"Sentimental Lady" | |
---|---|
Single by Fleetwood Mac | |
from the album Bare Trees | |
B-side | "Sunny Side of Heaven" |
Released | May 1972 |
Recorded | 1972 |
Genre | Soft rock [1] |
Length | 4:34 (album version) 3:03 (single version) |
Label | Reprise |
Songwriter(s) | Bob Welch |
Producer(s) | Fleetwood Mac |
"Sentimental Lady" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Bob Welch | ||||
from the album French Kiss | ||||
B-side | "Hot Love, Cold World" | |||
Released | September 1977 | |||
Recorded | 1977 | |||
Genre | Yacht rock [2] | |||
Length | 2:58 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bob Welch | |||
Producer(s) | Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie | |||
Bob Welch singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Audio | ||||
"Sentimental Lady" on YouTube |
"Sentimental Lady" is a song written by Bob Welch. It was originally recorded for Fleetwood Mac's 1972 album Bare Trees , but was re-recorded by Welch on his debut solo album, French Kiss , in 1977. [3] [4] [5] It is a romantic song, originally written for Welch's first wife. Welch recorded it again in 2003 for his album His Fleetwood Mac Years & Beyond . [6]
The song was originally written by Welch at the former Gorham Hotel on 55th Street in New York City. [5]
The original 1972 version of the song as heard on Fleetwood Mac's Bare Trees album clocked in at 4 minutes 34 seconds, with background vocals by Christine McVie. It had two verses, with a reprise of the first following the instrumental bridge.
A 1977 re-recording, the most well-known version of the song, was a solo hit for Welch when he recorded it for his first solo album, French Kiss , which was released in September 1977. The first single released from the album, "Sentimental Lady" reached the top 10 in both the U.S. Pop and Adult Contemporary charts.
Mick Fleetwood also played the drums for the song on Welch's 1977 album. The re-recording of it featured Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham as backing singers [5] and producers (with Buckingham additionally doing the arrangement as well as serving on guitar), but unlike the original which had two verses, Welch's solo version only had one verse to cut it down to less than three minutes for the final radio cut. [4] [5]
The original placeholder/dummy lyrics for the chorus before the full lyrics were written was, "my legs are sticks and my feet are stones." [7] The solo recording has a notable introduction with a multilayered guitar piece by Lindsey Buckingham.
Welch told Songfacts.com: "The lyric was probably referencing my first wife Nancy." [7] In the song, he personifies the love of his life as a "sentimental, gentle wind [that is] blowing through my life again." [8]
The Fleetwood Mac version includes a verse that begins "Now you are here today, But easily you might just go away." [9] It is omitted from Welch's solo version, which otherwise has the same lyrics. [8]
Donald Brackett, in his 2007 book, Fleetwood Mac, 40 Years of Creative Chaos has discussed Welch's poetic romantic lyrics in "Sentimental Lady" and writing and performing style. He describes the featuring of the song on the 1972 album Bare Trees as the best example of the group's move towards a new, softer and highly commercial style in the early 1970s. Brackett suggests that the essence of the lyrics and nature of the song are "almost too gentle", but describes Welch's voice as like "crushed velvet", in that he believes the voice is simultaneously gentle and threatening in tone, a symbolic balance between the emotions of hope and despair. [10] He later says of Welch's song writing, "Welch had the unique ability to encapsulate in a single song the travails of personal intimacy as well as the larger social picture in which we all lived". [10]
Cash Box described it as being "a startling approach to balladry" with "smooth harmonies abound." [11] Record World called it "a gentle, floating ballad" with "nice lyrics." [12]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac was founded by guitarists and vocalists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer and drummer Mick Fleetwood. Bob Brunning was hired as a temporary bass guitarist before John McVie joined the line-up in time for their eponymous debut album. Danny Kirwan joined as a third guitarist and vocalist in 1968. Keyboardist and vocalist Christine Perfect, who contributed as a session musician starting with the band's second album, married McVie and joined Fleetwood Mac as a full member in 1970, becoming known as Christine McVie.
Christine Anne McVie was an English musician, singer and songwriter. She was the keyboardist and one of the vocalists and songwriters of Fleetwood Mac.
