Head West is a self-titled album released in 1970 by the American band Head West, who were based in Paris, France. The band are best known today for their vocalist/guitarist Bob Welch, who went on to join Fleetwood Mac in 1971. Since 1973, by which time Welch had become more well-known, the album was repackaged as more of a solo album, credited to Bob Welch with Head West. Singles were also released but with little success.[1]

Head West
Studio album by
Bob Welch / Head West
Released1970
GenreFunk, soul, rock
Length38:01
LabelVogue (France)
Bob Welch / Head West chronology
Head West
(1970)
French Kiss
(1977)

After Head West had split up, organist Bobby Hunt toured with Fleetwood Mac and as a back up keyboard player for Christine McVie in 1974.[2][3] After Welch had left Fleetwood Mac, he and Hunt recorded demos for Warner Bros. which were then developed into the Paris power trio project.[2]

The iconic drumbeat of the seventh track, "Attention", has been sampled by several other recording artistes–– most notably Gorillaz on the track "New Genious (Brother)" from their self-titled 2001 debut album,[4] and on the opening track "Igor’s Theme" on rapper Tyler, the Creator's 2019 album, Igor.[5]

Track listing

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  1. "Head West" (Henry Moore, Bob Welch, Robert Hunt) – 3:42
  2. "People" (Hunt, Winston Gray) – 2:03
  3. "Hurry Up" (Moore, Welch, Hunt) – 2:30
  4. "Changes" (Moore, Hunt) – 2:54
  5. "Tired of Hangin' On" (Moore) – 5:49
  6. "Faces" (Moore, Hunt) – 2:58
  7. "Attention" (Hunt) – 3:22
  8. "Czar" (Welch, Hunt) – 2:51
  9. "Someday" (Welch) – 3:08
  10. "Straight Down" (Moore) – 3:44
  11. "Starchild" (Welch) – 3:24
  12. "Costalarico" (Moore, Welch, Hunt) – 3:17

Single

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  • "Victoria" (Binkley, Welch) – 3:49 / "Changes" – 2:55
  • Vogue DV 11004, Germany, 1970, PS

Credits

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  • Bob Welch – vocals, guitar, bass guitar
  • Robert Hunt – vocals, organ
  • Henry Moore – vocals, drums, percussion

References

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  1. ^ "Bob Welch bio at fmlegacy". fmlegacy. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Q&A with Bob Welch at fleetwoodmac.net". fleetwoodmac.net. November 8–21, 1999. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  3. ^ "Bobby Hunt & Friends". bobbyhuntandfriends.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  4. ^ "Head-West/Attention/". Who Sampled.
  5. ^ Hunt, El (May 24, 2019). "The hidden symbols in Tyler, The Creator's 'Igor'". NME. Retrieved June 29, 2019.