My Top 1000 Songs #356: Funk #49

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Here's the second kinda random-ass classic rock track whose emotional allure I attribute to my first concert--Joe Walsh, 1981, Poplar Creek. It's a stand-out Walsh number from his time with the James Gang, the opening track on the band's second album, 1970's James Gang Rides Again. I've always loved the guitar in particular here, some cool riffs that, shortly after afore-referenced concert, I asked my guitar teacher to show me how to play. I still use it as a warm-up exercise when I mess around with my cheap Fender Strat knock-off. And while it's a fine showcase for Walsh, it's also a great example of power-trio playing, everybody getting a chance to show off a bit.

Fun bit of trivia: My son took a rock appreciation course in college (yeah, that's apparently what my tuition payments went towards)... and his teacher was impressed that he was the sole millennial/Gen Y kid in the class able to identify this song when he played it for them. Sometimes it helps to have a music nerd for a dad.

Cool performance from the reunited band in 2006 on the Howard Stern show:

And last year, with Dave Grohl sitting in on drums (hey, weren't we just talking about Nirvana?):

With that other band he played in, the Eagles or something: