfect, who became a member of Fleetwood Mac two years later. John and Christine McVie divorced in 1976, but continued working together professionally. During this time the band recorded the album Rumours , a major artistic and commercial success that borrowed its title from the turmoil in McVie's and other band members' marriages and relationships.
McVie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 as a member of Fleetwood Mac.
John Graham McVie was born in Ealing, west London, to Reg and Dorothy McVie and attended Walpole Grammar School. He says that he did have a sister, but she died when she was very young. [2] John McVie started playing the trumpet at an early age then, at age 14, he began playing the guitar in local bands, covering songs by the Shadows. [3] He soon realised that his friends were learning lead guitar so he decided to play the bass guitar instead. Initially he just removed the top two (B and E) strings from his guitar to play the bass parts until his father bought him a pink Fender bass guitar, [3] the same as that used by McVie's major early musical influence Jet Harris, the Shadows' bass player.
Soon after leaving school at 17, McVie trained for nine months to be a tax inspector. This coincided with the start of his musical career. [4]
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 Barnes and Peter Barnes who later went on to form a group called the Strangers performing Shadows covers.
McVie's 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 Shadows. [5]
McVie is listed at number 37 on Rolling Stone 's list of the fifty greatest bassists of all time. [6]
Around the time of McVie's tenure as a tax inspector, John Mayall began forming a Chicago-style blues band, John Mayall and the 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 McVie's phone number, urging Mayall to give the talented young bass player a chance in the Bluesbreakers. [5] Mayall contacted McVie, and asked him to audition for his band. Soon thereafter, McVie got an offer to play bass in the Bluesbreakers. McVie accepted while still holding down his daytime job for a further nine months before becoming a musician full-time. [7] Under Mayall's 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. McVie was the band's bassist for four and a half years. During that time he was fired and re-hired several times. One of his temporary replacements was Jack Bruce. [5]
In 1966, a young Peter Green was asked to join Mayall's Bluesbreakers as the band's 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". [8] Later the same year, after having been replaced by Mick Taylor in the Bluesbreakers, Green opted to form his own band, which he called "Fleetwood Mac" after his preferred rhythm section (Fleetwood and McVie). Mick Fleetwood immediately joined Green's 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 in September 1967. [9]
With McVie now in Fleetwood Mac, the band recorded its first album, 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. [3] Fleetwood Mac started playing live gigs in blues clubs and pubs throughout England, and became a household name in the national blues circuit. In the next three years, the band scored a string of hits in the UK and also enjoyed success in continental Europe.
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 first wife, the lead singer and piano player of Chicken Shack, Christine Perfect. Following a brief romance of, it has been said, 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. [10] However, following the departure of Peter Green from Fleetwood Mac in 1970, McVie successfully persuaded Christine to join him in Fleetwood Mac.
After 1970, Fleetwood Mac went through several different line-ups, which occasionally became the source of friction and unease within the band. In addition, frequent touring as well as his heavy drinking began to put some strain on his marriage to Christine. In 1974, the McVies, along with the other members of Fleetwood Mac, moved to Los Angeles, where they lived briefly with John Mayall. [11] In 1975, Fleetwood Mac achieved enormous worldwide success after recruiting American singer-songwriter duo Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. However, on the heels of the band's success followed serious marital problems for the McVies, and in 1976, during the recording of Rumours , John and Christine McVie's marriage unravelled and the couple divorced the same year. As a way to put behind the hurt and final dissolution, several of Christine's songs on this album were about John McVie, particularly "Don't Stop". [12] John McVie remarried in 1978 to Julie Ann Reubens, but still continued to drink heavily.
In 1981, McVie agreed to go on the road with the Bluesbreakers again for their reunion tour with John Mayall, Mick Taylor, and Colin Allen. During 1982 the band toured America, Asia and Australia (John McVie did not take part in the European Tour in 1983 and was replaced by Steve Thompson.
