space
head
head head head
Home Contact RSS Feed
COMICS   •   MOVIES   •   MUSIC   •   TELEVISION   •   GAMES   •   BOOKS
Bob Welch, Guitarist For Earlier Incarnation Of Fleetwood Mac, Dead At 66
space
Stoogeypedia   |  

Bob Welch

Musician Bob Welch, who was part of the rock/pop group Fleetwood Mac in the era that was in between the band’s original blues sounds of the late 1960s to the later more superstar pop phase that started in the late 1970s, died today at his home in Nashville, TN, in an apparent suicide, a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the chest, reports the Los Angeles Times. A suicide note was left behind by Welch, who had suffered from undisclosed health issues.

Welch was born in 1945 in Los Angeles, CA, to parents who were in the Hollywood industry. His dad was movie producer and screenwriter Robert Welch, who worked with luminaries such as Bob Hope and singer Bing Crosby, and his mother was Templeton Fox, a singer and actress who had appeared various films throughout the mid 20th Century.

Welch started on clarinet before switching to guitar when he was a teenager. Instead of going to college in the States, he migrated to Paris to play in local bands there, but found no success. In 1971, living in England on near poverty, Welch was invited to join Fleetwood Mac. At that time, Fleetwood Mac was a very different band than the one that is known today, based more in electrifying up intrinsic blues sounds and incorporating rock sounds, which a lot of English bands of that ilk at that time were doing in the late 60s/early 1970s Mac had just lost two key members: Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer. Joining the band with Christine McVie, who was married to one of the founding members of Fleetwood Mac, John McVie, Welch started to steer Mac in a more melodic direction, a direction that would eventually make Mac one of the biggest bands of all time.

Welch was the only American member of the band at that time, a factor that led to his hiring even more than his playing. He was relegated to rhythm guitar backing up the lead man in Danny Kirwan. Kirwan, however, began to become alienated from the group as his alcoholism began to overshadow his personality and friction between him and Welch escalated to the point where Kirwan left a Mac show on stage after him and Welch had an argument. Kirwan was let go from the group soon afterwards. Releasing a few more records during the early/mid 1970s, with Mac going through more various lineups and limited success stateside and abroad, Welch felt estranged from the rest of the band, and resigned in late 1974. He was replaced by Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, a duo who helped key a direction for Fleetwood Mac (using some of the blueprint sounds introduced by Welch) that would bring them to superstar status with albums like Rumours and Fleetwood Mac.

Welch then released a few solo albums afterwards, 1977’s French Kiss being the standout, which sported the top ten hit “Sentimental Lady,” originally recorded with Fleetwood Mac in 1971. Another single, the rocking “Ebony Eyes,” also came from this album. He released another solo album a few years later, and then faded into obscurity.

Welch almost remained sort of a Pete Best of Fleetwood Mac. Best was the original drummer of The Beatles, who had also left the band right before they became one of the planet’s biggest successes, just like Welch with Fleetwood Mac. Insult was added to injury when Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and Welch was not named on the roster of Mac inductees, even though many early members were, Danny Kirwan among others.

Welch had health problems which may have contributed to his suicide. His death now leaves a cloud over that sunny vibe one feels when they hear of Fleetwood Mac, and also etches him now as a tragic footnote to the storied history of that band. Welch was 66 years old.

RIP – Bob Welch
August 31, 1945 – June 7, 2012

Sentimental Lady

Ebony Eyes

[Source: LA Times]

1 Comment »

  1. Robert Lawrence “Bob” Welch was an American musician. A former member of
    the Fleetwood Mac, Welch had a briefly successful solo career in the
    late 1970s. He was a well known blues guitar player. His music usually includes rock and jazz kind of music. Aside guitar he can also play bass guitar and percussion.

    Comment by Guitarissts Johnson — June 12, 2012 @ 6:54 am

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

space
Topics: Music, News, Obit
space
Previous Article
space
Next Article
«
»
space
space
space
Amazon.com
space
You may have noticed that we're now AD FREE! Please support Geeks of Doom by using the Amazon Affiliate link above. All of our proceeds from the program go toward maintaining this site.
space
Geeks of Doom on Twitter Geeks of Doom on Facebook Geeks of Doom on Instagram Follow Geeks of Doom on Tumblr Geeks of Doom on YouTube Geeks of Doom Email Digest Geeks of Doom RSS Feed
space
space
space
space
The Drill Down Podcast TARDISblend Podcast Westworld Podcast
2023  ·   2022  ·   2021  ·   2020  ·   2019  ·   2018  ·   2017  ·   2016  ·   2015  ·   2014  ·  
2013  ·   2012  ·   2011  ·   2010  ·   2009  ·   2008  ·   2007  ·   2006  ·   2005
space
Geeks of Doom is proudly powered by WordPress.

Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press

Geeks of Doom is designed and maintained by our geeky webmaster
All original content copyright ©2005-2023 Geeks of Doom
All external content copyright of its respective owner, except where noted
space
Creative Commons License
This website is licensed under
a Creative Commons License.
space
About | Privacy Policy | Contact
space