Record February 1982
(by Alan Hecht)
"We made giant mistakes, but we just plowed ahead It wasn't the slickest show I've ever done. During the last third of it we didn't know what people would be popping up where. But it was real."
So says Bob Welch of his concert performance at the Roxy in Los Angeles last November, which was taped live and shown by MTV in a 90-minute abridged version on New Year's Day. The concert was special for a number of reasons.
For one, it was billed as "Bob Welch and Friends." The "friends" turned out to be Carmine Appice, Heart's Ann Wilson, Robbie Patton and a few of Welch's acquaintances from his former band, Fleetwood Mac: namely, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks.
Fans who may have missed or not had access to the cable airing can expect an unabridged videodisc - of the show to be released this summer by Selecta Vision. It'll be one of the first RCA musicvideos available in stereo.
To Welch, the video was a chance to avoid doing the obvious. "Bob Welch doing his show alone is not enough (for this type of project)," he explains. "Touring is also an ordinary thing to do, and promo clips have gone way past the point of meaning anything."
A screening of segments from the videodisc reveals that the concert had enough memorable moments to make it a worthy addition to the video library. One of the choice segments shows Welch working out on guitar behind Nicks' cathartic reading of "Gold Dust Woman". Fleetwood chases Nicks around the stage, banging away on a cowbell, while Christine McVie chips in some solid vocal support. The event's spontaneous energy is most evident during the final number, which Welch terms a "free-for-all blues in question key." In the midst Ann Wilson jumps onstage and joins in the festivities. "I didn't even know she was in the club!" exclaims Welch. "By the end we were all flying totally, blind. It really beat me up!"