Hiya – Last night I was floored by Chris. I’d taken along an acoustic guitar to play some songs with Chris as Don McGlashan had done it and i’d been told it was really good for Chris (good on ya Don!). Anyway I wasn’t really prepared for what Chris did – his singing was just as fantastic as ever, ok no words, but we did lots of Beatle tracks  ‘Strawberry Fields’, ‘Bungalow Bill’, ‘Ticket To Ride’, a Velvets one, some of Chris’ songs & we even made up a chord sequence/melody on the spot – (so the musical creativity is untouched too!).

That thing that Chris can do was just THERE, if you know what I mean, and I am so f**king happy to see that that side of Chris is still intact – that amazing voice & melodic sensibility & superb phrasing & sheer musicality & that musical link for me to all the bands and records that I adore are all there in that voice. Ah bliss.

So, don’t slack, mac, go back to the bottle store for MORE celebration!

Rik Merkle