John Revell's estate threatened legal action for the non-authorized use of “Bolero” when the first records hit the store shelves. "Wow man, I dig this band the most."Ī side note: I’m sure that fans have stumbled upon the issue regarding the censored versions of Rides Again, with the abbreviated story going something like this this: All original first edition versions of this album contain a suite at the end of side one entitled “The Bomber.” Only the original first pressings of the album contain this three part suite, as shown in the track list accompanying this entry, which includes a 1:25 minute segment titled “Bolero,” suggesting a total running time for the suite of 7:04 minutes. It's a perfect October afternoon out there, put the top down, let the wind blow through your hair as James Gang takes you rollin’. James Gang became known as the stoner’s band and I must concur that that brand is well deserved and is stamped deeply into the brains of most of us from the day. yet they don’t, they hold you right on the edge with marvelous chord changes and outstanding numbers that will have you hitting the repeat button more than once. One of the things that makes this record so great is that James Gang seem to hold back just enough, leaving you waiting for them to push through hard, as most bands from this era did. I just don’t find much to complain about with this record as the production is outstanding, there's nothing sloppy with the playing by any of the band members and when that guitar pick slides down the strings I'm left to wonder if they knew they had just developed a signature mark. But don’t go thinking they’ve gone soft, "Woman" rocks your back teeth as well as anything you will ever come across. "Tend My Garden" is every bit as trippy as the song "Collage" from the Yer Album release, and equally as moving. It was truly a time of experimentation with the James Gang blending everything from Rock to Funk with the sweet strings of violins, bass, cellos, and tiny textured tappings of the piano's white keys. may have been THE greatest jam band after The Grateful Dead. Add to that an injection an undertone of funk that even Sly Stone would have been proud of, paved the way for nearly every aspect of the stoner rock genre, influencing Aerosmith and countless others, and while in concert. Impossible to be missed is the dimensional body and weight of Dale Peters' probing low-end bass lines that resonate the floorboards. This was a stunning record, one that picked up right where Todd Rundgren left off, layered and mixed from psychedelic lessons learned from The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour and of course from Led Zeppelin II and their heavy blues influences. The record opens with "Funk 49," reminiscent of their initial offerings, and while they draw deeply from those first offerings, James Gang step out lightyears from that point in their career, especially with this second album coming so quickly on the heals of their first. This is the album for which most people remember the James Gang, and that’s a shame because their other releases offer a variety of really great material, though all in all, this is their knock’em dead release. and I tell you true, I can almost smell 1970 and the ragtop of my MGB warming in the sun, while images of Halloween rushed by me as I headed out of town in search of open backroads. So as my hand moved across my vinyl this morning, there must have been some sort of genetic musical memory that caused me to stop right here. Nearly forty years ago on a beautiful fall afternoon, an afternoon just like this one, the James Gang rode into my life.
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