The Life & Tragic Death Of BOB WELCH

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 22 ноя 2024
  • Explore the captivating life and tragic end of Bob Welch, the talented musician known for his contributions to Fleetwood Mac and his successful solo career. From his early days with Fleetwood Mac to the challenges he faced in his personal life, this video delves into the highs and lows of Welch's journey. Join us as we reflect on his impact on the music industry and the circumstances leading to his untimely death.

Комментарии • 63

  • @Michael-l8c6g
    @Michael-l8c6g 9 месяцев назад +28

    I loved Bob's French Kiss Album. Many great songs that I still listen to today. I have been a fan of his since 1977 when that album came out. I was also shocked when I heard the news that he had taken his own life. When the news came out I also found out that I lived about 25 miles from where he lived in Tennessee. I had no idea he was here. I would have tried to
    make contact with him before his death if I would have known he lived in Antioch Tn. He was a great person from what I understand but leading up to his death he started suffering from depression because of his history of back problems. So sad.
    RIP Bob !!!

    • @Deborah-so8mv
      @Deborah-so8mv 9 месяцев назад +2

      One of the best album covers.

    • @jimmytwotimes2758
      @jimmytwotimes2758 4 месяца назад +2

      Hypnotized is my favorite even though its Mac song but it is all Bob

    • @KenMcMunn-bp5xv
      @KenMcMunn-bp5xv 7 дней назад

      @@Michael-l8c6g Bob was told he was going to become an invalid and he didn't want to be a burden on his wife the way he felt his father had become a burden on his mother,but his now late wife blamed the painkillers he took for his suicide. I posted a message on the site I read this on but I didn't realize she died sometime ago.

  • @granthurlburt4062
    @granthurlburt4062 9 месяцев назад +21

    He was on my favourite Fleetwood mac albums.

  • @teacuppermike2568
    @teacuppermike2568 5 месяцев назад +27

    I met Bob in Phoenix, around 1989-1990. Opened for him at the Mason Jar, and got to jam with him at a party there as well. He was a super nice guy, and was still singing and playing great. RIP

  • @dansullivan1246
    @dansullivan1246 6 месяцев назад +27

    The Welch era of FM was the best...

  • @Bobbymorris-g3h
    @Bobbymorris-g3h 5 месяцев назад +18

    What a singer writer &great musician. Bob was the best. Put him in hall of fame

    • @jimmytwotimes2758
      @jimmytwotimes2758 4 месяца назад +1

      He was totally underrated by mainstream so called music writers

    • @kathy6551
      @kathy6551 2 месяца назад

      Actually, considering the crap that has been inducted into the hof, would this be an insult to his genius.

  • @helbitkelbit1790
    @helbitkelbit1790 6 месяцев назад +14

    Mystery to me is one of my favorite albums......

  • @Deborah-so8mv
    @Deborah-so8mv 9 месяцев назад +44

    He was not included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame although everyone else in the various Mac incarnations were. Politics.

    • @KenMcMunn-bp5xv
      @KenMcMunn-bp5xv 5 месяцев назад +1

      Well I don't think Bob Weston,Dave Walker,Rick Vito,Billy,Bekka,Dave Mason,or Bob Brunning were included either,but Mick should have done what Jerry Garcia did for The Grateful Dead and insisted that everyone who was ever in the band be included in the induction.Some said that Welch was left out because he was suing them but he said he was also left out because Jann Winner didn't like his music.

    • @curbozerboomer1773
      @curbozerboomer1773 3 месяца назад +2

      @@KenMcMunn-bp5xv My feeling is...Welch was a difficult dude, with various drug/alcohol issues. And suing your former, helpful bandmates did not help. He sure did have some fine songs!

