CoronaVinyl Day 278 (W): French Kiss by Bob Welch

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "W," and I happen to have two Bob Welch albums, so let's go with his 1977 solo debut album, French Kiss.

I acquired this album as part of a larger lot of records I got a few years ago, and admittedly, I had no idea who Bob Welch was.  The album cover intrigued me, though.

Turns out, Welch was a guitarist in Fleetwood Mac for several years and five albums in the early '70s -- the so-called "bridge" years between its original Peter Green era incarnation as a blues band and when Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band, making it what we most recognize as Fleetwood Mac.  Welch and Mick Fleetwood co-managed the band during that time, and it was Welch's idea to have the band relocate from England to LA.  Welch resigned from Fleetwood Mac in late 1974, due to some personal issues.  Buckingham and Nicks then joined the band, and the rest is history.

Welch maintained a close relationship with Mick Fleetwood and several other members of the band, and Fleetwood actually managed Welch's solo career for about a decade.

I know all about Fleetwood Mac's music pre- and post-Welch, but not really much about their music when he was in the band, so I wasn't sure what to expect with French Kiss.  I was pleasantly surprised.  It's a good collection of pop rock and power pop songs, with a little tinge of dance rock and disco here and there.  For reference, I'd say, depending on the song, it reminds me in various places of Steve Miller Band, J. Geils Band, Neil Young, and Foreigner.

Welch plays guitar and bass on the whole album (in addition to singing), and session drummer Alvin Taylor handled the drumming on all but one song, "Sentimental Lady," on which Mick Fleetwood played drums.  On the same song, Buckingham, Welch's replacement in Fleetwood Mac, played guitar and provided backing vocals, and former Fleetwood Mac band mate Christine McVie also provided backing vocals.  McVie also sang backing vocals on "Easy to Fall" and "Lose Your Heart," and Juice Newton sang backing vocals on "Ebony Eyes."

It ended up being Welch's best-selling and highest-charting solo album, reaching #12 on the Billboard album chart and going platinum in the U.S.  Three songs from the album were Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Sentimental Lady" (a song that was originally recorded by Fleetwood Mac in 1972) reaching #8, his highest-charting song ever (and it went to #3 in Canada), "Ebony Eyes" going to #14 (as well as #7 in Canada and #2 in Australia), and "Hot Love, Cold World" hitting #31.

Welch continued to release solo albums until the early '80s, though he never match the success of French Kiss.  An interesting anecdote is that Guns N' Roses used to practice in Welch's garage before they were famous, but unfortunately, that pushed Welch into a pretty bad heroin and cocaine addiction (he was partying with Guns N' Roses, after all).  He went to rehab, then moved out of LA afterward, and remained clean for the rest of his life.

When Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, Welch was conspicuously passed over, with essentially all of the members from the pre-Welch lineup and the post-Welch "classic" lineup being inducted.

Sadly, Welch committed suicide in 2012 at the age of 66, a few months after major spinal surgery left him in constant pain and doctors told him he would eventually become an invalid.  So, after ending on that downer of a note, let's get to the songs I like.

Favorite song on Side 1:  "Hot Love, Cold World"
As noted above, this song was a minor hit.  It has a Steve Miller vibe to me, and some good guitar work by Welch.

Favorite song on Side 2:  "Carolene"
It was a tough call between "Ebony Eyes" and "Carolene," as they're both pretty solid power pop songs, but I gave the edge to "Carolene" because I think it's a good word combination for someone named Caroline who incendiary, like kerosene.  Because if it was gasoline, it would just be "Caroline," and then you wouldn't know any different.  Also, it's a pretty damn catchy song.