Head West Explained

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]

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

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

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

Credits

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bob Welch bio at fmlegacy . September 4, 2011 . fmlegacy . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110623132439/http://fmlegacy.com/Bios/biobobwelch.html . June 23, 2011 .
2. Web site: Q&A with Bob Welch at fleetwoodmac.net . November 8–21, 1999 . September 4, 2011 . fleetwoodmac.net.
3. Web site: Bobby Hunt & Friends . September 4, 2011 . bobbyhuntandfriends.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110208061655/http://bobbyhuntandfriends.com/ . February 8, 2011 .
4. Web site: Head-West/Attention/. Who Sampled.
5. Web site: The hidden symbols in Tyler, The Creator's 'Igor'. NME. Hunt. El. May 24, 2019. June 29, 2019.