Robert Lawrence Welch Jr. was an American musician who was a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974. He had a successful solo career in the late 1970s. His singles included "Hot Love, Cold World", "Ebony Eyes", "Precious Love", "Hypnotized", and his signature song, "Sentimental Lady".
Say You Will is the seventeenth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 15 April 2003. It followed 1995's Time and was their first album since 1970 without vocalist/keyboardist Christine McVie as a full member following her departure in 1998, though she participated in some songs as a guest musician; it would be her last time being involved with the band in a studio capacity before her death in 2022. Lindsey Buckingham performed primary keyboard duties throughout the album.
Heroes Are Hard to Find is the ninth studio album by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 13 September 1974. This is the last album recorded with Bob Welch, who left the band at the end of 1974. It was the first Fleetwood Mac studio album recorded in the United States, in Los Angeles.
"Don't Stop" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, written by vocalist and keyboard player Christine McVie. The song was sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie, and it was a single taken from the band's hit album Rumours (1977).
"Over My Head" is a soft rock song performed by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. The song was written by group keyboardist and vocalist Christine McVie. "Over My Head" was the band's first single to reach the Billboard Hot 100 since "Oh Well", ending a six-year dry spell on the American charts.
Bare Trees is the sixth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in March 1972. It was their last album to feature Danny Kirwan, who was fired during the album's supporting tour. In the wake of the band's success in the mid-1970s, Bare Trees peaked at number 70 on US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1988.
Mystery to Me is the eighth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 15 October 1973. This was their last album to feature Bob Weston. Most of the songs were penned by guitarist/singer Bob Welch and keyboardist/singer Christine McVie, who were instrumental in steering the band toward the radio-friendly pop rock that would make them successful a few years later.
French Kiss is the solo debut by former Fleetwood Mac singer/guitarist Bob Welch. The songs, with the exception of "Sentimental Lady", were intended for a projected third album by Welch's previous band, Paris. However, the group fell apart in 1977 before recording could begin. So instead, Welch used these songs for his debut solo album.
"You Make Loving Fun" is a song written and sung by Christine McVie of British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. The song was released as the fourth and final 45 rpm single from the band's 1977 album Rumours. "You Make Loving Fun" peaked at No. 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became the album's fourth top-ten hit.
Live from the Roxy is a live album by the American rock musician Bob Welch, recorded in 1981, released in 2004, and later issued onto LP in 2021. Welch had been a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974, and this album features appearances by many members of that band.
"Seven Wonders" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac from their fourteenth studio album, Tango in the Night (1987). Stevie Nicks sang lead vocals on the song, and it was written by Sandy Stewart, with additional lyrics by Nicks.
"Sisters of the Moon" is a song by British-American rock group Fleetwood Mac. It was written and sung by band-member Stevie Nicks and was released in the US as the fourth single from the 1979 album Tusk. The song peaked at No. 86 on the Billboard Hot 100, although it was not released in the UK, where "Not That Funny" had been released as a single instead. The 'single version' of "Sisters of the Moon" is included on the compilation The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac and both the 2004 and 2015 remaster of 'Tusk'.
"Hypnotized" is a song written by Bob Welch. The song originally featured on Fleetwood Mac's 1973 album Mystery to Me. The track was released on a single as the B-side of "For Your Love" and has been described as "gorgeous and lyrically strong", and referred to as the album's best track.
"Say You Love Me" is a song written by English singer-songwriter Christine McVie for Fleetwood Mac's 1975 self-titled album. The song peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, and remains one of the band's most recognizable songs. Its success helped the group's eponymous 1975 album sell over eight million copies worldwide.
"Think About Me" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in March 1980. The song was composed by Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie. "Think About Me" and "Not That Funny" were the first "Tusk" singles released in their remixed form.
"Wild Heart" is a 1983 song by the American singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks. It was the third single from her second solo album, The Wild Heart. The song was written in 1981 and first performed during a Rolling Stone photo shoot with her to-be sister-in-law Lori Perry-Nicks. The original demo has the music of Fleetwood Mac's song "Can't Go Back".
"World Turning" is a song written by Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham for the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac's tenth album, Fleetwood Mac.
"Don't Give it Up" is a 1981 song by English singer/songwriter Robbie Patton. It is Patton's first and only Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. "Don't Give it Up" reached #26 in the United States in 1981.