An alcohol-induced seizure in 1987 finally prompted McVie to stop drinking altogether and he has been sober ever since. In 1989, McVie's wife Julie Ann gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Molly Elizabeth McVie. In his spare time, McVie is a sailing enthusiast, and he nearly got lost at least once on a Pacific voyage. [3]
In October 2013, McVie was diagnosed with colon cancer and began treatment. [13] He continued to play with the band during their 2014 On With the Show tour following an improvement in his condition. In 2017, it was reported that McVie's colon cancer was completely cleared. [14]
Year | Album | US | UK | Additional information |
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1968 | Fleetwood Mac | 198 | 4 | Plays bass on all tracks except "Long Grey Mare" |
1968 | Mr. Wonderful | - | 10 | - |
1969 | Then Play On | 192 | 6 | credited for the instrumental "Searching For Madge" |
1970 | Kiln House | 69 | 39 | co-wrote "Station Man" and "Jewel Eyed Judy" |
1971 | Future Games | 91 | - | - |
1972 | Bare Trees | 70 | - | The cover photo was taken by McVie |
1973 | Penguin | 49 | - | Plays bass on all tracks except "Revelation" and "The Derelict" |
1973 | Mystery to Me | 68 | - | co-wrote "Forever" |
1974 | Heroes Are Hard to Find | 34 | - | - |
1975 | Fleetwood Mac | 1 | 23 | Appears on album cover with Mick Fleetwood |
1977 | Rumours | 1 | 1 | Co-Wrote "The Chain" |
1979 | Tusk | 4 | 1 | – |
1980 | Live | 14 | 31 | - |
1982 | Mirage | 1 | 5 | Backing vocals on Gypsy B-Side "Cool Water" |
1987 | Tango in the Night | 7 | 1 | - |
1988 | Greatest Hits | 14 | 3 | - |
1990 | Behind the Mask | 18 | 1 | - |
1995 | Time | - | 47 | - |
1997 | The Dance | 1 | 15 | featured on background vocals on "Say You Love Me" |
2003 | Say You Will | 3 | 6 |
Year | Album | US | UK | Additional information |
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1965 | John Mayall Plays John Mayall | - | - | Live at Klooks Kleek |
1966 | Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton | - | 6 | - |
1967 | A Hard Road | - | 10 | - |
1967 | Crusade | - | 8 | - |
Year | Album | US | UK | Additional information |
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1992 | John McVie's "Gotta Band" with Lola Thomas | - | - | - |
Year | Album | U.S. Billboard 200 | UK Albums Chart | Additional information |
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2017 | Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie | 17[ citation needed ] | 5[ citation needed ] |
Year | Song | Netherlands Singles Chart | U.S. Mainstream Rock |
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1969 | "Searching For Madge" (John McVie) | - | - |
1970 (1985) | "On We Jam" (McVie, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood) | - | - |
1970 | "Station Man" (McVie, Spencer, Kirwan) | - | - |
1970 | "Jewel Eyed Judy" (McVie, Fleetwood, Kirwan) | - | |
1971 | "The Purple Dancer" (McVie, Kirwan, Fleetwood) | - | - |
1971 | "What A Shame" (McVie, Fleetwood, Kirwan, Christine McVie, Bob Welch) | - | - |
1973 | "Forever" (McVie, Bob Weston, Welch) | - | - |
1975 (2004) | "Jam No.2" (McVie, Fleetwood, C. McVie, Lindsey Buckingham) | - | - |
1977 | "The Chain" (McVie, Fleetwood, Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, C. McVie) | - | 30 |
1977 (2004) | "For Duster (The Blues)" (McVie, Fleetwood, Buckingham, C. McVie) | - | - |
1995 | "Winds of Change" (McVie, Fleetwood,[ citation needed ] Kit Hain) | - | - |
Fleetwood Mac were a British-American rock band formed in London in 1967 by guitarist and singer Peter Green. Green recruited drummer Mick Fleetwood, guitarist and singer Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning, with John McVie replacing Brunning a few weeks after the band's first public appearance at the 1967 National Jazz & Blues Festival in Windsor. The band became a five-piece in 1968 with the addition of guitarist and singer Danny Kirwan.
Christine Anne McVie was an English musician and singer-songwriter. She was the keyboardist and one of the vocalists and songwriters of Fleetwood Mac.
Michael John Kells Fleetwood is a British musician, songwriter and actor. He is the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of the group's bassist John "Mac" McVie to form the name of the band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Fleetwood Mac in 1998.
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers were an English blues rock band led by multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter John Mayall. The band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues musicians. Many of the best known bands to come out of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s had members that came through the Bluesbreakers at one time, forming the foundation of British blues music that is still played heavily on classic rock radio. Among those with a tenure in the Bluesbreakers are guitarists Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor, bassists John McVie, Jack Bruce and Tony Reeves, drummers Hughie Flint, Aynsley Dunbar, Mick Fleetwood and Jon Hiseman, and numerous others.
