James Gang were one of my first favorite bands as a musically obsessed kid growing up in the golden age of rock, the 70’s. My Uncle Raymond (a longtime fixture of these blog tales) had their first three albums, they were always getting airplay on FM102 as well as KZEW, and “Funk 49” was a summertime anthem in my neighborhood blasting out of cars and open windows serenading the late night heat. I still own my Uncle’s copy of Rides Again, which I played countless hours as a youngster, and now cherish as an old man. Hell, I even followed Joe Walsh into Barnstorm and his solo albums! I still think “The Confessor” is one of rock and roll’s greatest psychedelic moments! But I digress…this is about the first three albums from an amazing powerfully eclectic American band that deserves a lot more retro recognition. Cleveland rocks!

YER’ ALBUM is such a wonderful record through and through, made to be played as one whole like so many great albums from this era. The line-up is Walsh, Tom Kriss, and Jim Fox, along with producer Bill Szymczyk on production, keys, and extra instrumentation. It starts off bizarrely with a short avant-garde symphonic work which blends into an acoustic guitar opening that morphs after sixteen bars into the late 60’s style psychedelic-rock feels of “Take a Look Around“. A long organ-led dirge, which harkens to Joe Walsh’s future sounds and visions, the middle spaced-out solo a sign of things to come with this musical career of his. “Funk #48” is another precursor to later stylistic acumen, a tight funk groove with a sing along chorus and a bass-led melodic refrain. This trio pushes things when they turn the hose on full blast! Then they throw a wrench into everything with a beautiful piano motif, an backwards guitar interlude, merging into an intro before they dive headlong into their version Steven Still’s “Bluebird“. It moves slowly with a nice groove, the solos weaving through each other with dynamics and overdrive. Another cover follows, a faithful and meandering rendering of The Yardbirds “Lost Woman“, something that probably was one of their live showcases. If you are playing along and have the vinyl, you will find that there are locked groves at the end of both sides with messages! Stone Rap into a Wipeout fakeout starts a stunning symphonic acoustic baroque-pop number called “Collage“, my favorite track on the album. Another rocking groover emerges next, “I Don’t Have The Time“, a golden Walsh original with an absolutely wicked guitar solo at the end. A sublime piano and string quartet interrupts things for a moment before “Fred” emerges in it’s slow-burning psychedelic glory, burning guitars coupled with organ pads, and a solid rhythmical pulse. The albums ends with the appropriate “Stop“, a Howard Tate cover written by Rags Ragovoy who also joins on piano. This long winding jam was also obviously one of their more popular live numbers at the time back in Ohio, the rock capitol of the fucking World. It plays out like an anthem. And of course, don’t miss the second locked groove at the end of this side.

Album number two is really where they hit their creative stride, a record that I have played about 5000 or more times from the age of 8 until now: RIDES AGAIN. Tom Kriss was replaced on bass by the mighty Dale Peters at this juncture. Pictured above is the copy that I played endlessly as a kid, my Uncle’s second pressing, that still plays in VG condition! The LP starts out with the inimitable yet easily fakable “Funk #49“, which if you haven’t heard already, you’re probably deaf or hate rock and roll. I cut my teeth playing drums to this tune. It’s proto metal, it’s white funk, it’s loud, and it’s majestic. It has a percussion section that keeps on giving. That guitar tone! That cornbread vocal! The entire reason this band first called to me. But the album just keeps getting BETTER! After the refaded percussion reprise from Funk comes back, we get down to the heavy instrumental grooves of “Asshtonpark” which almost seems like the natural intro to “Woman“, a heavy-muddle paean to the blues inversion sound of the moment. Joe’s wah-wah and distortion are fully loaded at this point in the proceedings, the outro full proof of this unit’s prowess. That’s when things get really heavy: “The Bomber“. This song defines the band; this is the anthem, get your damn hands up. Closet Queen Casts Her Fate To The Bolero Wind. Lysergic blues meets Cleveland muscle festival. The motorcycles on the back cover a metaphor for this low rumbling electric sound? The slide is sublime here. Doesn’t it speak to you? Well it does to me! Side two of album two brings us to the sublime sounds of the band, beginning with “Tend My Garden/Garden Gate“, an emotionally raw organ-led number with a beautiful vocal from Joe that harkens to The Band‘s sound of that era. “Garden Gate” fades in from it, a short solo paean to Summer that also seems like the intro to “There I Go Again“, a slow rocker that has shades of the time’s alternative country music sound, possibly influenced by The Byrds. By “Thanks“, a trend has emerged that is musically different from the other sides on display here: mid-tempo acoustic Americana. “Ashes The Rain And I” ends things in this singer-songwriter vein, large sweeping orchestrations bolster the two wooden guitars’ intertwining cinematic melodics. It ends like a film soundtrack. An absolutely stunning collection of music that is such a vast conceptual contrast to the the other sides of James Gang!

THIRDS, anyone? After successfully kicking the sophomore slumps in the ass, they emerge a year later after touring ‘Rides Again’, with a good studio swansong for the Joe-led lineup. My least favorite of the three but the first side still gets regular spins under my roof. It starts out with their perennial FM radio anthem, “Walk Away“. If you click that last boldened link, you’ll see the James Gang live and in full flight in 1971 on Germany’s Beat Club. It’s as fucking proto-grunge as it gets: loud, frayed, dynamic, pulsing, and powerfully solid. Jimmy Fox just pushes those heavy changes and bombastic dynamics to the rhythmical hilt! “Yadig” follows, the flip side of the Walk Away single, a Dale Peters vocal with resplendent organ and guitar harmony throughout as the solos weave throughout each other. Jim Fox takes over the proceedings next for the countrified rocker “Things I Could Be“, with Walsh playing some stunning Pedal Steel licks. “It’s All The Same” takes things down another notch, a lonesome ballad with a sweet vocal refrain as well as plaintive horns from Tom Baker. It’s another side of the James Gang that shows their creative growth as well as their expanded artistic vision. Side two gives us “Midnight Man“, a Walsh original that fronts a country blues swagger, with resplendent background vocals, an overdriven guitar solo, and a verse from guest singer Mary Sterpka. A Joe ballad follows, the stunning acoustic orchestral triumph, “Again“, with it’s lazy summer yacht rock feel. “White Man/Black Man” is the oddest song in their canon, it’s sentiment righteous with a sweet soulful pulse, the Sweet Inspirations singing refrains, while Joe’s burning guitar overpowers the church with rock and roll. It all ends with “Live My Life Again“, a lamenting driving anthem that is a fitting end to their studio run under this line-up. A decent live album followed before the Walsh left officially for Barnstorm and the meadows.

These first three records are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! The James Gang moved on in a variety of different line-ups after Joe left, even counting Tommy Bolin as a member for a brief spell, before disbanding in 1977. Joe Walsh went on to be a huge success as a solo act as well as with Eagles. This classic trio reformed for one-offs in 1991, 1996, and 1998, before finally succumbing to a full reunion and tour in 2006. Everyone is still alive, so who knows what tomorrow many bring?