Thirds | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 1971 | |||
Recorded | Fall 1970 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | Hard rock [1] | |||
Length | 36:02 | |||
Label | ABC Records | |||
Producer | James Gang & Bill Szymczyk | |||
James Gang chronology | ||||
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Thirds is the third studio album by the American rock band James Gang. The album was released in mid 1971, on the label ABC Records. It is the last studio album featuring Joe Walsh. "Walk Away" was released as a single, making the Top 40 on at least one national chart, reaching #51 on the Billboard Hot 100, the best placement of a James Gang single. [1] The album reached Gold status in July 1972. [2]
On the liner notes to the LP version of this 1971 album, Joe Walsh is credited with "guitar, vocals, and train wreck", the latter for his work on the song "Walk Away" as a wry commentary on the multi-tracked, cascading lead guitars that clash as the song fades out.
The Walsh period of the band came to a close with the release of the next album James Gang Live in Concert .
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Writing for AllMusic, critic William Ruhlman wrote the album "though Thirds quickly earned a respectable chart position and eventually went gold, it was not the commercial breakthrough that might have been expected." [1]
Billboard's review stated: "The James Gang has another good one here, another set scoring artistically and slated to score commercially. This hot trio has solid material, such as "Walk Away," country-flavored material such as "Dreamin' In The Country," and other top material, including "Midnight Man." "White Man/Black Man" is another winner." John Mendelsohn in Rolling Stone was equivocal stating "By no exertion of the imagination are James Gang the greatest rock and roll band ever to walk the face of the earth or anything... but they are capable of some nice little treats every now and again." Mendelsohn conversely called "White Man/Black Man" "a real no-two-ways-about-it embarrassment in the form of an overproduced plea for Greater Understanding between the races so that we can all Live Together." [2]
Side one
Side two
Chart (1971) | Position |
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Australian (Kent Music Report) | 42 [3] |
Billboard Pop Albums | 27 |
Joseph Fidler Walsh is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Best known as a member of the rock band Eagles, his five-decade career includes solo work and stints in other bands: James Gang, Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, and New Zealand's Herbs. He was part of the supergroup The Best and had success as a solo artist and prolific session musician, appearing on other artists' recordings. In 2011, Rolling Stone ranked him No. 54 on its list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
James Gang was an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band went through a variety of line-up changes until they recorded their first album as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh, Tom Kriss (bass) and Jim Fox (drums). Dale Peters replaced Kriss on bass for the band's second and third albums. Two of the band's songs, "Funk #49" and "Walk Away", continue to be popular on classic rock and AOR stations.
Barnstorm is the debut studio album by the American band Barnstorm, which was formed by guitarist Joe Walsh after he left the James Gang. The album was released in October 1972 on the labels ABC and Dunhill. It was the first album to be recorded at Caribou Ranch in Colorado.
So What is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh. It was released in late 1974 on ABC-Dunhill Records.
You Bought It – You Name It is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh. The album was released in mid 1983, on the label Warner Bros., two years after Walsh's successful album There Goes the Neighborhood. It was Walsh's second and final studio album to feature George "Chocolate" Perry as producer.
Ordinary Average Guy is the ninth solo studio album, and its title-track single, by American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh. The album was released in mid 1991. It was Walsh's first album of entirely new music since Got Any Gum? in 1987, and his first solo album to be issued internationally by Epic following a four-year alliance with Warner Bros. Records in the United States and Canada. The album features Ringo Starr, Survivor's lead vocalist Jimi Jamison, and the drummer Joe Vitale from Walsh's former band Barnstorm. Vitale also sings the lead vocals on the final track of the album, "School Days".
Songs for a Dying Planet is the tenth solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh. It was released in mid 1992, on the label Epic. Keen to re-establish himself after his ill-received 1991 album, Ordinary Average Guy, Walsh enlisted his former producer Bill Szymczyk. At the end of the track "Certain Situations," one can hear a Morse code message that says "Register and vote for me."
James Gang Rides Again is the second studio album by American rock band James Gang. The album was released on the label ABC Records. It is the James Gang's first album to feature bassist Dale Peters.
