Re-Joe Walsh's 70th Birthday Party

Starfucker.

Sorry this is an ego piece.

You are better than this.

Who the fuck cares, really?
Larry LeBlanc

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Oh Bob! Most of us aren't members like YOU are, buddy!

But that undying love for the music, the notes, the bands, and the STORIES is still flaming higher than ever.

Thanks so much for sharing that story about Joe's birthday party!

Practically made me feel like I was right there.

And even though I wasn't, I was still tingling with excitement for you and Felice about what you were seeing, hearing, doing...

Wow! It's gonna be a great day! Crankin' up "Tend My Garden" from Barnstorm already this morning and my wife is diggin' it with me!

Thanks - Mornin' Milkman's Coming!
NELSON DUFFLE in D.C.

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These songs are the soundtrack of my youth. Indelibly burned into my LIFE!

Thank you for taking us there tonight.
Jeff Oster

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Brilliant and wonderful story, Bob. What a night! Thanks for taking me there with you.

Tony D'Amelio

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Hi Monsieur Lefsetz,
First time I write, long time I read you
Thanks for sharing this birthday party feelings
xxx

Jean-Michel Reusser
Taktic Music
145 Boulevard Magenta
75010 Paris

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Sounds like a great party.

But hey Bob,

you're becoming too much a fan boy.

yes we're all oder, yes we all reminisce,
but Bob, lower the drool factor.

Joe Vitka

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Wish I could have been there, Bob.

Joe Walsh's influence along with the James Gang was immense. Going to Carnegie Mellon in '73, playing all the Barnstorm songs one state over made me feel closer to Mecca. The lyrics were like poetry to my soul. I wrote them as love notes to my then forbidden girlfriend.

I played all those songs all the time on guitar in my Pittsburgh band. I could duplicate the Talk Box without the box and hose. I played slide with my finger.

Anything to sound like Joe.

When I did Beatlemania in Cleveland in 1980 just before the Carter debates, Jim Fox sat in with us at sound check snd we did " Walk Away." The last time I saw Jimmy play was at the Fillmore and the James Gang did Zeppelin's "Good Times Bad Times" as an instrumental. Fox's style making it his own.

Seeing Joe at CW Post on Long Island, introducing the "horn section" to the audience before doing "Welcome to The Club." The one section being bicycle horns and such mounted on the mic stands and Joe Vitale's cymbal stands.

"Standing on the runway waiting for the plane. There goes everything you own..."
(Horn Section)

A Ringo tour in the late 80's -- early 90's lands Joe at NYCs China Club below the Beacon Theater.

And my Beatles band is playing. Joe comes up and says "Can I sit in?"

"Sure, what Beatles song do you w ant play, Joe?"

"Funk 49!!" And away we went. I knew every note to Dale Peters bass part and I was in heaven.

Then Joe launches into "Hey Bulldog" and its beyond words. He nails the solo, we swing back to the chorus snd coming out it we hear "One More Time!!" and its back to the Solo...2 more times!

Years before, I record at Criteria with a band I was reproducing and I feel the Szymzyck/Walsh connection.

And a few years ago in Hollywood, a nice young man with his band tells me his name is Michael Szymzyck. I say "As in..?"

"That's my dad." I say tell him I say thank you. And a few weeks later, he comes back with a signed CD of Yer Album and says "Dad says Your Welcome!"

Joe Walsh, Happy 70th. Would love to play with you any time.

Thanks Bob. You made me feel like I was there.

Mitch Weissman
Sam Ash Hollywood

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A few weeks ago I subscribed to your newsletter, because I wanted to try to make the content that is over-flowing my inbox on a daily a little more meaningful and diverse. And oh boy, am I glad I did!

This year has been a mess - for me, for humanity, for nature. Exciting, but a mess.
Especially recently I have felt very disconnected from myself and my surroundings and kept losing faith in my quest of living a life that I chose to give meaning to - whatever that may end up looking like.

As much as I despise this expression: Reading your emails literally makes my day at the moment.
God, it's so relatable (even for such a little baby like me), and educational without being overly-annoying and it just reminds me that we are all the same, we all go through a lot of shit and experience little things that may end up evolving into huge turning points, or memories.
Your emails warm my heart, challenge my way of thinking, leave me inspired and a little more grounded than before.
Thank you for sharing content in such an unapologetic, raw and just simply authentic manner. Even though you must of course put a lot of work into those mails, it just seems less curated than most work out there. Which is refreshing! Sometimes we gotta plan less, do more; our feelings and thoughts will automatically influence our being and doing anyway.

