{"id":522,"date":"2006-09-08T10:09:49","date_gmt":"2006-09-08T18:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2006\/09\/08\/james-gang-at-universal\/"},"modified":"2006-09-08T10:09:49","modified_gmt":"2006-09-08T18:09:49","slug":"james-gang-at-universal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2006\/09\/08\/james-gang-at-universal\/","title":{"rendered":"James Gang At Universal"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAKE A LOOK AROUND<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good things must end
They never last
Look to tomorrow
Forget the past<\/em><\/p>\n

You know when love ends.\u00c2\u00a0 Usually just a couple of beats after they do.<\/p>\n

For every guy who hits on a girl, there’s a plethora of males who wait to be approached, wait for the girl to take the initiative.\u00c2\u00a0 They need to be pre-approved.\u00c2\u00a0 To avoid the heartbreak of rejection.<\/p>\n

It came for me on lower Standard.\u00c2\u00a0 At Stratton.\u00c2\u00a0 On April 8th, 1967.\u00c2\u00a0 When Steph called out to me from the lift.\u00c2\u00a0 I thought she was yelling for someone else.\u00c2\u00a0 Then I looked around and realized there was nobody else there.<\/p>\n

She recognized me from Bromley, across the way.\u00c2\u00a0 She said she’d wait at the top.\u00c2\u00a0 And from there ensued a connection that didn’t die until years after I’d graduated from college.\u00c2\u00a0 But the romance, the spark, that evaporated for me that late 1969 evening between Christmas and New Year’s in her ski house in Dorset, Vermont.<\/p>\n

I’d pushed it.\u00c2\u00a0 Not hard.\u00c2\u00a0 I sensed maybe she was over me, but sometimes girls are hard to read.\u00c2\u00a0 She could have said no.\u00c2\u00a0 But, instead she allowed this newly-nascent driver to navigate the dark Highway 30 to her abode, to be completely rejected.<\/p>\n

It took place around a mini pool table.\u00c2\u00a0 Fashionable in that decade.\u00c2\u00a0 Ostensibly my friend Ronnie and I were playing Steph and her friend.\u00c2\u00a0 But in the middle, the girls dropped out.\u00c2\u00a0 And then I got that sinking feeling, it was time to go.\u00c2\u00a0 But it wasn’t long after we’d arrived.\u00c2\u00a0 I hung in.\u00c2\u00a0 As my stomach turned sour.\u00c2\u00a0 As I listened to the James Gang’s "Yer’ Album".<\/p>\n

I don’t know who turned Steph on to the record.\u00c2\u00a0 She lived in Old Greenwich, listened to the same New York City radio stations I did, but I’d only read about the band.<\/p>\n

I can picture it like it happened last Christmas.<\/p>\n

I don’t think you know
Though you’ve been told a million times
It’s not clear to see
Unless you read in between the lines<\/em><\/p>\n

I saw her around Bromley a few times later that week.\u00c2\u00a0 We only locked eyes once or twice.\u00c2\u00a0 I did my best to avoid her.<\/p>\n

And as soon as I got back to Connecticut I got in my mother’s VistaCruiser and drove to Korvette’s to buy "Yer’ Album".<\/p>\n

It was strange.\u00c2\u00a0 Steph had turned me on to the record.\u00c2\u00a0 But in my bedroom that January, it was me and the James Gang getting over her.<\/p>\n

TEND MY GARDEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Would you like to come home with me
I can think of things to show you<\/em><\/p>\n

A long lunch period in the library gave me another love.<\/p>\n

More like another hope.\u00c2\u00a0 Ellen was too confusing, she blew hot and cold.\u00c2\u00a0 We went to see Sly & the Family Stone together, but I went to see the James Gang and Rhinoceros at Staples High School without her.<\/p>\n

Fairfield, Connecticut borders on Westport.\u00c2\u00a0 But the two towns couldn’t be more different, especially the half of Fairfield I resided in.\u00c2\u00a0 My domicile was a melting pot.\u00c2\u00a0 Westport was all upper crust.\u00c2\u00a0 We’d go shopping on Westport’s Main Street, to Sport Mart and the Remarkable Book Shop, but we integrated not at all with the students at Staples.\u00c2\u00a0 But, in the spring of my senior year, I journeyed with a buddy I can’t remember to the Staples auditorium to see my favorite new band.<\/p>\n

