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sodascouts
01-05-2007, 06:33 PM
I recently got this CD, and I like it. "Tomorrow" is pretty much the story of my life- I cracked up when he sang that he was spending today making a list of things to do, but he was going to do them all tomorrow. Yep, am there, doing that. I also liked "Indian Summer" - thought it had a nice melody. We all know "Life's Been Good," But as for the other four, I was just "eh" about them. They were fine, but didn't really grab me.

However, what is this "Theme from Boat Weirdos"? A joke title, or is it for a real movie? Sorry to sound so ignorant! :blush:

Toonlass
01-05-2007, 07:29 PM
As I understand it, Theme from Boat Weirdos is from the time spent on board a huge yacht which was hired by Bill Szymczyk when the recording was happening for the album. Installed in the yacht was a small studio and they would work on the tunes whilst sailing. They nicknamed themselves the Boat Weirdos (who knows what they got up to on that boat!!!) and the song which made the album from those days sailing was Theme from Boat Weirdos.

As for the album, its the first one I bought, and I really love it, it has a nice progression of songs, until of course Life's Been Good. I could never understand that one being there, doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the album. Second Hand Store and Tomorrow are probably my favourites from the album, its still one which I'll play beginning to end though and I love the album cover so much I bought the LP so I could have a big copy :D

Freypower
01-05-2007, 09:13 PM
Second Hand Store is one of the most beautiful things Joe has ever done and included Felder's beautiful pedal steel.

I love both Over And Over and At The Station - in the latter the line about being like a general just relieved of command is a favourite of mine.

Indian Summer is probably one of Joe's most personal songs, and very moving.

Tomorrow may proclaim that the Lone Arranger did the arrangement but the song is rather bland and not a real showcase for anyone's talents - including Joe's, but I don't mind it. I like the instrumentals and there's probably not much left to say about the final song.

I love 'Joe Walsh appears courtesy of Joe Smith- the Asylum label boss! Appearing on your own album with the label's permission! I'm surprised it also doesn't say 'Joe Walsh appears courtesy of Glenn Frey' as this is during the protracted Long Run period. :twisted:

sodascouts
01-05-2007, 09:44 PM
I'm going to give it a few more listens to let it sink in more. Life's Been Good does kind of seem startling after the more laid-back, contemplative songs. Although, I guess in its own ironic way, Life's Been Good is contemplative, too!

glenneaglesfan
01-06-2007, 08:53 AM
Thanks for the explanation of Boat Weirdos, Toon.

But Seriously Folks is one of my favourite albums. My other half had a tape of it when I first met him - he'd labelled it 'But Sincerely Folks'! I bought the cd last year and often listen to it. I agree that Life's Been Good sits a little uneasily at the end, but I enjoy Joe's guitar playing in the middle, and of course now it brings back memories of last summer - sigh. I actually like all the tracks, but Indian Summer is my favourite - it's sensitive and haunting, and showcases what a range of talent this man has. The two instrumental tracks at times have a classical quality that I find quite sublime.

Ive always been a dreamer
01-07-2007, 02:53 AM
Thanks for the info about the boat weirdos, Toonie. I guess I need to add But Seriously Folks to my wish list.

BTW - It's so nice to finally see a Joe avatar on the board. I love it!

Toonlass
01-07-2007, 05:54 AM
You're very welcome for the info...I always find it interesting to see how names came about....especially Joe's stuff as a lot of it is not so straight forward.

As for the av...it is a lovely picture....one of my favourites actually.

sodascouts
01-07-2007, 02:02 PM
I like that photo of Joe, too. He looks so sweet and approachable.

I've been listening to But Seriously Folks... some more and it's growing on me. I'm going to have to get some more Joe! Right now the only one I have besides BSF is the Millennium Masters collection.

Ive always been a dreamer
01-07-2007, 03:12 PM
I'm going to have to get some more Joe!

Well - If you're lucky, maybe you'll have another dream about him :!: :D :shock:

BTW - I have the Millennium Masters Collection CD as well, and I like it a lot.

sodascouts
01-07-2007, 06:01 PM
I'm going to have to get some more Joe!

Well - If you're lucky, maybe you'll have another dream about him :!: :D :shock:

Shoot, that Joe dream I had after making his avatars was one of the hottest dreams I've ever had in my life. :blush: He was pretty wild in it. I don't think I could handle many more of those!

