Let's Discuss Bob Welch Solo Albums

[chriskisn]

I've been listening to a bit of Bob Welch recently, and thought I'd ask what everyone thought about his solo stuff. I'm sure this has been covered before, but hey, this pre-Rumours board needs a bit of action occasionally.

For the purposes of this discussion (if we can get one going) consider the following albums:

Paris (1976)
Big Towne 2061 (1976)
French Kiss (1977)
Three Hearts (1979)
The Other One (1979)
Man Overboard (1980)
Bob Welch (1981)
Eye Contact (1983)
Bob Welch Looks At Bop (1999)
His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond (2003)
His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond Two (2006)


Personally I've always enjoyed the first Paris album, it was so different to his early FM work, but it did rock in that Zeppelinesque way. I remember a manager I had a few years ago who was a big Zeppelin fan asking me who it was (we used to play CDs in the office) as it was so obviously Zeppelin influenced. I wish Bob had explored that side of his musical ability further. Sad to think that the rest of FM didn't like it. My favourite tracks of this album have always been Religion and Black Book.

I don't like Big Towne 2061 as much (although I do like it), with the standout tracks being Blue Robin and Heart of Stone. While it is generally accepted that this is a much slicker production, I guess I spent years listening to the first album and only managed to find Big Towne 2061 in the past year. Maybe it will grow on me?

French Kiss, what can I say, its ok, but its too sugar coated pop for my liking, and that really isn't Bob Welch before or since. You can't fault Ebony Eyes or Carolene though.

Three Hearts of course features my favourite little girl Stevie Nicks, even if only for a few brief seconds, but I just LOVE that song, Devil Wind. Three Hearts was quite obviously moving away from French Kiss and more towards Bob's later sound. I do like his take on I Saw Her Standing There as well. When I bought this album I really did play it again and again. I'd be reasonably confident in saying that this is my favourite Bob album.

The reason I'm not totally confident about Three Hearts being my favourite album is the aptly named The Other One. There really isn't too much wrong with this album, perhaps Don't Let Me Fall is the weak track in my opinion. My favourite tracks are Rebel Rouser, Old Man of 17 and Love Came 2X.

Man Overboard. Hmm... It certainly isn't one of Bob's better albums, but it does have the fantastic The Girl Can't Stop. I also like Justine, Nightmare and Don't Rush the Good Things, and while I don't like B666, it does sound like it was lifted straight off the Paris album.

The self titled 1981 release Bob Welch which eveyone struggles to obtain (and it took me ages) is probably one of my least favourite BW albums. So obviously an attempt to go back to that pop success of French Kiss, and failing miserably. I can't really think of a track I really like off this album. Sorry Bob.

Eye Contact - all I can say is "Bob what were you thinking?" Actually you have to remember this was the 80's. Although, in his defence, Love on the Line, could almost have been lifted of FM's Mirage. He could have slotted right back in to the band with this.

I ordered Bob Welch Looks At Bop through the Penguin, and I do remember that the copies were meant to be signed although mine isn't. Obviously either he only signed very few or heaps of people bought it. I'd suggest it was the former, but maybe that is just my cynicism. I really dislike this album with a passion. I've played it a grand total of three times in the past ten years.

As for Greatest Hits and More (aka His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond) I really like his cover of Oh Well, but as for the rest of the album I wish he had left it alone. Some of those great classic FM songs such as Hypnotized, Emerald Eyes, Bermuda Triangle, Angel and Silver Heels should have never been re-recorded. They were just perfect the way they were. Perhaps he should have tried to radically change them, Hypnotized as a hard rock song or something?

His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond Two is another very difficult one to obtain and Bob says that even he doesn't have a copy. I probably prefer this album to the first one, however I'm still not happy about the cover of Rhiannon. Ray is a great song though, as is the remake of The Girl Can't Stop.


So, after all of that, I can honestly say that I've enjoyed a lot of Bob's work, but sadly, like many artists, he's never really done anything as good as his FM work. I wish he had done more songs similar to Hypnotized, Bermuda Triangle, etc in his solo efforts.

