THE JAMES GANG
The James Gang was a rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band enjoyed moderate success with the singles “Funk #49” and “Walk Away”, and are perhaps best remembered as the first popular band to feature the guitarist/vocalist Joe Walsh, who later became a member of the Eagles. (More from Wikipedia)
James (Jimmy) Fox was brought in as the drummer for the last several sessions for the Outsiders’ first album, Time Won’t Let Me. Fox then dropped out of college and formed the James Gang in 1966, a band that enjoyed considerable success over the coming decade and, with songs like “Walk Away” and “Funk #49”, were tailor-made for the “album rock” era that was just starting to emerge in the very early 1970’s on FM radio. One of their later bandmembers, Joe Walsh became a bonafide superstar and joined the Eagles for a time.
Though the James Gang and the Raspberries each had a generous write-up, there was nothing at all in Wikipedia on the Starfires or the Choir, so I also contributed those articles.
(February 2010)
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This was the first post where I tried to talk about more than just the band itself. Many people might have wondered why Cleveland of all places was chosen to be the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so I presented my own theory: that it was (or at least should have been) due to the largely forgotten musical scene there in the 1960’s and 1970’s. More to the point, rock bands like the Raspberries, the Outsiders and the James Gang are certainly well known enough; but most people don’t know that Cleveland was their hometown. Another long-time fave of mine is the Cleveland punk band the Dead Boys and its frontman Stiv Bators, though they were only indirectly pertinent to this discussion.
(February 2012)
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“Are You Ready?” by Pacific, Gas and Electric is a long-time favorite of mine that is more of a straight rock song; it is sort of an analogue to “People Get Ready” by the Impressions. The band was formed in Los Angeles in 1967 with a line-up that included lead guitarist Glenn Schwartz, who was previously in the James Gang; his replacement in that band was future superstar Joe Walsh.
(July 2014)
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The Cleveland music scene has long fascinated me; rock bands from the future home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included the Choir, the Outsiders, the James Gang, and the punk rock band the Dead Boys. I had picked up a more comprehensive album of songs by the Choir, called Choir Practice, and also an album of material by the Starfires, the predecessor band to the Outsiders who still had that name when they were trying to line up the release of their major hit song “Time Won’t Let Me”. More recently, many years after locating their other three albums, I finally found a copy of Album #2, considered by most rock critics to be the best album by the Outsiders.
(December 2017)
