Fabulous Friday: "Walk Away"

Years ago I was at Gracious Home on 62nd and Broadway (which has since closed) buying cleaning fluid for my humidifier. The store was on the ground floor and two floors below ground. I took the escalator down to the bottom floor and got what I needed, I'd been there before so I knew exactly where it was. I took the escalator back up to the ground floor, paid for it, and left.

Why is this story worth sharing? I was totally captivated by the song that was playing on the radio in the three to four minutes I was there. It was gritty and sexy like a rock song but had the catchiness and strong logical structure of a pop song. I was going to make a note of the lyrics so I could look up the song when I got home but didn't think there was any chance I could forget it.

Of course by the time I got home I had heard other songs (both inside my head and outside of it) and I had no memory of the lyrics. I opened my mind the next day and let it float. It seemed like there was a recurring phrase... That's it, "seems to me." The chorus was "seems to me" something. I did a Google search for "seems to me song" and there it was, "Walk Away" by The James Gang.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDynCjCLxy8h4&v=ynCjCLxy8h4

One of the greatest songs ever! Only three guys in the band so I assume Joe Walsh is singing harmony with himself in the grand tradition of Mary Ford and Patti Page. I imagine he didn't see himself as part of their sisterhood but I do.

Pretty soon after discovering the song I found this live performance on YouTube:

James Gang - Walk Away (1971)

I would not call any of these guys conventionally attractive but they're all sexy as hell.

Jimmy Vox on drums: shlubby dude and winner of the Alan Ginsberg lookalike contest. Dale Peters on bass: look up the word "wraith" in the dictionary and you'll see a photo of him. And Joe Walsh (headed for The Eagles in a few years) on lead guitar and vocals: sexy ugly in the extreme. Skinny but muscled a bit and I love that bob.

Is it the magic of being in a rock band? My late husband would be quick to point out that they're all under 30 so that gives them an unfair advantage.

A wacky side note about Joe Walsh. He married Marjorie Bach in 2008. Her sister is Barbara Bach, Bond Girl in The Spy Who Loved Me. But the wacky thing - - Barbara Bach is married to Ringo Starr. So Joe Walsh and Ringo Starr are brothers-in-law. This situation reminds me a bit of two American tenors from the 50s, Jan Peerce and Richard Tucker. Tucker was married to Peerce's sister.