Of course, this is only my take on his solo work, and I thought it would be great to sit down and discuss these albums with some other Bob Welch fans... ;)

[aleuzzi]

I love what I've heard of Three Hearts, especially Church. Of course, French Kiss is a very good album of 70s pop rock.

I must disagree with you about Bob's Bop record, which is my favorite of his works. To me the entire thing makes sense and puts into perspective one of the ways this jazzy, standard-loving musician was so very different from his blues colleagues.

I also love the Fleetwood Mac redeux album...

The rest I confess to hearing only in snippets and not liking.

[becca]

I haven't warmed up to those first two heavy albums yet although they are slightly connected in my mind to the heavier sounding Heroes Are Hard To Find album of 1974. I'm old enough to remember what absolute omnipresent monster hits Ebony Eyes and Sentimental Lady (revisited with extra Christine harmony) were back in the day though, definitely up there with Rhiannon and Over My Head when they were new. Mostly though my very favorite Bob is on the Fleetwood Mac albums, after all they were the best musicians and backing. Hypnotised was on it's way to being a monster hit when the legal hassels dampened things, and it did get played on radio a fair amount at the time anyway. My personal favorite song (I have always had trouble relating to the concept album way of looking at things maybe because Sgt. Pepper seemed like a weak Beatles album decorated with lats of hoo-hah).... Angel. I find that song the most evocative for some reason. Miles Away comes next. The production of the late '70s and '80s was just to heavy-handed for me to enjoy some of that stuff too often, they flattened the life out of some of that stuff (all Lindsey Buckingham's and Jeff Lynne's fault probably), but if they ever do a Let It Be Naked job of removing all the varnish, there are some good songs buried under there. I have ignored everything after The Other One except the Bop thing which was fun.

[chriskisn]

I must disagree with you about Bob's Bop record, which is my favorite of his works. To me the entire thing makes sense and puts into perspective one of the ways this jazzy, standard-loving musician was so very different from his blues colleagues.

I've gone back to listen to this album again (Bob Welch Looks at Bop) and it still doesn't do it for me. I don't think Bob really has the voice for the kind of music he is singing here. :sorry:

Oh well he seemed to have fun doing it and people seem to like it, so who am I to criticize?

[nicepace]

In general I enjoy Bob's post-FM work a lot. He is a very creative musician with a widely divergent range of styles, which maybe isn't good for career success but gives him a lot of credibility as a musician.

I really love the two Paris albums, especially the second one. I hugely prefer the FM version of "Sentimental Lady" over the Buckinghammed solo version, the arrangement of which I find too sappy. I haven't bought the 'Bop' album because I hate jazz, therefore I know I'd hate the 'Bop' album. I suggest that if you hate the 'Bop' album it's not because it's bad (Bob is too accomplished a musician to make a BAD album if he's in charge of it) but because you don't like jazz.

However, this thread omits a huge piece of Bob's post-FM work, which are the songs available for free on his website. He has several dozen songs that you can download, for free. Some are live versions of songs you've heard before, some are rough demos, some are reasonably finished tracks. They're all worth hearing. Everyone should take advantage of Bob's generosity in making these available, for free. I have them on my hard disk and am planning on making a CD (or two) of my favorite ones when I have finally figured out which ones those are.

[chriskisn]

In general I enjoy Bob's post-FM work a lot. He is a very creative musician with a widely divergent range of styles, which maybe isn't good for career success but gives him a lot of credibility as a musician.

I really love the two Paris albums, especially the second one. I hugely prefer the FM version of "Sentimental Lady" over the Buckinghammed solo version, the arrangement of which I find too sappy. I haven't bought the 'Bop' album because I hate jazz, therefore I know I'd hate the 'Bop' album. I suggest that if you hate the 'Bop' album it's not because it's bad (Bob is too accomplished a musician to make a BAD album if he's in charge of it) but because you don't like jazz.