Z
01-07-2007, 07:13 PM
Shoot, that Joe dream I had after making his avatars was one of the hottest dreams I've ever had in my life. :blush:

Really?!? Hmmm, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to my photobucket account. Timmy avatar anyone? :smitten:

sodascouts
01-08-2007, 07:33 PM
I was thinking of getting So What next. That's such a lovely version of Help Me Through the Night.

Toonlass
01-09-2007, 02:21 PM
So What is a great album, though also quite sad, as it has Pavanne and Song For Emma on. I can't listen to Song for Emma without welling up a little, such a heartfelt song.

sodascouts
01-09-2007, 04:14 PM
I had heard the story of Emma, and so I downloaded that song off of iTunes a while back even though I didn't get the album. It made me tear up too, especially these lines: "You were with us for a while and He took you, and He made your mama cry. I can see it in her eyes, there's a question as to why. And after all this time still I find that I'm without an answer. Good Bye. Bye love."

Maleah
01-09-2007, 05:22 PM
geez.......did you have to post this soda lol Now I'M tearing up and that's just a small portion of the song! And I've never even heard it!

sodascouts
01-09-2007, 06:05 PM
I know, Maleah, it's so sad. The only song I can find that's comparable is George Strait's Baby Blue, which he recorded as a tribute to his daughter who died at the age of 13 in a car accident. "Baby blue was the color of her eyes. Baby blue, like the Colorado skies. Like a breath of spring she came and left, and I still don't know why.... but here's to you and whoever holds my Baby Blue tonight."

Maleah
01-09-2007, 07:14 PM
*sigh* Just when I got to feeling a little bit better...........ya had to spring that one on me. lol That is such a beautiful, sad song. Did George write the song? Or was it about somebody else and their baby?

sodascouts
01-09-2007, 07:21 PM
George didn't write it, no, but he dedicated it to her. It really is gorgeous, although so very sad.

Maleah
01-09-2007, 07:42 PM
awwwwwww, I didn't know that. That's so sad. Sometimes it's so hard to understand why things happen the way they do. :(

Ive always been a dreamer
01-12-2007, 12:15 AM
Okay - now you all stop this. You've got me tearing up, too. :weep:

Perfect Little Sister
01-12-2007, 01:40 PM
OMG...I have always loved that song. I had no idea as to the story behind it. Now every time I hear it, it'll get me snivling.
And btw, I still call my 25 year old "Baby".

sodascouts
05-16-2011, 04:20 AM
When I saw that today was the anniversary of the release of But Seriously Folks..., I went looking to see if we had a thread for it. This four-year-old nugget is what I found. I hereby revive it, rename it, and reclaim it as a celebration of But Seriously Folks! Feel free to post your thoughts on the album.

WalshFan88
05-16-2011, 10:35 AM
But Seriously Folks is my favorite Joe Walsh solo album. "Life's Been Good" is my favorite Joe song and is Joe's best song IMO.

whitcap
05-21-2012, 12:59 AM
Bringing this thread forward for the anniversary of "But Seriously Folks..." which was released 34 years ago this past Wednesday (5/16). There are some great songs on this one. :)

mustangkim11
05-21-2012, 05:42 AM
In my quest to acquire everything Joe, I recently bought this one as well.

Great bunch of songs and my favs on this CD would be-

At The Station
Indian Summer

sodascouts
05-23-2012, 11:13 AM
Thanks again, whit. You rock! I love this album.

Windeagle
05-23-2012, 11:39 AM
BSF was the only Joe album I owned for a long time. I got it around the same time I started building my vinyl Eagles collection, back in my senior year of high school. I think one of the reasons I liked it at the time was that it did sound so "Eagle-y." That's probably the result of being recorded in the middle of the Long Run sessions. Funny that I never made that connection until recently.

I can't say that there are any songs on it that I dislike. Over and Over was one of my favorites, and I was SO pleased to hear Joe play it live last fall. It was a song I had forgotten about in the years since my turntable broke and I was busy with kids. After the show, I went out and bought it again on CD.

WalshFan88
05-23-2012, 11:47 AM
My favorite Joe solo album!

Of course everyone here knows Life's Been Good is my favorite Joe song. It's a fantastic song. Although I do like the version on "Eagles Live" the best, the studio original is timeless and fantastic. That opening riff is one of the greatest guitar riffs of all time. A true classic IMO. It's one I play constantly.

