For Bern: a review of "The James Gang Live in Concert"

[Bob Womack]

Okay, Bern, you asked for it!

First the history: The James Gang Live in Concert was intended to be the pinnacle of the band's career. After nearly a year of constant touring, including a long tour of Europe fronting the WHO, the band was going to show the North East how it was done, as main act in the very first rock concert staged at Carnegie Hall. This was a big stinkin’ deal, and the time fronting the WHO had finally payed off.

The James Gang and producer/engineer Bill Szymczyk scheduled two mights of performances with a remote truck and planned to take the best takes from the two nights. Unfortunately, that first rock concert at the Carnagie was extremely unpopular with classical purists. The first night, just before show time, someone cut the mic cables leading from the stage to the truck, preventing them from getting a recording. Bill Szymczyk stayed up all night with his soldering iron, splicing the cables back together. They set up security guards every six feet along the cable to protect it. The result was that they got exactly one night of performances to make this album, and it was mixed the very next day. This is a live album from the tradition of The Allman Brothers Live at Fillmore East: They played, they mixed, you heard. There was no slick repackaging and overdubbing. What you hear is what they played.

How is the music? Glad you asked. Put on your paisley shirt before you listen to this album, because there's a certain amount of psychedelia left over from the '60s. Nevertheless, once you come to terms with the fact that this album is a creature of its times, from this album you get a great idea of how tight a band the Gang was. The album was recorded in ’71, right at the peak of the period when the guitar had transitioned from a background, rhythm instrument or a spinky little lead thing into an instrument that commanded the entire stage. Bill Szymczyk wasn’t the only person involved who was handy with a soldering iron: To create his sound, Joe took old blackface Fender Twins and personally modified them to gain them up and make them brighter. The result is medium-high gain sound that was really amazing, individual, and powerful for the period. He also extensively worked with an Echoplex EP-2, and you can hear that right from the second cut, “You’re Gonna Need Me”.

But what was Walsh, in the scheme of rock history? First, he was the very first of the second wave of “guitar heros”. This album showcases his intricate lead capabilities with extended jams added to most of the guitar songs. His refinement, tone, and articulation are amazing for the period. This album, more than any of the band’s studio works, shows off exactly what he could do. Secondly, he was a one-man band. He performed on both guitar and keyboards and sang lead vocals. I don’t mean to denigrate the other two musicans, Jim Fox (drums, vocals) and Dale Peters (bass, vocals) here. Both were my gold standard, by whom I measured all others, for years. But Walsh wrote most of the Gang’s studio material. Interestingly, in this live set, the Gang mine Albert King (“You’re Gonna Need Me”), Jerry Ragavoy (“Stop”), and the Yardbirds (“Lost Woman”) for songs that never made it into the James Gang’s studio albums. You may remember Ragavoy as a famous producer for several R&B acts and as the man who built the Hit Factory Studios. He was also a mentor to Bill Szymczyk. I love connections.

Which brings us to the reason why this material may have not made it onto studio albums: While the rest of the band were thinking of this album as the band’s big breakout, Walsh went into the performances knowing they were the end of something big. The truth was that the long tours had used Joe up like nobody's business: He was sick to death of being the front man for a power trio. Having been there, I can understand: except for the bass and drum solos, you are always in the spotlight and under the microscope. He was also tired of all the touring. In a song written later in his solo career, “Life’s Been Good”, Joe describes this year: “I have a mansion, forget the price/Ain’t never been there, they tell me it’s nice”. Joe was also writing material that was too involved to be executed by a power trio, but at that point, the band wasn’t interested in growing. So, within hours after the performances, Joe announced his upcoming exit from the band. It became an ugly breakup. While the band continued on, they were never the same. Joe, however, went on to a successful solo career and eventual membership in the Eagles.

As one would expect from producer/engineer Bill Szymczyk, the album is cleanly recorded and well mixed, according to the standards of the time. Amazingly, the master tapes survived the demise of two record companies (ABC/Dunhill and MCA), as did Joe himself. Now, as the MCA catalog and name have been brought back, some of the more obscure titles (such as this) haven’t had a lot of attention to detail in re-mastering to CD. What we have here is a very clean, noiseless reproduction of the album mastering job. With forty-three minutes of material on a single album, something had to give. The usual vinyl mastering method to squeeze extra material on was to cut bass and treble, and that was done here. Expect to need to restore the bass by hitting the loudness switch or cranking the bass control.