All the best! And a huge thank you!

Anna El-Fallah

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I watched 4 hours of Beatles documentary last night on PBS where it became clear that without RINGO there would be no Beatles.

When he stepped in and started playing with John, Paul and George, they suddenly had a sound that would inspire some of the most ground breaking popular song writing, musical modulations and unique unification of accessible and abstract, that it changed the world.

Litterally. It is true. Study the music. The muse is always the essence. And RINGO does not get enough credit. There is a reason they were called The BEATles.

Paul Koidis

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Are you kidding me? I was reading this and it sounds like a dream where you are walking around in a party with everyone you ever admired.

You and I are almost certainly around the same age - I was born on June 7, 1951 - and you often write about things from your younger days that resonate deeply with me. I remember listening to the James Gang albums - Yer Album, Rides Again, Thirds, all released within a period of 2 years - and seeing them at Cole Field House at U of Maryland where my girlfriend was in 1970 - 74. Joe Walsh was miraculous - even with the crappy sound systems of the day.

And then, he joined the Eagles. I was an early adopter of the Eagles - saw them in Asbury Park when they were still a quartet in 1972 - and also a huge Jackson Browne fan - saw him at the Filmore East on Christmas eve 1970, warming up Laura Nyro. But Joe Walsh with the Eagles? How does that ever work? And then the Eagles broke up in 1980 and Joe was back out on his own. He came to the Stone Pony during that period but was not at his best then. But then he cleaned up and has been a wonder ever since. He's been great on the Sirius Eagles channel.

You may be "half in, half out" but you have earned it and you make the most of it and graciously share it with the rest of us mortals.

Forever grateful,
Dave Murphy

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Walsh is an idiot. He deserves no promotion. Little boy Trumpette

Pinhey

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A really good read, I felt as if I was a fly on the wall. Thanks Bob, you deserve the recognition.
alan segal, san diego.

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This is so awesome :)

Melissa Evans

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Hey Bob,
This is an amazing piece!

Happy Thanksgiving from one Fairfield County CT dude to another!
James Lucente

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"Indian Summer" is one of my favorite songs of all-time. Just takes you back to a time and place. Magic.

Zippychimp

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Nice one on Joe at 70. One thing more ---- Joe's Smoker You Drink and So What still hold up today as two of the greatest desert island discs ever, musically and sonically perfect.

Don Adkins

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In the late 90s, before the bubble burst and tech crashed, I picked up Joe at the Las Vegas airport to play a corporate gig at the now shuttered Beach nightclub. He wasn't touring – just threw together a band as a favor for an old friend. There were maybe four of us in the venue as he ripped through sound check; nailing pieces of every Walsh/James Gang/Eagles song you grew up listening to. Much like you – only feet away – the hair on my neck stood up. He graciously endured the corporate meet & greet, then blew the roof off the place to an amazed crowd of drunk computer geeks.

To this day, when I encounter old Comdex attendees, conversation invariably turns quickly to "JOE WALSH AT THE BEACH." He was pure legend.

David Prohaska

PS
Was Smokey at the birthday party? He's got all the stories. Belushi on down…

(Note: he was)

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.....WOWW!!!!!!!!!

Tommy Allen

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Undeniably. One. Of. Your. Best.

Caroline Lindsey
Nashville, TN
(Aka - member of the Club)

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Bob, I loved this piece. It brought me back to my own music of my life. Not real rock n' roll, but doo-wopp.
Simple, soulful, but always memorable. See you soon. Tom Battista

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Man, that sounds like a great party. But I only got jealous that you were there and I wasn't - not when you mentioned Ringo or Tom Hanks or the sound system- when you mentioned Sarah Buxton. I met her and fell in love, like everyone, when she floated into Nashville before Nashville was cool, a 21 yer old who had the sold out exit/in wrapped around her finger. She was a rock star everywhere she went, and forever. "Stupid Boy" is a classic that she wrote with another sweetheart and genius, Dave Berg, and Deanna Bryant, but if there was any justice in the universe, any hope that the music business always go it right, let cream rise to the top, we'd all know Sarah Buxton well.

Rob Giles

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Tom Hanks, Jackson Browne, Ringo, Jeff Lynne - sounds like a nice crowd. Hope that schmuck Gene Simmons wasn't there.

Tom Quinn

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Fantastic. Just moved to Westport, still in awe of all the acts that came through here. Love your stuff.

