James Gang Tour 2006

Cleveland Preview

Link: Band won't walk away, hits trail for first time in three decades.

Band won't walk away, hits trail for first time in three decades

Friday, August 11, 2006

John Soeder

Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic

The James Gang was back in the saddle last week in Los Angeles, preparing to hit the road for the first time since the early 1970s. When singer-guitarist Joe Walsh, bass player Dale Peters and drummer Jim Fox weren't getting reacquainted in a rehearsal space or hanging out at the Hollywood Bowl with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Fox was waiting to take delivery of a treadmill.

Come again? A treadmill? Rock on, dude!

"I have to get in shape for this tour," a genial Fox said by phone from his hotel room. "Listen, man -- I'm old!"

Fox is pushing 59, as are the other James Gang-sters.

"I don't want to get winded," he said. "I want to be able to push this band for the duration."

Fox was studying music at Kent State University when he put the group together. The hard-rocking trio released its major-label debut, "Yer' Album," in 1969, followed in short order by the albums "Rides Again" and "Thirds."

"Way back when, we didn't tour in the truest sense," Fox said. "We worked long weekends."

Walsh left the band in 1971, launching a successful solo career that led to an invitation to join the Eagles.

Thirty-five years later, with signature James Gang songs such as "Funk #49" and "Walk Away" still blaring on classic-rock radio, the group is hitting the comeback trail in a big way, with 17 concerts from coast to coast.

"This is the real deal," Fox said. "We're playing some huge venues and some tiny venues. I just want to make sure a lot of people come and we give them a good show."

In addition to ample blasts from the James Gang's past, the set list likely will include Walsh's solo hit "Rocky Mountain Way." The group also has worked up a few covers, including the Beatles' oldie "In My Life" and the Spencer Davis Group's "I'm a Man."

Joining the James Gang on tour will be keyboardist Bill Appleberry, as well as three female backing singers, so Walsh doesn't have to carry all the vocals by himself.

"We're not using the singers on every song, but we're using them on some songs, I hope to great effect," Fox said.

The tour, which was set to commence this week in Sturgis, S.D., was preceded by a series of reunion gigs in Northeast Ohio in recent years, including a triumphant concert at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in 2001. Last summer, the band had two sold-out shows at the Beachland Ballroom, as well as a last-minute booking at House of Blues.

"The three of us went downtown to House of Blues and walked in the front door," Fox said. "We're like, Who can we talk to?' They couldn't believe it was us.

"Our original intention was to get together to write. We thought it would be fun to see how far we could go with this, see what was on our minds and see where we could take it."

Does this mean an album of new James Gang material could be in the offing?

" In the offing' is too strong," Fox said. "There is new music on our minds -- maybe that's the best way I can say it. It's part of what we want to do.

"Everybody asks Is there gonna be a DVD?' or Is there gonna be a live album?' from this tour. We don't know.

"We're not too calculating, to be honest. I really feel like we're just three guys who want to play, for the most part."

Walsh moved to the West Coast years ago. Fox and Peters still reside in Northeast Ohio.

"When it's all said and done, people don't change too much," Fox said. "If one of us plays a good lick, the other guys wink at him. All the little stuff that used to make it so much fun in the beginning is still there.

"Do we appreciate it more? I can tell you I do. This has been like a dream, man.

"We were always willing to try new things. And we still are."

Cleveland Preview

Link: Beacon Journal | 08/10/2006 | The gang's all here.

The gang's all here
Cleveland power trio Joe Walsh, Jim Fox, Dale Peters ride again on first tour in 30 years
By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal staff writer

The power trio: one of rock's simplest and yet most versatile groupings of musicians.

It is three people, usually on guitar, bass and drums, jamming as one and as individuals. Unlike your regular rock trio (think Triumph, or Muse), the true power trio can play tight as a drum or stretch out a song's structure to the breaking point, leaving ample room for all three instrumentalists to fully express themselves but never leave the groove behind.

Add copious amounts of power chords, distortion and volume (think early Blue Cheer or Cream) and you have a durable, relatively easy-to-transport rock 'n' roll machine.

On Wednesday, the James Gang, a classic Cleveland power trio, will take the stage at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls at a special hometown stop of its James Gang Rides Again tour -- its first national tour in more than 30 years. It will feature the classic lineup of guitarist/vocalist Joe Walsh, drummer Jim Fox and bassist/vocalist Dale Peters, all of whom are nearly 60 years old.

