If there's a better rock song than Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good," I don't know what it is

Anyway, "The Confessor" is Walsh's greatest solo achievement. We're talking epic rock grandeur here, people!!

The middle breakdown with the ping-pong synths in "Life's Been Good" is definitely awesome tho..

i'm sorry.

you have to hear the live 'beat club' version of "seems to me." stomps "life's been good," which i've been sick of since i was about 8 years old.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wow

My apologies, yes I meant "Walk Away"

Walsh's voice is cancer, but I confess to liking the line "I can't complain/but sometimes I still do". I should use that the next time someone asks me how I'm doing (as opposed to recent nominee "horseshit, but I'm used to it").

I mean come on, "Lamborghini" fit the meter perfectly and the '76 Countach was easily capable of 190

Speaking of the worst song ever (and wasn't somebody?), my current nominee is the most recent cover of that dreadful "wanna get lost in rock and roll" song that I swear to God is being played on some radio station within earshot every fucking minute of the day. People must be killing themselves left and right because of this virus.

Bill Withers may be cool (and is a great punchline to a joke about ducks that I can't remember at the moment), but this song must be stopped. (I think he did the original anyway.)

(Q: How do you know if a duck can sing R&B? A: You leave it out in the rain, and its bill withers.)

"I.L.B.T.s"

yeah, that's funny. and some of the other self-mocking lines are pretty clever. the song doesn't have that much else going for it though. and that breakdown...it isn't funky, it doesn't rock, it doesn't really do anything interesting. it's just...there. for like 5 minutes.

YO!

"I have a limo/I ride in the back/I watch the Lakers/They stink without Shaq."

Some excerpts from various Guitar Player interviews...

Excerpt from September 1993 Guitar Player
Pete T.: Guitar players have always known. You get the right Strat. You get the right guitar cable. You plug it into the right old Fender amp and you get the sound. I’m just taking a safe route there. There are lots of other chains that produce great sounds.

I remember when I gave Joe Walsh an ARP 2600. He went, [mimics Joe Walsh] “Pete. I don’t know what to get you in return so I bought you a Gretsch Country Gentleman, like Neil Young uses. I know you don’t really get into them, but you should try this. And I bought you a Fender Bandmaster amplifier with three 10s so the ohmage is crazy, and an Edwards pedal steel volume pedal.” I linked it all up, went “Ya-a-ang” and it was there. When I get those three things out and put them in a chain, it’s a sound from paradise. If I try to fuck with it and say, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if I took the Gretsch and put it through a Zoom pedal,” it doesn’t work. It’s got to be just that combination of stuff.

CG: You recorded some incredible music with that Gretsch.

PT: I’ve still got it. It got broken by accident. I trod on it. It still sounds wonderful. I’ve still got the amp and I often use it. I used it on the album. It’s the same chain, even the same guitar cable — an old Whirlwind.

Excerpt from Guitar Player, October 1989
Do you have a favorite period in your career, where you feel you broke down what you regarded as guitaristic barriers?

I think the significant moments have actually had a lot to do with guitars, actual guitars. Like being given an orange Gretsch Country Gentleman [sic] and an Edwards [volume] pedal by Joe Walsh, and being told exactly how to set up the amp to produce that amazing Neil Young noise, and using that sound on “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Bargain.”

PT: Oh, I used that guitar on every track on Who’s Next, it’s the best guitar I’ve ever had. It won’t stay in tune on stage but if it did, I would use it. It’s the finest guitar I’ve ever owned, it’s the loudest guitar I’ve ever owned. It is so loud, man, it whips any pickup that I’ve ever come across. It’s maybe six or seven times louder than anything I’ve come across. If I plugged it in my amp tonight, normally I’d be working on volume 6 or 7, but I would work this guitar on 1.

For those who haven't seen it yet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JG-TmFKw2s&search=james%20gang

BOW DOWN!

One time when I saw the Mekons, they endorsed Walsh's presidential candidacy.

But I am glad this thread reminded me to download Funk #49, though.

I just figured out this and the Clapton song "Motherless Children". They seem to want to work together. I think I'll whip a segue from one to the other at the next jam.

Both in A, both with post-Allman slide...they'll make a good pairing, I think.

i just downloaded this yesterday

eagles 'these shoes' is pretty fucking great too.

The Eagles = awesome despite fierce ILM resistance

If you, like, 'em, you like 'em, but sign me up for that fierce resistance.

This is a Joe Walsh song, however. Originally untainted by Henley.

Ergo, not an Eagles song, even though it has become a live staple of theirs, apparently.

And as Dennis Leary said

"I got two words for Don Henley: Joe Fucking Walsh."

THE DUDE:"Come on, man. I had a rough night and I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man!"

This is entirely true and a very valid authority to appeal to.

But I think that (a) you can prefer the solo output of the individual members of a group to the output of the group itself. Also, (b) you can greatly enjoy the band's output, but hate the solo output of one or more of its members.