Michael Shafrir

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I sit here as the snow falls in the woods of eastern Maine. My family is with me and we're listening to the first Winter Solstice and talking -- and then I read your post about Joe's 70th and I start smiling and getting teary-eyed. You're living it for all of us, Bob. Thanks so much for telling us about it and letting us along on the ride. I'm with you all the way, man.

And, Happy Birthday, Joe!
Kevin Ritchie

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Thanks for the share Bob. Have always loved Joe. I'm 58 now and the first rock show I ever saw was The James Gang at The Ohio State Fair back in 1971. Never tire of his work.

Jeff Walker

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Oh what a great night. For a great guy. A guy who should be dead but soldiered on and as a result a second life with The Eagles. Amazing player. As you say, every note. So happy for you to have this experience. What a room. BTW you are definitely in the club. Challenges your honesty, but that's why they love you. We do too.

Peter van Roden

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What a night… I created No Name along with Sean Parker and Olivia Wilde. Its been a special place that has quietly been hosting some of the most important happenings in Los Angeles over the last four years. We intended to build and facilitate an environment that would be for those who would appreciate it. Not a "hot spot" that flared up bright in LA sky for a year then faded away into the heap of countless other places that have come and gone over the years. Parallels can be drawn between whats happened in the music business… Sean and I had a vision from the start to not have to build around maximizing profitability in the space over the vibe. The vibe needed to be held paramount and thats what enables us to have nights like last night. We don't offer this space to be rented out for just anything. There needs to be a cultural or charitable presence attached. Something that helps sustain a standard. Like I said, for those who appreciate that this kind of place exists. Most nights its just a real cool place to have a delicious dinner. A different lay out of course then what you experienced with all the round tables filling up the place. We created our own rules, our own standards and for the last four years we've been supported by our Community and creatives from all over the world.

We never gave the place a name. The Community started to call it No Name. It stuck, a place for the people, named by the people.

A nice anecdote is that Dhani Harrison and David Zoneshine introduced No Name to Dhani's wonderful mother Olivia. Olivia then set up a dinner one night that included Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo, Dave Grohl and Joe Walsh. Along with Nancy, Barbara, Jordyn and Marjorie of course. They ate upstairs on a night where Bob Weir was eating downstairs with his manager Bernie and a few others. I let Bernie know about the quadruple date happening just above their heads and we conspired to reunite Bob with his old friends. I believe I was told that he hadn't seen Paul and Ringo in over 30 years. I won't soon forget the look on Paul's face when he saw Bob. It was one of pure admiration. A special moment indeed.

Come back sometime and I'll share with you some more stories…

Bryan Ling

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Goosebumps Bob. Well said, again...

Steve Anderko

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What a party, kudos for vaulting the velvet rope.
R&R Hall of Fame, eat your heart out!

Best,
Darryl Mattison

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Beautiful piece. I'm from Wichita, KS, where Joe spent some time, and I heard him at the State Fair in the early 80's. Life changing.

Michael Barker

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So in late 1973 I got (probably begged for) an assignment to interview Daltrey and Townshend for Penthouse for their front-of-the-book section about music, books, film, etc. From John Gabree, who was their freelance music coverage coordinator. He never did pay me the $200 he promised me for the article; they gave him a flat fee per month to fill the music pages, so it was "his money" at that point. Anyway, I digress. I go to Atlanta to do the interviews and see the show; been a diehard fan since first hearing the UK release of the "My Generation" album, bought everything since, seen them many times in NYC. Oh right, I'm 20 years old. Not old enough to buy Penthouse in Georgia. I meet up with a long distance friend from San Diego, Cameron Crowe, who's even younger than me and in Atlanta to interview Roger and Pete for Playboy, which he is way too young to buy in Georgia. I'm banging on the hotel room door of the suite in which my Pete Townshend interview is scheduled to take place. I can hear loud music in there. My knocking is not nearly loud enough. I wait til the song ends, and band loudly again. A guy opens the door and I introduce myself, and he brings me in to meet Pete. Pete introduces me to his friend, musician Steve Baron (cue Discogs search, Wikipedia won't help; I think he was a fellow follower of Meher Baba and recorded for Tetragrammatron). And apologizes for blasting the music so loud, but it's a Joe Walsh album, and he felt the need to immerse himself in the sound of Joe's guitar-playing. I nod in understanding, knowing Joe's work from the James Gang of course, but thinking "this is PETE TOWNSHEND and he's immersing himself in Joe Walsh?" Learn something new every day.

FYI, I later rented my cassette tapes of both interviews to Steve Demorest at Circus, from which he fashioned a story, since he hadn't been able to get his own interview at the time.