However, this thread omits a huge piece of Bob's post-FM work, which are the songs available for free on his website. He has several dozen songs that you can download, for free. Some are live versions of songs you've heard before, some are rough demos, some are reasonably finished tracks. They're all worth hearing. Everyone should take advantage of Bob's generosity in making these available, for free. I have them on my hard disk and am planning on making a CD (or two) of my favorite ones when I have finally figured out which ones those are.

Firstly you are probably quite right about the jazz thing, there isn't really any other jazz in my CD collection unless you include Amy Winehouse :lol:

You are also right about the stuff on his website, I've downloaded about 40 tracks off there (and there are more available) although I have to admit that I'm not really that keen on all of them and most of them do start to sound the same.

I just wish he'd put out a CD of new material, not a rehashed CD of hits...

[aleuzzi]

I've gone back to listen to this album again (Bob Welch Looks at Bop) and it still doesn't do it for me. I don't think Bob really has the voice for the kind of music he is singing here. :sorry:

Oh well he seemed to have fun doing it and people seem to like it, so who am I to criticize?

I think his take on these songs is original, spirited and fun. We'll agree to disagree.

[chriskisn]

I think his take on these songs is original, spirited and fun. We'll agree to disagree.

No we won't we'll fight to the death :lol:

[chiliD]

Paris: Definitely that first Paris album was a left turn from what Bob was doing with FMac. Being that I was on the tail end of my LZ fandom at the time, it really wasn't all that welcome, but I did enjoy the spacier tunes on that first album...especially "Le Porte Etroite" & "Starcage"...I groaned a little when I first heard "Beautiful Youth" and repeating his own riff from "Born Enchanter" on Heroes Are Hard To Find. "Religion" just sounds WAY to close to LZ's "Black Dog" for comfort. "Black Book" was really good and I was glad to hear him keep that in his concert set for a number of years even after the success of French Kiss.

Big Towne, 2061: For me, this album was a sigh of relief, backing off of the heavy LZ influence and more into a blend of his heavier side as well as a continuation from his FMac era stuff. "Slave Trader", "Pale Horse, Pale Rider", & "Blue Robin" sounded as if they'd have been tunes on the next FMac album, had he stayed with the band. "Heart Of Stone" is just a balls-out rocker, loved that one. Didn't care for "Money Love" until I saw him play it live, then I couldn't get enough of the song. The title cut was just awesome...someday I'll save up the cash to pay the big bucks to get a copy of this on CD...my LP is just full of pops & crackles from all the years of trying to drop the tone arm on specific songs over & over.

French Kiss: Wasn't completely enamored with the new version of "Sentimental Lady", but it grew on me. Took me a bit to get into the album, except for "Outskirts" which I loved immediately. When I saw him in concert just after the album's release, he opened his show with "Mystery Train" & "Hot Love, Cold World"...smokin' hot versions which have to this day carried over into my listening of the album...I really dug the three completely different takes on "Lose Your/My Heart". And, oh yeah!...of course, "Ebony Eyes" had that killer hook riff that was immediately accessible.

Three Hearts: To me, this album was French Kiss II...in a good way. Despite being a Beatle snob, I liked his take on "I Saw Her Standing There". The album version of "Precious Love" was killer, but the overly disco-y 12" dance version turned me off. Finally hearing "Don't Wait Too Long" (the long awaited retitled remake of the last minute banished song from Mystery To Me) was a pleasure, as was the eerie "Ghost Of Flight 401". Also liked "Church" a LOT, especially live. Was glad to finally hear Bob's own version of "China" after a couple of months of hearing Sammy Hagar's cover. "Devil Wind"...what can you say? Todd Sharp's amazing acoustic guitar intro just set the stage. "Come Softly To Me" was the greatest "inside joke"...with Bob & Christine ex-Fleetwood Mac'ers covering a song originally done in the '50s by "The Fleetwoods"...I still get a good chuckle over that; but, in all honestly, Bob & Christine's version smokes the original by a mile! "Little Star" is a great closing song....the guitars recalling and echoing a bit of the Paris sound

The Other One: Like FMac's Tusk, this album tossed all the bells & whistles aside and came atcha with no frills. "Rebel Rouser" (I was expecting the Duane Eddy hit when I first put the platter on the turntable) blasted it's way out. Took me a while to get used to the "naked" Welch...but, my "spacey" expectations were satisfied with "Watch The Animals" (the lyric within contained the album title). Wasn't completely satisfied with the album upon original release, but it has a few of my favorite Welch songs that have remained so through the years.

