Bob Welch 1946 - 2012

Guitarist-singer-songwriter Bob Welch, known for his work in Fleetwood Mac and a solo career after leaving them, has died in his Nashville, TN home, from what is reported be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  He is survived by his wife Wendy Armistead Welch.

Robert Lawrence Welch Jr. was the son of Hollywood producer and screenwriter Robert L. Welch Sr. and actress Templeton Fox Welch.  After briefly trying to learn the clarinet, Welch switched to guitar during his teenage years.  After graduating high school, he studied French, first at UCLA and later at the Sorbonne in Paris.  He played in the American R&B band Seven Souls, before forming the short-lived trio Head West, and later becoming the first American to join Fleetwood Mac.  In a "small world" coincidence, the band's secretary Judy Wong was herself an American who had gone to high school with Bob Welch, who was living in Paris when contacted by them in 1971.

During the previous year, Fleetwood Mac had gone through some changes.  In May 1970, the band lost their founder, guitarist Peter Green.  The remaining members, guitarists Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan, bassist John McVie, and drummer Mick Fleetwood then recorded the Kiln House album, with some guest contributions by McVie's wife Christine.  For the subsequent tour, she was asked to join the band.  In early 1971, while they were in a hotel in Los Angeles, Spencer stepped out of his room and did not return.  He was found a few days later at the headquarters of the Children Of God, and could not be persuaded to leave.  To finish the tour, the band were able to get Green to temporarily rejoin them.  After the tour ended, they set about finding a replacement for Spencer, and eventually hired Welch.  He would later recall meeting Fleetwood, Kirwan and the McVies.  To Welch, they appeared to be not all that interested in hearing him play and sing, but in trying to see if he reasonably level-headed, so they wouldn't have to worry about him suddenly leaving the band, as Green and Spencer both had done.

As it turned out, Welch would stay in Fleetwood Mac until the end of 1974, to be eventually replaced by fellow Americans Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.  Welch thus not only outlasted Kirwan, who was fired in late 1972 after smashing his guitar and refusing to go onstage, but also two musicians who were brought in afterwards, singer Dave Walker and guitarist Bob Weston, who was fired for having an affair with Fleetwood's wife.  During his almost four years in the band, Welch appeared on a total of five Fleetwood Mac albums:  Future Games (for which he wrote the title song), Bare Trees, Penguin, Mystery To Me, and Heroes Are Hard To Find.  After leaving Fleetwood Mac, he formed another short-lived trio called Paris, before going solo.  Go here and here for more about Welch's music career, including his time in Fleetwood Mac.

Here are a few notable Bob Welch songs.  First, a live recording of Lay It All Down, originally from the Future Games album.  Welch performs with the McVies, Mick Fleetwood and Danny Kirwan.

Fleetwood Mac appeared on The Midnight Special in 1973, performing Welch's Miles Away and Christine McVie's Believe Me, both from Mystery To Me.  Bob Weston, who replaced Kirwan on guitar, performs an interlude between the two songs.

Also from Mystery To Me is Hypnotized, arguably Welch's best-known song from his time in Fleetwood Mac.

My favorite Bob Welch tune is She's Changing Me, from Heroes Are To Find, and featuring guest musician Sneeky Pete Kleinow on steel guitar.  I remember this one getting some airplay in 1975, when Welch was no longer in Fleetwood Mac.

In 1977, Bob Welch released his first solo album, French Kiss, which included a re-recording of Sentimental Lady, which had first appeared on the Fleetwood Mac album Bare Trees in 1972.  The solo version includes Mick Fleetwood on drums, Christine McVie on backing vocals, and Lindsey Buckingham on guitar and backing vocals.

I've heard of, but never really taken seriously, the meme that famous deaths occur in threes.  However, Bob Welch is third former member of Fleetwood Mac to die within the past year.  In an eerie coincidence, of the 16 musicians who have been members of the band, the three who have died all had the same first name.  The other two were guitarist Bob Weston, who appears in the Midnight Special video above, and temporary bassist Bob Brunning, who was hired by Peter Green as a stand-in for the bassist he wanted, John McVie.  Green, McVie and Fleetwood had all played together in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.  Before McVie joined, the band had recorded a few songs with Brunning on bass.  One of them, Long Grey Mare, appears on the band's 1968 self-titled debut album.  After his brief stint with Fleetwood Mac, Brunning stayed friendly with the band, and in 1969 brought Mick Fleetwood and Danny Kirwan into a side-project called Tramp.