The Story Behind the James Gang Song That Turned a Joe Walsh Arrangement Into a “Train Wreck”

In 1971, the liner notes of the James Gang’s third album Thirds credited Joe Walsh with “guitar, vocals, and train wreck” on the opening track “Walk Away.” The guitarist’s “train wreck” refers to his spiral out of control with the guitar toward the end of the song. Walsh’s clash of distortion, overdub of riffs, and slide guitar earned his closing cacophony the “train wreck” title.

“You’ve kinda gotta put on headphones to hear it, but I took a guitar and did a full-on Pete Townshend with it in the background, where I put everything on 10 and turned the fuzz tone all the way up,” said Walsh of his “train wreck” in the song. “I took the guitar off, threw it up in the air, put it on the ground, and jumped up and down on it. I didn’t light it on fire, because you can’t see that on an album. That would have been stupid.”

Wrecked Relationship

“Walk Away” was barely finished when Walsh was already putting together its tangled ending. The single, which peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100—higher than the band’s previous track “Funk 49” at No. 59—was also one Walsh remained most proud of during his pre-Eagles career and sonically chronicled the messy, chaotic, and bitter demise of a relationship.

[RELATED: 5 Songs Joe Walsh is Proud He Wrote Before Joining the Eagles]

Taking my time
Choosin’ my line
Trying to decide what to do
Looks like my stop
Don’t wanna get off
Got myself hung up on you

Seems to me
You don’t want to talk about it
Seems to me
You just turn your pretty head and walk away

Places I’ve known
Things that I’m growin’
Don’t taste the same without you
I got myself in
The worst mess I’ve been
And I find myself startin’ to doubt you

James Gang released a live version of “Walk Away” on the band’s 1971 album James Gang Live in Concert. When Walsh joined the Eagles in 1975, the band started performing “Walk Away” live and have left the song in their regular set through 2024.

James Gang Reunited

Thirds was Walsh’s final appearance on a James Gang album. While working on Thirds, Walsh had already started chipping away at his solo career and 1973 debut The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get.

“It became a quest to find a suitable replacement for Joe Walsh,” said Jimmy Fox in 1998. “We’d try some guys and do an album or two, but it wasn’t quite what we wanted and so we’d move on to something else in the hope of recapturing the old spirit. Some of the albums were good but we were always looking to find that particular thing we had with Joe and I don’t think we ever found it again.”

By 1991, Walsh, Fox, and Dale Peters reunited to perform three songs at the Nautica Pavilion in Cleveland, Ohio. They later reformed in November 1996 during an election rally for President Bill Clinton. The band continued reuniting throughout the decades including in 2022 for the tribute concerts for late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, where they performed “Walk Away.” 

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images