Monday, December 19, 2022

James Gang - Miami (1974 us, energetic, muscular guitar rock)



Led by guitarist/singer Joe Walsh, The James Gang were a hard rockin’ outfit who had no problem filling out their music with only three players. When Walsh left the group at the height of their popularity to form Barnstorm, the rhythm section of bassist Dale Peters and drummer Jim Fox decided to soldier on, and expanded the group to a quartet with singer Roy Kenner and guitarist Domenic Troiano. 

After a pair of releases, Troiano left. At the suggestion of their old pal Walsh, Tommy Bolin was invited to saddle up and ride with The James Gang.

Peters recalls Bolin relocating to their home base of Cleveland, Ohio: “He was great. He just seemed like the right guy, played the right way – a spectacular guitar player. Tommy was actually relatively quiet, but the drug thing was hideous. He’d get up in the morning and take, like, 20 aspirins just to get going. When he was high he was great. But when he wasn’t he was just miserable."

Despite Bolin’s growing chemical dependency, there’s no denying that the two albums The James Gang recorded with him, 1973’s Bang and 1974’s Miami, are among the group’s finest, and are arguably among the most underrated rock releases of the 70s.
by Classic Rock, January 11, 2021 
Tracks
1. Cruisin' Down The Highway (Dale Peters, Tommy Bolin) - 3:23
2. Do It (Roy Kenner, Tommy Bolin) - 3:44
3. Wildfire (John Tesar, Tommy Bolin) - 3:35
4. Sleepwalker (John Tesar, Tommy Bolin) - 4:05
5. Miami Two-Step (Dale Peters, Jimmy Fox, Tommy Bolin) - 1:28
6. Praylude / Red Skies (Tommy Bolin) - 6:02
7. Spanish Lover (Jeff Cook, Tommy Bolin) - 3:43
8. Summer Breezes (Tommy Bolin) - 2:39
9. Head Above The Water (Dale Peters, Tommy Bolin) - 4:15

James Gang
*Roy Kenner - Lead Vocals
*Tommy Bolin - Guitars, Lead Vocals 
*Albhy Galuten - Keyboards, Piano, Synthesizer 
*Dale Peters - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals, Percussion
*Jimmy "Jim" Fox - Drums, Backing Vocals, Percussion, Keyboards, Organ
With
*Tom Dowd - Keyboards, Piano

1969  James Gang - Yer' Album (Japan SHM remaster)
1970  James Gang - Rides Again (2010 SHM remaster)

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