Bob Welch (musician)
Bob Welch | |
---|---|
Hollywood, California, U.S. | |
Died | June 7, 2012 Antioch, Tennessee, U.S. | (aged 66)
Genres | Rock |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, bass guitar |
Years active | 1964–2012 |
Labels | |
Formerly of |
|
Website | www |
Robert Lawrence Welch Jr. (August 31, 1945 – June 7, 2012) was an American musician who was a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974. He had a successful solo career in the late 1970s. His singles included "Hot Love, Cold World", "Ebony Eyes", "Precious Love", "Hypnotized", and his signature song, "Sentimental Lady".
Early life
Welch was born in Hollywood, California, into a show business family. His father, Robert L. Welch Sr., was a producer and screenwriter at Paramount Pictures, producing films starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Welch Sr. produced the 25th Annual Academy Awards TV special in 1953 and The Thin Man TV series from 1958 to 1959. Bob's mother, Templeton Fox, was a singer and actress who worked with Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre in Chicago and appeared in TV and movies from 1962 to 1979.
Welch learned clarinet in his childhood, switching to guitar in his early teens. His interests were jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock music. He was accepted into Georgetown University, but instead moved to Paris, planning to attend the Sorbonne. Welch told People in a 1979 interview that, in Paris, "I mostly smoked hash with bearded guys five years older" and spent most of his time "sitting in the Deux Magots café". He returned to Southern California, where he briefly studied French at the University of California, Los Angeles but did not complete a degree.[1]
In 1964, Welch joined the Los Angeles-based vocal group The Seven Souls as a guitarist.
Welch subsequently returned to Paris and started a trio, Head West, which was not a success. He later told People that his time in Paris (1969-1971) was "living on rice and beans and sleeping on the floor."[1]
Fleetwood Mac
In 1971, Welch auditioned for Fleetwood Mac at Benifold, their retreat in England. The band had recently lost one of its front-line members, guitarist
Using mobile equipment hired from The Rolling Stones, the band recorded material for three albums at Benifold: Bare Trees, Penguin and Mystery to Me.[4] The band's first album to feature Christine McVie and Welch, Future Games, was recorded at Advision Studios in London.[5] The next album, Bare Trees, was mostly recorded at De Lane Lea Studios in Wembley, London.
In September 1971 the band released Future Games, with the title song written by Welch. This album was different from anything the band had done previously. In 1972, six months after the release of Future Games, the band released Bare Trees, which featured Welch's "Sentimental Lady". This song was a big hit for Welch five years later when he re-recorded it for his solo album French Kiss. Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham also sang and produced the remake.[6]
Challenges
Over the next three albums Fleetwood Mac released, they constantly changed line-ups around the core of Mick Fleetwood, the McVies and Welch. Kirwan was replaced by Savoy Brown lead singer Dave Walker and Bob Weston on lead guitar. Both Walker and Weston played on Penguin. Released in January 1973, the album reached No. 49 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart in the United States. This album contained songs "Bright Fire" and "Revelation" by Welch.
Mystery to Me contained Welch's song "Hypnotized", which earned significant
'Fake Mac' and Relocation to LA
By late 1973, internal stresses caused by line-up changes, touring, the deterioration of the McVies' marriage and an affair between Weston and Fleetwood's wife, Jenny Boyd, were debilitating to the band. Weston was sacked and the band quit a tour of the US.[8]
The band's manager, Clifford Davis, refused to cancel the remaining 26 dates of the tour, fearing that this would destroy his reputation with bookers and promoters.[9] In a letter to the remaining Fleetwood Mac members, he said he "had not slaved for years to be brought down by the whims of irresponsible musicians".[9] He claimed that he owned the Fleetwood Mac name, and informed them of his plan to make the band into a new "star-quality, headlining act"—in effect firing them, but offering them jobs in the new band. Welch and the other band members did not take this seriously and ignored Davis's offer. Davis then set up a US tour with a new group of musicians—without Fleetwood Mac's consent—who were to be billed as "The New Fleetwood Mac".[9] None of the new musicians had ever played with any previous incarnation of the band.[10] Davis announced that Welch and John McVie had quit Fleetwood Mac, and that Fleetwood and Christine McVie would be joining the 'new' band at a later date. The original members of Fleetwood Mac obtained an injunction preventing the "fake Mac" from touring under their name, while Davis obtained an injunction preventing the original band from touring. The lawsuits resulting from the ultimately aborted tour put Fleetwood Mac out of commission for almost a year.
