So, what have you been listening to lately?

Started by Denis, February 08, 2018, 11:49:45 AM

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westen44

#2220
Roy Kenner had a good stage presence and he is definitely a better singer than Joe Walsh.  Walsh got where he did from his guitar playing and songwriting ability.  I would love to buy a remastered James Gang boxed set, too.  But I suspect as time has gone by their reputation has lost some of its luster.  It would be my guess that the demand for that probably wouldn't be very great.  It's a shame, though.  As a band they were unique, regardless of all the different line-ups.
It's not those who write the laws that have the greatest impact on society.  It's those who write the songs.

--Blaise Pascal

uwe

I always wonder why that is - Funk #49 and Walk Away are classic rock staples and played at nearly every Eagles mega gig to this day, by now I wouldn't be surprised if most of the audience think they are Eagles songs! Walsh had a more than respectable solo career himself (with Rocky Mountain Way & Life's Been Good further Eagles live staples today) before getting his wings from Frey and Henley.  Domenic Troiano came from the Guess Who, Bolin was this guitar Wunderkind who shone bright, albeit fleetingly, but his DP tenure + dying at 25 (and thus not even a member of the 27 Club) added some star drama - so why not put their nine albums in a box (10 if you add the Live in Concert album with Joe Walsh)?  Hey, even Grand Funk Railroad had a boxed set treatment and James Gang were never as despised by critics. (Not knocking GFR, I like'm.)

Plus they played at Bill Clinton's inauguration (for the last time I believe).


We've taken too much for granted ... and all the time it had grown ...
From techno seeds we first planted ... evolved a mind of its own ...

westen44

I'm surprised he rated the first album as the best.  But that's fine.  That's also the only James Gang album with a Gibson bass.  That guy is a very good reviewer.  I also agreed with much of what he said about Golden Earring albums.  But even Golden Earring (which some people think only did two songs) probably gets more attention than the James Gang.  But I probably wouldn't have liked them so much myself if I hadn't been given the opportunity to see them live.  I'm not sure if I have a favorite James Gang album; I like all of them.  Bolin was their best guitarist, IMO.  Of course, Joe Walsh was probably the most creative member.  Nothing against the Eagles.  I like them.  But if I had the choice of seeing a James Gang reunion of Joe Walsh, Jim Fox and Dale Peters or the Eagles, I'd choose the JG. 
It's not those who write the laws that have the greatest impact on society.  It's those who write the songs.

--Blaise Pascal

uwe

#2223
In the tranquil sea of stern perfection that is the Eagles live, Joe is the only semi-spontaneous factor. That said, I always thought Don Felder's solos more notable, but Joe's a character.

I'd never go as far as to say that Bolin was a better guitarist than Walsh, there was just was something very "gentle artist soul" to Tommy whereas Joe worked his "guy next door" image.



Looking at Tommy with his green highlights and Jim Fox sitting side by side (both with hats, but not making quite the same fashion statement!  ;D ), you do get the impression that a paradise bird like the kid from Sioux City/Boulder and the down to earth Jim (an avid license plate collector) weren't really made to last a lifetime together. Bolin had drug issues already back then, he dragged them into any band he joined.

I was (pleasantly) surprised myself about how high Pete Pardo (an extremely amiable man, combining all the nicest imaginable US-American traits, he can't be real!) ranked "Bang" too, you tend to think that any other JG line-up is overshadowed by the Walsh era. But I've noticed that over the decades, Bolin's stature has grown - I remember people considering "Bang" underwhelming and DP's "Come Taste The Band" utter crap - these days no one dares say a bad word about these albums, and quite rightly so.

This track (which certainly has Bolin's voice mixed in with Kenner's) and the orchestral arrangement alone ...



At 3:06 you do wonder whether someone with Fleetwood Mac had been listening to the James Gang release (from 1973) when they wrote The Chain in 1976! It has that mood.

