The James Gang - Funk #49

Sunday, time for a classic.

"Funk #49" is a tune by the American rock band THE JAMES GANG.

"Funk #49" became a staple of Album Oriented Rock and Classic Rock radio, but it wasn't the biggest chart hit for THE JAMES GANG - that would be "Walk Away," which made #51 in 1971 and was later reworked for Walsh's 1976 solo album "You Can't Argue with a Sick Mind". "Funk #49" is one of Joe Walsh's most popular songs, and by the mid-'70s he admitted that he couldn't stand playing it any more, but did so because fans loved it.

Walsh wrote this song with his bandmates, drummer Jim Fox and bass player Dale Peters. The song is about a girlfriend whose wild ways the singer just can't tame (the female equivalent of Joe Walsh's character in his solo hit "Life's Been Good"). There isn't much in the way of lyrics, as the song is mostly a showcase for Walsh's guitar work. He explained in the book The Guitar Greats, "I came up with the basic guitar lick, and the words never really impressed me intellectually, but they seemed to fit somehow. It was a real good example of how we put things together, bearing in mind that it was a three piece group, and I don't think that there was any overdubbing. The only thing we really added was the percussion middle part, which the three of us actually played, putting some parts on top of the drums, but that's the three piece James Gang, and that's the energy and kind of the symmetry we were all about."

THE JAMES GANG was an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band enjoyed moderate success with the singles "Funk #49" and "Walk Away," and are perhaps best remembered as the first popular band to feature the guitarist/vocalist Joe Walsh, who became solo musician and later a member of the EAGLES.

Enjoy todays classic!

At a Joe Walsh concert at The Nautica Pavillion in Cleveland, THE JAMES GANG are reunited onstage. Cleveland Ohio 1991


Joe Walsh, Funk 49, James Gang 1992



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