And the rest of the album is fantastic as well. And I love the album cover.

Windeagle
05-23-2012, 11:56 AM
My favorite Joe solo album!

Of course everyone here knows Life's Been Good is my favorite Joe song. It's a fantastic song. Although I do like the version on "Eagles Live" the best, the studio original is timeless and fantastic. That opening riff is one of the greatest guitar riffs of all time. A true classic IMO. It's one I play constantly.

And the rest of the album is fantastic as well. And I love the album cover.

I love the Eagles Live version of LBG too! I just re-invested in Eagles Live on CD and discovered that I had one of the lines wrong. I never knew he was saying, "They write Tim letters, tell Glenn Don's great."

In fact, I think it's because of Eagles Live that I don't truly think of LBG as a "solo" song in the traditional sense. I know that technically it is, but it seems more like a step-sibling to the Eagles collection than a completely different family.

WalshFan88
05-23-2012, 12:23 PM
I love the Eagles Live version of LBG too! I just re-invested in Eagles Live on CD and discovered that I had one of the lines wrong. I never knew he was saying, "They write Tim letters, tell Glenn Don's great."

In fact, I think it's because of Eagles Live that I don't truly think of LBG as a "solo" song in the traditional sense. I know that technically it is, but it seems more like a step-sibling to the Eagles collection than a completely different family.

I couldn't agree more. LBG is more of an Eagles song to me... The harmonies on the chorus, the twin guitar solos played together by Joe and Felder (now Joe and Stu), etc just make it the perfect Eagles song for me. It's one of those songs that truly could have easily been an official Eagles song anyway. It fits right in with their whole "excess song" thing that was a part of the Hotel California album. I could have easily seen that song fitting right in on that album.

Eagles Live in general is just absolutely fantastic. I wish Already Gone was on there, but pretty much all of my other faves are on those discs. That album is awesome. I greatly prefer it to the HFO CD setlist-wise.

I was reading the other day where Keith Urban's guitar player (Brian Nutter) said that Eagles Live was one of the things that made him want to pick up a guitar and play. It's a great album.

sodascouts
05-16-2013, 10:39 PM
Happy 35th birthday "But Seriously Folks"! Love this album!

sodascouts
05-17-2014, 12:46 AM
And another Joe solo album was born this day: But Seriously Folks...

Fantastic album.

WalshFan88
05-17-2014, 12:54 AM
LOVE this album.

Probably my favorite Joe solo album....Life's Been Good - 'nuff said!

Midnight Visitor
05-17-2014, 10:54 AM
First side of that album is GODHEAD!! Awesome. If I never heard Life's Been Good again, that would be fine.

Ive always been a dreamer
05-18-2014, 06:21 PM
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS ...!!!

This is one of my favorite Joe solo albums too. Wow - will be listening to a lot of Joe lately. The Confessor just celebrated an anniversary. Now, I've got to listen to There Goes the Neighborhood in the early part of this week, and then I'll close out the week by listening to this one! Such a chore! :thumbsup:

Ive always been a dreamer
05-24-2014, 03:43 PM
I listened to TGTN and BSF this week, and I have to admit that I got But Seriously Folks mixed up with So What when I said it was one of my favorite Joe solo albums. To be honest, I think it is just 'okay'. As much as I love the song and agree that Life's Been Good is a standout on this album, it does seem somewhat out of place here. I guess one could argue that it's a good contrast to the other rather laid back slow tempo songs. Maybe it wouldn't seem out of place if there were a couple of other uptempo songs on the album. To me, that would provide the variety that is lacking. When there isn't variety in tempo on an album, I begin to get bored because all the songs start sounding alike to me. Of the first five songs on the album, Tomorrow is probably my favorite. On the other hand, maybe Life's Been Good is so remarkable that it makes the others seem pale in comparison. :shrug:

Midnight Visitor
05-25-2014, 10:45 AM
I'm so sick of Life's Been Good I rarely listen to it anymore. In fact I prefer the Flock of Wah, Wah's afterwards to the song itself. I absolutely adore the first side of the album tho. Some of Joe's prettiest songs.

However, having said all that, So What is absolutely incredible! Barnstorm is my fav. Joe album w/So What close behind.

