Soaring Eagles
Talk about inflation! Used to be Memphis rock fans could catch Joe Walsh playing guitar around town for just a $2 cover charge. But if you want to see him Monday, it'll run you at least 20 times that, and that's if you can still find a ticket. Of course, this time out, Walsh will be playing at The Pyramid with Don Henley, Glenn Frey and the rest of the Eagles reunion. The "Hell Freezes Over" tour had been one of 1994's hottest arena tickets before Frey's diverticulitis stopped the show, including a Sept. 25 Memphis date. It was also one of the year's most expensive tickets, with most of the concerts topping $100 a seat. But back in the mid-'80s, Walsh was one of the locals, sitting in with bands at Murphy's and clubs on Overton Square, playing benefits and just generally hanging out. After spending the late 70s in the eye of the Eagles storm, it was a much needed break for the guitarist. "I wasn't getting much done in Los Angeles at the time," Walsh recalled in a telephone interview. "And Memphis was and still is a real center of undiscovered talent and just tradition And in the West Cosast's continuing search for some kind of identity, I just decided to come to Memphis and spend time there." While here, he worked with Gary Belz, who had earlier been involved in renovating and reopening The Peabody. Together, the pair opened Kiva Recording Studio, which is currently being converted to the first House of Blues Studio. "It's going to have kind of a headquarters for blues-related things," Walsh explained, speaking in a recent phone interview. "It'll be a vehicle to launch some new people who are really deserving of recognition and continue researching of stuff that's around and getting it out." Among the planned projects for House of Blues is a release by the Gales Brothers--Eric, Eugene and Manuel Gales, the latter of whom is known on the international blues circuit as Little Jimmy King. Another House of Blues album will feature previously unreleased Albert King recordings that also feature Walsh on second guitar. Walsh returned to Memphis to perform a slide guitar arrangement of Amazing Grace at Albert King's funeral on December 28, 1992. Walsh came out of Akron, Ohio, in 1969 with the power trio The James Gang, scoring a 1970 hit Funk 49. Going solo in 1971, he topped the charts a couple of years later with Rocky Mountain Way, a song that remains a staple of bar bands all over the world. In 1976, he joined the Eagles and recorded the 9 million-selling "Hotel California," considered one of the top rock albums of all time. But that was the beginning of the end for the Eagles, as mega-success began exacerbating the group's already tender egos and the band acrimoniously called it quits in 1982. While the rest of the group pursued solo projects, Walsh opted for Memphis in the meantime. But as the years past, the members of the band occasionally got together. In 1993 Walsh teamed with Frey for a tour that included a sold-out stop at Mud Island. The show featured both men's solo hits, some James Gang material and Eagles song. But it was the Nashville tribute album that came out later that year that got the ex-Eagles thinking about a reunion. "Common Thread--Songs of the Eagles" featured such country stars as Travis Tritt, Trisha Yearwood, Brooks & Dunn and Vince Gill. The album quickly went platinum and the members of the Eagles got together with Tritt to shoot the Take It Easy video. From there the long-talked about reunion fast became reality, with a special filmed for MTV and a resulting live album. "Hell Freezes Over," so named because that's when the group once said they'd get back together. "The tribute album really kind of amazed all of us," Walsh admitted. "It really was a kick in the pants for us. It really kind of was the final thing to push us into trying it (a reunion). For Walsh, lots of things have become a lot more real lately. A notorious drinker and druggie, Walsh has cleaned up his act and for longtime rock fans, a clean and sober Joe Walsh is even more of a surprise than a reunited Eagles. "It's the least I could do," Walsh said of the transformation inspired by the Eagles reunion. "What we do ain't easy and I decided to get into training for it. I quit all bad habits, let's put it that way." And without the chemical excesses of the late 70s, the older and wiser Eagles have been getting along better. Walsh said, "We're settled down. We agreed on a basic sanity within which to operate and we've all got our heads screwed on much straighter. We're getting along fine. Sometimes there's tension, y'know, but a controlled tension was always a part of the band. "But the foundation's really there, it really is rewarding to play together again. That's what makes it so strong. We're not doing it 'cause we have to. It really is fun and it's a challenge." Making up the dates missed when Frey got sick last fall will take the tour into late spring, after which the band may be working on a full studio album of new Eagles material. Finishing the tour, Walsh said, "is our first priority, but we're talking about going in the studio." Walsh is hoping to do another solo album and says he as been trying to come up with a funny title for it, a trademark of the man whose albums include "Got Any Gum?" and "The Smoker You Drink the Player you Get." "I'm thinking about it. I better come experience Memphis before I finalize one. I'm sure there's one floating around down there on Beale Street." Walsh looks back fondly to his own days of floating around down on Beale. "I tell you what, it really expanded my awareness." he said. "It was a real kick in the pants playing with some of the folks down-town. It was great to get back in a club situation. We're so used to playing one set a night in a concert format, it was great to just get down to the roots again. It really opened my eyes to an awful lot of music...There's nothing like going back to the basics to get headed off in a new direction. It really brought me around to basic blues and stuff when I probably was trying to over-intellectualize or over-orchestrate. Sometimes less is more, y'know." But as the new Joe Walsh works out and keeps in shape, he can't help but wonder if that "less is more" stuff applies to exercise too. After all, the healthiest Eagle should have been Frey, a well-known fitness butt who has done TV commercials for weight-training. "That scares me," confessed Walsh with a hoarse chuckle. "Maybe I shouldn't take care of myself. I don't want to get too healthy. I'll get sick. Larry Nager |