Hear Christine McVie’s Previously Unreleased “Little Darlin'” From New Solo Album Reissues

Mike Prior

Hear Christine McVie’s Previously Unreleased “Little Darlin'” From New Solo Album Reissues

Mike Prior

Last November, the Fleetwood Mac great Christine McVie died suddenly; even her bandmate Stevie Nicks didn’t know she was sick. The tributes poured in, and those tributes have not stopped. Today would’ve been McVie’s 80th birthday, and Rhino has announced plans to reissue two of McVie’s three solo albums, her 1984 self-titled record and 2004’s In The Meantime. (McVie released her first solo album Christine Perfect back in 1970, before she joined Fleetwood Mac and married bandmate John McVie; it’s not part of the reissue campaign.)

The two Christine McVie reissues were in the works before McVie’s passing, and the new version of In The Meantime includes “Little Darlin’,” a previously unreleased outtake that’s now been added as a bonus track. The song arrives online today. It’s a lush, gorgeous midtempo rocker with slight reggae overtones and a buttery lead vocal. Very few people could make music that sounds this rich, that’s invested with this much character. Listen to “Little Darlin'” below.

Along with those reissue announcements, McVie’s longtime bandmate Mick Fleetwood got together with ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro for a mostly-instrumental cover of “Songbird,” the 1977 Rumours classic that McVie wrote and sang. Fleetwood plays drums, and he also intones messages of love to McVie on the song’s intro and outro. It’s a strange, moving piece of work, and you can hear it below.

The Christine McVie and In The Meantime reissues are out 11/3 on Rhino.

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