Break down of Mystery to Me

[DavidMn]

Ive always been sort or curious about this, and, Mr Welch, if youre ever here and would like to answser this question that'd be great, if not that's fine too. My question is, had things between Mick and Bob Weston started to go south during the making of MTM or did the **** not hit the fan until the tour started?

[mistermike]

A while ago I really tried to get into this album and played it several times, but I find none of it really makes any sense to me. It's all bland background music as far as I can make out. I think what it's missing is Danny Kirwan. I have a really hard time grooving to the band without Danny Kirwan, although I try.

[snoot]

Originally Posted by DavidMn

Ive always been sort or curious about this, and, Mr Welch, if youre ever here and would like to answser this question that'd be great, if not that's fine too. My question is, had things between Mick and Bob Weston started to go south during the making of MTM or did the **** not hit the fan until the tour started?

Well I'm far from Bob Welch, but where did you ever hear of things going sour between Mick and Bob Weston prior to the discovery of that affair on the ensuing tour? Mick and Bob were the best of buds!

Originally Posted by mistermike

A while ago I really tried to get into this album and played it several times, but I find none of it really makes any sense to me. It's all bland background music as far as I can make out. I think what it's missing is Danny Kirwan. I have a really hard time grooving to the band without Danny Kirwan, although I try.

DK was hard to beat in many ways, but wow! What's up with Welch + Weston + Christy vibes seen as merely "bland background music"! Have you really - and I mean really - sat down and put your ear to Hypnotized, Miles Away, Keep On Going, Why, Somebody, Forever, etc., since you first (or last) formed that impression? The guitar interplay alone between BW & BW is out of this world (spin up Miles Away, The City, Somebody, et al for da gold). Then look at the gorgeous guitar gracings Weston added to Christy's Why and The Way I feel!

Curious if you hold a similar opinion of Heroes and Penguin from what basically amounts to the same cast and crew?

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by snoot

Well I'm far from Bob Welch, but where did you ever hear of things going sour between Mick and Bob Weston prior to the discovery of that affair on the ensuing tour? Mick and Bob were the best of buds!



DK was hard to beat in many ways, but wow! What's up with Welch + Weston + Christy vibes seen as merely "bland background music"! Have you really - and I mean really - sat down and put your ear to Hypnotized, Miles Away, Keep On Going, Why, Somebody, Forever, etc., since you first (or last) formed that impression? The guitar interplay alone between BW & BW is out of this world (spin up Miles Away, The City, Somebody, et al for da gold). Then look at the gorgeous guitar gracings Weston added to Christy's Why and The Way I feel!

Curious if you hold a similar opinion of Heroes and Penguin from what basically amounts to the same cast and crew?

I was referring to the affair Bob had with Micks wife.

[snoot]

Originally Posted by DavidMn

I was referring to the affair Bob had with Micks wife.

I know, that's what I responded to.

I'm not sure if Bob Welch or anyone else knows when the affair actually began (short of Westy of course), but until Mick figured it out, he and Weston remained good ol' drinkin' buddies, well into the MTM tour (the first part of it anyway). They even took in a C&W show together in Nashville at one point. I'd be quite floored if there was personal friction between them during the making of MTM.

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by snoot

I know, that's what I responded to.

I'm not sure if Bob Welch or anyone else knows when the affair actually began (short of Westy of course), but until Mick figured it out, he and Weston remained good ol' drinkin' buddies, well into the MTM tour (the first part of it anyway). They even took in a C&W show together in Nashville at one point. I'd be quite floored if there was personal friction between them during the making of MTM.

Oh ok sorry I got it I wasnt paying the best attention there. I guess the better question would be what was going on with Clifford Davis at the time? We all know what occured after the MTM tour stopped but was there friction between him and the band before that point that couldve contributed to all that mess?

[snoot]

Originally Posted by DavidMn

Oh ok sorry I got it I wasnt paying the best attention there. I guess the better question would be what was going on with Clifford Davis at the time? We all know what occured after the MTM tour stopped but was there friction between him and the band before that point that couldve contributed to all that mess?

I don't believe so. It simply came down to Mick being less than attentive to his wife (by his own admission), Bob taking advantage of the void and moving in, Mick eventually catching on but well after the fact, then trying to look past it all in the name of the band at large and the current promotional tour. When he realized he couldn't, he bailed to Africa to get his "head together." Mick's wife had already been sent packing to England, and Weston found himself suddenly high and dry - and unemployed - for his indiscretion. A pretty costly faux paus at that, as there is no reason to believe he might not have had a long career with the Mac, since he gelled well with the existing players and was stoked to be in the band right to the end.

Bob has stated he felt like he was a young axe in a solid mentorship, with Welch and Christine on the creative front, and John & Mick on the backing side. More importantly, it may not have led to the eventual burnout of Bob Welch the following year with all that occurred, since Weston had become such an integral player in the mix and could be expected to shoulder a portion of the weight. They were clearly expecting more and more from him (and damn if he didn't work well with Bob and Christy in both the studio and on stage).

To my knowledge, once Davis was informed by Bob Welch that they had cancelled the tour, he flipped out and tried to make it clear HE owned the FM name, and that HE was the one who made such decisions, not the rank and file band members. That's why he compiled the bogus band made up of members of Stretch, and sent them out to complete the tour (which disintegrated before making any real headway). As Weston had basically been sent packing too, he soon found his way back to work on various projects involving Davis Productions, to include a sessions stint on Danny Kirwan's final solo album.