Walsh Enjoys Regrouping of Eagles
Author: Jane Scott
Publication: Cleveland Plain Dealer
Date: July 8, 1994
Abstract: Joe gives a phone interview talking about what it's like to be back together with the Eagles and his current enjoyment of life.
Joe Walsh nervous?
"Well, yes, a little. I'd say we were all equally nervous," he admitted, calling from Toronto.
But the reunited Eagles' first concert May 27 at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in California - The "Hell Freezes Over Tour" - went over better than the five members thought it would, Walsh said.
"It's been such a long time since we've played together - 14 years. The audience seemed so excited, and we were anxious to live up to their expectations," he said. "It's easier now that we've played more shows."
Walsh, 46, still a Kent State University junior, needn't have worried. Reviewers said he was the surprise standout, the improviser who invigorated every song contribution.
"He stole the show in Denver, with his 'Rocky Mountain Way' song,' reported former Clevelander Wayne Ordakowski of Denver. A rock fan, Ordakowski was at the concert last month.
"Well, I do put in a lot of rock," Walsh said. "That's my department."
His department includes his sizzling "Funk #49" from "The James Gang Rides Again" album, the satirical "Life's Been Good" from his solo "But Seriously, Folks" and his zany "Ordinary Average Guy" title track.
The Eagles show, touching down at the Cleveland Stadium tonight at 8, is expected to include 29 songs and run three hours.
"We have a big stage set. It takes five semis to carry it all. It seems most of them are full of guitars," Walsh said, joking. The band has three guitarists - Glenn Frey, Don Felder and Walsh.
"And we have big screens on either side of the stage so we don't look like ants from way back. The whole set looks like some sort of wasteland," he said.
But the best thing group members have going for them is better camaraderie among the members - Henley, Frey, Felber and bassist Timothy B. Schmit - Walsh said.
"Don (Henley) is surprisingly mellow compared to the past. He doesn't argue much. He smiles more," Walsh said.
Another healthy sign is the enjoyment members take in playing each other's solo songs, Walsh said. "I love playing Don's 'Dirty Laundry' song. It has some challenging guitar parts. And I enjoy Glenn's 'You Belong to the City.'
Past arguments seem a long time ago to Walsh now. Henley once said that hell would freeze over before the group would get back together again. Felder, joining in 1974, had spoken then of grueling recording sessions and screaming matches among the members. The band broke up in 1980.
"But when I joined in 1975 - I was asked to replace Bernie Leadon who left - I didn't think that the Eagles were done yet," Walsh said.
Many factors have been given for the reunion, but Walsh believes the success of the "Common Thread" tribute album to the Eagles by well-known country artists was crucial. The album, released last fall, hit the top of the charts and has sold more than three million copies.
"We didn't really realize until then how long our songs have lasted," Walsh said.
Walsh, born in Wichita, Kan., started in rock with the James Gang in Kent in the early 1970s. That band's fortunes took a happy turn at a Pittsburgh concert in 1971, when the Who's Pete Townshend heard Walsh's guitar from his dressing room and came down to listen. Townshend not only dedicated the Who's next set to Walsh, but took the band on an extended tour of Europe.
Later Walsh founded Barnstorm ("Rocky Mountain Way") and had a successful solo career, selling out Blossom Music Center.
"But I always kept in touch with Glenn (Frey) and did duets with him," Walsh said.
The duo sold out Nautica last July in a concert that showed how diverse they can be and how much the group needs a live wire like Walsh. Frey looked like a jock in his dark trousers and short hair. Walsh came out in his tan suit and coonskin cap, with a glow-in-the-dark stick around his neck.
"We'll have a bit of silliness in our Eagles show in Cleveland, too," Walsh said. "I can't discuss it beforehand, but all the Eagles will have chances at it."
The show's song list will be heavy on the band's 1976 "Hotel California" album, Walsh said. "We'll open with that title track and after an intermission we'll do some acoustic stuff and individual stuff and then end up together. At one show we had eight encores."
Among the new songs will be a Henley-Frey song "Love Will Keep Us Alive," a takeoff on daytime TV talk shows.
The band's two-hour TV special should be out in September. They're putting finishing touches on it now, and Walsh expects a live album to follow.
Are the Eagles going to stay together?
"Looks like we'll stay together," Walsh said. (Manager Irving Azoff told the Los Angeles Times that the show is a resumption, not a reunion.)
Meanwhile, Walsh was in Toronto with singer Lita Ford filming a video, "A Future to This Life," the closing theme song to "ROBOCOP: The Series." Walsh co-wrote the song.
"I've gone from 'Life in the Fast Lane' to 'Life's Been Good' to 'A Future to This Life,' said Walsh. "I'm having so much fun I don't think I'll run for vice president of the United States again. But I do plan to finish up at Kent State some day."