    • @KenMcMunn-bp5xv
      @KenMcMunn-bp5xv 3 месяца назад +1

      @@curbozerboomer1773 You may be right but it sounds like they could be difficult to and not always helpful.
      In a Q&A Bob said "The RnR hall of fame thing hurt my feelings, naturally, but I think Mick would've done that even before the lawsuit. Here's why; Mick (and John, and Chris) associate Pete Green with the high flying glory days of their youth, when FM was first breaking out in Europe. They associate Stevie and Lindsey, naturally enough, with the most glamorous, successful and exciting period in FMs' history, when FM became worldwide stars. They associate MY 5 years with the band, in contrast, with a very difficult time emotionally, which it was; losing Pete Green, having to redefine what their music would be, the Davis lawsuit etc. Even though the band survived because of what we went through in that period, it's not pleasant to think about for them,and so they DON'T think about it and pretend it doesn't exist. Of course I'm sure Stevie and Lindsey think all this b.s is pretty irrelevant , which it is, for them. Gee I'm starting to sound like Xavier Pacheco ! ;-) Stevie has always been great to me BTW... My beef with Mick, John, and Chris had absolutely nothing to do with her, or Lindsey...
      My being left out of the Hall Of Fame thing, was purely political. There is a "board", consisting of people like Seymour Stein, who works for WB records for example, who supposedly votes on exactly who will be included. I inquired, politely, about my being left out, and was told that the "board" didn't feel that my years with Fleetwood Mac "were up to their standards" for inclusion in the induction. Pete Greens', and Lindsey and Stevie's years with the band, evidentially WERE up to the board's "standards". They would not tell me, either, exactly what those "standards" were... Were they sales ? My albums with FM have sold less than Rumours, but they have sold certainly as well as, if not more than, the Pete Green FM albums.. all of my 5 records with FM are at least "gold" or "platinum". Were the "standards" what a person did AFTER they left Fleetwood Mac? Well, when I left Fleetwood Mac I had a platinum record, "French Kiss", under my own name. Pete Green never had a platinum record under his OWN name. Neither did, God bless 'em, Danny Kirwan, or Jeremy Spencer, or Dave Walker, or Bob Weston (as I say, God bless 'em, but I'm trying to make a point). Christine McVie's solo album was GREAT, but it didn't do anywhere nearly as good as mine. French Kiss is platinum in 7 countries, including the US. So in WHICH way then, did my musical contributions to Fleetwood Mac, including "Hypnotized", which last year won an ASCAP award for 25 consecutive years of worldwide airplay, and "Sentimental Lady", which was a top ten Billboard single when, by the way, I won Billboard Magazine's "best new artist 1978", in which way PRECISELY (sorry to yell ;-) did my contributions to Fleetwood Mac not come up to the "board's" standards ??!! And in Mick's book he says, "Bob Welch saved Fleetwood Mac" and they STILL left me out ??
      Politics, Vianna, politics..... and retribution because I sued them, and they were p--sed.. off !
      Forgive that rant, but I had to get it "off my chest"...they did me a lot dirtier than I've been letting on. I could NEVER be that unfair to anybody.
      And BTW, my personal opinion is that Mick and the other "people' who are handling Pete Green, are only using him to help their own careers!...unfortunately, it seems to me that Mick treats most past band members as if they didn't really have anything to do with FM, with the exception of the "Rumours" band, Pete Green, and rarely, Jeremy Spencer. Everybody else who ever played with FM he "shuts out of his mind", kinda like in the old Soviet Union, where they used to "erase" politicians from official histories, and never mention them in public.
      Mick is VERY lucky in that his last name just happens to be the name of the band...there is no Mr "Floyd", for instance, in "Pink Floyd". If Mick's last name had been "Jones" or "Smith", he would have never been able to get away with the heavy-handed tactics he has used with MOST former band members.
      I personally think Bekka and Billy were wonderful together, although I never saw that line-up live, because I was suing Mick, John and Chris at the time. The thing I wish that all the fans would realize about FM, is that everyone, Stevie , Lindsey, Rick Vito , Billy, Bekka, Bob Weston etc are all really nice and fun people, the SOURPUSSES, are, and have always been, in my opinion, Mick, John and Chris, who have tended to act as if they were English "royalty" and "Better" than everybody else.
      I'll tell you another little secret that is not known at all except to a few close "insiders" and me. I met Lindsey once at Chuck's Steak House, ( next to the old "Record Plant" studios) on Melrose in LA after Lindsey had been in the band maybe 6 months, and was in the middle of recording the white album. We had a couple of beers and then he confided in me, "how the hell did you stand it?" he asked me. I knew immediately what he meant...the "emotional atmosphere" created by Mick, John and Chris, all together in the same room could get intolerable at times. Imagine being locked in a room, for MONTHS at a time, with the 3 of your relatives that make you the most uncomfortable ! Maybe there is your uncle, who is always drunk, and who you have to "humor". Then there is your maiden aunt, who is alternately crotchety or making "crotch" references, and who is unmercifully sarcastic to boot. Then there is your brother who, although bright, has a slight learning disability, and rather than talk, he prefers to communicate in his own brand of "body English", gestures, and eye movements ! All of you are together in this tiny room trying to think up music, and it's costing you 300$ an hour to be there. Months go by...eyes are still rolling, sarcasm still flying, people never "say what they mean" and you have to keep guessing, flying blind. And it's still costing you 300$ an hour to do this.
      Any body who EVER was in FM, had to put up with some version of this.
      In the end, Lindsey was actually thinking of leaving FM 6 months after he joined...he didn't know if he could "take" it. At Chuck's, I told him, "you got 2 choices; get out, or swallow hard, bite the bullet and hang in there". I told Lindsey that this was a great "shot" for him, and if he could just persist with these people, like I had for five years, it might all be worth it. Maybe my advice helped him, or not...but he stayed.
      But.. it was not a "fun group "."
      Ultimately it seems that Bob patched things up with the others as much as he could,and I'm sure he was probably difficult too,but things did not turn out too well for anyone in the early years of Fleetwood Mac. Peter Green at least died in his own home and in his own bed with people who loved him,but Danny died mentally ill and forgotten of pneumonia in a hostel for the homeless.The underrated Bob Weston died alone in his flat of a gastrointestinal problem,a never-was,and wasn't found for days.Dave Walker lost the gig as Black Sabbath's lead singer to Ronnie James Dio and never did really make it. He was briefly in a band called Hungry Fighter with Danny Kirwan ironically that played a couple of gigs that were sadly never recorded and then broke up because of Danny's mental illness. I'm glad Dave found his way back at least temporarily to Savoy Brown because that gig always suited him better than Fleetwood Mac.
      Jeremy Spencer lost himself in the Children Of God/Family and kept changing his story. One minute he says Fleetwood Mac became superstars with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham because he prayed for it out of guilt for leaving them so suddenly,then he changes his tune and said Fleetwood Mac became superstars because Stevie Nicks was writing demonic songs about witches.Jeremy also claims he briefly "backslid" back into the secular world in the late 70s and had a bunch of stillborn children with a drug-addicted groupie before deciding Fleetwood Mac and L.A. were full of "sodomites" and went back to the religious group and he only seems to have restarted steadily recording for the secular world since his guru David Berg-who didn't seem to favor boys-died!
      Bob Welch may been difficult but he had it difficult too. He wanted fame more than anyone in the early years of Fleetwood Mac and it kept eluding him. His first band lost a record contract audition to Sly And The Family Stone. His second band was screwed over by their manager and their instruments were seized and he was left stuck in Paris until Fleetwood Mac called him to join. His next band Paris fell apart when the drrummer got Bell's Palsy. Next Bob's solo career dried up and he partied himself into the poor house and rehab with Guns N' Roses,tried to reinvent himself as a songpwriter in Nashville with mixed results,was excluded from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame,and just when he started to get his musical career back on track,he was diagnosed with a crippling disease and killed himself so he wouldn't become a burden on his wife the way he felt his father had become a burden on his mother,although before she died his widow tried to blame his suicide on painkillers. One reason Bob may have clashed with the others is because he was from Hollywood while they were English countryside dwellers. His father worked in the Hollywood film industry. In many ways he might have unwittingly been the serpent in the Garden of Eden during their English estate marijuana days leading them to cocaine L.A. I don't judge him for any of that. He did get them in a position where they achieved worldwide game,but he had come home while they were fishes out of water the way he had been in England.

