By Hunter60
He's been called "The Clown Prince of Rock and Roll". There have been countless stories of his carrying a chain saw with him on tour in the Seventies for the sudden "remodeling" of hotel rooms and his sense of humor is well known to fellow band members as well as his fans. So often he seems to have an almost goofy grin on his face and an ornery glint in his eyes that would be almost at odds to the killer riffs and infectious rhythms that are instantly identifiable in his playing. Combining his formidable skills and his unique Everyman personality, Joe Walsh, at 61, continues on as a genuine guitar hero and an inspiration to countless up and coming guitarists.
Born in Wichita, Kansas on November, 20 1947, Joe Fiddler Walsh (yes, that's his real middle name) began his life in a nomadic tradition that would stay with him throughout his life and career. Early on, his parents moved their family to Columbus, Ohio, New York City and to Montclair, New Jersey where he graduated high school. Like so many before and after him, he took up the guitar in high school earning his stripes by playing with local bands.
He enrolled at Kent State College in Ohio and began to study and play with a little more seriousness. He enrolled in a few music classes as well as a few electronic courses which allowed him to engage in some of guitar-Frankenstein experiments. While at Kent State, Walsh began gigging around Cleveland, Ohio with various outfits including one called The Measles. Walsh only stayed at Kent State for a few semesters before dropping out to concentrate solely on his music career.
In 1968, Walsh joined up with The James Gang, replacing guitarists Glen Schwartz who had left to move to California. Initially The James Gang was a five piece combo with multiple guitarists and a keyboard player but they became a three piece at an incident opening for Cream at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit. Apparently the Walsh, Peters and Fox were preparing to go on stage when they were informed the remaining members would not be joining them. Desperate for the money from the show as they needed gas t o get home, the trio decided to play anyway thinking that "if Cream can do it, so can we." The band found that they liked the freedom of being a three piece gave them and it was this form of The James Gang that rode off into the halls of rock and roll fame.
Shortly after Walsh had joined The James Gang, the band released their debut album Yer Album which, according to Rolling Stone Record Guide, established the band as "the most significant post-Cream power-trio strategy." After the release of Yer Album, the bands producer Bill Szymczyk was the music coordinator for a western rock musical entitled Zachariah (based on a novel by Herman Hesse and written by the comedy troupe, The Firesign Theatre). Szymczyk got The James Gang involved to write and perform two songs for the movie.
In 1970, they followed up Yer Album with their most successful album The James Gang Rides Again which contained "Funk #49" ,"Tend My Garden," and "The Bomber." In support of the record, the band toured Europe opening for The Who. Walsh has said in interviews that Pete Townsend became a mentor for him. "He (Townsend) was my guru. He taught me how to play lead-rhythm and Keith Moon taught me how to break things … " The third album, titled Thirds contained yet another massive hit in "Walk Away", a thoroughly chunky power chord rocker that still holds up over thirty years later.
The band released Live In Concert in 1971 showcasing their performances opening for The Who but it was the beginning of the end for Walsh in the James Gang. According to Walsh in an interview he did with Matt Resnicoff in Guitar World, he felt creatively constrained in the band format. "I saw myself being stereotyped almost into a heavy metal guitarist about 10 years before heavy metal came out, I didn't like that. I got extremely frustrated being the only melodic instrument."
Walsh left the band and moved to Colorado in 1972 where he hooked up with bassist Kenny Passarelli and drummer Joe Vitale to form the short lived Barnstorm. The band released two albums: Barnstorm in 1972 and The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get, in 1973. The Smoker album contained an enormous hit in "Rocky Mountain Way" which, interestingly enough, was one of the first songs to popularize the talk box effect.
After Barnstorm disbanded, Walsh continued on as a solo act for a bit releasing So What and the live You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind. By 1976, after the tragic death of his young daughter Emma and the divorce from his second wife, Walsh left Colorado for Los Angeles and he was looking for a band. The Eagles had just lost their guitarist Bernie Leadon due to creative differences and were looking for a new guitarist and a new direction and they found both in Joe Walsh.
According to Walsh, "I got asked to join The Eagles as a specialist, because they wanted some humor. They were taking everything too seriously … my job was to keep everyone laughing or at least to keep the band from breaking up." Once with the Eagles, Walsh was instrumental on helping the band craft their most successful albums: Hotel California.
While still with The Eagles, Walsh continued to release solo efforts such as But Seriously Folks in 1978 which contained the massive hit "Life's Been Good," a dead on parody of the rock and roll lifestyle. "I think it might have been a little too close to the truth," Walsh said. Revealing his warped sense of humor, Walsh even ran for President (tongue firmly planted in cheek) in 1978 under the platform of "Free Gas for Everyone" and promised to make "Life's Been Good" the National Anthem if he won.
In 1979, Walsh returned to the studio with The Eagles to record the album The Long Run, which proved to be the final Eagles studio album (before the band reunited a few more times for reunion tours and albums in the late '90s and into the 2000s).
The '80s were a down time for Walsh although he continued to record and release solo efforts. None met with the same success of his former work. After his third marriage failed, Walsh became involved briefly with former Fleetwood Mac chanteuse Stevie Nicks.
In 1989 Walsh toured with Ringo Starr's All-Star Band as well as reuniting with The Eagles on occasion. During the late '80s and early '90s, Walsh's alcoholism had gotten to the point where he could not even remember the words to his own songs and it had taken a serious toll on his ability to perform.
He went through rehab and has been sober now since the mid-'90s. There are many stories about Joe Walsh showing up at various AA meetings and rehab centers to encourage others in their recovery. He continues to tour and do the occasional studio appearances, popping up at various festivals, including an incredible performance at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival in 2004 and working with a variety of artists as well as occasionally reuniting with his former James Gang band mates for brief tours.
Walsh is still out there and still rocking although he has scaled back a bit now, preferring to spend a lot of his time engaged in his favorite hobby, HAM Radio, and engaging in bidding wars for radio equipment on Ebay. Once Walsh slightly delayed the start of a concert until he won an on-line auction he was engaged in right before the show. That just seems so Joe Walsh. I get the feeling that his fans really didn't mind at all.
Yet despite his extraordinary career, Walsh remains humbled and almost surprised by it. In a 1991 interview with the Boston Globe, Walsh said "Ordinary average guy? That was me in the Midwest growing up … We're all just people, basically. I'm nothing special. I just play guitar good." In the same interview, Walsh waxed philosophically about his life and his career, "I've been rich a couple of times, poor a couple of times and stoned a couple of times," he says. "The only thing left is to work at my craft and keep going."
[FONT=Tahoma]"All I can do is be me ... whoever that is". Bob Dylan [/FONT]