John Brumwell Mayall was an English blues and rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians. A singer, guitarist, harmonica player, and keyboardist, he had a career that spanned nearly seven decades, remaining an active musician until his death aged 90. Mayall has often been referred to as the "godfather of the British blues", and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical influence category in 2024.
Peter Allen Greenbaum, known professionally as Peter Green, was an English blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. As the founder of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Green founded Fleetwood Mac in 1967 after a stint in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and quickly established the new band as a popular live act in addition to a successful recording act, before departing in 1970. Green's songs, such as "Albatross", "Black Magic Woman", "Oh Well", "The Green Manalishi " and "Man of the World", appeared on singles charts, and several have been adapted by a variety of musicians.
Fleetwood Mac, also known as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, is the debut studio album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in February 1968. The album is a mixture of blues covers and originals penned by guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, who also share the vocal duties. It is the only album by the band without any involvement of keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie.
Mr. Wonderful is the second studio album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 23 August 1968. This all-blues album was broadly similar to their debut album, albeit with some changes to personnel and recording method. The album was recorded live in the studio with miked amplifiers and PA system, rather than plugged into the board. A horn section was introduced and Christine Perfect of Chicken Shack was featured on keyboards. The album took a total of four days to record. In the US, the album was not issued under the name Mr. Wonderful, though around half of the tracks appeared on English Rose.
Daniel David Kirwan was a British musician and guitarist, singer and songwriter with the blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac between 1968 and 1972. He released three albums as a solo artist from 1975 to 1979, recorded albums with Otis Spann, Chris Youlden, and Tramp, and worked with former Fleetwood Mac colleagues Jeremy Spencer and Christine McVie on some of their solo projects. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Fleetwood Mac in 1998.
Richard Francis Vito is an American guitarist and singer. He was part of Fleetwood Mac between 1987 and 1991. Vito took over as lead guitarist after Lindsey Buckingham left the group. He is best known for his blues and slide guitar style, whose influences include Elmore James, Robert Nighthawk, B.B. King, Alvino Rey, Les Paul, George Harrison, and Keith Richards.
Robert Brunning was a British musician who was, as a small part of a long musical career, the original bass guitar player with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac.
Michael William Hugh Vernon is an English music executive studio owner, and record producer from Harrow, Middlesex. He produced albums for British blues artists and groups in the 1960s, working with the Bluesbreakers, David Bowie, Duster Bennett, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Climax Blues Band, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, John Mayall, Christine McVie and Ten Years After amongst others.
Blue Horizon Records was a British blues independent record label, founded by Mike Vernon and Neil Slaven in 1965, as an adjunct to their fanzine, R&B Monthly, and was the foremost label at the time of the British blues boom in the mid to late 1960s.
The 1982 Reunion Concert is a live album from a concert by British blues musician John Mayall. His sidemen are Mick Taylor on guitar, John McVie on bass and Colin Allen on drums. The concert took place at the Wax Museum, Washington DC, on 17 June 1982. It was released in 1994 by Repertoire Records as a CD credited to John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.
The Best of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac is a compilation album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac released in November 2002 and focusing on the Peter Green years. The album serves as a digitally remastered replacement for the band's Greatest Hits, with the remastering and cover art taken from the 1999 box set The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967–1969.
Bare Wires is a studio album by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, featuring Mick Taylor on guitar, Chris Mercer and Dick Heckstall-Smith on saxophones, Jon Hiseman on drums, Henry Lowther on cornet and violin, and Tony Reeves on bass. It was released in 1968 on Decca Records. The album was the last John Mayall studio album to feature the name "Bluesbreakers". The album was also Mayall's first successful U.S. album reaching #59 on the Billboard 200.
Jeremy Cedric Spencer is a British musician, best known for playing slide guitar and piano in the original line-up of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. A member since Fleetwood Mac's inception in July 1967, he remained with the band until his abrupt departure in February 1971, when he joined the "Children of God", a new religious movement now known as "The Family International", with which he is still affiliated. After a pair of solo albums in the 1970s, he continued to tour as a musician, but did not release another album until 2006. He released further solo albums from 2012 onwards and has also recorded as part of the folk trio Steetley. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.