(47) Joe Walsh - You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind (1976)

"You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind" is a live album by Joe Walsh, released in 1976. Recorded live just before Joe joined up with Eagles, who also play on "Help Me Through the Night".

"You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind" contains six of Walsh's better-known songs.  Things start off with his last hit with the James Gang, "Walk Away," and then the album makes its way through "Meadows" and 18 minutes of " Rocky Mountain Way". The crowd loved it. Follow all that with "Time Out," then do "Help Me Thru the Night" acoustically with future bandmates Henley, Frey, and Felder helping out, and close things up with a profound and majestic "Turn to Stone," and you've got one heck of a Joe Walsh concert souvenir. In 1975, Walsh went on tour with a band containing, among many, two drummers (Joe Vitale and Andy Newmark), a second guitarist, and Jay Ferguson on keyboards. They must have given some fantastic concerts, and I just wonder what happened to all the rest of the material. As other reviewers ave remarked, these live recordings stripped the studio versions of much of their subtlety and clarity. 'Walk Away' is a rip-roaring start, and perhaps a new tune for those unfamiliar with Joe's pre-Barnstorm days. The highlights are the new arrangements on 'Meadows' and 'Turn to Stone'. 'Meadows' shares the same riff as Deep Purple's 'My Woman From Tokyo', but for this concert version, Joe ends with a powerful instrumental that is anthemic in a similar vein to 'Freebird' and 'Stairway to Heaven'. It shows Joe at his best, and should have been sited at the end of the album. 'Turn to Stone' has a pleasant synth intro, somewhat reminiscent of the Gary Wright 'Dream Weaver' album. Rocky Mountain Way was hugely disappointing, but it features an enhanced solo on the voicebox gizmo that Walsh introduced Pete Frampton to for 'Show Me the Way' on 'Frampton Comes Alive!'.

Track listing

01. Walk Away  (Joe Walsh)  - 3:21

02. Meadows  (Patrick Cullie, Walsh)  - 7:08

03. Rocky Mountain Way  (Rocke Grace, Kenny Passarelli, Joe Vitale, Walsh)  - 7:40

04. Time Out  (Terry Trebandt, Walsh)  - 4:22

05. Help Me Through the Night  (Walsh)  - 3:43

06. Turn to Stone  (Trebandt, Walsh)  - 8:46

Released:  March 1976

Genre:  Southern Rock

Length:  35:09

Label:  ABC

Producer:  Joe Walsh

Personnel

Joe Walsh - Guitar, Slide Guitar, Talkbox Guitar, vocals

Don Felder - Guitar, vocals

Willie Weeks - Bass guitar.

Jay Ferguson - Piano, vocals

Dave Mason - Organ, Electric Piano

Joe Vitale - Drums, Percussion, Organ, Flute, vocals

Andy Newmark  Drums, Percussion

Rocky Dzidzornu  Percussion

Glenn Frey - Vocals

Don Henley - Vocals