Ive always been a dreamer
05-25-2014, 02:03 PM
OMG, MV - I don't think I'll ever get sick of hearing Life's Been Good. But, there are some songs that I just never tire of and this is definitely one of them!

shunlvswx
05-16-2015, 08:45 AM
Happy 37th birthday But Seriously Folks.

I've only heard 6 of the 8 songs on the album thanks to Pandora and Iheart Radio. I think this is my favorite album of Joe's.

Funk 50
05-17-2015, 07:07 AM
I often wondered why Joe tended to release his albums around May time. It happened too often to be a coincidence.

But Seriously Folks was the first Walsh album released after I became a Walsh/music fan. I didn't buy it straight away, as it was more expensive than his back catalog that I was searching, high and low for. I spent a long time, in record shops, looking at the fabulous, gate-fold cover though.

I firstly bought the single from a cut price, ex-chart bin, the short version of Life's Been Good, coupled with Theme From The Boat Weirdos.

I never really liked Life's Been Good until I saw it performed live on the Eagles HFO tour in 1996. I saw the attraction of it though. The instrumental B-side was much more to my liking. Joe's slide guitar was/is just genius.

The album as a whole was a little bit too much, Eagles AOR, for me. Second Hand Store was pleasant enough, Over And Over had a brilliant slide guitar solo but I was pretty indifferent to the rest.

Over the years I've grown to like it more, after hearing live versions of Over And Over, Indian Summer and Tomorrow. I remember the startlingly enthusiastic crowd reaction, Joe got, when he started playing At The Station, for the first time in about 2005.

I like the little instrumental reprisals that occur, a couple of times, during the album, not forgetting instrumental interlude Inner Tube. I dislike the inclusion of, funny once, A Flock Of Wah-Wahs that was later added to the CD version of the album. The last time I heard Life's Been Good on the radio, A Flock Of Wah-Wahs was played too!

I can completely acknowledge Life's Been Good as a worthy, second Walsh signature tune but it's kinda left Joe, feeling an obligation to include a large dose of humour on all his subsequent albums. It's great that Joe can be very funny but his true greatness, imho, is as an, out of the ordinary, musician.

Maybe But Seriously Folks, after his part in the huge success of Hotel California, was just a little too conventional for me to rate it as highly as his wonderful early 70s LPs.

Tiffanny Twisted
05-18-2015, 12:11 AM
Wow I'm getting old cause it feels like just yesterday .......


Great album:angel:

WalshFan88
05-19-2015, 10:26 PM
Great record.

Jonny Come Lately
06-12-2015, 01:31 PM
Just listened to this album again, it's currently the only Joe Walsh solo album in my collection (although I intend to at the least acquire Smoker and So What, so it shouldn't remain this way for long).

Overall it's a very good album, and I would certainly recommend it as an introduction to Joe, especially for anyone who is already an Eagles fan. I love the opening four tracks, with Second Hand Store probably being my pick of the bunch (I love Felder's pedal steel on this track). I also really like the guitar a lot on Over And Over. At The Station is probably the hardest rocking of this quartet and I really like the rhythm section on it, while Indian Summer perhaps has my favourite lyrics from this group, they are very personal to Joe but are very recognisable. Does anyone else think the acoustic guitar intro sounds a bit like Certain Kind Of Fool though? Not that's there anything wrong with that, just a funny little coincidence.

I like Tomorrow, although not quite as much as the first four. Having said this the Eagles harmonies are strong and the lyrics again are decent. I concur with F50 in liking the instrumental reprisals throughout the album and also in loving Theme From Boat Weirdos - great slide guitar by Joe and it has a very cool atmosphere. I would happily create a Boat Weirdos movie simply for the sake of using the Theme as the soundtrack!

This leaves of course the small matter of the closing song. It's difficult to add anything new about LBG, there's great guitar and the humorous yet reflective lyrics. In some ways I kind of prefer the single version though, I think it's a bit punchier and although the extended guitar solos on the album version are very good I don't think the sub-5 minute radio edit misses them as badly as some other songs miss the lost sections in their radio edits (compared to say Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon, where Lindsey Buckingham's guitar is muted and loses his guitar solo, making the single edit a vastly inferior song IMO).

