Tag: Joe Walsh

Picking Five Songs From 1973

On By bigbadburchIn Songs By Year4 Comments

Time marches on and it’s now 1973 on my songs and years thing. I honestly don’t have much to say about the year – I was not around for it and nothing really jumped out at me when I was looking through stuff. I had no problem picking five songs, it does get to be a problem a few years down the line as a lot more acts started up and things get really crowded. But for today, no problem.

Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Sabbath had issues recording their fifth album but when it came down to it they were able to belt stuff out, including this masterpiece of a title track. The song is somewhat bright and melodic (but still plenty heavy) for most of the way, then descends into one of the heaviest pieces of music ever recorded in the song’s final moments. This is truly the stuff of legend.

Pink Floyd – Time

One of the cuts from Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon album that took over the world and never let go. Time is a remarkable song with both atmospheric elements and also some flat out rocking all contained within. Time is the thing that rules over all our lives and also may very well not really exist outside our perceptions, but I don’t have time for all of that today. A marvelous song.

Joe Walsh – Rocky Mountain Way
Splendid stuff here as Joe was struck by songwriting inspiration while mowing his lawn in Colorado. It was the boost Walsh needed to get over his depression from leaving The James Gang and get his solo career kickstarted. Find a dive bar, get a cheap beer and enjoy this slice of rock n roll greatness.

Alice Cooper – Elected

Here lies one of the last vestiges of the Alice Cooper band, as after ’73 Coop would rebrand as a solo artist. Alice has actually run for President in most elections since this song, though obviously he hasn’t broke the threshold and been elected. But he put out this fun staple of his live set.

Montrose – Rock Candy

Montrose wound up billed as “the US’s answer to Led Zeppelin” when their debut album dropped in ’73. And this song was one huge reason why – it’s sleazy, groovy and balls out rocking. Montrose never got their commercial due, but this song was massively influential to legions of rockers who would come along later. This early version of Montrose was short-lived but they cranked out some badass music.

That does it for 1973. Nothing much else to go over, have a good weekend and we’ll get back to the grind next week.

Joe Walsh – Rocky Mountain Way

On By bigbadburchIn Song Of The Week7 Comments

I am still behind on getting posts caught back up, I’ll just skip things here and there until I can truly get caught up and then ahead. No real big deal, I don’t guess.

Anyway – today I want to have a look at Joe Walsh’s breakout song from his solo career. While Walsh’s marquee performance will always be tied to the Eagles and usually Hotel California, there’s little doubt that Rocky Mountain Way is one of a small handful of Walsh’s landmark solo cuts.

The song comes from what turns out to technically be Walsh’s debut solo album The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get in 1973. The album was billed as Joe Walsh, though the players actually went by the name Barnstorm, the group Walsh formed after quitting The James Gang in 1971. Barnstorm released a self-titled record in 1972, which was well-received critically but not a hot seller.

This album would do better business, hitting number 6 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and receiving a US gold certification. Rocky Mountain Way hit number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100, Walsh’s first true chart success.

Rocky Mountain Way is a blues-rock jam with one big, fat riff guiding it along. The song meanders along at an easy pace, it is not in a hurry to go anywhere and we are all the better for it lingering around. Walsh also employs the talk box in the song, while its use is panned in general it is a great fit in this particular song.

Lyrically, the song is about how Joe’s move from The James Gang to going solo was a good move for him. It was his way of pushing back the regret of leaving a band with success to risk it on his own. Joe relays in a 2021 interview with Howard Stern (embedded below) that he was mowing his lawn in Colorado when he was “knocked back” by the majesty of the Rocky Mountains in the background. He went into the house, suddenly having words for the music he’d already recorded, and also amusingly left his lawnmower running while crafting the lyrics. Walsh also calls this song the greatest solo song he ever wrote in the interview.

Over the years the song has remained as a staple of rock radio and is ever present in entertainment. Baseball’s Colorado Rockies play the song after every home win (insert jokes here), and the Denver Broncos use a Godsmack cover version during their games. The song has appeared in several movies and is also a part of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, having appeared on the rock radio station in GTA 4.

Rocky Mountain Way is Joe Walsh’s most-played live song, according to setlist.fm. Not only that, but it ranks number 8 in terms of the most-played songs on The Eagles list as well. The song even ranks in another artist’s list with no relation to Walsh – Canadian rockers Triumph covered the song and played it a lot on tour and it secures the number 6 spot on Triumph’s live list.

There’s little doubt that Joe Walsh will be most remembered for his contributions with The Eagles, not the least of which is his part in the solo that closes out Hotel California. But his solo material also deserves consideration, and Rocky Mountain Way is perhaps the top of the heap in terms of magnificence. That fat riff places you right in a smoky dive bar of days past and is one of music’s great moments.