Of course I came in the wrong way: The first albums of the James Gang I heard were Bang and Miami im 1976 (yes, the Purple connection, I admit it), then Newborn. I heard my first James Gang track with Joe Walsh more than a decade later!  :mrgreen:
We've taken too much for granted ... and all the time it had grown ...
From techno seeds we first planted ... evolved a mind of its own ...

westen44

I think most people do associate Joe Walsh with the James Gang.  I heard that the only reason the band played in this location was because so many fans were disappointed about Joe Walsh leaving.  They were asking for refunds, etc.  So that's how at least some of the gigs moved south (like here) to venues that were considered less desirable as opposed to the more prominent original northern cities. 

I wouldn't want to criticize Joe Walsh as a singer or guitarist.  Obviously, the Eagles thought very highly of him or he wouldn't be with them in the first place.  But it's hard to ignore Tommy Bolin's guitar playing.  Here is a quote from Loudersound------


The early 1970s was a great time for guitar heroes. Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and their peers were at the top of their game, but most adhered to a style rooted in the blues. Moreover, in the wake of Jimi Hendrix's death, almost all the six-string gods came from England.

American Tommy Bolin, a native of Sioux City, Iowa, was a notable exception. Best described as the David Bowie of the guitar, Bolin jumped from one playing style to the next – making each one his own, before quickly discarding it for the next.

Glenn Hughes, Bolin's one-time bandmate in Deep Purple, agrees with this assessment. "Tommy was different, wasn't he?" he says. "He had a very South American-flavoured, Brazilian, reggae-ish way of playing guitar; it wasn't European. It was be-boppy, it was jazz, it was everything Deep Purple weren't. He was a genius."


It's not those who write the laws that have the greatest impact on society.  It's those who write the songs.

--Blaise Pascal

uwe

#2225
You're thoroughly endearing yourself to me!  :-*



Walsh joining The Eagles was  more of a corporate move, they both had Irving Azoff as their manager and the unpronounceable Bill Szymczyk as their producer, things just fitted, Walsh's career had peaked, the Eagles wanted someone who stopped reminding them sour-facedly of their Bluegrass roots while "One Of These Nights" was doing brisk business in discos.

I remember that Walsh replacing someone like Bernie Leadon (of all people!) was seen as an incongruous, even cynical move at the time, much like Tommy Bolin showing up in the Purple camp. When the new Eagles line-up toured for the first time, the NME lambasted them for incorporating James Gang and Walsh songs into their set along the lines of: "With all the criticism heaped on them lately of selling out, the Eagles seem to have become oversensitive and want to prove they can actually ROCK. So halfway into the set, they turn up the volume and play an extended version of Rocky Mountain Way with screaming guitars followed by even more Joe Walsh hard rock tunes which go straight over the heads of their audience which came to hear the lush harmonies of Take It Easy, Take It To The Limit and Lyin' Eyes. The kids don't know what to make of it and are visibly relieved when the band returns to Eagles hits towards the end of the set."

I guess over time, the Walsh/Eagles combo worked out fine, but it shouldn't be forgotten that he was only on two of their 70ies albums, Hotel California and the already shaky The Long Run. The body of their work was recorded with Bernie Leadon (first two albums) or Bernie Leadon/Don Felder (who joined around On The Border to rock things up a little) on lead guitar. Glenn Frey always saw his guitarist role in the Eagles as in a John Lennon vein though he played some solos early on.
We've taken too much for granted ... and all the time it had grown ...
From techno seeds we first planted ... evolved a mind of its own ...

uwe

We've taken too much for granted ... and all the time it had grown ...
From techno seeds we first planted ... evolved a mind of its own ...

uwe

We've taken too much for granted ... and all the time it had grown ...
From techno seeds we first planted ... evolved a mind of its own ...

westen44

#2228
I can remember when I first heard Joe Walsh was in the Eagles.  My reaction was a gigantic, WTF?  I went for years mentally having a very hard time accepting it.  The reason was, as you've already stated, because of how incongruous it all seemed.  Certainly, Joe Walsh proved himself over and over in the Eagles.  But seeing him up there on stage is like looking at a child who doesn't even remotely look like either parent.  Joe Walsh has done great with the Eagles.  But to me even to this day he has more of a James Gang vibe to him.  Like I said, I would love to see a Jim Fox, Joe Walsh and Dale Peters reunion.  That's the classic line-up, and also one I never had the pleasure of seeing in person.   