Rhinoceros headlined.\u00c2\u00a0 They were a big priority at Elektra.\u00c2\u00a0 After all, Billy Mundi had played with the Mothers.\u00c2\u00a0 At the end of their performance, they allowed the assembled multitude to take the stage and sing along with "You’re My Girl (I Don’t Want To Discuss It)".\u00c2\u00a0 I was too inhibited to climb the stairs, yet I noticed a sophomore from Andrew Warde, my school, mugging.\u00c2\u00a0 But I wasn’t a show-off, I was a listener.<\/p>\n

Gigs at high schools were so different from the Fillmore.\u00c2\u00a0 There was no production, just music.\u00c2\u00a0 You had to make it on your ability.<\/p>\n

This was before Joe Walsh was Joe Walsh.\u00c2\u00a0 But when he sat down at the organ and played the intro to "Take A Look Around" I felt that rush of elation that only music can generate.<\/p>\n

Not long thereafter, "Rides Again" was released.\u00c2\u00a0 Suddenly everybody knew the band, kids getting stoned all over to "The Bomber".\u00c2\u00a0 There was one more album when I was a freshman at Middlebury, then Joe left the band.<\/p>\n

ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spent the last year Rocky Mountain way<\/em><\/p>\n

Joe’s solo album, "Barnstorm", stiffed.\u00c2\u00a0 But then, after everybody counted him out, Joe Walsh became a star.\u00c2\u00a0 Talking on the box during his guitar workout, "Rocky Mountain Way".<\/p>\n

I didn’t see him when he played in Salt Lake City in the spring of ’75, but I did buy his live album to drive cross-country with the following spring.\u00c2\u00a0 And as I crested Vail Pass at the beginning of June, I listened to "Meadows".\u00c2\u00a0 A rip of "My Woman From Tokyo", but with added dynamics, just as powerful in its own right.\u00c2\u00a0 When that riff happens, you’re as happy as a listener can be.<\/p>\n

Then Joe joined the Eagles.<\/p>\n

Then Joe had a resurgence.<\/p>\n

Then the Eagles broke up.\u00c2\u00a0 Joe couldn’t sell a record.\u00c2\u00a0 Almost nobody wanted to see him.<\/p>\n

But then hell froze over and the Eagles reunited.\u00c2\u00a0 But on Don Henley’s schedule.\u00c2\u00a0 And now, with time on his hands, in between Eagles extravaganzas, Joe Walsh has reunited the James Gang.\u00c2\u00a0 If you think I was going to miss this gig, you don’t know anything about me.<\/p>\n

ASHES, THE RAIN AND I<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indulge me.\u00c2\u00a0 Please.<\/p>\n

I was on the back patio of the Universal Amphitheatre speaking with John Boylan about "Home On Monday", the Little River Band track he cut, when he got an urge to introduce me to Linda Ronstadt’s keyboard player.<\/p>\n

John reappeared with not only the ivory-tickler, but Paul McCartney’s guitarist\/keyboardist.\u00c2\u00a0 I didn’t know exactly what to say.\u00c2\u00a0 But then conversation shifted to Timothy B.’s solo record.\u00c2\u00a0 I knew Timothy B., didn’t I?<\/p>\n

Well, sure, I knew who he was.\u00c2\u00a0 I even heard a Poco song on the way over, but I didn’t know him.<\/p>\n

And John reaches over my shoulder and shags Timothy B. and introduces me.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is always uncomfortable, pressing the flesh with people who have no idea who you are.\u00c2\u00a0 But, as we shook hands, Timothy B. said it was good to put a face with the voice.\u00c2\u00a0 HUH?<\/p>\n

He’s a listener to my KLSX show…<\/p>\n

I asked him why he didn’t call in.<\/p>\n

Timothy B. shrugged and then it was time for the gig.<\/p>\n

They started off with "Funk #49".<\/p>\n

It was like being in a time warp.\u00c2\u00a0 It was as if MTV hadn’t happened, never mind hip-hop.\u00c2\u00a0 The venue was two-thirds full and nobody in attendance was there casually.\u00c2\u00a0 They’d gotten the memo.\u00c2\u00a0 They needed to see the band.\u00c2\u00a0 Whose records they listened to in their parents’ basements.<\/p>\n

After "Funk #49" came "Take A Look Around".<\/p>\n

I don’t think you know
Though you’ve been told a million times
It’s not clear to see
Unless you read in between the lines<\/em><\/p>\n

This was not a teenage gig.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, everybody didn’t stand throughout.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, they left their seats upon the band’s emergence.\u00c2\u00a0 They rose when excited.\u00c2\u00a0 They clapped for solos.\u00c2\u00a0 They sang along.\u00c2\u00a0 But mostly they sat in their seats in deep contemplation<\/p>\n

