Welcome To The Club

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

Well, welcome to the club 

Time from some riffin' from Joe Walsh.  From the classic So What album.

Cripple Creek

Let's feel good today!  From the 1989 tour of Ringo Starr's All Starr Band, it's Up On Cripple Creek, from The Band's 1969 album which is that rarity, a perfect record that holds up over the years (here's my song by song breakdown)  And it really is an all-star band.  Levon Helm (vocals, drums) and Rick Danko (bass) from The Band, Ringo on drums, Joe Walsh (Joe and Ringo are now married to the Bach sisters) on guitar, Dr John and Billy Preston on keyboards, with Nils Lofgren,

from the E Street Band, on guitar.

I Can't Complain

I can't complain
But sometimes I still do
Life's been good to me
So far

Joe Walsh performing Life's Been Good in 2012 on Live From Daryl's House.  Joe sounds better than ever on both guitar and vocals.  And Daryl Hall's not too shabby either.

County Fair

It's riffmaster Joe Walsh's 70th birthday today!  We've written before of his approach to metaphysics which is reprised here:

You know, there’s a philosopher who says, “As you live your life, it appears to be anarchy and chaos, and random events, non-related events, smashing into each other and causing this situation or that situation, and then, this happens, and it’s overwhelming, and it just looks like what in the world is going on. And later, when you look back at it, it looks like a finely crafted novel. But at the time, it don’t.”

Building upon that insight we present County Fair, a further Walshian inquiry into the fate of humanity and the meaning of life.  Plus it's got some nifty riffs. 

Found an old puzzle that somebody quit
Try to fit pieces and hope that they fit
But they're going together so slowly
It may take me forever to know
And it's only a puzzle 

Parts of the puzzle will never be found
And even though pieces are gone
It's a county fair picture
Part of me's there
Some of the pieces are still at the fair
And it may be forever

Walk Away

The James Gang from 1971.  You all know Joe Walsh on guitar and vocals.  On bass is Dale Peters, but pay close attention to the band's fine drummer, James "Jim" Fox.  Fox was the founder of the band and it's why they were called the James Gang.  Jim remained as drummer until the band broke up in 1976 and has since played several reunion gigs with Joe.

Fox also played with Eric Clapton, BB King and Stephen Stills.  Based on these interviews with Modern Drummer (2006) and AXS (2016), he sounds like a pretty cool and laid back guy.
Fox, Right, 1971)(Fox, 2011)
Jim has an interesting hobby.  According to Wikipedia:

He was an avid collector of automobile license plates, serving as an officer of the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association and authoring the most prominent published work within the hobby, License Plates of the United States.

(from Amazon)  

Riffmaster Joe Walsh

As promised THC compiled a Joe Walsh guitar mashup showcasing some of his best riffs.  This 14-minute clip features 20 selections from 14 tunes as listed below.  THC had forgotten how much good music Joe made.  All the songs are from Joe's solo album except where otherwise indicated.  It's best to listen to this LOUD.

Fun fact THC came across while putting this together.  Joe and Ringo Starr are brothers in law; Ringo's been married to Barbara Bach since 1981 and Joe married her sister Majorie in 2008.

The good news is that Joe has been sober and drug free for twenty years and is back on the road playing.  You can watch a recent interview with him here.  And here he is playing one of his new tunes with Daryl Hall and his band.

Selections In Order:

County Fair
Turn To Stone
The Bomber (James Gang)
Life In The Fast Lane (Eagles)
All Night Long
Walk Away (James Gang)
The Confessor
Funk #49 (James Gang)
Rocky Mountain Way
Hotel California (Eagles - dual guitars at end with Don Felder)
Welcome To The Club
Life's Been Good
Funk #49 (James Gang) 

Time Out
The Confessor
In The City
Walk Away (James Gang)
Funk #49 (James Gang)
Life's Been Good
County Fair 
 

Turn To Stone

Was reminded of this song when watching Black Mass a few evenings ago (post forthcoming on the film).  Great tune by riffmaster Joe Walsh from his outstanding 1974 album, So What.  THC predicts a Joe Walsh guitar mashup coming soon to this blog.

So What contains some very subtle and tender music.  Listen to Help Me Thru The Night, Falling Down:

Making no deposit, no return
Making the same mistakes, we never learn
All of the pain in those faces
Trying not to show concern

Spent and broken
Like a worn out subway door in the city

Hanging in the closet, wait in line
When you go by the laws, you pay the fine
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

Rain doesn't have to hurry in the city                                                                                   Only way to fall is down

And finally, Song For Emma, which THC did not realize until researching this post was written for Joe's 3-year old daughter who died earlier that year in a car accident while on her way to nursery school.