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"...Midnight
Man..."
It's
not a dyed-in-the-wool five-star classic for sure. And yet I've always stroked
and petted (with scary regularity) my British Probe Records copy of the 1971
vinyl LP "Thirds" by The James Gang (mottled sleeve and pink label) -
gawking at the poor battering thing with undiminished affection.
Of
the nine 1971 tracks maybe only four are gems - but on the last album The James
Gang did with the future Eagles axeman Joe Walsh – boys-oh-boys what mighty nuggets
those forgotten songs are. And it’s the record that also let Drummer Jim Fox
and newcomer Bassist Dale Peters shine as songwriters too. Let's go to the
midnight men and dig it (y'all)...
US
released June 2000 - "Thirds" by JAMES GANG on MCA Records 088 112
022-2 (Barcode 008811202224) is a straightforward 9-track CD Remaster of the
original 1971 LP that plays out as follows (36:14 minutes):
1.
Walk Away [Side 1]
2.
Yadig?
3.
Things I Could Be
4.
Dreamin' In The Country
5.
It's All The Same
6.
Midnight Man [Side 2]
7.
Again
8.
White Man/Black Man
9.
Live My Life Again
Tracks
1 to 9 are their 3rd studio album "Thirds" - released April 1971 in
the USA on ABC Records ABCX-721 and July 1971 in the UK on Probe Records SPB
1038. Produced by THE JAMES GANG and BILL SZYMCZYK - it was their final album
with Joe Walsh and peaked at No. 27 in the US LP charts (didn't chart UK).
Tracks 1, 5, 6 and 7 written by Joe Walsh - Tracks 3 and 9 written by Jim Fox -
Tracks 4 and 8 written by Dale Peters and Track 2 written by all three members
of the band.
JAMES
GANG was:
JOE
WALSH - Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar and Electric Piano and
Violin Arrangements on "Again"
DALE
PETERS – Electric Bass on all Tracks except Upright Bass on "Yadig?” -
Lead Vocals on "Dreamin' In The Country" and "White Man/Black
Man" and Backing Vocals on "Midnight Man”
JIM
FOX – Drums on all tracks, Vibes on the instrumental "Yadig?”, Lead,
Backing Vocals and Organ on "Things I Could Be", Track Piano on
"Dreamin' In The Country" and Pianos on "Live My Life
Again"
Guests:
Mary
Sterpka (of Lacewing) - Duet Lead Vocals with Joe Walsh on "Midnight
Man"
The
Sweet Inspirations (of Atlantic Records) - Backing Vocals on "White
Man/Black Man"
Tom
Baker - Horns Arranged and Played on "It's All The Same” and "Live My
Life Again”
The
three-way foldout inlay is hardly the stuff of legend - the picture of the
three boys that graced the rear sleeve with the track-by-track session details
and on the rear that long list of 'thank you' names that graced the inner
record bag - everyone from Groucho Marx and W.C. Fields to Wonderdog, James
Bond and The Cookie Monster, from J.S. Bach, Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend (a
champion of Joe Walsh from the get go - invited on a Who tour as a support act)
to Lonnie Mack and Elvis' Back-Up Band. There are some new comments from Dale
Peters and Jim Fox (none from Walsh) about the recordings - tracks made with
Little Richard that never saw the light of day due to contractual crap - their
pride in songs like "Walk Away" and "Midnight Man" - their
admiration for Joe's axework and so on.
TED
JENSEN and original LP producer BILL SZYMCZYK (later produced Joe Walsh’s solo
work and The Eagles) did the Digital Remasters from original tapes at Sterling
Sound in New York and it sounds fantastic. Those formerly muddied horns by Tom
Baker on "It's All The Same", the Soulful vocals of The Sweet
Inspirations on "Midnight Man" and those Jim Fox Vibes on the slinky
instrumental "Yadig?" all now in your face and for all the right
reasons.