I don't mind the inclusion of 'A Flock Of Wah-Wahs' on the album although I dislike the way it was tacked onto the end of Life's Been Good as part of the same track - it's easy enough to skip but it would be easier to ignore if it was a separate track. It's annoying if I make a playlist for the car because if I put on the full version of LBG then I also get the unwanted wah-wahs. In general if songs are added onto to later CD editions of albums originally released on vinyl I prefer the songs to be added onto the end of the album (e.g. I would be fine if GYITM was added onto the end of the Eagles LP, but I hated the way Silver Springs was put into the middle of Rumours with Songbird being moved to the end).

Had to laugh when I read about the radio playing A Flock Of Wah-Wahs after Life's Been Good though. To think of all the times I've had to put up with inferior radio edits of songs and in that case you get more than you want... I've heard LBG on UK radio but it was only the single version.

One final comment I would make about But Seriously Folks is that it is very cohesive and holds together well as a group of songs, perhaps because of the consistent tone of the songwriting (even LBG is somewhat introspective). In some ways I think it's greater than the sum of its individual parts even though most of the songs by themselves are strong.

Funk 50
06-12-2015, 03:56 PM
That's a great revue JCL, thanks for sharing it.


After Life's Been Good, Indian Summer, performed acoustically and Over And Over are the songs Joe's performed the most live from But Seriously Folks!

Indian Summer does have a very riff to Certain Kind Of Fool. I prefer Indian Summer.

The Theme From The Boat Weirdos was actually recorded on a boat. When Joe and his band/crew went ashore to get provisions, the locals would refer to them as the "boat weirdos". :)

All Joe's Vinyl albums are masterfully constructed, always much more than a bunch of songs. There are tracks where you can't tell where one song ends and the next one starts eg. Inner Tube and Theme From The Boat Weirdos which is a bit of a bugger when you put it on random play. :)

sodascouts
06-13-2015, 11:33 PM
Thanks for posting your thoughts!

Ive always been a dreamer
06-27-2015, 02:09 PM
I agree Soda. It's nice to hear opinions from some of our more recent members. And I'm rather late, but ...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS!!!

jwalk87
02-29-2016, 08:14 PM
I'm planning on giving this album a spin the whole way through. Of course everyone knows Life's Been Good, but I've had Indian Summer stuck in my head for weeks now.
The best line in Indian Summer is "not a lot smarter, but another year old." Classic Joe. I think we have all felt this way at one point or another!
Also really enjoy At the Station...it's great. So much energy.

WalshFan88
02-29-2016, 10:39 PM
Awesome album.

Life's Been Good is still my favorite Joe song, and I still prefer the version on Eagles Live but if it wasn't for this album it wouldn't exist.

AlreadyGone95
05-16-2016, 03:54 PM
Happy 38th anniversary to But Seriously Folks

shunlvswx
05-16-2016, 03:54 PM
Happy 38th Birthday to But Seriously Folks. This album, So What and Analog Man are my favorites of Joe's.

Annoying Twit
05-19-2016, 09:33 AM
The Allmusic review of BSF suggests that this is the album that The Eagles should have made instead of The Long Run.

BSF is a good album, but I prefer TSYDTPYG and SW more. Possibly Barnstorm too. I'm not sure it out-rates TLR, but would like to hear what others think.

http://www.allmusic.com/album/but-seriously-folks-mw0000264591

Freypower
05-19-2016, 06:12 PM
I can see that. I would much rather Secod Hand Store Indian Summer, At The Station than The Long Run, Greeks & Teenage Jail.

Jonny Come Lately
05-20-2016, 05:36 PM
I love both But Seriously Folks and The Long Run. I'm personally glad that both albums were released and that I don't have to choose between them! :happy: I tend to view them as companion pieces of a sort - BSF is the lighter, more whimsical album whereas The Long Run is dark and cynical in its outlook. I'd perhaps say that BSF is slightly more consistent as it really doesn't have any weak tracks - I tend to think of Tomorrow as the weakest song on the album, but it's certainly not bad by any stretch of the imagination and I'd definitely say it's better than Greeks or Disco Strangler.

However, I think The Long Run does not get enough credit for the strength of its songs. The title track, ICTYW, In The City, King Of Hollywood, Heartache Tonight, Those Shoes and The Sad Café are all excellent to me, and I personally really like Teenage Jail. BSF, for all its qualities, does not have quite as many really strong tracks IMO. However, the highest praise I can give to it is that I think that if you have all of the Eagles albums but don't own any solo works, But Seriously Folks is in my opinion the first one you should get.