This was a sixties crowd.<\/p>\n

Going to concerts was different.\u00c2\u00a0 It was not about making an appearance, but EXPERIENCING THE MUSIC!\u00c2\u00a0 Being enveloped by it.\u00c2\u00a0 Rolling around in it.\u00c2\u00a0 Allowing yourself to be free, to let your mind wander.<\/p>\n

I used to say there were two different kinds of concerts.\u00c2\u00a0 The kind that was all visceral excitement, and the kind wherein your mind drifted, loosened from its mooring by the tunes.<\/p>\n

It’s thirty seven years later.\u00c2\u00a0 And thousands of people still care.\u00c2\u00a0 On a Wednesday night they needed to come out and not only kiss the ring, but touch their own lives.<\/p>\n

This isn’t the Rolling Stones, all spectacle.\u00c2\u00a0 This is about playing.\u00c2\u00a0 God, you could see the joy on Jimmy Fox’s face.\u00c2\u00a0 And Dale Peters played with the dexterity and furor of Entwistle.\u00c2\u00a0 But although he fit in with the band, it was Joe Walsh’s night.<\/p>\n

That became clear when he sat down on a stool at the edge of the stage and played "Ashes, the Rain and I".<\/p>\n

Those MTV Unpluggeds were a gimmick.\u00c2\u00a0 None of those artists were recording music on acoustics.\u00c2\u00a0 Everything was overproduced on the album and just stripped down for this show.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas in days of yore, bands had vast repertoires, including not only blazers, but quiet numbers.\u00c2\u00a0 A concert wasn’t just a thrill ride, but a whole day at Disneyland.\u00c2\u00a0 When Joe hit every note on that guitar, when he played the twelve string thereafter, my mind was jolted from its mental reverie into the present.\u00c2\u00a0 When confronted with excellence, you stand up and take notice.<\/p>\n

But for so much of the gig, I was sitting down, reviewing my life.<\/p>\n

How did I get here.\u00c2\u00a0 Who’d have thunk I’d be involved with who I am.\u00c2\u00a0 Isn’t it amazing that all these years later those elements that were the center of my life still hold?<\/p>\n

TAKE A LOOK AROUND II<\/strong><\/p>\n

Too many roads to walk
Moments too few<\/em><\/p>\n

After the gig, Larry Solters told me how hard it was to get the word out.<\/p>\n

Radio’s not interested and the target demo doesn’t listen anyway.<\/p>\n

You’ve got to rely on the Internet, but baby boomer word of mouth is not explosive.\u00c2\u00a0 When the band had played at Mandalay Bay two nights before, there were three gigs at the HOTEL!<\/p>\n

It’s too confusing.\u00c2\u00a0 We used to listen to KMET and know everything that was happening.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, you can pay attention and still be out of the loop.<\/p>\n

And it’s not like we have to sit through albums and discover secondary cuts like "Wrapcity In English" and "Fred", tracks that only reveal themselves over time.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s an all hits all the time business.<\/p>\n

And that’s what it is, business.<\/p>\n

Whereas sitting there last night I saw it through the band’s eyes.\u00c2\u00a0 Barely twenty, they’d heard the Beatles and picked up their instruments.\u00c2\u00a0 And being so popular at Kent State, they’d gotten to make a record.\u00c2\u00a0 And TOUR!\u00c2\u00a0 All the way to Westport, Connecticut.\u00c2\u00a0 It was not only about the music, but the adventure.\u00c2\u00a0 It was a way to see the world in the pre-Internet era.<\/p>\n

Those days are never coming back.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d like to tell you where’s we’re going, but I can only guess.\u00c2\u00a0 I can just tell you I lived through something.\u00c2\u00a0 When music was the most important thing on the planet.\u00c2\u00a0 Eclipsing not only TV, but sports.\u00c2\u00a0 Going to the gig was one’s ultimate desire.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s where it happened.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s where the records came alive.<\/p>\n

The records came alive last night.\u00c2\u00a0 Aged discs that I still play.\u00c2\u00a0 To hear them re-created on stage was akin to seeing an unfurling of the Dead Sea Scrolls.<\/p>\n

But this was truly my religion.\u00c2\u00a0 Guys not interested in celebrity speaking from deep inside their souls to me, for the JOY OF IT!<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TAKE A LOOK AROUND Good things must endThey never lastLook to tomorrowForget the past You know when love ends.\u00c2\u00a0 Usually just a couple of beats after they do. For every guy who hits on a girl, there’s a plethora of males who wait to be approached, wait for the girl to take the initiative.\u00c2\u00a0 They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-live-shows"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-8q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}