Bob Welch and the disappearance of Mystery to Me and Heroes are Hard to Find...

[Desiree]

Can someone please explain to me why Bob Welch was so completely removed from FM history? No Hall of Fame, no FM BW records on Rhapsody or I-tunes? Wth? Did I miss something huge?

[louielouie2000]

I've never searched for Fleetwood Mac on iTunes since I own every Mac/solo album in CD/LP form. It is strange all of the Pre 1970 & post 1975 albums are present, yet no 1970-1974 albums are. I have a couple of guesses:

1) Maybe there is some sort of lawsuit involving Wendy Welch in regards to Bob's royalties since his passing? Perhaps she's holding Bob's rights as a way to strong-arm Fleetwood Mac into getting Bob inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame?

2) Perhaps the Welch era albums are in the process of being remastered/rereleased? I know albums which are about to be remastered/rereleased go into Out Of Print status beforehand.

3) Could Warner Bros/Fleetwood Mac management be attempting to streamline Fleetwood Mac history by simplifying it?

I'm hedging my bet on some aspect of #1 being correct.

[Desiree]

I was wondering about court cases with Bob Welches death recently. But, it just goes along with some of the truly weird stuff this organization has been part of over the years, I guess. Of course, I simply don't know squat...just rubs me the wrong way!

[HomerMcvie]

Trying to push the Welch years under the rug is criminal. Mystery To Me is the best FM album ever made!

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

I've never searched for Fleetwood Mac on iTunes since I own every Mac/solo album in CD/LP form. It is strange all of the Pre 1970 & post 1975 albums are present, yet no 1970-1974 albums are. I have a couple of guesses:

1) Maybe there is some sort of lawsuit involving Wendy Welch in regards to Bob's royalties since his passing? Perhaps she's holding Bob's rights as a way to strong-arm Fleetwood Mac into getting Bob inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame?

2) Perhaps the Welch era albums are in the process of being remastered/rereleased? I know albums which are about to be remastered/rereleased go into Out Of Print status beforehand.

3) Could Warner Bros/Fleetwood Mac management be attempting to streamline Fleetwood Mac history by simplifying it?

I'm hedging my bet on some aspect of #1 being correct.

Interesting. #2 reminds me of when Stevie said that her albums were being remastered, and then they all went OOP. They even got 'new' release dates on Amazon, which turned out to be the same old CDs we've had all along.

[SteveMacD]

FWIW, "Penguin" and "Mystery To Me" were, respectively, the last Fleetwood Mac albums to be reissued on CD back in 1990 or so, which could explain the delay.

There could be any number of glitches along the way. I'm not sure how much say Wendy would get in how material is released. Warner Bros. probably still owns the mechanical rights, and I've heard that Mich Reynolds got the rights to the music in the divorce from Cliff Adams. Now, the Mich/Cliff thing isn't an issue from "Heroes" onward, so I can't explain why "Heroes" isn't out.

[Desiree]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Trying to push the Welch years under the rug is criminal. Mystery To Me is the best FM album ever made!

I think it's criminal, too, whatever the differences. Just wrong...

And, like I said, Bob Welch is really the one who took FM into the realm of the mystical and I'm sure that was a huge draw for SN when she listened to all of FM's records. She has said that LB did the mystical thing with her, so for him perhaps as well. That element, on top of amazing players is what I believe convinced SN they should join FM. I'm not so sure that they would have been so interested without Bob Welch's influences

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by Desiree

I think it's criminal, too, whatever the differences. Just wrong...

And, like I said, Bob Welch is really the one who took FM into the realm of the mystical and I'm sure that was a huge draw for SN when she listened to all of FM's records. She has said that LB did the mystical thing with her, so for him perhaps as well. That element, on top of amazing players is what I believe convinced SN they should join FM. I'm not so sure that they would have been so interested without Bob Welch's influences

I disagree. I think "The Supernatural" (okay, not technically Fleetwood Mac), "Black Magic Woman," and "The Green Manalishi" all set a precedent.

[Desiree]

Ok, so that leaves Green Manalishi and Black Magic Woman...but really since it was SN who supposedly did the listening since it seems LB would have stuck to BN without her push...the BW stuff IMO would be more to SN's taste? Maybe, maybe not?

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by Desiree

Ok, so that leaves Green Manalishi and Black Magic Woman...but really since it was SN who supposedly did the listening since it seems LB would have stuck to BN without her push...the BW stuff IMO would be more to SN's taste? Maybe, maybe not?

I agree there's some overlap between Bob and Stevie, and I think that's why the "Rumours" had a fairly easy time winning over the old Fleetwood Mac fans. However, I'm just saying that Peter Green certainly brought a mystic vibe to the band's music. That being said, I actually think Stevie as well as Lindsey probably more closely identified with Danny Kirwan's sound.

On a different note, "A Hard Road" was the first album that featured two members of Fleetwood Mac, and ironically, two of Peter Green's contributions to that record were "The Supernatural" and "Leaping Christine" which is pretty eerie in retrospect.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

I'm not sure how much say Wendy would get in how material is released.

Bob even said he had no say even while he was alive, so I doubt Wendy has much pull at all.

[becca]

I've known big companies to drop or bury things like a hot potato at the slightest hint of legal trouble or simply anyone being offended. I am however hoping it is the remastered editions coming scenario following the new editions of Then Play On through to Bare Trees!

I remember ordering Penguin and Heroes CDs from (West) Germany when they were hard to find in America. But really, Mac fans have nothing on Badfinger fans who saw Warner LPs pulled from sale right after release and then unavailable in any form for decades.

[Murrow]

I think it's also worth remembering that Then Play On and Kiln House aren't on iTunes either so I think it's more a case of Warner/Reprise not really feeling the pre-Buckingham/Nicks stuff on their roster is commercially viable, though the new CD remaster of Then Play On would appear to suggest otherwise.

[TheGreenBlues]

Originally Posted by Murrow

I think it's also worth remembering that Then Play On and Kiln House aren't on iTunes either so I think it's more a case of Warner/Reprise not really feeling the pre-Buckingham/Nicks stuff on their roster is commercially viable, though the new CD remaster of Then Play On would appear to suggest otherwise.

I never knew that (I don't use iTunes). Let's hope as mentioned the newly released Then Play On shows the record companies that there is a market for this era and it gets on iTunes at least.

[applebucked]

Yeah, I felt disappointed that those albums weren't on iTunes, because MTM especially is one of my fave albums from the band. But at least with these remasters, there is hope.