Two Sides of the Moon is the only solo studio album by the English rock musician Keith Moon, drummer for the Who. It peaked at No. 155 on the Billboard 200. The album title was credited to Ringo Starr. Rather than using the album as a chance to showcase his drumming skill, Moon sang lead vocals on all tracks, and played drums only on three of the tracks, although he played percussion on "Don't Worry Baby". The album features contributions from Ringo Starr, Harry Nilsson, Joe Walsh of the Eagles, Jim Keltner, Bobby Keys, Klaus Voormann, John Sebastian, Flo & Eddie, Spencer Davis, Dick Dale, Suzi Quatro's sister Patti Quatro, Patti's bandmates from Fanny Jean Millington and Nickey Barclay, and future actor Miguel Ferrer.
Live in Concert is a live album by the James Gang, released in September 1971. It contains highlights of a May 15, 1971 performance at Carnegie Hall, New York City. This album is the last James Gang release to feature Joe Walsh as guitarist and vocalist and Bill Szymczyk as producer and engineer. The album reached Gold status in June 1972.
Yer' Album is the debut studio album by American rock band James Gang. The album was released in early 1969 on the Bluesway label. This is the James Gang's only album to feature their bassist Tom Kriss. He was replaced by Dale Peters for their next album. The album is the first to feature guitarist Joe Walsh, who would later achieve success as a solo artist and with the Eagles.
The Best of Joe Walsh is a compilation album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh. The album was released in late 1978, on the label ABC Records. It features songs from his tenure with the James Gang as well as solo songs. Two tracks from 1974's So What were newly remixed for this compilation; "Turn to Stone" and "Help Me Through the Night".
Straight Shooter is the fourth studio album by James Gang, which was released in July 1972 on ABC Records in the US and Probe Records in the UK. This is the first James Gang album recorded after their guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Joe Walsh left the band and went on to form the band Barnstorm. The remaining members, Dale Peters and Jim Fox were joined on this album by ex-Bush singer Roy Kenner and guitarist Domenic Troiano. Bush, whose lone album was released in the United States by ABC's subsidiary label Dunhill Records, had broken up at about the same time as Walsh left the James Gang, so Kenner's and Troiano's joining Peters and Fox effectively merged the remnants of the two bands.
Miami is the seventh studio album by James Gang, released in 1974.
Newborn is the eighth studio album by James Gang, released in 1975, and the only released on Atlantic Records.
Jesse Come Home is the ninth and final studio album by James Gang, released in 1976. This album is the only one recorded with lead guitarist Bob Webb and keyboardist Phil Giallombardo. The title Jesse Come Home refers to one of the band's namesakes: Jesse James. The cover features an atmospheric painting of the folk hero riding off into the sunset, an image which fans had identified as evidence that the band had intended for this album to be its last. The band broke up in 1977, though they have reunited with classic bandmate Joe Walsh several times since then.
Barnstorm was the power trio created by Joe Walsh in Colorado after he left the James Gang. The original members of the group were Walsh, Joe Vitale and Kenny Passarelli (bass). Walsh and Vitale had previously played together in an Akron-based band called The Measles before Walsh joined the James Gang. All of the members contributed lead vocals and songs, although Walsh was the principal singer and songwriter. Later, the group added keyboardists Rocke Grace and Tommy Stephenson. Having two keyboardists permitted Barnstorm to play the complex arrangements live that it was creating through multitracking in the studio or through the use of session musicians such as Paul Harris (piano) and Joe Lala (percussion).
Analog Man is the eleventh and latest solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh, formerly of the James Gang and lead guitarist for the Eagles. The album was released in mid 2012, on the label Fantasy in the United States and the United Kingdom, It is also his first new solo studio album to be released since 1992's Songs for a Dying Planet, 20 years prior. The album features 10 new songs, and was co-produced by Walsh, Jeff Lynne, who also performs various instruments and backing vocals on the album, and Tim Armstrong from the punk band Rancid who co-wrote and plays guitar on one of the album's songs. The album also features contributions from the former Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, the former Barnstorm members, Kenny Passarelli and Joe Vitale, former James Gang members, Jim Fox and Dale Peters, David Crosby and Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills & Nash and also a duet with Little Richard.
Plantation Harbor is the second solo studio album by American rock musician Joe Vitale, released in 1981 by Asylum Records. The album was his only album to chart, peaking at No. 181 on the U.S. Billboard 200.
"Funk #49" is a song written by Joe Walsh, Jim Fox, and Dale Peters, and recorded by American hard rock band James Gang. The song featured as the first single off the group's second studio album James Gang Rides Again (1970). The song was a moderate success upon release, peaking at #59 on the Billboard Hot 100.