During this limbo, Welch stayed in
Instead of getting another manager, Fleetwood Mac decided to manage themselves. After the courts ruled that the "Fleetwood Mac" name belonged to Fleetwood and John McVie, the two band members set up their own band management company, Seedy Management.[11]
Heroes Are Hard to Find and Departure from Fleetwood Mac
In 1974, Welch was the only guitar player in the band. Warner Bros. made a new deal with Fleetwood Mac, releasing the album Heroes Are Hard to Find on Reprise in September 1974. The album became the band's first to reach the Top 40 in the United States, peaking at No. 34 on the Billboard chart. The subsequent tour would be Welch's last with Fleetwood Mac.
Welch was suffering with personal and professional issues: his marriage was failing, and he felt he had exhausted his creativity with the band. Later, he explained that he felt estranged from John and Christine McVie, yet close to Fleetwood, with whom, he asserted, he was running the band in 1974.[12] Welch resigned from Fleetwood Mac in December 1974 and was replaced by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
Of the Fleetwood Mac albums on which Welch appeared, American album sales totaled 500,000 units shipped between 1971 and 2000 for Future Games; 1 million units of Bare Trees between 1972 and 1988; and 500,000 units of Mystery to Me between 1973 and 1976, when it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.[13]
Welch's relationship with his former band remained amicable in the years following his departure. During the height of their respective popularity in the late 1970s, Welch would frequently open for Fleetwood Mac and he would sit in as lead vocalist on "Hypnotized". Mick Fleetwood managed Welch's career into the 1980s.
Lawsuit
By the 1990s, Welch's once diplomatic relationship with Fleetwood Mac had become acrimonious. In 1994, Welch sued Fleetwood, the McVies, band attorney Michael Shapiro and Warner Bros. Records for breach of contract related to underpayment of royalties. Previously, in 1978, Welch and the band had signed a contract with Warner Bros. agreeing to an equal share of all royalties from their Fleetwood Mac albums. Welch alleged that the members later made new deals with Warner Bros. for higher royalty rates, and neither Fleetwood nor the McVies had informed Welch, thus cheating him out of equal royalties. The lawsuit was settled in 1996.[14]
Hall of Fame controversy and reconciliation
When Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the
In a 2003 online question-and-answer session on the Fleetwood Mac fan site The Penguin, Welch revised his opinion about the exclusion. He had recently visited Fleetwood Mac backstage after a show, and he reconnected with Mick Fleetwood. Welch no longer blamed the band for his exclusion. He instead blamed the Hall's committee and its industry insiders (such as Ahmet Ertegun and Jann Wenner), stating they did not like his style of music. He still maintained that the lawsuit was a factor, as it prevented him from contacting Mick Fleetwood, and they were still estranged at the time of the induction.[15]
Rock trio and solo career
In 1975, Welch formed the short-lived
In a 1979 interview with People, Welch said that the two Paris albums were "ill-conceived." The band's lack of success drained Welch's finances, until he had only $8,000 left.[1]
In September 1977, Welch released his first solo album, French Kiss, a mainstream pop collection featuring contributions from Fleetwood, Buckingham and Christine McVie. The album was certified platinum by the RIAA, peaking at No. 12 on the Billboard chart in 1978. It yielded three hit singles: a revamped version of "Sentimental Lady" produced by Buckingham and McVie (#8), "Ebony Eyes" (#14; featuring Juice Newton on backing vocals) and "Hot Love, Cold World" (#31).
Welch followed up French Kiss with two albums in 1979.[16] In February, Three Hearts, an album that replicated the rock/disco fusion of French Kiss, peaked at No. 20 (earning a RIAA gold certification) and spawned the hit "Precious Love" (#19), while the follow-up single "Church" (#73) also charted. His second effort that year, November's The Other One, saw Bob's first solo recordings without the help of any Fleetwood Mac members. This album reached No. 105 on the charts, though no singles on this record charted. Notable songs include "Rebel Rouser" and "Don't Let Me Fall". From 1980 to 1981, he hosted Hollywood Heartbeat, an early music video program.[17] His subsequent solo albums into the early 1980s (Man Overboard, Bob Welch, and Eye Contact) were not successful and his career declined.