The
album opens on a slice of axe-wielding Rock joy and a track Walsh would play
regularly as a Solo Artist – the fab riffage of
"Walk Away". Describing himself (wittily) in the
track-by-track breakdown as a 'Train Wreck - it featured as the opening song on
his April 1976 live set "You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind" with ABC
Records UK even putting it on the 99p-selling 4-Track 12" single
"Plus Four EP" in July 1977. Like the swagger of "Funk 49"
- "Walk Away" is the 'All Right Now' of Joe Walsh's catalogue - dig
that soloing as it fades out. There then follows a startling segue moment as we
slide slinkily into the Jazz Instrumental "Yadig?" where Drummer Jim
Fox plays a blinder on the Vibes as Joe shuffles his electric piano keys and
Dale Peters compliments on an upright Bass (towards the end of the track Joe
sneaks in a sexy solo too). Diversions done, we're back to Rock with Jim Fox's
excellent "Things I Could Be" where he plays Drums, Organ and sings
Lead Vocals - but it's Joe's guitar contributions that give it such a great
feel. "Dreamin' In The Country" sounds like its title - a rather lame
countrified doodle where JW has a go at a Pedal Steel. Way better is the
fabulous "It's All The Same" - a Joe Walsh tune lifted up above its
lonesome solo piano opening by Tom Baker's Horns that come sailing in and lend
the Side 1 closer a truly epic feel. As the years have passed I've grown to
adore "It's All The Same" - the Bacharach type brass interludes
playing off against those high-strung acoustic guitars (and he mentions
'meadows' which would of course become a hit song for JW in its own right on
his second solo LP "The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get" in
1973).
Side
2 opens with the magisterial "Midnight Man" - a song both Peters and
Fox clearly rate as Joe Walsh's finest moment to that point because they both namecheck
it in the new liner notes. And his solo too – superb. Band 7 "Again"
may be the album's sleeper - another seductive JW melody this time bolstered up
with violins (which he arranged) and not brass. Half way through it goes into
an America-type shuffle - the remaster bringing out those strums and subtle
electric piano notes. But despite my adoration of all things JW - I will openly
admit that my heart belongs to Dale Peters on the "Thirds" album
because of his magnificent song "White Man/Black Man" tucked away as
Track 3 on Side 2. ABC Records in the USA slapped it on the B-side of the more
commercial "Midnight Man" in October 1971 (ABC Records 11312) and
were rewarded with a minor single hit at No.80. The UK saw never saw that
release and so is a bit of a rarity on our side of the pond ("Walk
Away" paired with "Yadig?" on the flipside was issued as
Blighty's only 45 from the album in April 1971 on Probe Records PRO 533). I
used to feature Dale Peters singing "White Man/Black Man" on so many
CD-R compilations that I’d made as shuffle plays in Reckless Records in Berwick
Street. Not recognising the vocalist but maybe the guitar playing - it was the
kind of Soulful slow-marching Rock song that always elicited excited punter
enquiries (who is this!) – the gorgeous singing of The Sweet Inspirations (one
of Atlantic Records premier backing vocalist groups who had albums in their own
right), Joe's fabulous guitar soloing and its racial equality lyrics – all
would combine - bringing it on home every time it was played. And the album
ends on another JW sleeper – the slow and epic "Live My Life Again"
where he employs both The Sweet Inspirations and Tom Baker’s horns to huge
effect. A great end to a great but underrated album...
Walsh
would jump ship and the James Gang continued with other guitarists – namely
Dominic Troiano and of course the mercurial Tommy Bolin. Joe would start his
amazing solo career with the fabulous "Barnstorm" in 1972 – an album
I might even be buried with. But if you want to know why Pete Townshend raved
about him then and Daryl Hall had him over to Daryl’s House for a session now,
then check out "Thirds", cheap as chips and sounding just as
mouth-watering on this June 2000 CD Remaster.
The
James Gang were always a solid little rocking American Band – the kind of group
you couldn’t help loving and like The Faces or Humble Pie or Grand Funk
Railroad - miss 45 years after the event...
