Customer Reviews

Roller Coaster Weekend

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Deleted from Atlantic's LP catalogue more than 25 years ago, this classic album has never before made it to CD. ROLLER COASTER WEEKEND has been at the top of a very short list of titles I have routinely searched CD catalogues for, without luck until now. (The two remaining titles are Neil Young's AMERICAN STARS AND BARS and Stomu Yamash'ta's GO, by the way.) I found myself unable to write a review of any Joe Walsh album without inserting a plea for the CD release of Joe Vitale's masterpiece. The problem for record company executives has been that this album never achieved commercial success -- I first picked it up in a bargain basket around 76/77 -- so a CD re-release hasn't made much business sense.

Joe Vitale was probably let down by his looks and the album's lack of a totally compelling three-minute track for release as a single. At my school, Vitale became known as the ugly one after his appearance in the Barnstorm band photo on the inside of the gatefold cover of Walsh's SMOKER YOU DRINK LP. He looked like the sort of hitman you really wouldn't want to meet down a dark alley. Even on the cover of ROLLER COASTER WEEKEND, sitting alone in an ELP Tarkus T-shirt with an impossibly bouffant hairstyle on a rickety fun-ride, he seemed the kind of guy mothers warn their kids to stay away from at the fairground.

But appearances in this case were incredibly deceptive. At Barnstorm concerts, audiences might have been shocked that this drummer not only sang but also played the flute. Vitale had a surprisingly wide vocal range: not only could he sound virtually identical to Walsh, he could also hit some very high notes. Sadly this is the sort of capability that disappears with age, making reunion concerts 30 years on an unattractive option.

On its initial release in 1974, ROLLER COASTER WEEKEND was a revelation which demanded an immediate reassessment of who played and wrote what on Joe Walsh's early albums. Here Vitale writes all the tunes, performs all the singing and backing vocals, and plays all instruments bar the guitar, for which he sensibly brings in the maestros Rick Derringer and Joe Walsh. Listeners familiar with with Walsh's subsequent BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS will recognise the whole section he borrowed from 'Falling' on this Vitale album.

Although Vitale plays some bass here, there may be a little too much use of keyboard bass for modern ears. And surprisingly for a drummer's first solo album, the drumming is nothing special -- Vitale's percussion is better on Walsh's SO WHAT. And the less said about Vitale's lyrics, the better. (There are almost no words of more than two syllables used on this album, whose theme seems to be mainly school experiences around 7th grade.)

No, what was outstanding about this album was the quality and consistency of the music composition. There may have been no Top-20 single here, but there were plenty of candidates, and not a single dud track. Every track has a point to it. You could play both sides of the LP in less than 35 minutes, try to sing along, and have an entirely enjoyable experience. In terms of influences, apart from Walsh himself, Vitale's key reference points seem to be on Beach Boys' SURF'S UP and Todd Rundgren's SOMETHING/ANYTHING, particularly on the vocal harmonies. Whether Vitale and Walsh influenced others, I don't know, but it's tempting to think that Steve Miller wouldn't have been so encouraged to devise those synthesizer interludes on FLY LIKE AN EAGLE and BOOK OF DREAMS, if Vitale and Walsh hadn't explored that territory earlier.

And the guitar playing is really mean. You can have fun trying to work out whether it's Derringer, Walsh or Phil Keaggy providing the solo on each track.

Sadly there is no sonic revelation in this CD transfer. Many congratulations to Wounded Bird Records for taking the commercial risk in releasing this album, but remastering would have been the icing on the cake.

If you don't already have Joe Walsh's SMOKER YOU DRINK or SO WHAT, it's probably best to buy those masterpieces first. But personally I feel that ROLLER COASTER WEEKEND is better than any of the rest of Walsh's output.

I met Joe Vitale after a Joe Walsh concert at Kent Sate in early 1975. He was very gracious and quite humorous. It was in a Red Barn restaurant, I asked for his autograph and he grabbed the order pad and wrote: "Hamburgers Forever, Joe Vitale."

I told him I really enjoyed "Roller Coaster Weekend". There is a little of everything on this album, mainly because Joe basically DOES IT ALL, with the exception of guitars (provided by Joe Walsh, Phil Keaggy and Rick Derringer). Joe plays percussion, flute, keyboards, etc. and the songwriting is absolutely superb.

The music holds a very dear place in my heart and the CD was along-awaited addition to my collection.

This is just a brilliant album. I've replaced many of the lps I bought in the 70s with cds and been disappointed many times - nostalgia ain't what it was. But when I received this on cd, every tune came flooding back and I realised that this album is as good now as it was then. But how to compare it ? Boston - yes. Meat Loaf - maybe. Do yourself a favour and buy this album now.