While the rest of the country will be getting its first taste of the Gang in decades, for Northeast Ohioans, the Blossom stop will be the end of a series of events that brought the three musicians and friends together to ride again.

The classic lineup has played periodically since Walsh left the band in 1971 to go solo. (He joined classic rock band the Eagles in 1976.)

There was a 1996 rally for President Clinton, a three-episode guest spot as part of sitcom star Drew Carey's band the Horndogs in 1998 and three shows for rock hall charities in 2001.

Drummer/founder Jim Fox said each show was ``great fun'' and a small step toward a more solid reformation culminating in last year's sold-out shows at the House of Blues Cleveland.

``When we finished those shows last summer, we began thinking in terms of maybe we could take this on the road and do something longer,'' Fox said from the band's Los Angeles rehearsal spot.

``We kind of felt like this was great fun and could we possibly find the time to go out with this for a while. That's how this came about, because we were able to make time in everyone's schedule.''

Part of the time needed was for rehearsals -- not the band's favorite activity and something they never really did before the previous reunion gigs.

``We're definitely working 10 times harder. We're taking this much, much more seriously because it's a series of concerts and we want to be great for them, so we're practicing like mad, which is something we hate to do but are doing anyhow,'' he said, laughing.

The James Gang is perhaps best known as a power trio but had several permutations in its initial decadelong run. Fox and bassist Tom Kriss were joined by formidable guitarist and aggressive proselytizer Glenn Schwartz, who still performs occasionally in Cleveland. Schwartz left the band in early 1968 and was replaced by Walsh, who knocked on Fox's door after hearing the band needed a new guitarist, while both were students at Kent State University.

After playing more gigs and dropping more members and instruments (keyboards, second guitar), the newly lean three-piece was heard by producer Bill Szymczyk, who signed them and produced their debut Yer Album in 1969. During that time, Kriss departed, and Fox's college buddy Peters was asked to join.

The two studio and one live recordings by that lineup -- 1970's Rides Again and 1971's Thirds and Live in Concert contained the big hits Funk #49 and Walk Away, but also showed that the band was more than just funky rock riffs and catchy harmonies.

Songs such as The Bomber, which inexplicably also incorporates snatches of Ravel's Bolero and the theme to Cast Your Fate to the Wind, showed they could jam. But they also dabbled in country rock on Dreamin' In the Country from Thirds, social commentary on the ersatz soul ballad White Man/Black Man and elaborately orchestrated psychedelia on Ashes, the Rain and I.

The latter is a personal favorite of Fox and a song that will make the set list at Blossom along with what Fox promises are some surprises.

``We're working on some things we haven't done in 20 or 30 years and some things we have never done (live),'' he said. ``We've completely reworked Walk Away and it's really exciting to play and we're talking about opening the show with it.''

As for his affection for Ashes, the Rain and I?

``I get to come out from the drum kit and play bass on that one,'' he said. ``Hey, you let me come out and be a real musician for two minutes.''

Fox also mentioned the band's cover of the Yardbirds' Lost Woman, originally a nine-minute blues-rock workout on its debut, as a song that fits the band's current vibe.

``It's turning into something close to what it was in the early days, where we could be on a stage and launch that tune and just play until we're finished,'' he said. ``There's a lot of room to roam in this set, that's for sure.

``We have a very clear understanding between us that if anybody wants to take off, just take off, play as long as you like and you bring it back with eye contact very simple,'' he said.

As for new songs, Fox said, the band is ``certainly'' working on them, though nothing will be ready for the tour. But band members plan to go into a studio where they may finally finish the elusive Funk #50.

Like its eventually completed predecessors Funk #48 and 49, the song stemmed from a recorded jam with no lyrics or title that was given a working name by Szymczyk -- funk for the rhythmic feel of the groove and the number to help keep track of the tapes used.

``We got about halfway through so there's still hope you may hear it yet,'' he said, laughing like a man happy to be playing music with his friends again. ``I guess it better make the new album. We better have a Funk Number 50 on there.''

Cleveland

The James Gang will appear on Wednesday, August 16th at the Blossom Amphiteatre in Cleveland.

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