By 1974 27-year-old Wichita-born guitar ace Joe Walsh found himself at a significant junction on his, to date, seven year career path.
Making a start to his recording career on the 1969 debut album of Midwest power trio The James Gang, Walsh (guitars/keyboards), the main creative force in a triumvirate also including Dale Peters (bass) and Jim Fox (drums), stayed for three albums of intermittent good quality before leaving to embark on a career in his own right as 1971 came to a close.
Frustrated at what he felt were the limitations of a three-strong line up and keen to fully realise the more melodic elements of his songwriting, (these revealed on the impressive second side, effectively a Walsh solo effort within the confines of the group) of the 1970 offering ‘The James Gang Rides Again.’
Indeed, the 1972 release ‘Barnstorm‘ was pretty much everything he could have hoped for. Any number of fine compositions are fleshed out with a rich mix of interlocking keyboard/guitar motifs that in presentation at least, placed the record in territory somewhere between ‘Who’s Next‘ and the 1972 ‘Manassas‘ album of Stephen Stills.
Bestowing the name ‘Barnstorm’ on the troupe of musicians – Joe Vitale (drums), Kenny Passarelli (bass) and Rocke Grace (keyboards) – with whom he toured in support of the album, (Passarelli and Vitale both making contributions to the preceding L.P.) in 1973 this trio of players, fronted by Walsh, cut the uneven ‘The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get’ which if nothing else reiterated rock ensembles rarely function well as a democracy.
When Walsh is to the fore, it serves as a proficient and likeable affair, the record losing focus, however, when he delegates to his deputies. That said, ‘Rocky Mountain Way‘ the surging opening cut, for which all four musicians receive a songwriting credit, quickly became his signature piece, reaching number 13 on the U.S. charts when issued as a single. In turn it helped propel the album to number 6 in the United States, the track overall creating a niche more mellow metal than hard rock.
When he next came to record, keyboardist Grace had departed the scene, Passarelli would appear only briefly with Vitale heard on less than half of the songs that would that would constitute ‘SO WHAT‘ (December 1974). The tracks in general are performed by noted session players, solo act pals such as JD Souther and Dan Fogelberg, but more pertinently given the melodious nature of his latest material, three members of the Eagles – this a foretaste in regard to where Walsh was ultimately heading.
The increase in refinement could be heard in songs such as ‘Falling Down‘, Help Me Through the Night‘ and haunting piano ballad ‘Song For Emma‘, a poignant eulogy for the young daughter Walsh had recently lost in a traffic accident. Yet the change of emphasis was equally apparent in the rerecording of ‘Turn to Stone‘ that develops from a Zeppelinesque workout on ‘Barnstorm‘ to be presented here in country-rock form, replete with Eagle harmonies.
This eclectic nine track set opens with what amounts to the last studio outing of ‘Barnstorm’ for the foreseeable future, the accomplished rhythm section of Vitale and Passarelli providing the framework for upbeat opening cut ‘Welcome to the Club.’
Distinguished by pulsing bass lines and the fluent, expressive guitar work that had made Pete Townshend for one a renowned admirer of Walsh (The James Gang often opened for The Who through 1969/70), with organ player Tom Stephenson also adding a layer to the sound, the words depict scenes of confusion when life does not go to plan:
‘Standin’ in the runway/Wavin’ at the plane/There goes everything you own/You called home collect and they didn’t know your name/Starin’ at the telephone/You thought he was a doctor/Now he says he’s not/But the noises seem to tell for sure/And according to the symptoms/It isn’t all you got/A shame they haven’t found a cure.’
There is a similar sense of the world being different in reality to how it is perceived, although stated with less humorous overtones, in ‘Falling Down‘ – the lyrics being the work of Walsh and future bandmate Eagles drummer Don Henley, who also adds background vocals.
Against an effective backdrop of interweaving acoustic and electric guitars, there is a distinct air of melancholy attached to the lyrical imagery, understandable in this regard given Walsh recorded much of ‘So What‘ in the months that followed the death of his child:
‘I’m burning the candle at both ends/Twice the light in half the time/Down to crawlin’/Feel like I’m falling/Oh & yes, the rain doesn’t have to hurry in the city/Falls sadly to the ground/Only way to fall is down/ Falling down.’
The same feeling of understated sadness can also be heard on ‘Help Me Through the Night‘, a song of wistful hope that solace will one day appear.
With Henley and fellow Eagles Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner adding harmony vocals, Walsh contributes the guitars and piano to a serene melody that compliments the aching tone of the sentiments:
‘Somewhere along the way I found the meaning/Woke up dreaming along the way/Never quite seems the same when you awaken/And makin’ up for the time is such a price to pay/Then they take your dream away and it just ain’t fair/Help me through the night, mama/Help me ease the pain/And tell me it’s alright/Help me through the night once again.’
