James Gang THIRDS

The James Gang: Joe Walsh (vocals, electric & pedal steel guitars, acoustic & electric pianos); Jim Fox (vocals, piano, organ, vibraphone, drums); Dale Peters (vocals, acoustic & electric basses).
Additional personnel: Tom Baker (horns); The Sweet Inspirations, Bob, Mary Sterpka (background vocals).
Producers: The James Gang, Bill Szymczyk.
Recorded at the Record Plant, Los Angeles, California; Cleveland Recording, Cleveland, Ohio; Hit Factory, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Dale Peters and Jim Fox.
Cleveland hard-rockers The James Gang were soon to kiss their golden age goodbye when their third album (helpfully titled THIRDS) was released; it would be their final studio recording with singer/guitarist Joe Walsh. From the soul/gospel inflections of "White Man/Black Man" to the string arrangements of "Again," and the country rock of "Dreamin' in the Country," THIRDS was the band's most diverse outing to date, but the centerpiece was the rocker "Walk Away," which remains one of the band's best-known tunes. Walsh would soon walk away himself, replaced by Domenic Troiano, and later by Tommy Bolin, so THIRDS is the last waltz for the classic version of the James Gang, whose popularity would soon begin to decrease even as Walsh' own star continued to rise, on his own and then with the Eagles.

• Format: CD
• Genre: Pop