Funnily enough, in another thread a while back I posted a chart of my top 50 favourite albums - I actually placed BSF and The Long Run next to each other, although I gave the higher spot to TLR.

Allmusic is a useful resource but it personally isn't a site I have much love for - I find it to be handy as a barometer of widely held/public opinion on albums and bands, but I can think of a number of its reviews that I fundamentally disagree with (IIRC they give the Eagles LP a higher rating than Desperado - I think I'm one of the bigger fans of the debut album on here, but Desperado is definitely the better record as far as I'm concerned).

WalshFan88
05-20-2016, 06:12 PM
For me it has my favorite Joe song on it, Life's Been Good. Although I do prefer the Eagles Live version of it, it fills it out more with another guitar player in the mix.

I like The Long Run, including, the title track. I just like that funky memphis thing on the song.

Annoying Twit
05-21-2016, 02:05 AM
For me it has my favorite Joe song on it, Life's Been Good. Although I do prefer the Eagles Live version of it, it fills it out more with another guitar player in the mix.

I like The Long Run, including, the title track. I just like that funky memphis thing on the song.

I do like Life's Been Good, but for some reason I've always preferred Theme from Boat Weirdos. I dunno why, I just do.

"The Long Run" itself is my favourite track on the album, and I think it's great. I bought the album when it came out but I was disappointed as I expected it to be as good as HC or OOTN. I haven't listened to it much over the years, and I'm now thinking that I should listen to it more.

I do like BSF, but feel that Joe's immediately pre-Eagles albums TSYGTPYD and SW are extremely good, and that BSF, despite being a good album, suffers a bit in comparison. This put me off following Joe's career a bit as there seemed to be diminishing rewards. I need to listen to BSF more to get used to it.

My favourite Walsh song is "Help Me Through the Night". That's just perfect.

Funk 50
05-21-2016, 10:30 AM
I became a Walsh fan a couple of years before But Seriously Folks! was released. I loved his pre Eagles albums. But Seriously Folks! sounded too much like the Eagles for me, although I have grown to love it over the years.

Until the 80s, I felt all the albums that Joe had been involved in were great.
If Joe was to start performing albums in their entirety, live, Barnstorm would be the one I'd want to hear the most but I'd be very happy to hear But Seriously Folks! top to bottom.

Annoying Twit
05-21-2016, 01:48 PM
I became a Walsh fan a couple of years before But Seriously Folks! was released. I loved his pre Eagles albums. But Seriously Folks! sounded too much like the Eagles for me, although I have grown to love it over the years.

Until the 80s, I felt all the albums that Joe had been involved in were great.
If Joe was to start performing albums in their entirety, live, Barnstorm would be the one I'd want to hear the most but I'd be very happy to hear But Seriously Folks! top to bottom.

I'm going to listen to BSF a lot. I'm listening to it as I type here.

I really lost track with what Joe was doing over the years. This happens to me a lot as I like a lot of artists and have limited time, so I tend to go on binges (and forum-hop).

I felt that Joe stopped being so interested in making art, and was more interested in having a good time. There's nothing wrong with music that's about having a good time, but I felt it paled in comparison to his earlier work. (Of course that's subjective, I'm sure there are people who much prefer Joe's post-joins-the-Eagles work.) IMHO I.L.B.T. is in some way the most extreme case of this progression, and I sort of wish I could unhear this song now. I thought that "The Confessor" might be a return to his previous style, but apart from the title track.

It happens a lot that I don't like albums at first but really like once I get more used to them after listening many more times. The problem is: there are a lot of albums to listen to, and only limited time. There are lots of bands where I have missed or not gotten around to listening to everything in the larger band family/history.

EDIT: Theme from Boat Weirdos has just come on. I so like this track.

Funk 50
05-23-2016, 08:18 AM
Theme From Boat Weirdos, the b-side of Life's Been Good, is probably the 45rpm, 7 inch, vinyl single that I've played the most. It's a glaring omission on all Joe's "Best Of" compilations imho.

I love all Joe's instrumentals. It's a disappointment that Joe Vitale is currently on tour with Joe, yet he hasn't packed his flute, for some glorious, two Joe, on stage, flute/guitar instrumental jams.

It took me several plays to get into all Joe's studio albums, apart from Barnstorm and Songs For A Dying Planet, which I adored on first listen, and The Confessor which I've never got into, despite spending months playing it Over and Over again.

