The James Gang - Yer' Album

walsh's 1st and best

Looks like i'm not alone in claiming this one as a contender for a top ten list. Tight..yet loose...jammy..but not boring..and still plenty heavy enough. These guys were firing on all cylinders with this one...and Joe has never topped his guitar work on Yer Album. Jim and Dale provide a tight, complimentary base for Walsh's lengthy guitar histrionics..and the material here is top notch. Worth it for the Gangs rendition of Bluebird alone...and as a former drummer..well..give the drums a listen..good stuff!! November 18, 2008

Not enough superlatives for this one

As a native of Columbus OH, I had the privledge of seeing the James Gang BEFORE this album was released--it was my first concert, in the old World Theater on High St. near OSU. Jow Walsh has been my favorite rock musician ever since.
I won't talk about the individual songs--other reviewers have done a great job of that. But I wanted to point out a few things about this record that others have not mentioned, or may not be aware of.
First, just one reviewer pointed out that the vinyl version has, in the very inner groove, the phrase "turn me over" on side 1 and "play me again" on side 2. This shows Joe's clever nature coming through early. If the turntable goes to the last groove, these phrases are repeated until the needle is lifted.
Or could that have been Bill Szymczyk, the record's producer? That's the guy Joe has the exchange with on "Stone Rap". Wanna buy a duck? Of course, Bill went on to produce for many big time artists, including the Eagles and The Who. Was it also Bill's idea to have a backward guitar riff in the opening of "Bluebird"? Or was that Joe? How about the words that serve as preamble to Funk #48 (which in my opinion is better than #49)?
Some reviewers commented on the bass work. The bass player on Yer Album was Tom Kriss, who was replaced (quit the band? I don't know) before Rides Again. I think Kriss is as good as Entwistle (who, by the way, had Joe play guitar on at least one of his solo albums). Kriss and bandmates understood (as did The Who) that a bass guitar is a GUITAR and can play a second lead line. Indeed, that's the way Jimmy Fox played the drums.
Finally, it is interesting to note that the pictures of the band members on the cover were taken in Kent, OH, next to the bridge over the Cuyahoga River (yes, the one of "catches on fire" fame). Joe was a student at Kent State for a while, and although I don't think he was taking classes at the time, he was present on campus when the National Guard opened fire and killed 4 and wounded several others. (See the inside liner of "So What" for a photo).
Thanks for reading this!
August 13, 2008

A Classic Album Remastered

The James Gang's debut album, YER ALBUM, has been given a sterling remastering job by Universal, and the result is proof that guitarist-singer Joe Walsh was great even as a young man. "Take A Look Around" urges people to look at the world around them, and inspired me to choose good songs when asking young women for a dance. "Stop" is the James Gang's "Free Bird" or "Whipping Post", and there's other great stuff here, too. The bandmembers' belief that the young Australian tourist jailed in Indonesia since 2005 for drug-smuggling was falsely convicted makes this CD an essential purchase for both your ears AND your conscience. June 27, 2008

MUDDY REMASTER PRECEDED BY AUDIO-SUPERIOR IMPORT SET

In 2000, MCA re-issued all three Walsh-era James Gang albums in remastered format. Unfortunately, the remasters are particularly lackluster, suffering greatly in the clarity department.

However, the previous year, the German Repertoire label released a 2CD "Best Of", with their own dedicated remastering.

Quite simply, the Repertoire set is the James Gang album you literally never knew you really wanted, especially if you own all three MCA CD's. All the muddy sound of the MCA discs is gone; the percussion is clear, the bass thunders and Walsh is there in all his distorted glory, with the dynamic range of the original albums perfectly intact.

Unfortunately, the Repertoire disc has the abbreviated "Bomber Medley", which is an enormous sore point for JG fans. Also, Repertoire allotted a major portion of the set to the non-Walsh JG years; only 14 of the 40 tracks are Walsh-era material. I'm sure many JG fans will have their opinions over excluded tracks, but the selections were made with input from Jim Fox, who contributes a song-by-song synopsis of each track in the booklet. There is also probably the best essay on the history of the band of any JG CD ever released.

It's a shame that Repertoire didn't produce individual editions of the first three JG albums, because they would have blown away the lackluster MCA discs. But, I've heard just about every other JG "best of", plus the BGO discs, and the Repertoire set towers above them all. While less than half of the Walsh-JG tracks are contained on the Repertoire set, no true JG's fan's collection is complete without it. April 28, 2008

One of Yer' Old Favourite Albums

There would probably be two main reasons why someone may wish to purchase this album; either to replace a worn vinyl copy, or to track the career of Joe Walsh.
Historians may correct me on this one, but I understand "Yer' Album" represents JW's 1969 recording debut and his contribution is unmistakeable on this release. It may be also be correct to say that Joe's vocals are a little thin in delivery, and I admit the album is patchy in places, but for me this is part of its appeal.
Coming as it does from an era when heaviness, either as in metal music or socio-political message was seen as an important ingredient to music, the lightness of this production is part of its appeal. We don't find important statements made here, or any of the fuzzy funky drawn out head-banging which was so popular with many of the hippies and pretenders of the day.
Bill Symszyk's production keeps the sound clean and uncluttered, while Jim Fox and Tom Kriss form a potent rhythm section driving the gang along their musical journey. Cleverly engineered, the album moves from track to track with seamless progression. Jokey out-takes and snatches of studio banter are included giving the production almost the feel of a single pass one-take recording.
And through it all we can hear the technique and style of a master at work, stretching and sliding, jingling and jangling as few can.
Highlights include "Funk #48" and the genuine one-take "Lost Woman".
Excuse my nostalgia and listen for yourself, there is something here for everybody.
January 7, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...