So, this album should be seen as both the peak and the swan-song of the most successful iteration of the James Gang. Perhaps it can also been seen as a preview of Joe’s coming-out as a solo guitar hero and the appearance of his alter ego, the “clown prince of rock and roll”. It provides an extensive catalog of Joe’s lead guitar licks, many of which show up again in his works down the road. Since it is an inexpensive "Nice Price" selection, it is a great addition to your library. Happily, these guys were all personally reconciled a short while back. This year the James Gang re-united and played a tour in the fall while the Eagles were on hiatus. I’ll be interested to see if they generate any new material.

Bob

[Bern]

Well, Bob, thank you very much.
You know, I was always curious about his decision to join the Eagles. Coming from basic Rock&Roll and Blues, I could never quite make a connection here with the westcoast soft rock and vocal group. What your take on that ?
BTW, I have a live 'Fleetwood Mac' CD (with Peter Green) with an appearance of Joe.

[woodruff]

would have been nice if the James Gang just kept rolling, and the Eagles kind of never went anyplace, at least for me......

[macmoondoggie]

When the James Gang reformed with Tommy Bolin and produced "Bang",
they made one classic rock album. Yes, they were not the same same without Walsh, but a brief period they produced music as good as any.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Bern

Well, Bob, thank you very much.
You know, I was always curious about his decision to join the Eagles. Coming from basic Rock&Roll and Blues, I could never quite make a connection here with the westcoast soft rock and vocal group. What your take on that ?
BTW, I have a live 'Fleetwood Mac' CD (with Peter Green) with an appearance of Joe.

If you follow his James Gang and solo careers, you watch him move further and further into a blend of both the harder rock and blues stuff and some really lyrical compositions. That's the side he was wanting to explore but couldn't reproduce live in a power trio.

After he quit the Gang and spent a while off in Colorado loafing, he moved further west to L.A. with his manager, Irv Azoff, and began working that scene. Believe it or not, Joe, Irv, and Dan Fogelberg lived in a station wagon for a while, while Irv worked the phones to get his two artists established. Joe's two albums from the period, Barnstorm and The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get, both show his lyrical, reflective side that never made it to the radio. Party animals bought the albums for the hard tunes and said, "What the heck is this stuff?" Some guitarists like me said, "Wow, this is amazing. How can something so raunchy (distorted guitar) sound so pretty?" Joe picked up on the power ballad style created by the Carpenters and Tony Peluso and integrated it with his harder style, though parts of The Smoker might even qualify as progressive rock.

Right about that time, Joe met the Eagles and hooked them up with his manager Irv Azoff. As a result of that acquaintance, Joe ended up opening for the Eagles and they became comrades of the road. Irv got Joe to produced Dan Fogelberg's Souvenirs album, and Joe used the Eagles as background vocalistas. The end product REALLY showed his softer side.

By Joe's So What album, Don Henley, Randy Meisner, and Glenn Frey were doing BG vocals for him. On the album he plays Maurice Ravel's "Pavanne De La Belle Au Bois Dormant" note-for-note on synthesizers. He also composed a beautiful orchestral piece, Song for Emma (arranged by Jimme Haskel & Bill Szymczyk) as a tribute to his daughter, who died as a young child. The album really comes off as a pre-Eagles/Walsh, Eagles/Walsh album.

On Joe's next album, the live You Can't Argue With a Sick Mind, Don Felder was his backup guitarist and the Eagles did BG vocals again. Meanwhile, Eagles guitarist {edit}Bernie Leadon{edit} was in the process of crashing and burning and the other Eagles began discretely searching for a replacement. Joe had contractual obligations with ABC/Dunhill that prevented him from replacing Randy in the Eagles, so he hooked them up with Don Felder, with the unspoken agreement that as soon as his obligations were satisfied, he'd join them as well. When ABC/Dunhill was purchased by MCA and a good portion of their artists turned out onto the street, the stage was set and Joe moved over to both the Eagles and Asylum records.

And that's the other side of the story.

Bob

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by macmoondoggie

When the James Gang reformed with Tommy Bolin and produced "Bang",
they made one classic rock album. Yes, they were not the same same without Walsh, but a brief period they produced music as good as any.

Yep, there are people who love both Tommy and Domenic Troiano as well.

