Posted on by Nathan Beaudry

Episode #58 – James Gang – Bang

Link to video on Cocoscope: https://www.cocoscope.com/watch?v=59081

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Lead up to the Album:

  • Previous to Tommy being in the band they’d been a power trio with Joe Walsh on guitar/vocals.
  • The band went through six other guitar players before Joe Walsh joined.  Phil Gialombardo was on keys and vocals with a slight overlap with Joe Walsh taking over vocals.
  • Their first album had Tom Kriss on bass before Dale Peters joined for the remainder of the band’s existence.
  • Jim Fox was the only original member that stayed throughout the band’s history.
  • When Joe Walsh left they hired Dominic Troiano and Roy Kenner to take over guitar and vocals respectively.  Both had been members of the Canadian band, Bush.
  • They did two albums with Troiano. 
  • Drummer Jim Fox said that they weren’t happy with the direction the band was going but Bolin joining gave them the energy they were looking for.
  • In interviews Jim Fox has noted that Troiano was a great guitarist but never really clicked with James Gang.
  • Walsh recommended Bolin.  The group was familiar with him from his work in Zephyr.  Later they would discover “Spectrum” and fall in love with that album as well.
  • Dominic Troiano was a great player but he had a strong R&B style that the others felt didn’t work well with the band.  He could play rock but his heart wasn’t in it.
  • When Joe Walsh recommended Tommy that was pretty much good enough for the band.
  • Their road manager, Roland Paquin, picked up Tommy from the airport.  As a joke he told Tommy that if he wanted the job he had to explain to the band how important R&B was to him and tell them that his favorite artist was Al Green.  Jim Fox said in an interview that their jaws hit the floor when they heard this but they all had a good laugh.
  • Jim Fox said that Joe Walsh and Dominic Troiano could play anything.  The difference was that Tommy could play it and mean it.  The others could play it if it was requested.

Personnel

Album Art & Booklet Review

  • Art Direction, Design and Photography
    • David Larkham
      • Elton John, numerous albums, Van Morrison, etc.
    • Ed Caraeff
      • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Caraeff
      • Bread, Tim Buckley, The Mothers of Invention’s “Uncle Meat” album, Zappa’s “Hot Rats”
  • Design – David Larkham
  • Photography By – Ed Caraeff
  • The original picture was of Domenic Troiano on the right.  They couldn’t reshoot the album cover because all the props had been disposed of so they simply added Tommy Bolin’s face over Toiano’s.

Technical:

Credits:

Album Tracks:

Side one:

  1. Standing in the Rain
    • Written by Tommy Bolin
    • Tommy Bolin on backing vocals with Roy Kenner
  2. The Devil is Singing Our Song
    • Written by John Tesar, Tommy Bolin
  3. Must Be Love
    • Written by Jeff Cook, Tommy Bolin
  4. Alexis
    • Written by Jeff Cook, Tommy Bolin
    • Tommy Bolin on lead vocals
    • Coverdale said in an interview that he’d wanted to record “Alexis” for “Come Taste The Band”

Side two:

  1. Ride The Wind
    • Written by Roy Kenner, Tommy Bolin
  2. Got No Time For Trouble
    • Written by John Tesar, Tommy Bolin
  3. Rather Be Alone With You (A.K.A. Song For Dale)
    • Written by Roy Kenner
  4. From Another Time
    • Written by John Tesar, Tommy Bolin
  5. Mystery
    • Written by John Tesar, Tommy Bolin
    • Jim Fox on piano
    • Bolin said in an interview that the song was originally over 10 minutes long but they reduced it down to 6 for the LP.

Reception and Review


Review from the Ann Arbor Sun by Stanley T. Zillifro.

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