It took me over a decade to fully appreciate two tracks, Tend My Garden and It's Alright after initially being indifferent to them. There aren't any Walsh tracks that I've fallen out of love with.

The digital age has destroyed the process of saving up to buy a record and then playing it to death to get your hard earned, money's worth.

I've grown to love But Seriously Folks! as I've become acquainted with the live versions of the tracks (AFAIK he didn't promote BSF! with a tour due to Eagles commitments) but I've always rated it below his pre Eagles albums, including the live You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind offering that only has a measley six tracks:cry:

NightMistBlue
05-23-2016, 10:33 AM
For me it has my favorite Joe song on it, Life's Been Good.

That's my favorite too. It's very hard to play - for me, anyway. I can't play the signature riff, where he's bending strings at the second and third frets. Brutal, man!

Annoying Twit
05-24-2016, 03:28 AM
Theme From Boat Weirdos, the b-side of Life's Been Good, is probably the 45rpm, 7 inch, vinyl single that I've played the most. It's a glaring omission on all Joe's "Best Of" compilations imho.

I love all Joe's instrumentals. It's a disappointment that Joe Vitale is currently on tour with Joe, yet he hasn't packed his flute, for some glorious, two Joe, on stage, flute/guitar instrumental jams.

It took me several plays to get into all Joe's studio albums, apart from Barnstorm and Songs For A Dying Planet, which I adored on first listen, and The Confessor which I've never got into, despite spending months playing it Over and Over again.

It took me over a decade to fully appreciate two tracks, Tend My Garden and It's Alright after initially being indifferent to them. There aren't any Walsh tracks that I've fallen out of love with.

The digital age has destroyed the process of saving up to buy a record and then playing it to death to get your hard earned, money's worth.

I've grown to love But Seriously Folks! as I've become acquainted with the live versions of the tracks (AFAIK he didn't promote BSF! with a tour due to Eagles commitments) but I've always rated it below his pre Eagles albums, including the live You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind offering that only has a measley six tracks:cry:

It'll take me a while to catch up. Given how much I liked and played Joe's albums he recorded before the Eagles (I even had a James Gang best of), it's slightly mystifying to myself how I lost track. However, I do like a lot of artists. I went on a Bowie kick when he died and filled in a lot of gaps. I had watched the documentary and done some Eagles catchup before Glenn died, so I'm not in a depressing cycle of only catching up on artists when they die.

So, I should definitely catch up on Joe now. Though, as I mentioned, it is a problem for me that the post-Eagles albums compare in my mind slightly unfavourably to TSYDTPYG and SW.

Rocky Mountain Way
06-22-2016, 08:54 PM
I love everything about this album. It, along with Barnstorm, is Joe's best. All of side 1 is nothing but winners. On side 2, you could forget the instrumentals but they're interesting nonetheless. 'Tomorrow' is a really, really underrated song, I just adore it. Sleigh bells, great harmonies, what a tune. And of course there's 'Life's Been Good', a song I've been in love with since I first heard it on the car radio back in 1991. I remember going, "wow, what's this? The guitars are awesome and it's really long and epic and this appealed to me because right then I had just become a fan of Led Zeppelin through 'Stairway to Heaven' and I therefore had my ear open for huge, long classic rock epics. 'Life's Been Good' simultaneously fit that plus it was like nothing I'd ever heard before.

A couple of years later (after becoming an Eagles fan) I finally got a hold of this album on cassette and practically wore it out on my Walkman many mornings that I had to walk to high school.

I've loved Don Henley's solo work since I was a kid in the '80s but as I collected more of Joe's solo albums from the '70s, I began to realize that he had the best solo career out of all the Eagles, and most of it was from before he joined the band!

WalshGirl
08-09-2016, 12:26 AM
Interesting article featuring Bill Szymczyk on the recording of Life's Been Good. Among things mentioned, Szymczyk notes that the song was "cobbled together" from three distinct recordings. Szymczyk is also proud that he and Joe Vitale convinced Walsh to record the song's lyrics. If I recall correctly, Walsh once stated the Life's Been Good lyrics were composed as something private, perhaps an inside joke. He never intended them to used in the song.