Maybe I'm not the only person who's been obsessively combing used record stores (and getting the inevitable "Joe WHO?!" answers from puzzled clerks) after all! A laurel, and hearty handshake goes out to the decision makers at Wounded Bird for re-issuing this forgotten mid 70's gem from Joe Vitale. Vitale was a key member of Joe Walsh's Barnstorm band, with whom Walsh released his finest post-James Gang work ("Barnstorm", "So What", "The Smoker You Get...".) The multi-talented Vitale sings, plays drums, flute, keyboards and other assorted instruments in top form on this album. Songs like "Feeling's Gone Away" and "Falling" should have become FM staples, but alas, it was not to be. Vitale's songwriting skills may pale a bit compared to Walsh's, but Vitale displays Brian Wilson-like skills with song arrangement, which tells me he must have had a hand in shaping the memorably textured magic of the early Walsh albums. Walsh contributes guitar and backing vocals on several cuts, and fellow guitar ace Rick Derringer whips out some of his patented slide licks. Fans of melodic pop-rock will not be disappointed.

I first heard of Joe Vitale like most of you...through Joe Walsh & Barnstorm, so when I heard he had a solo album out, I jumped on it. This is very similar to a lot of Walsh's stuff...good natured, competent and quite simply...if you like the stuff a lot of Walsh albums are made of, here's more of the same. Vitale and Walsh have very similar singing voices too, and I have no problem with any of it. Most of the same players are here and on a few of Jay Ferguson's solo albums as well. Whoever thought Joe Vitale's music was third-rate compared to Walsh's is totally missing the point. It's the same lineup for all practical purposes, and more of the same enjoyable type of stuff Joe and Jay both put out on a regular basis. It's great to hear this stuff on CD finally. Don't save your money...grab this up while it's available again, and while you're at it, get his other one (Plantation Harbor). It may not have taken the charts by storm, but then there's a lot of incredible music that hasn't either. This is too good to pass up if you're a fan of Ferguson or Walsh, and focusing on a single track doesn't do it justice. Buy it and enjoy.

After 25+ years unavailable on CD, Wounded Bird Records took the initiative & put this excellent 'sleeper' album on CD. Joe Vitale plays ALL the instruments (except guitar), wrote ALL the songs, sang ALL vocals, & helped on the outstanding sound values & production work. I highly recommended this album/CD. Hats off to Wounded Bird Records!!!

First off, I am so pleased to have found this recording available on CD! I was lucky enough to have seen Vitale's Madmen tour in support of this album. The sound on this CD is very good concidering the fact that no remastering was done.Stil a must-have for anyone who even thinks that the old guys can't rock with today's bands. Thank you Amazon for making it possible for me to find this treasue!! New music is cool, but, WHAT AN ALBUM!!! Thanks

This guy was Joe Walsh's right hand man. He had a lot of input on Walsh's albums, as he heavily influenced the music and overall sound of Walsh's 70's albums. He's also the one who played the wonderful flute parts on The Smoker You Drink. My point is: This guy was very talented and capable of standing on his own, and this is a very good CD. I bought it based on some of the previous reviews here, and I'm glad I did.

A lot of people tend to think of rock n roll in general as somewhat overexposed. Even in the mid 70's this seemed to be so. As much as many of us would like to think otherwise people even groups such as Steely Dan,Gentle Giant,Gary Wright and others who explored music in unexpected ways didn't tend to receive as much play as groups such as The Rolling Stones,The Who or others. All of these bands had good and distinctive sounds and many such as Bob Segar,The Eagles and Joe Walsh achieved a great deal of success and this musician played with all of them. All the same when keyboardis/multi-instrumentalist Joe Viale emmerged with his debut solo album in 1974 it really didn't gain the recognition it probably deserved. Playing most of the instruments himself and bringing in guests such as Rick Derringer and Joe Walsh himself this album finds Mr.Vitale reveling in the idea not so much in expanding how much more music could be added with rock n roll but rather on expanding the possibilities of the genre itself. While the title song "(Do You Feel Like) Movin'","Mad Man" and "Take A Chance" would fit squarely into the heavy southern rock catagory,basically and are all done very well-ditto for "Shoot 'Em up". But for the most part the latter half of the album is where the albums creativity really shines. On "School Yard" and "Feeling's Gone Away" there are basic pop/rock structures but the use of ARP synthesizers played in a prominant pop/jazz-funk style give them a different type of flavor much more on the Steely Dan end of things as opposed to say Bob Seger and provides the music with some decidedly individual melodic flavors as well. On "Two Of Us" and "Falling" those keyboard laden jazz-rock elements are expanded out with some wonderfully broad harmonic ideas and melodies for some very memorable music. Considering the nature of how Vitale uses the ARP on this album it isn't surprising he ends the album with the full on and respecful funk of "Step On You";yes it's presented as part of a whole as opposed to a singular vision but it's also very important as a final direction as to where this album was going. It would be years,in fact a whole other decade before Joe Vitale followed this up but it was more than a respectful start to career that should've panned out to a lot more.

Sufice it to say that most people who buy this cd are desperately searching for Joe Walsh music, since he stopped doing his solo work many years ago... but don't be sucked in. Even though Vitale has been by Walsh's side for all of his solo carear, Vitale's music is third rate compared to any of Walsh's cds. Save your money.