Video of Dave Walker Performing With Fleetwood Mac

[David]

Some of the comments in the YouTube thread talk about Bob Welch mistreating Danny Kirwan. Anybody know anything about that?

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by David

Some of the comments in the YouTube thread talk about Bob Welch mistreating Danny Kirwan. Anybody know anything about that?

I've always read that the two did not get along but towards the end Kirwan got on everyone's nerves. I found this from a Mac site:

Danny Kirwan was not Bob Welch's biggest fan, and the two routinely butted heads. By the time Kirwan was booted in 1972, he'd alienated himself to the point where only Fleetwood would talk to him. Bob Weston took over on guitar, while Dave Walker was briefly added on vocals. The resulting album 'Penguin' only included two Walker vocals, and he departed not long afterward.

[Penguin Emeritus]

Originally Posted by David

Some of the comments in the YouTube thread talk about Bob Welch mistreating Danny Kirwan. Anybody know anything about that?

pretty sure bob has said danny was very sensitive and temperamental and hard to get on with. i don't think he 'mistreated' him. maybe just avoided him lol, chris didn't find it easy to work with him either.

--Lis

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by David

Some of the comments in the YouTube thread talk about Bob Welch mistreating Danny Kirwan. Anybody know anything about that?

A lot of it is bating and general Bob Welch hate. There’s a Danny Kirwan Facebook group I used to be a part of until I saw the same thing happening over and over: someone would post a pic of Bob Welch, or someone would mention him, and many group members would say awful things. Many Danny fans hold Bob largely responsible for getting fired from FM.

I find that hard to believe. Bob didn’t get along with Danny because it appears Danny didn’t really get on well with anyone. He didn’t like Bob’s playing—this much we know from Mick’s books and from Bob’s Q&As.

But as to whether Bob mistreated Danny—it always seemed to me the other way round.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

I find that hard to believe. Bob didn’t get along with Danny because it appears Danny didn’t really get on well with anyone. He didn’t like Bob’s playing—this much we know from Mick’s books and from Bob’s Q&As.

Right. Mick mentioned they didn't get along but didn't imply a mistreating attitude from Bob.

But as 1972 progressed, Danny Kiwan's behavior began to become more extreme. He was drinking quite a bit and had become very withdrawn and isolated from the rest of the band. There was a personality clash between Danny and Bob Welch, which didn't help matters much.

I always wonder if LSD affected Danny, Peter and Jeremy personalities. I read somewhere (not Mick's book) that Peter got a trip with bad LSD in Germany or some european country, and that produced him schizophrenia. I have read schizophrenia, paranoia, are sometimes related with LSD. But I'm not expert in that topic.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by Villavic

But as 1972 progressed, Danny Kiwan's behavior began to become more extreme. He was drinking quite a bit and had become very withdrawn and isolated from the rest of the band. There was a personality clash between Danny and Bob Welch, which didn't help matters much.

Here ya go, Skippy

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Here ya go, Skippy

You know, when a joke gets repetitive, it's not funny anymore. It made me laugh at first, but it's getting a little annoying. I don't think you're trying to offend, but I'd appreciate it if you'd stop anyway. Thanks.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by Villavic

You know, when a joke gets repetitive, it's not funny anymore. It made me laugh at first, but it's getting a little annoying. I don't think you're trying to offend, but I'd appreciate it if you'd stop anyway. Thanks.

I thought we were having fun with you and the constant book references. My bad. It won't happen again.

[Macfan4life]

I was reading what Bob Welch said about Kirwin and Bob called him a fantastic guitarist but an introvert that was very hard to engage. When Kirwin passed in 2018 Christine also said he was difficult to get along with.
He was only 18 when he joined Fleetwood Mac. He idolized Green but Green wanted him to develop and create his own style. Kirwin was an extremely heavy drinker and was into drugs which does not help a personality disorder. Kirwin I think was raised by his mother and abandoned by his dad? I could be wrong but that is a memory. Welch believes Kirwin did not like his style of guitar playing. Even Kirwin and Green butted heads in the end. As they say walk in someone shoes before casting judgment. Kirwin is 18 in a band with the Green God. An American is hired that has a jazzy guitar style and the band is changing. Young and immature I could see how that could irk a Brit guitarist that idolized Peter Green.
Station Man is one of my early favorites of the band. Its interesting that it was one the band did when Lindsey and Stevie joined. Did not Chris do a Kirwin song on the 2018 tour? Did it stay in the set?
Drugs and alcohol and mental health consumed him in the 1980s which is sad and was he not homeless? His last album was 1979? He would have been a great interview around 1978 or so. Anyone know of any old interviews in the late 70s?
I've read that everyone called him a perfectionist which is another reason he flew off the wall at people.

[aleuzzi]

At Mike Campbell’s request, the band did “Tell Me All the Things You Do” for the first leg of the 2018 tour, but it was dropped soon after. Christine sang the verses with Neil. It’s a shame it was dropped: it sounded great. And Christine was clearly playing the electric keys.

Lindsey liked Danny Kirwan’s playing. In addition to “Station Man” (which was chosen, I assume, because it was an ideal way to introduce Stevie prominently into the vocal mix before she took a lead), he played “Sunny Side of Heaven” and sound checked “Tell Me.” In his RS review, Bud Scopa noted a resemblance in the two guitarists’ approaches, and Mick claims Lindsey’s playing on “Frozen Love” (when he first heard it at Sound City) reminded him of Kirwan.

Lindsey has never complained about having to play a Green or Kirwan song. He has complained in print on having to cover Welch’s “Hypnotized,” a chore he “hated.” He’s also made clear he’d stopped listening to FM after Bare Trees because he “wasn’t crazy” about sons of things Welch was doing.

For what it’s worth, Stevie never badmouthed Bob Welch. I don’t recall her ever mentioning Danny’s name. In 2018, she called “Station Man” Christine’s song, to which Christine quickly corrected her…