There must be a deep rooted dark hole of helplessness in the lives of those that commit suicide.  Oh, I can possibly understand the conscious decision of taking one's own life due to a debilitating terminal disease, but I will never understand the rationale behind those using depression, extremist views, and abandonment as an excuse.

When it was first reported that Bob Welch fired a fatal bullet into his chest, I was angry.  After all, most of us growing up in the day were mesmerized with his delicately driven string composition as a member of Fleetwood Mac (1971-1974), where the 1972 Bare Trees album contains the original recording of "Sentimental Lady".  By the time I met him in 1982, I had compiled all of his solo LP's and singles, and watched him perform live nearly a half dozen times.

How could anyone not know the distinguished sound of Bob Welch, virtually a no-name of the record 'biz', that didn't stumble, but rather exploded onto the musical landscape in 1977 with French Kiss (#12) featuring "Sentimental Lady", "Hot Love, Cold World" and "Ebony Eyes".  In 1979, Three Hearts climbed to number 20, and "Precious Love" was being spun once every two hours on the AM dial.

Welch left behind a suicide note describing the motives for his demise, telling his wife that he didn't want to become a burden to her, since his spinal surgery three months ago was reportedly going to leave him an invalid.  I got over my resentment of him after hearing this, but am still having some difficulty with the justification.

The man is gone, but the music and video below remain timeless.  Think it's time for a break now.  Wanna join me?  Hit the "play" button:

Bob Welch was 66 years old when he died on June 7.

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