  • @signsoflife8905
    @signsoflife8905 2 месяца назад +4

    Hypnotized..Best tune

  • @markkus1134
    @markkus1134 Месяц назад +4

    Great song sentimental Lady

  • @billdauphine951
    @billdauphine951 9 месяцев назад +7

    Love the ups n downs....comeback kid....

  • @avlisk
    @avlisk 2 месяца назад +3

    My favorite era of FM was Welch/Weston and Welch/Kirwan. Liked Welch so much I bought his two Paris albums which I like a lot, too.

    • @HarmonyHeartsLifestyle-ul5yv
      @HarmonyHeartsLifestyle-ul5yv  2 месяца назад

      He was great! Love songs - Precious Love, Sentimental Lady & Church are awesome! And of course Ebony Eyes is a classic 🥰👍

    • @avlisk
      @avlisk 2 месяца назад

      @@HarmonyHeartsLifestyle-ul5yv I was fond of his paranormal, supernatural ("Art Bell') songs too, like Bright Fire, Hypnotized, Nightwatch, Bermuda Triangle, The Ghost, The Narrow Gate, Pale Horse Pale Rider, and more.Great songs and a great guitar sound. I saw him live at Cal Jam '78 with Stevie Nicks singing backup. And yes, he sang a great version of Ebony Eyes!

  • @Samdarby303
    @Samdarby303 Месяц назад +2

    Excellent, loved his work.

  • @leepatti55
    @leepatti55 4 месяца назад +12

    Hypnotised!!

    • @jimmytwotimes2758
      @jimmytwotimes2758 4 месяца назад

      Great song ,I still listen to it at least once a month

  • @kngchaos1958
    @kngchaos1958 3 месяца назад +11

    Stan Kirsch killed himself too because of back pain from surgery , doctors screwed him up, left him in pain forever, the doctors reply to him was "it is what it is" and dropped him , left him in horrible pain .........they got their $$$ for the surgery then a "fuck you " were done with you ! typical doctors ........

