Barnstorm

Biography

With this album, Walsh and Barnstorm moved away from the hard rock sound of the James Gang and explored a more folk-based, acoustic sound, influenced by such artists as James Taylor and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Taking a cue from The Who’s Pete Townshend, Walsh utilized the ARP Odyssey synthesizer to great effect on such songs as “Mother Says” and “Here We Go.” Walsh also experimented with acoustic guitar, slide guitar, fuzzboxes and keyboards as well as running his guitar straight into a Leslie...

With this album, Walsh and Barnstorm moved away from the hard rock sound of the James Gang and explored a more folk-based, acoustic sound, influenced by such artists as James Taylor and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Taking a cue from The Who’s Pete Townshend, Walsh utilized the ARP Odyssey synthesizer to great effect on such songs as “Mother Says” and “Here We Go.” Walsh also experimented with acoustic guitar, slide guitar, fuzzboxes and keyboards as well as running his guitar straight into a Leslie 122 to get swirly, organ-like guitar tones. The lone hard rock track on Barnstorm, “Turn To Stone,” has become the best known song from the album, since Walsh later re-recorded it for his solo album So What. Writing for Allmusic, critic Thom Jurek called the track “Birdcall Morning” a masterpiece and one of the greatest rock & roll love song of the early 70′s. In his review, he wrote of the album “While it’s true that Walsh established himself as a late-’60s/early-’70s guitar hero on the Gang’s more boogie-oriented rock numbers, it’s Walsh’s love of lushly textured production and spacy, open-ended songs featuring both acoustic and electric guitars that is showcased here on this wildly adventurous and forgotten unqualified masterpiece… Walsh tips the scales one more time back to the mysterious in the acoustic guitar and harmonica moment “Comin’ Down.” It’s another love song, which evokes the notion of the past as a way of creating a hopeful present. And it just whispers to a close, leaving the listener literally stunned at what has just transpired in the space of 35 minutes.” Walsh stated on his website that “Coming’ Down” is about coming down from an LSD trip. But who knows if he was joking, particularly as this song was recorded before his daughter, Emma, died. ______________________________________________________________________________ Joe Walsh leaves the James Gang. In the words of a future album, many asked, "So what?" Well, "what" was "Barnstorm", an aptly titled album for the first solo set from Walsh. It delivers in an unusual way. Not straight RnR, no "Funk #49" or "Walk Away" here, but powerful music backed by top drummer/flutist/percussionist Joe Vitale. While "Turn To Stone" was a concert mainstay of Walsh's pre-Eagles shows, it receives competition from "Here We Go" and "Midnight Visitor" for top accolades. "Giant Bohemoth", "Home", and "Mother Says" set the tone for the next two albums from Walsh (The Smoker You Drink and So What?). If there is a clunker it could be "I'll Tell The World About You" since Walsh doesn't seem to pull off ballads well although the point could be conceded due to the sincerity of voice. It just seems misplaced surrounded by this particular wall of sound. As with "Rocky Mountain Way..." you will get "Turn To Stone" on compilations, but you will miss the rest, which is equal to the quality of the"hit". Personnel Barnstorm Joe Walsh: Lead guitars, keyboards, piano, synthesizer, telegraph key, vocals. Kenny Passarelli: Bass guitar, guitarrone, vocals. Joe Vitale: Drums, percussion, keyboards, electric piano, flute, vocals. Session musicians Paul Harris: Piano, vocals. Al Perkins: Steel guitar. Chuck Rainey: Bass guitar. Bill Szymczyk: Backing vocals. Production Producer: Bill Szymczyk, Joe Walsh Engineer: Bill Szymczyk, Joe Walsh Thanks vsap for the previous wiki page. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.