Patch Blog: The Acoustic Download--Joe Walsh

Last week, I told you the first reason why I don’t purchase songs from iTunes even though I do have an iPod – I prefer to listen to songs within the context of their album.  You might say: “Why don’t you just buy the whole album on iTunes?”  Ahh, that answer can be found in my second reason which really shows my age – I want to hold the physical manifestation of my music (i.e. a CD) in my hand because I don’t trust hard drives to keep my music safe.  Also, my truck only has a CD player and doesn’t allow me to plug in an iPod.

When you purchase a CD, you also get the full digital file of the music and not the much smaller digitally compressed MP3 file which makes compromises in the quest to reduce file size.

OK, enough of the pontification.  This week I am very excited for, on Wednesday evening, I will be going to a concert given by one of my all time idols of rock and roll: Joe Walsh.  Joe is a musical genius pure and simple.  His style of guitar playing is so unique that I can I can identify his work in any song within a matter of two or three seconds.

Joe’s career spans over four decades starting with The James Gang from 1968 to 1971.  In 1971, Joe formed his own band that included the stunningly gifted Joe Vitale who is an amazing drummer, flautist and pianist.  After producing three stellar solo albums in the early 70’s, The Eagles band asked Joe to join up with them to give their music a creative edginess.  Joe transformed the Eagles and was a key driver in the success of their smash hit 1976 album “Hotel California”.  That album sold 16 million copies in the US alone and won two Grammies.

It is in his brief early 70’s solo career, when Joe Walsh had full creative control over his music, where his true genius and attention to detail really stand out.  He released three albums from that period:  “Barnstorm”, “The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get” and “So What”.  While Joe’s voice is not that of your typical Rock crooner, it is absolutely unique and the harmonies that he creates with his voice (and multi-track recording) are second to none.

Joe turns 64 years old in a few weeks and this is the first time that I will see him on tour as a solo artist.  I will be attending the concert with my 19-year-old son, John, and Cameron Whiting, the 18-year-old son of a long time friend of mine. These two young bucks are well versed in the magic of Joe Walsh from the many times we have listened to his music sitting by our campfire somewhere out in the middle of the desert.  I’ll let you know how it goes….

So, for the first of many Joe Walsh tunes that you will find out about on this blog, this week’s selection is “Falling Down” by Joe Walsh from his “So What” LP

To hear it now on Grooveshark go to:

http://grooveshark.com/#/s/Falling+Down/3UQJl2?src=5

To purchase it on iTunes go to:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/so-what/id60494