Having left the James Gang in 1971 after three albums, where step-by-step he moved the power trio toward a more textured, streamlined sound, guitarist Joe Walsh brought his soft-rock intentions to bear on ‘Barnstorm‘ his 1972 solo debut.
Side two of ‘James Gang Rides Again‘ (1970) had revealed ambitions held by Walsh to explore territory closer to Crosby, Stills & Nash than Cream, but on their third album ‘Thirds‘ (1971), Joe and fellow James Gangers, bassist Dale Peters and drummer Jim Fox, fell between the two stools of ballads and bombast, Walsh upping sticks for a career in his own right before the year was out.
Landing on ground somewhere between ‘Who’s Next‘ and ‘Manassas‘ (the 1972 double-set from an ensemble led by Stephen Stills), ‘Barnstorm‘ was an admirable effort – Walsh fully-realising his vision of tasteful guitar work aligned to fluent, interlocking keyboards, making good on intentions to present himself as something more than a flashy electric guitar whizz.
Supported by the duo of Joe Vitale (drums/keyboards/flute) and Kenny Passarelli (bass), along with a handful of session players, Walsh further boosted his reputation with a number of fine compositions, ‘Barnstorm‘ spanning a range from hard-edged country-rock to the Zeppelin-esque work-out of ‘Turn to Stone.‘
While it failed to make much in the way of commercial impact (surprising as Walsh was responsible for the best known James Gang songs including the rumbustious 1971 U.S. hit single ‘Walkaway‘), the record received a clutch of positive reviews, justifying the decision to strike out on his own.
To support the album 26-year-old, Kansas-born Walsh went out on tour with Vitale, Passarelli and keyboard player Rocke Grace, his backing trio duly becoming known as ‘Barnstorm’. The services of all three were retained when it came the resultant follow-up release ‘THE SMOKER YOU DRINK, THE PLAYER YOU GET‘ (June 1973).
In delegating vocal and writing duties to the three other members of the troupe, Walsh and his Barnstorm buddies became an integrated band and while this makes for a less-cohesive effort than its predecessor, this L.P. would constitute his chart breakthrough, the album doing impressive business in the United States while also making inroads into the U.K. market.
Much of the attention generated by this bizarrely-titled record (rumoured to be wordplay on ‘the higher you get the better you sound’), came by way of strident opening track ‘Rocky Mountain Way‘ which through the immediate future would become his signature piece. Walsh leads the support cast through five minutes or so of tasteful tumult, the crunching power-chords closer to Dave Davies than Deep Purple, Joe found in the middle ground creating his own brand of mellow metal.
The four core musicians form themselves into a strong entity with the nine tracks delivered to good effect, but in applying democracy to the band the whole is diminished as a result – the notion of the parts being greater than the sum underlined by a superior quality to the five cuts where Walsh receives songwriting credit.
The rousing opener is credited to the quartet at the heart of things, this invigorating rocker announced by a dynamic riff, decorated further in by Joe on talk-box guitar, this being one of the songs to popularise the device. According to Walsh the lyrics came to him while living in Colorado and looking at the far off, snow-covered peaks of the Rocky Mountains as he ruminated on his decision to leave the James Gang:
‘Spent the last year/Rocky Mountain way/Couldn’t get much higher/Out to pasture/Think it’s safe to say/ Time to open fire/And we don’t need the ladies/Cryin’ ’cause the story’s sad/’Cause the Rocky Mountain way/Is better than the way we had.‘
Such was its resonance, ‘Rocky Mountain Way‘ climbed to number 13 on the U.S. charts when issued as a single, the song becoming a staple of the Eagles’ live set for decades after Walsh joined the band in 1975.
On the album in question it is followed by ‘Bookends‘, the first of two songwriting contributions from Vitale. This charming pop piece is furnished with prog-rock overtones of the day, evident in the interweaving piano and synthesiser motifs which give the track its framework.
The lyrics, sung by the writer, reflect on personal experiences that have now passed, Vitale revisiting roughly the same ground on ‘Days Gone By‘ which at almost six minutes is virtually twice the length of his other offering. He and Walsh share lead vocal duties as they contemplate the challenge of making sense of the past (‘In the end we’ll see/How much of the party we’ve missed already‘). Once again the players acquit themselves well, the piano-based melody enhanced by keen flute work from the composer with Walsh firing off some robust guitar volleys as things draw to a close.