As for Tommy Bolin, I'm glad people like Pete Pardo are giving him the credit he deserves.  This is what I just ordered--


A very special deluxe edition of the 1969 recorded debut of guitar legend Tommy Bolin (Deep Purple/James Gang) performing with his first major act, the blues rock outfit Zephyr - now available in a sleek 6-panel digipak configuration!Newly remixed and remastered audio created under the supervision of founding member David Givens and with 2 bonus discs of never-before-heard live material and studio improvisations!Includes liner notes filled with stories and memories written by Givens. 
It's not those who write the laws that have the greatest impact on society.  It's those who write the songs.

--Blaise Pascal

westen44

As an aside, that was Zephyr that opened up for Jimi Hendrix at the Denver Pop Festival in 1969.  I've come across a fair amount of info about this festival from time to time while reading biographies of Hendrix.  There were some serious problems with crowd control toward the end.  Also, this was Noel Redding's last performance with the JHE. 
It's not those who write the laws that have the greatest impact on society.  It's those who write the songs.

--Blaise Pascal

uwe

Leadon wasn't really a rock guitarist - that's why they got Don Felder (who had played with Leadon pre-Eagles) who was -, but I liked his "various stringed instruments"-contributions to the Eagles. Kind of like Brian Jones to the early Stones. I identified him with the - all fake, I know - Native American mystique of the earlier Eagles and one of his last contributions to the band is a work of timeless art:




For me, One Of These Nights (the album) is the pinnacle of their work, not Hotel California (the album). Some of the detail and depth in their music went missing upon the departure of Leadon. That is not to say that Walsh didn't bring anything to the Eagles, but what he brought wasn't as fine art as what Leadon took with him. Hotel California's mammoth sales were not unwarranted, but it's not as eclectic - yet still out of one mold - an album as One Of These Nights. I would have liked to have heard what Leadon would have added to Hotel California (the track), essentially a Don Felder number with Don Henley's lyrics.

We've taken too much for granted ... and all the time it had grown ...
From techno seeds we first planted ... evolved a mind of its own ...

gearHed289

I grew up listening to my sisters' albums (many of which were left at the house by male friends), and in the 70s, that made for an interesting listening experience for 9 year old me (Edgar Winter's White Trash? Sure!). One of those albums was the James Gang - 16 Greatest Hits, a double LP that I'm pretty sure was all Walsh era. I totally dug it, and a few years later, when I had started playing bass, I pulled that record out and found some great bass lines to learn. The stuff still holds up.

uwe

This thread has made me make good on my past sins: I have now enlarged my James Gang collection to the Walsh and Troiano years too. I only had some tracks from those eras on a compilation double CD from Repertoire Records.

Of course I have Bang and Miami several times over in various remasters - you know me ...  :mrgreen:

Dale Peters never really played anything technically challenging on bass, but he was melodic and catchy, I liked that. I was thankful being able to replicate some of his bass lines in my early years as a bassist. Like the Do It riff ...

We've taken too much for granted ... and all the time it had grown ...
From techno seeds we first planted ... evolved a mind of its own ...

uwe

#2233
Just got the CD with the Troiano stuff, my gosh, I had no idea ... for a bunch of white-breads it's funky like Trapeze!!!



Me like lots.  8)



We've taken too much for granted ... and all the time it had grown ...
From techno seeds we first planted ... evolved a mind of its own ...

TBird1958

Quote from: uwe on March 14, 2022, 07:30:17 PM
The blueprint for Van Halen.



I think I bought that album3-4 times, it kept getting swiped! That was what a hard rock record was supposed to be - I loved it then and still do today. 
Resident T Bird playing Drag Queen www.thenastyhabits.com  "Impülsivê", the new lush fragrance as worn by the unbelievable Fräulein Rômmélle! Traces of black patent leather, Panzer grease, mahogany and model train oil mingle and combust to one sheer sensation ...