Bob

[FLDavid]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

. . . Meanwhile, Eagles guitarist Randy Meisner was in the process of crashing and burning and the other Eagles began discretely searching for a replacement. Joe had contractual obligations with ABC/Dunhill that prevented him from replacing Randy in the Eagles, so he hooked them up with Don Felder, with the unspoken agreement that as soon as his obligations were satisfied, he'd join them as well. . .Bob

And here I was under the impression that Randy Meisner played bass in Eagles (and was replaced by Poco's Timothy B. Schmidt).
I recall an interview with Glenn Frey in which he stated that the band *knew* that Joe would be replacing Bernie Leadon when the ABC/Dunhill contract was purchased by MCA.

Live and learn, I guess. I am always happy to be enlightened.

[. . .and congratulations on your new ES335! She's a beauty ~ and the guitar's not bad either!

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by FLDavid

And here I was under the impression that Randy Meisner played bass in Eagles (and was replaced by Poco's Timothy B. Schmidt).
I recall an interview with Glenn Frey in which he stated that the band *knew* that Joe would be replacing Bernie Leadon when the ABC/Dunhill contract was purchased by MCA.

Live and learn, I guess. I am always happy to be enlightened.

[. . .and congratulations on your new ES335! She's a beauty ~ and the guitar's not bad either!

Excuse me, you are correct, it was Leadon. I followed the Walsh arm of the family tree more than the Eagles arm. And thanks for the compliment on the wife, and guitar!

Bob

[preston]

Always been a Joe Walsh fan and saw the James Gang live at a local college performance in the early 70's, I believe it was. I always liked to get the band to play a lot of Joe's songs and I usually got to sing lead, 'cause like Joe, my lead singing was nothing to write home about at that time but it fit the style and I had tons of fun with it !

[PaulData]

Bob, fantastic review and history here, thanks!

BTW, I LOVE the work of Domenic Troiano, his work with the original Bush is fantastic! The tunes "Turn Down" and "Yonge Street Patty" are among my all-time early 70s faves...

[nubjamin]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

What we have here is a very clean, noiseless reproduction of the album mastering job. With forty-three minutes of material on a single album, something had to give. The usual vinyl mastering method to squeeze extra material on was to cut bass and treble, and that was done here. Expect to need to restore the bass by hitting the loudness switch or cranking the bass control.

this confuses me. explain? why did they have to cut the bass and treble?

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by nubjamin

this confuses me. explain? why did they have to cut the bass and treble?

This is complicated, but stay with me. In the analog world of record cutting, two things ate up real estate: volume and bass. Why? The volume of the signal being recorded in the groove was represented by lateral excursions from the middle of the groove. Therefore, the easiest way to drop groove size, allowing a higher pitch to the groove and thus more turns (a longer time), was to drop volume. The immediate result, however, was a decrease in the gain of the signal and, thus, a decrease in the signal-to-noise ratio. On analog disks, there was a fixed noise floor due to the contact and friction between the needle and the vinyl. Added to that were any surface imperfections from pressing, handling, and repeated playing. In mastering, as you dropped gain, you heard more noise.

One way to mitigate this was to drop the gain of the bass regions, because the size of the bass excursions, in a way that was analogous to sound waves, was much larger than that of the high frequencies. There was an obvious trade-off there, however, in that rolling off bass only caused a shrill-sounding album. Here was where a compromise was created: The mastering engineer often dropped the gain a little and then rolled off both the bass and treble as well. With that combination, you ended up with a reasonable signal-to-noise ratio. Given that the record was played back on a decent stereo, the resultant EQ restrictions could be overcome by the end user flipping one switch on his rig: the loudness contour. You see, on a typical stereo, the loudness contour switch boosted the bass and treble of the signal to compensate for the ear's diminished frequency response at low level. Voile'!

So, there are the physical and aesthetic reasons for the practice. The most extreme case i ever heard on a music album was Todd Rundgren's Initiation album, with over an hour of material and very little bass, treble, OR gain. Todd even added a little note to the record sleeve addressing the problem of low gain on the disk.

Another interesting case was Monty Python's Previous Record, a record that had three Sides. Yup, three, on a two-sided disk. They got there by cutting the bass very steeply and cutting TWO spirals on one side!

Bob

[Feste]

Originally Posted by FLDavid

[B][FONT="Century Gothic"]And here I was under the impression that Randy Meisner played bass in Eagles (and was replaced by Poco's Timothy B. Schmidt).

Just to set the record straight with regards to Randy Meisner- he played bass for Poco before Timmy Schimdt did. He also played bass for Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band before becoming an Eagle.

[nubjamin]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

This is complicated, but stay with me...

no, you're explanation was perfect. thanks for the info, very interesting...