Anyway, here's the reference to the article:


http://www.mixonline.com/news/profiles/classic-tracks-joe-walshs-lifes-been-good/366083

Delilah
05-16-2018, 03:46 PM
I don’t know if you’re still around, WalshGirl, but thanks for the link. It’s interesting to read about the vocal tricks Bill S. employed on the album. There are also some interesting quotes.


“Every part of the vocal has its own sound,” says Szymczyk. “It was fun. It was ear candy. Remember, this was still like a vacation from The Eagles.”

Also, Life’s Been Good could have been left off? :stunned:


After all that work, “Life's Been Good” almost didn't make the album. Szymczyk says that Walsh began second-guessing himself, wondering if the lyrics would be perceived as condescending or snarky.

“I tried to do the song funny without coming across as a jerk,” Walsh explained in a 1978 BAM magazine interview. “I think I try to be humble, but I also feel I've got some seniority after the years I've put in as a musician. I've got to admit that even being at the top doesn't mean anything.”

“I think the best producing job I ever did was convincing Joe that people would understand he was being facetious,” Szymczyk says. “Me and Vitale double-teamed him.” They won Walsh over, and a good thing, too: “Life's Been Good” would become his biggest hit, topping at Number 12 in Billboard and remaining a staple of classic rock, as well as the theme song for an era of music that, like Wall Street more recently, went someplace amazing for a while and ain't never coming back.

I’ll have to give a listen to this later in honor of the album’s anniversary week. This is probably my 3rd favorite Joe album. The album cover is such a contrast to the cover of The Long Run album.

shunlvswx
05-16-2018, 04:04 PM
Happy 40th Birthday to the But Seriously Folks album. I can't believe Life's Been Good turns 40 this month. Yikes!

WalshFan88
05-22-2018, 02:37 PM
Life's Been Good is my favorite JW song period. And I always preferred hearing it in the context of the Eagles with harmony vocals and Don Felder trading licks with Joe. Such a great song, always seemed like a great Eagles song too. Love LBG.

Ive always been a dreamer
05-22-2018, 03:35 PM
ITA, Austin. LBG is a brilliant humorous and satirical look at a rock star's 'life in the fast lane' - Joe at his absolute best, IMHO.

And a belated Happy 40th Anniversary to 'But Seriously Folks ...'.

CAinOH
05-22-2018, 03:41 PM
Gads, when did I get to be so old...?!

sodascouts
05-28-2018, 02:28 PM
Another thing that blows my mind is that this thread was started when this album was 29... this board has been around a long time! lol

shunlvswx
05-16-2019, 11:38 AM
Happy 41st Birthday to But Seriously Folks.

sodascouts
05-16-2019, 02:45 PM
Happy birthday to it. One of my faves!

shunlvswx
05-16-2020, 07:42 PM
Happy 42nd Birthday to But Seriously Folks. I like a lot of the songs from this album.

KingWalsh
05-17-2020, 09:49 AM
Thanks Shun for the shout out for this spectacular album. 42 years ago?? Scary. I love this album from note to note. Fantastic cover art. It's hard to pick a favorite. A masterpiece.

Ive always been a dreamer
05-17-2020, 12:44 PM
I'm a date late, but seriously folks, I'm sorry ...

HAPPY 42ND ANNIVERSARY TO BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS!

I like this album ... and, after all, it does include the incomparable Life's Been Good. :thumbsup:

Scamp
09-10-2020, 07:36 AM
I recently got this CD, and I like it. "Tomorrow" is pretty much the story of my life- I cracked up when he sang that he was spending today making a list of things to do, but he was going to do them all tomorrow. Yep, am there, doing that. I also liked "Indian Summer" - thought it had a nice melody. We all know "Life's Been Good," But as for the other four, I was just "eh" about them. They were fine, but didn't really grab me.

However, what is this "Theme from Boat Weirdos"? A joke title, or is it for a real movie? Sorry to sound so ignorant! :blush:
Boat weirdos is what the people who lived by the dock called them. The song actually is used on the tv show "West of the West" about Santa Cruz Island. I like the way you feel like your on the water and his slide guitar reminds me sometimes of sea gulls and sometimes of whales.

KingWalsh
05-19-2021, 03:44 AM
A lil late but always a reason to cherish BSF! 43 years ago! Love it.

Ive always been a dreamer
05-19-2021, 08:32 PM
Another happy anniversary wish to BSF! Life's been good.