In 1999, Welch released an experimental jazz/loop-based album, Bob Welch Looks at Bop. He followed this up in 2003 with His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond, which contained new recordings of songs he originally recorded with Fleetwood Mac, as well as some solo hits. In 2006, he released His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond 2, which mixed a half-dozen new compositions, along with a similar number of his Mac/solo remakes. He released more CDs with Fuel Records in 2008, 2010, and 2011.
Welch appeared as an avatar named BobWelch Magic in 2008, performing solo acoustic favorites and hits live for 30 minutes, in a show with Von Johin (musician/publisher Mike Lawson) and Cypress Rosewood (musician Tony Gerber) in the virtual world of Second Life, streaming live into the Gibson Island virtual stage from Lawson's studio.[18]
Recovery and second marriage
During the mid-1980s (following the release of Eye Contact), Welch took to partying with Guns N' Roses, who were rehearsing in his garage. He became addicted to cocaine and heroin, and was hospitalized for detox in spring of 1985. Welch reflected on that era as "being a very bad boy, very decadent, very cynical, VERY stoned. It was not a good time."[19]
The day he was released from detox, he was introduced to Wendy Armistead by
While in Phoenix, they formed a short-lived group called Avenue M.[21] The group went on tour and recorded one song for a greatest hits compilation. Welch and Armistead later moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and remained married until his death.
Death and legacy
Three months before his death, Welch underwent spinal surgery. The procedure was unsuccessful. He was still in considerable pain, despite taking the medication pregabalin (Lyrica) for six weeks.
On June 7, 2012, around 6:00 a.m., Welch died by suicide, shooting himself in his Nashville home where his wife Wendy — for whom he left a nine-page suicide note and love letter — discovered his body. He was 66 years old.[22][23][24]
Wendy died on November 28, 2016, from
An exhibit chronicling Bob Welch's career opened at The Musicians Hall of Fame at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee on August 27, 2018. Despite the lawsuit over a decade earlier, Fleetwood wrote a tribute for the exhibit. Bob and Wendy Welch's estate has endowed a scholarship to support Belmont School of Music students.[26]
Pop culture
Bob Welch is mentioned throughout episode one of season eighteen of
Discography
Albums
Release date | Album | Chart (US)[29] |
Additional information |
---|---|---|---|
November 1977 | French Kiss | 12 | Platinum |
February 1979 | Three Hearts | 20 | Gold |
November 1979 | The Other One | 105 | — |
September 1980 | Man Overboard | 162 | — |
October 1981 | Bob Welch | 201 | — |
June 1983 | Eye Contact | — | — |
September 10, 1999 | Bob Welch Looks at Bop | — | — |
July 8, 2003 | His Fleetwood Mac Years & Beyond | — | |
March 28, 2006 | His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond, Vol. 2 | — | — |
December 21, 2011 | Sings the Best Songs Ever Written | — | — |
Release date | Album | Additional information |
---|---|---|
December 1991 | The Best of Bob Welch | Unauthorized |
1994 | Greatest Hits | Unauthorized |
August 10, 2004 | Live from the Roxy | Recording from 1981 |
December 21, 2011 | Live in Japan[30] | Recording from 1979[citation needed] |
Singles
Year | Title | Chart positions | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [31] |
US AC [32] |
US Rock [33] |
CAN [34] |
AU | ||
1977 | "Sentimental Lady" | 8 | 10 | — | 3 | — |
1978 | "Ebony Eyes" | 14 | — | — | 7 | 2 |
"Hot Love, Cold World" | 31 | — | — | 37 | — | |
1979 | "Precious Love" | 19 | 42 | — | 13 | 37 |
"Church" | 73 | — | — | 85 | — | |
"3 Hearts" | — | — | — | — | — | |
1980 | "Don't Let Me Fall" | — | — | — | — | — |
"The Girl Can't Stop" | — | — | — | — | — | |
"Don't Rush The Good Things" | — | — | — | — | — | |
1981 | "It's What Ya Don't Say" | — | — | 45 | — | — |
"Two To Do" | 107 | — | — | — | — | |
1982 | "Remember" | — | — | — | — | — |
1983 | "S.O.S." | — | — | — | — | — |
"I'll Dance Alone" | — | — | — | — | — | |
2011 | "Black Dog" | — | — | — | — | — |
Band work
Date | Album | Additional information |
---|---|---|
1970 | Head West | Repackaged in 1973 & credited to "Bob Welch with Head West" |
Release Date | Album |
---|---|
September 3, 1971 | Future Games |
March 1972 | Bare Trees |
March 1973 | Penguin |
October 15, 1973 | Mystery to Me |
September 13, 1974 | Heroes Are Hard to Find |
Release date | Album | Additional information |
---|---|---|
January 1976 | Paris | — |
August 1976 | Big Towne, 2061 | — |
References
- ^ a b c Jerome, Jim (7 May 1979). "Bob Welch is Humming Again After the Costliest Miscalculation in Rock: He Quit Fleetwood Mac". People.