Man Overboard: Being that it was his last album for Capitol, for decades I thought it was just a patchwork of outtakes from his previous albums, since each song sounds like it could seamlessly fit on one of his earlier works. An assumption that Welch himself quelched during his first Q&A here on The Penguin. So, I've been trying to go back & reacquaint myself with this album on that basis, that all songs were MEANT for this album instead of being leftovers. Since, "the revelation", it has been a tougher task to enjoy the album as a whole, rather than just individual tracks.

Bob Welch (1981)...(aka "The Yellow Album"): From the first listen of "Two To Do", I was hooked...the short but ever so sweet guitar solo in the middle still ranks in my top 10 guitar solos. Sure, the album was a blatant attempt at commerciality, there's no tunes of the "Hypnotized/Bermuda Triangle" ilk here, but after "Two To Do", the songs just didn't stick with me...until about 15 years later. Going back and listening to the album in 1996, I loved it all, especially "It's What You Don't Say", "You Can't Do That", "To My Heart Again" ...great stuff, just ahead of its time...sure, "Bend Me, Shape Me" was as corny as all get out...so was the original, but at least Bob added "class" to the song in buckets. (and Welch's revelation in the Penguin Q&A that he HATED even recording the song!) The little 15 second ending track "Drive" made me want it to last a whole lot longer!

Eye Contact: Now here's an album that, for me, was like a fine wine...and 1983 was definitely NOT its time. I just was SO disappointed with this album upon original release that it sat in my collection, played MAYBE twice, until about 1999...it was that year that I finally was able to open my ears enough to "get" this album. And, now it's one of my fave Welch albums (as a whole)...granted, the "whole" is better than the "sum of the parts". This group of songs were meant to be together and don't sit well outside of the group. Can't even name my favorite tracks due to that...they just blend into one complete project.

Bob Welch Looks At Bop: Loved this album upon first play...it's one of those rare CDs that doesn't satisfy just playing it through completely once. Every time it goes in the player, it gets played through in its entirety at least 3x's. Even with the supposed "jazz left turn", there's the track "Telepathy" that attaches this album to his previous material. Plus, there's the contemporary hip-hopish sounding revamping of his Heroes Are Hard To Find song "Silver Heels", retitled as "The Hustler". Even the outtakes of the album (which were released on Liquid Audio as individual tracks only at the time of the album's release) are great...especially the track titled "Pier 42" (a version of which Bob now has on his website titled as "Swing Thing").

Fleetwood Mac Years & Beyond 1 & 2: To be honest, I was VERY afraid of these albums because of my emotional attachment to the original recordings. I did like his remake of "Oh Well" (I like just about any version of the song)...mainly loved that he also took on Part 2 which was rare...of all the covers of the song, only one other artist (that I've found to date) has attempted Part 2 (Bassist Billy Sheehan). His "new" song on the first "Mac & Beyond" album "Like Rain" was just simply BEAUTIFUL. Haven't heard anything from the second "Mac & Beyond", but I STILL plan to track both albums down, just to satisfy my "completion complex".

Live At The Roxy: I remember seeing this concert on either MTV or HBO "back in the day" (1981) and just thought it was the best thing. FINALLY, it's released on CD...have to check this one out again. Being that the Roxy is a local club (within 30 miles), I "would've been there" had my own band not been galavanting around western Canada on tour at the time this concert happened.

I just think its great that Bob has set up his website to accomodate his fans by making available his new material sans cost...with the sheer numbers of new tunes he has available, we can make up our OWN "albums" of his new material...and there's definitely a treasure trove to choose from!