RIP Bob Welch
Sad to see in the paper that Bob Welch, Fleetwood Mac's guitarist in the period between Peter Green and Lindsey Buckingham, died yesterday. Apparently he had been in bad health, had an unsuccessful operation on his spine, and being told that he wouldn't ever recover, and not wanting his wife to have to care for an invalid, he shot himself. A sad end for a talented musician and writer who had the bad luck to follow in the footsteps of one of the greatest guitarists ever, and to be replaced by another fine guitarist who lead the band to enormous worldwide success.
Bob Welch came out of a R&B and funk group that once backed up Hendrix, apparently, but lead Fleetwood Mac in its country/folk/pop rock period. I was a big fan of his (and Christine McVie) in the early/mid seventies, and find the albums of his period more enjoyable than the white albums that made Fleetwood Mac the best selling band in the world. In fact, Mystery to Me just happened to be on the turntable from the last time I listened to records when I came across the obituary this morning.
I wasn't a huge fan of his post Fleetwood Mac production -- following the market, and not all that well, and really cheesy cover art. But with the band, he wrote good songs and played very well, and his covers of the great Pete Green songs like the Green Manalishi seem to have an integrity that the later Buckingham and DeVito versions just don't, though techincally they are fine.
I think if he had looked more like a rock star he would have had an easier time -- big glasses and incipient baldness just didn't go over big in the 70s. And the hats he wore to cover it up just looked silly to me. But no one ever said the market is fair.
It is a pity he wasn't inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame with the band that he kept afloat during its hardest times.