Toby Mamis

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Re: Toto
Tell Luke half of those streams are from me and my guitar wanking friends who discovered that the Spotify version of Rosanna has about 15-20 more seconds than the others of his exquisite guitar ejaculation at the end of the song before it fades out!

Would love to hear that master tape of just letting that little jam roll without the fadeout!
Peace and Love,
Dan Millen

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That was awesome. Sounds like a night to remember. Thanks for sharing it.

Stuart Gunter

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Awesome Bob. Thanks for bringing us into the room.

Your 10,000+ got you there.

Peter Buffett

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Great piece. What a party, you made me feel like I was there. You are one lucky SOB so quit ranting about your jealousy of those with great wealth who fly private. Seems to me that YOU are a great deal richer.

Frank A. Gagliano

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I doubt even Stewart remembers this-
Animal Logic was about to go into the studio to record our first album (late 1988). Andy Summers had dropped out saying he didn't want to be in a "pop" band. Someone called Joe Walsh (don't know who) and Joe's response was "I've been waiting my whole life for this call." Sunset Sound is booked and Stewart, Stanley and I are there but no Joe. He's AWOL. I'm guessing it was not a particularly good period in his life. I had been in a roots-y cover band (Debbie and the Dynamics!) with a great guitar player named Michael Thompson and thought he would be great. He rushed over to the studio, played a magnificent solo on "Spy in the House of Love" and continued to work with Animal Logic. Life is strange…
Cheers,
Deborah Holland

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awesome

Jonathan Auerbach

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Loved this !

Marina Meade

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The party sounds amazing. Wish I was there. I love Joe Walsh.

What few people know is that I was there and left to deal with the aftermath when Joe did the infamous hotel room in Chicago that sparked the lines, "I live in hotels tear out the walls, I have accountants pay for it all." It's a great story. Joe did end up paying for it all.

I then also got to work the record "Life's Been Good" which is so much bigger than the number #12 it achieved on Billboard's, Hot 100. I'll take #12 records like that all day.

Burt Stein

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Extremely interesting piece Bob. You should write more on this overall subject ( or rather subjects)

Richard Rosenberg

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Now that is some amazing club to be a part of. Rock On!!

Marc LaFrance

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Awesome.

Michael A. Becker

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Barnstorn was heavy. Transformational!

shalaman1

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You are more inside than many insiders. Don't wait any longer to KNOW IT.

David Reilly

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I don't think I'm a "member."
Pretty sure I would've been "denied admission" to that party. But I managed to weasel my way into several "after show" parties back in the 70s when it was easy to do and nobody worried about getting shot.

Rides Again was the first JG album I bought. Still have it. Still play it albeit not on a 1400 dollar turntable. But I have my vintage stuff and I'm satisfied. Funk 49 of course! But Tend My Garden made the record for me. There are no "throwaways" on that album. Sounds so fresh on vinyl. One of the best rock records ever imho.

Glad you enjoyed the party!

William Nelson

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Sounds like it was blast. Joe is part of the tapestry of my life, which has been good to me so far. We don't live in the city and didn't get invited. Glad you are part of the in crowd. You deserve it and thanks for representing those of us who left Hell-A.
Kenny Lee Lewis

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Another home run. You're on fire.

Harold Love

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Good on 'ya Bob! Oh what a night. Too cool for school.

Ken Stewart

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great post Bob.
think I saw Joe on the PCH on a motorcycle 10 or so days ago.. ?!

Evan Harrison

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I must be following you at least 15 years. You are now becoming a really really great writer Bob
Whether, this was politics, commerce, love or science, I get hair boners reading what this writer has written. That's writing at its best. The way you wrote about Joe Walsh, I was literally there. You put me in that room. I too saw him play 10 feet in front of me ( in my head) because of your writing. You have suffered for your art. Thank God your time has finally come. It's not 10,000 hours. It's more like 50,000. You've served a tough apprenticeship. You are now a journeyman. It's great to see you finally get your cred.

colm

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"...some have lines in their face, and others retain their youthful good looks."

Juviderm, Botox, and Just for Men ;-)

Michael Laskow

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My late brother, Domenic Troiano (1946-2005) and singer Roy Kenner replaced Joe Walsh when he had decided to leave the James Gang in 1972. Domenic was already a seasoned veteran guitarist in Canada having played for Ronnie Hawkins, the Mandala, Bush and The Guess Who after the James Gang stint.

Let me tell you the back story---I was 5 years younger than Domenic and in the early 70's I was a James Gang fan having seen them in Toronto gigs on Halloween night and also New Year's Eve. Bush (ABC Dunhill) broke up in 1971. My bro was struggling to make ends meet in LA when he received calls from the Belkin brothers and from Jimmy Fox and Dale Peters about their interest in hiring him to replace Joe. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go in that direction but when he told me about the offer I was stunned. Of course I told him to please accept this great opportunity as I was already a fan of the band and it was financially a no brainer considering his situation. He went on to join the band and enjoyed two successful years with them. In 1974 he joined Burton Cummings and the Guess Who, followed by a solo career and finally production work and scoring TV shows and movies.

Cheers,

Frank E. Troiano

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Bob, been reading your mails for a few yrs, always entertaining-thanks for sharing, sounds like the party of the decade!

Brad Ryan

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I saw Joe Walsh and Tom Petty for the first time in Nashville last April. I will forever be grateful to my daughter for taking me. Joe was mesmerizing,the whole night surreal.

Maybe I'll get to see Joe again one day, sadly not Tom

Lisa Gregory

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So what.
Fred Ansis

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Perfect..

James Craik

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Loved this piece! Not only because I'm a little bit vicariously star-struck, but because you have always had a way of capturing how special music is in your heart that gives me goosebumps.
Between this and your new turntable, those Walsh tracks might as well be hits on the charts today!

Cheers,
Nick Benko from Guelph, Ontario

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Love this post. Replying because you mentioned Sarah Buxton.

Several years ago, I saw her perform at 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville. I was knocked out by her songs and between-song banter/stories. Such a cool person.

But to be honest, I actually went to see the act that performed after Sarah's set because her husband, Tom Bukovac, was playing in that later set. Bukovac is a session musician in Nashville and is just an amazing player – totally original, never overplays, always complements the song, etc. A cool person also.

I didn't realize it until I read your post about Joe Walsh that Bukovac played guitar in Walsh's band during this year's tour. Would've loved to see that.

Craig Dees
Murfreesboro, Tennessee

P.S. I saw Joe with the James Gang back in the Fall of 1971. Played at the old gym at Middle Tennessee State University. As for the James Gang catalog, while I love "Funk #49" and "Walk Away" and "Woman," I've always been most taken with "Midnight Man." Especially that verse the lady sings. Gives me goose bumps every time I hear it.

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This is great and I love your newsletter! You should check out this related studio recording from Cleveland, Ohio circa Spring of 1967 titled The Schwartz Fox Blues Crusade: Sunday Morning Revival. As we know Glenn Schwartz was later replaced in James Gang by his former guitar pupil Joe Walsh.

Drummer Jim Fox recounts "I was in the process of forming a band of my own, and we called it The James Gang. We were maybe three or four months into it, still finding ourselves, you know? By that time we had found Glenn Schwartz…[this blues recording] was 100% spontaneous. We didn't even have one single song going in..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QYjpHNwHJk

Nine studio tracks of pure post-teen garage rock blues are accompanied by extensive liners and and never before published photos. But also on this record we have Mr. Stress himself, aka Bill Miller on harp (as in the guy that gets name checked in the Pretenders song "Precious" where Hynde's snipes "Now Howard the Duck and Mr. Stress both stayed").

In fact up in that link you can find ALL the Platters du Cuyahoga, Series 1 & 2 releases so far if you poke around a bit.

All the best,

Ilka Erren Pardiñas

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Cool Bob...

This is what we love about you.. this is fun!

Keep pinching yourself... that IS life! Keep living it and we'll read.

Winifred

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This is SO Right On!

Morley Bartnof

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Thanks Bob - you captured it perfectly as usual.

A wonderful party full of old friends - and a truly amazing gig! What cannot be over-emphasized is just how brilliantly well everyone played. This was no pale re-creation of the hits - this was the hits sounding better than ever! Joe W and Joe V and Kenny and Luke were amazing - and Ringo showed yet again why he is one of the very best and most influential drummers in Rock and Roll history. Being only a few feet away from Joe's amp as he begins the lick from Rocky Mountain High or from Ringo's kit when he starts the groove for "I Wanna Be Your Man" was a visceral thrill for us all - and both playing with supreme confidence and at the peak of their powers

We are indeed very lucky to pretty much all know each other and to all have been part of so many legendary stories and so much great music. There were a thousand unmade documentaries in that room last night and each of them unique and fascinating. Trust me Bob, you are "inside" and everyone is thrilled to have you there - you capture the music and the people so well; with the expressiveness of a writer, the enthusiasm of a fan and the joy of a friend.

Peter Asher CBE

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The Rocky Mountain Way is better than the way we had

Tom O'Flynn

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