Given their structure neither of these cuts would have sounded out of place on the earlier ‘Barnstorm‘ record, but the two tracks which close side one, while quirky enough, reflect the individual leanings of the writer and as such identity of what is a Joe Walsh album goes askew.
The jazz-infused instrumental ‘Midnight Moodies’ (composed by Grace), rolls by pleasantly enough, the Latin-flavoured percussion mixed with flute, synthesiser and electric guitar helps create what could pass as title-music to an urban police drama of the period – or failing that a Steely Dan backing track, awaiting the cryptic couplets of Donald Fagen.
Penned by Passarelli, ‘Happy Ways‘ is a reggae-based shuffle with calypso overtones. While there is nothing to truly dislike, the Caribbean vocal inflections of the author certainly offering variety, this track also dilutes the essence of an album that at the halfway point has different strands but no defined course.
The four remaining Walsh-written tracks offer far greater insight into his aims as a solo performer, each one a reflection of how the sound he was striving for had evolved from the previous record.
Walsh and co-producer Bill Szymczyk (who had taken sole responsibility last time out), keep things clear and pristine through ‘Wolf’, a haunting first side track where the composer excels on both acoustic and electric guitar – the vague sentiments of the lyrics, (‘And now we’re out of danger/I guess they’ll sound all clear/Throw some pennies in the fountain/And wish for a better year‘), alluding, perhaps, to feelings of loneliness.
Side two opener ‘Meadows‘ begins as a forceful rock track, the drums of Vitale prominent in the mix to give them Keith Moon-like combustion. The contemplative nature of the words appear an exercise in hoping to find certainty amid the anomalies of life, (‘Can’t think of any reason/Don’t know exactly why/Must be it’s out of season/Give it another try’), Walsh leading the charge on electric guitar before opting for an effective change of pace in the middle section. At this point acoustic guitar and piano come to the fore as things become more serene, emphasising the wistful nature (‘Can’t help but feel uncertain/Knowing which way to turn‘), of the lyrics.
The focus of ‘Dreams‘, a languid, piano ballad bolstered by jaunty electric piano segments, is the pursuit of happiness, (Taking the time for dreams/Off to waste the day/Plungin’ headlong, yeah/Nothing is what it seems‘) and importance of slowing down to enjoy life.
In his efforts to avoid everyday monotony, Walsh has the support of a female companion who places greater importance on inter-personal matters than materialism, (”Cause my woman drives me crazy/And she can’t be bought with money/Yes, and she’s easy on my mind/She thinks my jokes are funny/Makes me feel fine’), the self-deprecating humour stopping the song from becoming too wrapped up in its own seriousness.
Walsh, in fact, saves his most devout attempt at sincerity for the brief closing track, ‘Day Dream‘ (Prayer) – the four-line lyric a list of enquiries relating to human existence:
‘Where?/Where are we goin’?/Where?/Where are we now?/When will it be over?/Will we, will we make it somehow?’
The sombre piano chords and choral harmony vocals of Vanetta Fields and Clydie King give the piece hymn-like connotations in closing the record on a somewhat downbeat note and while Joni and Jackson were asking similar questions only in more pertinent manner, there was no doubting the conviction of Walsh to be taken seriously as a writer and performer.
After ‘Barnstorm‘ had done the ground work, ‘The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get’ brought full-flowering of his commercial appeal and in reaching number six on the U.S. charts would become the highest charting album Walsh would enjoy as a solo artist.
By the time of his next, ‘So What‘ (December 1974), the original Barnstorm unit had been dissolved, Walsh at this juncture recording with sessioneers and most notably Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner of the Eagles, with whom he now shared a manager (Irving Azoff) and producer, Syzmczyk having worked on their ‘On the Border‘ record of that year.
On ‘So What‘ he reworked ‘Turn to Stone‘ and in doing so took it closer in texture to Laurel Canyon than Led Zeppelin, all of which foretold his 1975 induction as an Eagle on replacing the departing Bernie Leadon.
‘The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get‘ had seen Walsh continue to take steps along the soft-rock pathway – even if it had some sidesteps of its own.
JOE WALSH – THE SMOKER YOU DRINK, THE PLAYER YOU GET (Released June 18 1973):
Rocky Mountain Way/Bookends/Wolf/Midnight Moodies/Happy Ways/Meadows/Dreams/Days Gone By/Day Dream (Prayer);
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