So What

Joe Walsh

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 2, 1993)
• Original Release Date: 1975
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B000002ON9
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,841 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Japanese reissue packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Can't Argue with a Brilliant Mind, April 16, 2001

By	Gavin Wilson - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Before his aquilisation, Joe Walsh recorded an outstanding sequence of four albums in the first half of the 70s: 'Barnstorm', 'The Smoker You Get ...', 'So What' and the live 'You Can't Argue With a Sick Mind'. Any or all of these albums should be on the shelves of the discerning CD collector. And nearly all of them contain a different version of 'Turn to Stone'! Was it that Joe was always dissatisfied with every preceding version? Or was he running short of new material?

I know nothing of Joe's life story outside his records, but it seems that he hit a creative low after that brilliant four-album sequence. By which I simply mean that he didn't write many songs for the band he joined, namely the Eagles. Whether he rescued the Eagles or they rescued him depends on whom you believe.

With 'So What', Joe recorded a wonderful variety of songs, some of which give advance notice of his Eagle-eyed intent: Don Henley, Randy Meisner, JD Souther and Glenn Frey all put in appearances. Death is also stamped across the LP: 'Song For Emma' features maudlin lyrics such as 'You were with us for a while, then he took you, and it made your mama cry'. 'Pavanne' is taken from Ravel -- not his Pavanne for a Dead Child, but the Pavanne for the Belle of the Sleeping Wood. It took me ages to find a full orchestral version of the Mother Goose Suite from which this comes, and I have to say I still prefer Joe's version, despite the uncredited string section at the start of the track.

'All Night Laundry Mat Blues' is a filler, but fun.

But for me, the stand-out tracks are 'Welcome to the Club' and 'County Fair', which get closest to the tight band sound he had on the previous album, 'The Smoker You Get ...', which is his masterpiece. (Whatever happened to Rocke Grace, the pianist who contributed so much to that album?) Kenny Passarelli, on his way to becoming a member of Elton John's band, was a great bassist, and Joe Vitale a superb drummer. Vitale was also a fantastic songwriter, as evidenced on the superb 'Roller Coaster Weekend' which has never been released on CD.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joe at his peak, August 25, 2000

By	Michael J. Muscato "mjmuscato" (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I first heard "Welcome To The Club" being played by a bar band in '74; I had no idea where the song came from but I went back the next week just to hear the same crummy band play that same cool song. When I found out it was a Joe Walsh tune I ran out and bought the album simply for that song...what a bonus the rest of the album turned out to be. This is classic Joe, great rockers like "Turn To Stone"--a really frenzied guitar on the outro, "Time Out" and "Welcome....". Lush acoustic songs, "Falling Down" and "Help Me Through the Night" , the spacey "County Fair" and the obligatory goofball farce, "All Night Laundry Mat Blues." I don't think Walsh has ever done better; I bought this as an LP, a casette and a CD and still listen to it today. No Walsh fan should be without it.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Song for EMMA...a prayer to Joe's 4-yr old girl..., November 25, 2004

By	Ronald Greenhaw "tiketron" (Burbank, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Emma was killed in a car accident involving a drunk driver, while her mom was driving her to preschool...a gorgeous, moving piece about the beauties/incomprehensibilities in life. The heavenly choir and prayer-like lyrics had always haunted me, but I never knew the backstory, and then I heard Joe HIMSELF on a radio show recount the story...how he and his wife spent the following year seated on the floor in an embrace, crying for Emma...
it's a beautiful tribute capping a strong effort by J.W.