If the structure and background voices can be detected as a forerunner to ‘Pretty Maids All In a Row‘ the number (co-written with Vitale), Walsh would contribute to his Eagle debut outing, ‘Hotel California‘, two years later, then strident side one cut ‘Time Out‘ contains inflections of ‘Life in the Fast Lane‘ – the song he composed with Henley and Frey for the same era-defining album which appeared in December 1976.
Rather than evoke the accelerated lifestyle of those embracing the hedonism of L.A., Walsh himself is caught up in a raucous episode whilst on tour, Henley and Souther adding their vocal talents as the writer conjures rowdy escapades from time spent on the road:
‘I met her in the hallway/Banging on the door/Asking what the funny smell was/Wake you up and tell you/It’s ok to sleep some more/By the way is there any you can sell us/Time out, save the play/Try to make the lie last/Any old way we can.’
The tough rocking elements of ‘Time Out‘ are also evident on the recut version of ‘Turn to Stone‘ that opens side two. But a couple of years on from the initial incarnation, it now comes dressed in more restrained attire and while lyrically still a forceful piece, (‘Hey now, the well runs dry/Pages of your book on fire/Read the writing on the wall’), the power of the original has been superseded by more polished treatment – the difference from where Walsh stood in 1972 and his current musical standpoint emphasised in the vocal backing of Meisner, Henley and Frey.
Appearing from a blues-rock direction ‘County Fair‘, which at almost seven minutes is the longest track on the record, gives free rein to the virtuosity of Walsh as an assertive guitarist.
While the lyrics are brief in containing barely ten lines, they continue the sober ambience that prevails through a number of tracks (‘Found an old puzzle somebody had quit/Tried a few pieces and hoped that they fit/But they’re going together so slowly/It may take me forever to know‘). The primary focus, however, is on Walsh the six-string maestro, his soloing pronounced but not extended to a point where the listener loses interest.
Side one is punctuated by a couple of tracks that reflect Walsh and his more eccentric tendencies. The first is ‘Pavanne‘ an instrumental excerpt from ‘The Mother Goose Suite‘ by classical French composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) that is performed on Moog and ARP synthesizer, while in contrast ‘All Night Laundry Mat Blues‘ is a rowdy interlude offering little more than light relief. Featuring Dan Fogelberg on acoustic guitar and vocals, earlier in the year Walsh had produced ‘Souvenirs‘ the album that secured the Illinois-born singer-songwriter his commercial breakthrough.
In the case of ‘So What‘ it duly concludes with the aforementioned ‘Song for Emma‘, a touching ode to the daughter whose life had been tragically ended shortly before her third birthday in April 1974, the car she was travelling in with her mother involved in a collision with another vehicle near Boulder, Colorado.
Accompanying his tender vocal on piano and supported by an emotive string arrangement, Walsh laments the tragedy that has befallen Emma and her devastated parents – the composer finding himself with unanswered questions in relation to faith, bewildered that God could allow such a devastating event to occur:
‘You were with us for a while and He took you/And He made your mama cry/I can see it in her eyes/There’s a question as to why/And after all this time still I find that I’m without an answer.’
It stands as a deeply affecting piece, handled with great sensitivity by producer Bill Szymczyk, who for the most part had engineered the record while Walsh produced.
Despite the fact there was no supporting hit single, ‘So What‘ quickly went gold in climbing to number 11 on the U.S. charts. The record brought him closer to a mainstream audience, but nearer still to the environs of the Eagles, who by now shared a manager (Irving Azoff), producer (Szymczyk) and through the summer of 1975 any number of festival line-ups with Walsh – both acts playing a massive Wembley Stadium, (London) gig, headlined by Elton John, in June of that year.
With 1976 only weeks away, founder-member Bernie Leadon, accepting he had lost the battle in keeping the Eagles closer to country music rather than where the soft-rock songs of Henley and Frey had taken them, quit the band. His predominantly acoustic/pedal steel guitar/banjo input to their sound was phased out further with recruitment of Walsh in December 1975 – whose trademark tumult was soon heard to enthralling effect on ‘Life in the Fast Lane‘ and alongside fellow Eagle guitar-whiz Don Felder on the ‘Hotel California‘ title track.
On ‘So What‘, Walsh and Henley had contemplated the vagaries of life in the song ‘Falling Down‘ – few missing the irony of Walsh subsequently falling in with the Eagles.
JOE WALSH – SO WHAT (Released December 14 1974):
Welcome to the Club/Falling Down/Pavanne/Time Out/All Night Laundry Mat Blues/Turn to Stone/Help Me Through the Night/County Fair/Song for Emma;
NEIL SAMBROOK is also the author of MONTY’S DOUBLE – an acclaimed thriller available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book: