33 1/3

Monday, August 19, 2013

Joe Walsh – ”But Seriously Folks…” (1978)

When I lived in the US 1989-90 I listened quite a lot to radio stations with classic rock as their niche. Now and then a song called Life's Been Good was played, and I thought it was pretty good. Although I wasn’t familiar with the lyrics I experienced the chorus line Life's been good to me so far as very positive and uplifting, it always had me create some distance from my confused teenage life and realize that life was actually pretty good. And I suddenly became happy and euphoric.

But I had no idea who the artist was and thought on my return to

Sweden

that I would never hear the song again (remember, these were the days before internet and Google). Then one day I found a cheap LP with someone called Joe Walsh of whom I had no knowledge. But it was such a cool cover I couldn’t resist buying it. It was laying around at home for quite some time before I played it the first time. What I heard I thought was so-so, it wasn’t really my kind of music. At the time I always searched for druggy, mysterious and obscure music, and what I heard on But Seriously Folks ... was quite far from it. To say the least. I thought it was boring standard rockn’roll without anything special. Actually a real B-album. If I remember correctly, I didn’t even listen to the entire album, but let B-side remain unplayed for a long time. In my world, Joe Walsh was a nobody who probably got to make one record that no one bought, and then nothing more.

So imagine my surprise when I finally played the B-side, you still have to play through all your LPs, and the last song was Life's Been Good! A coincidence of cosmic proportions, I thought.

Somehow I thought that this was a lesson - that I had an album at home, laying around unplayed for a long time, which turned out to contain one of my favourite songs and my musical alternative to antidepressant medication. I don’t really know what this lesson consisted of, today I surely have 100 LPs at home which I haven’t had time to listen to yet, and I’m in no hurry, either. Who knows what’s hidden in them.

Joe Walsh had a relatively successful solo career alongside his commitment as a guitarist in Eagles, and before that James Gang and Barnstorm. Far from being a nobody. But Seriously Folks ... contains his biggest hit - Life's Been Good. The music on the album is closer to Eagles than Pink Floyd, you can surely say. I suppose, anyway. I haven’t heard much with Eagles, honestly. But all other four Eagle members participate on the album.

It's pretty straightforward, easygoing rockn’roll, mostly with a feel-good vibe. Today, I like it better than I did at the time of purchase. First, I know what to expect from the album, and my need for mystical and obscure music not as big anymore. There are good songs and a nice production. The songs are generally guitar based, with song. But you also get the instrumentals Inner Tube and Theme From Boat Weirdos. Quite a nice album, which may not affect me deeply, but still is OK. The opening track Over And Over is a favourite today together with Second Hand Store and Theme From Boat Weirdos.

The hit Life's Been Good is a rather humorous and unpretentious description of Walsh’s life as a rockn’roll star. Walsh ran his own presidential campaign in 1980 and one of his issues was making this song to the new national anthem. One of his campaign promises was Free Gas For Everyone. Joe Walsh seems to be a pretty fun guy, but he didn’t become president.

The music on But Seriously Folks ... is still not really my kind of music, but I like the album better the older I get. So today I must say it’s a pretty good album.