My favourite song of the month, February 2021

February 20, 2021 1 minute read

This post is the first one in a series I’ve been wanting to do for a long time where I plan to write every month about some song that I discover including some history related to it and its authors.

The song I’m going to start this brand new series with is a song of one of my favourite groups from this past year: Sentimental Lady by Fleetwood Mac. Written by Bob Welch, one of the two guitarrists of the band in that year.

Fleetwood Mac has had so many guitarrists over the years. Danny Kirwan, Jeremy Spencer and the legendary Peter Green were the three guitarrists from the original line-up. After Peter Green left the band in 1970, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan had to carry the band in their backs releasing one album that same year, Kiln House.

But it was in 1971 when Bob Welch joined Fleetwood Mac in replacement of Jeremy Spencer. Future Games was the name of the first album he participated in, being the author of the song with the same name. This was the beginning of a new sound for the group, leaving behind every sign of Blues.

Sentimental Lady belongs to the sixth studio album of the band, Bare Trees, released in March 1972, the last album of Danny Kirwan with Fleetwood Mac. However, it was also re-recorded on Welch’s debut solo album (French Kiss, 1977). Heroes Are Hard to Find, 1974, would be Bob Welch’s last album with the band.

Some years after, in 1998, Fleetwood Mac was inducted into Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame including members from the original line-up and current one. However, even after several years in the band and five studio albums, Bob Welch was not included. This exclusion will cause the relation between Fleetwood Mac and the ex-member to deteriorate.

Other musicians that has been playing guitar for Fleetwood Mac are: Bob Weston (1973, in replacement of Kirwan), Lindsey Buckingham (1974-1987 and 1997-2018), Billy Burnette (1987-1995), Rick Vito (1987-1991), Dave Mason (1995), Mike Campbell (2018-present) and Neil Finn (2018-present).

I hope you like the song as much as I do.