  • @curbozerboomer1773
    @curbozerboomer1773 3 месяца назад +7

    It seems that Bob Welch was a guy, who let his negative impulses get in the way of his talents. His first solo album holds up very well today...After that, he seemed scattered and unfocused ...We only got to experience some of the creative talent this guy carried inside of him! Very sad.

  • @jimmytwotimes2758
    @jimmytwotimes2758 4 месяца назад +8

    Loved Bob Welch
    RIP

  • @pearcehawk8071
    @pearcehawk8071 Месяц назад +3

    At the time of his spinal surgery, his emotional status spiraled downhill. I am going through the exact same spiral for the exact reason. This is compounded by being a veteran corpsman watching the horrors of war beyond compression unless, of course, you were there too. I don't blame him for his suicide.

  • @Perseusgorgonslayer
    @Perseusgorgonslayer 7 месяцев назад +16

    The other band members screwed bob out of his rightful place in the rock n roll hall of fame and then sing praises of him AFTER his suicide?!!! What a pack of Cee u Next tuesdays'!

    • @Diostillrocks
      @Diostillrocks 3 дня назад

      That was more of the McVie's, especially Christine. Stevie Nicks and Bob remained friends for many years. There are pictures of him and Stevie at a party in their later years.

  • @kbtube8125
    @kbtube8125 9 месяцев назад +15

    no mention of ebony eyes? sad his wife had to find him that way.

  • @mattsweeny3957
    @mattsweeny3957 6 месяцев назад +8

    Ya gotta give the guy spot of credit...he didn't lay back and live off his parents

  • @KenMcMunn-bp5xv
    @KenMcMunn-bp5xv 9 дней назад +1

    You forgot Bob's second band, an r&B psychedelic trio called Head West that recorded one self-titled album in 1970 and then broke up on their manager screwed them over and their instruments were seized in Paris.

  • @Mr.SharkTooth-zc8rm
    @Mr.SharkTooth-zc8rm 6 месяцев назад +14

    Fleetwood Mac did him UGLY.

  • @mattsweeny3957
    @mattsweeny3957 6 месяцев назад +8

    Welch was a cool dude

  • @LouisYazzie-yv2nd
    @LouisYazzie-yv2nd 6 месяцев назад +4

    Remember..🎸 good song

  • @mattsweeny3957
    @mattsweeny3957 6 месяцев назад +6

    Like Hemingway...he went out on HIS own terms

  • @glennmccudden8574
    @glennmccudden8574 10 месяцев назад +6

    Bob. Had a Nice song called church.

  • @cynthiaunderwood5826
    @cynthiaunderwood5826 8 месяцев назад +7

    He did not have any children . He had a sister in LA and a nephew . My son was his only God child!

  • @LAboomR
    @LAboomR 4 месяца назад +3

    Mystery To Me,Penguin are a couple of the best Lp F M ever did
    Future Game, Bare Trees are great too.
    I saw three tours F.M. Open for everyone Ten Years After, Deep Purple. Every show I went to in 71-73 F.M. Was a opening band
    They must have toured for three years without a break
    I’m sorry about Bob he was a great songwriter

    • @curbozerboomer1773
      @curbozerboomer1773 3 месяца назад +1

      "Do you see that girl, standing in the corner?...I'd like to take her out of her chains.." Brilliant lyrics!

  • @sharonyoung7251
    @sharonyoung7251 7 месяцев назад +3

    I only know of 2 songs, of his. ???

  • @jeffreykoran4820
    @jeffreykoran4820 Месяц назад +1

    HE ALSO PLAYED PROFESIONAL BASEBALL ⚾️ AS A PITCHER FOR THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS....😅

  • @TheGenreman
    @TheGenreman 7 месяцев назад +4

    Mick done the dirty on him

  • @mattsweeny3957
    @mattsweeny3957 6 месяцев назад +4

    Did he ever fool around with Stevie? I see a chemistry there

  • @dr.krinkleweldon5934
    @dr.krinkleweldon5934 5 месяцев назад +1

    The Cyrano DeBergerac of pop rock

  • @canbencheco
    @canbencheco 2 месяца назад +2

    I'm confused. I thought he was with Eagles.

  • @chriskroell6956
    @chriskroell6956 8 месяцев назад +4

    He always looked sickly

    • @curbozerboomer1773
      @curbozerboomer1773 3 месяца назад

      He likely was doing some hard drugs, which promote that super-skinny look, that was so in vogue, back then!