- ^ "Seven Souls Page". Soul Walking. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ Brunning, B (1998): Fleetwood Mac – The First 30 Years. London: Omnibus Press. p37
- ^ "Benifold". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-316-40342-9.
- ^ Fricke, David (July 26, 2020). "Before the Landslide: Inside the Early Years of Fleetwood Mac". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 20, 2023. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
- ^ "1973". FleetwoodMac.net. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ Laing, Dave (January 8, 2012). "Bob Weston Obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ a b c Mick Fleetwood with Stephen Davis (1990). My Life and Adventures with Fleetwood Mac. Sidgewick & Jackson, London.
- ^ "Bob Welch, November 8–21, 1999". FleetwoodMac.net. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- ^ "1974". FleetwoodMac.net. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- ^ "Bob Welch Q&A Session, November 1999". The Penguin: Everything That is Fleetwood Mac. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
- ^ "American Certifications - Fleetwood Mac". RIAA. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
- ^ "Lawsuit Settled". Hollywood Reporter. May 31, 1996.
- ^ a b "Rock Hall Snubs Welch; Induction Process Called Political and Arbitrary". Plain Dealer. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ "Discography".
- ^ "Hollywood Heartbeat Episodes – Hollywood Heartbeat Episode Guides – Watch Hollywood Heartbeat Episodes". TV Guide. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
- ^ "Gibson Press Release". Gibson.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
- ^ "Bob Welch Q&A Session, November 1999". Fleetwoodmac.net. Archived from the original on 2007-01-10. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
- ^ "Bob Welch Q&A Session, November 1999". Fleetwoodmac.net. Archived from the original on 2007-01-10. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
- ^ Grula, Richard J. (December 1989). "Guitar World (12/1989), Where Are They Now? Fleetwood Mac's Bob Welch". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
- ^ Duke, Alan (June 7, 2012). "Musician Bob Welch kills self". CNN.
- ^ Young, Nicole (June 7, 2012). "Former Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch found dead". USA Today.
- ^ "Bob Welch, Fleetwood Mac guitarist, 'just wanted to make the music he loved'". The Christian Science Monitor. Associated Pressdate = June 8, 2012.
- ^ "Wendy Welch Obituary - Nashville, TN". Los Angeles Times. December 1, 2016 – via Legacy.com.
- ^ Hefner, April (August 27, 2018). "Former Fleetwood Mac Member Bob Welch Celebrated in Musicians Hall of Fame Exhibit". Belmont University.
- ^ Holmquist, John; Bianchi, Dominic; Purdum, James (2019-09-29), Yacht Rocky, Family Guy, retrieved 2023-02-27
- ^ "Ex-Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch on TV's 'Family Guy' | Big 95". Big 95 Morning Show with Dewayne Wells. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- ^ "Bob Welch: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ Live In Japan by Bob Welch, 2011-12-21, retrieved 2023-05-05
- ^ "Bob Welch: Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ "Bob Welch: Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ "Bob Welch: Mainstream Rock". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ Canada, Library and Archives (July 17, 2013). "Results: RPM Weekly". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
External links
- Bob Welch's MySpace
- Bob Welch discography at Discogs
- Bob Welch at IMDb