(a) Joe Walsh/Eagles; Ice Cube, Dre/NWA
(b) Beatles/Paul McCartney

And to your point: I think that Joe Walsh is SIGNIFICANTLY closer to Creedence than the Eagles, much less Don Henley or Glenn Frey, and therefore more likely to be enjoyed by the Dude.

Also - Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh each have a 20th Century Masters Millenium Edition Greatest Hits.

Not so for Mr. Henley

When it comes down to it, at the end of the day, when all is said and done, and with all things being equal...

Don Henley is the reason that the Eagles sucked. Sometimes it is more apparent than others, but he is the bad apple that ruined the bunch.

I've never had much desire to meet and/or hang with celebrities, but i've always thought that in a perfect world John Waters and Joe Walsh would be my neighbors, and we would barbeque every weekend.

The first time an ex gf of mine ever came to my house she got all excited realizing she had briefly lived around the corner when she was 12. "And you'll never guess who lived next door... Joe Walsh!!!" (He lived here for about a year and a half during and after recording _Got Any Gum_ at Ardent). She then began to regale me with tales of him playing guitar for her and her sister, buying them goofy christmas presents and the time she walked outside to find a shopping cart from the neighborhood grocery perched on the roof of his carport.

I could probably live without "Life's Been Good" for the rest of my life. In fact, I could probably live without Joe Walsh for a long, long time.

OMG this is so OTM.

omg!

B.L.A.M, your Henley hate is misguided. If anyone is the problem, it's that insufferable Glenn Frey.

it's the politics of contraband, it's the smuggler's blues

yeah, I agree Frey is way more annoying than Henley. and frankly, to answer this thread's question, when it's 3 AM I'd always rather crank up the Henley-sung "On The Border" by the Eagles. Ultimate kick-ass drug song.

also better than any Walsh solo track except probably "Turn To Stone" or "Time Out". or "The Confessor", ha!

Walsh is fond of telling the story of recording the "Hotel California" solos with whoever the fuck the other Eagles guitarist was...anyways, Joe and the other guy are listening to the playback of the solos, and Henley storms into the control room shouting, "What is this shit? These solos are fucking bullshit! You guys aren't even in tune!" Henley demands that they re-record the solos and leaves the room. Walsh and the other guy sit there snickering, and do absolutely nothing to "remedy" the solos.

About an hour later, Henley comes back stoned to the gills. He says, "OK, let me hear the new solos you guys just did." Walsh plays the exact same take Henley heard earlier. Henley beams, "That is SO MUCH BETTER."

My fave Walsh story is when he was playing in Ringo's All-Star band and George Harrison stops in to catch the show and hang out backstage. Years prior, Joe was in awe of George's playing and vowed to learn 'And Your Bird Can Sing' note-for-note, which he did. Joe plays George played the whole piece, note perfect. Imagine his surprise when the amazed Harrison told him the original was double-tracked.

Oh man. There's gotta be a biography on The Eagles full of anecdotes like these, right?

B.L.A.M, your Henley hate is misguided. If anyone is the problem, it's that insufferable Glenn Frey.

This is probably true. I was a little drunk when I ranted on Henley last night. He has some redeemable moments. Joe Walsh is the man, though.

"In the City" by Joe Walsh is better, esp. when you hear it as it's playing over the end credits of The Warriors.

I still say that ending The Warriors with this song is like ending Scarface with "Margaritaville".

That "And Your Bird Can Sing" anecdote is possibly an urban myth. I first heard it in college c. 1988.

http://www.snopes.com/music/media/guitar.asp

Great story though. I hope it's true.

Same here, I love Joe Walsh.

since most Americans vote for the candidate they'd most like to have a beer with, I'm surprised the "Joe Walsh for president" campaign of the late-70's didn't have more traction...

he promised to make "Life's Been Good" the official national anthem, by the by...

Reposting from Steve Kilbey's blog

we went to aa n na meetings
where we saw the occaisional famous druggie
joe walsh from the eagles visited me in my room
(this is true)
he used to visit any musicians staying at exodus
(and there were plenty)
i asked him how he liked the other guys in the eagles
who had recently reformed
he spun round n looked at me
"well, i hate the bastards but i aint drinkin'"

Is Joe Walsh really the douche that he appears to be? Are "Life's Been Good" and "Ordinary Average Guy", contrary to their apparent messages, just swaggering ruminations on incredibly awesome he is?

how incredibly awesome, that is

no youtube of the song, no cred

^^ the above use of an already existing ILX meme is proof that K.K. is a troll, jaymc take note.

...or maybe i've just seen it used a lot of times?

i heard this song in an arby's the other day and suddenly it was like i was in the real world again

https://open.spotify.com/track/2wvMC5EyaaYQwBfiwwY2xE?si=7usTOOHiT6GPya2_G4jIkw

“I’m just looking for clues at the scene of the crime…”

just how many hooks are in this song? it's such a strange pastiche of songwriting, would love to read an interview that details the composition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIzyTk1fuf0

i hear you but nevertheless i feel like there are better rock songs