The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get is the second studio album by American rock guitarist and singer Joe Walsh, released in 1973 by ABC-Dunhill Records in the United States and the United Kingdom, and was also released in Germany. It proved to be his commercial breakthrough, largely on the strength of the Top 40 hit single, "Rocky Mountain Way", which helped propel the album into the Top 10.
On this album, Walsh shares the vocals and songwriting with the other three members of Barnstorm: drummer/multi-instrumentalist Joe Vitale, bassist Kenny Passarelli, and new member, keyboardist Rocke Grace. As a result, a variety of styles are explored on this album; there are elements of blues, jazz, folk, pop, and even Caribbean music. However, the album is only credited to Walsh as a solo artist, not to Barnstorm,[2] which led to the band's demise.[3] After the success of this album, Walsh continued making albums as a solo artist.
The title is a play on words "The higher you get the better you play!"[citation needed]
The cover art for the album features a BritishSopwith Snipe fighter with French colors that appears to be flying upside down (sky blue is at the bottom; brown ground is at the top).
Writing retrospectively for AllMusic, critic Ben Davies wrote of the album "Walsh's ability to swing wildly from one end of the rock scale to the other is unparalleled and makes for an album to suit many tastes... [it] features some of the most remembered Joe Walsh tracks, but it's not just these that make the album a success. Each of the nine tracks is a song to be proud of. This is a superb album by anyone's standards."[4]
Release historyedit
In addition to the usual two channel stereo version this album was also released in a four channel quadraphonic edition on LP and 8-track tape in 1974. The quad LP is encoded using the QS Regular Matrix system. Audio Fidelity issued a limited 24-karat gold edition CD in 2009. This was followed in 2011 by a version in Japan with a miniature replica of the original sleeve in the SHM-CD format.[5]
Track listingedit
All songs written and composed by Joe Walsh, except where noted.
Different versions of the album have various spellings for two of the tracks. "(Day Dream) Prayer" is spelled "Daydream (Prayer)" on the CD versions, and "Book Ends" is spelled as "Bookends" on some other releases.
Personneledit
Barnstorm
Joe Walsh – guitars, keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals, lead vocals (on 1, 3, 6, 7, 9)
Kenny Passarelli – bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (on 5)
Joe Vitale – drums, percussion, piano, keyboards, flute, backing vocals, lead vocals (on 2, 8)
The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get at Discogs (list of releases)
March 15, 2024
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The Smoker You Drink the Player You Get is the second studio album by American rock guitarist and singer Joe Walsh released in 1973 by ABC Dunhill Records in the United States and the United Kingdom and was also released in Germany It proved to be his commercial breakthrough largely on the strength of the Top 40 hit single Rocky Mountain Way which helped propel the album into the Top 10 The Smoker You Drink the Player You GetStudio album by Joe WalshReleasedJune 18 1973 1973 06 18 1 RecordedDuring late 1972 1972 early 1973 1973 StudioRecord Plant Los Angeles California Caribou Ranch Nederland Colorado GenreRock hard rock blues rockLength35 44LabelABC DunhillProducerJoe Walsh Bill SzymczykJoe Walsh chronologyBarnstorm 1972 The Smoker You Drink the Player You Get 1973 So What 1974 Singles from The Smoker You Drink the Player You Get Rocky Mountain Way Released July 1973 Meadows Released December 1973On this album Walsh shares the vocals and songwriting with the other three members of Barnstorm drummer multi instrumentalist Joe Vitale bassist Kenny Passarelli and new member keyboardist Rocke Grace As a result a variety of styles are explored on this album there are elements of blues jazz folk pop and even Caribbean music However the album is only credited to Walsh as a solo artist not to Barnstorm 2 which led to the band s demise 3 After the success of this album Walsh continued making albums as a solo artist The title is a play on words The higher you get the better you play citation needed Contents 1 Cover artwork 2 Critical reception 3 Release history 4 Track listing 5 Personnel 6 Charts 7 Certifications 8 See also 9 References 10 External linksCover artwork editThe cover art for the album features a British Sopwith Snipe fighter with French colors that appears to be flying upside down sky blue is at the bottom brown ground is at the top Critical reception editProfessional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllMusic nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 4 Writing retrospectively for AllMusic critic Ben Davies wrote of the album Walsh s ability to swing wildly from one end of the rock scale to the other is unparalleled and makes for an album to suit many tastes it features some of the most remembered Joe Walsh tracks but it s not just these that make the album a success Each of the nine tracks is a song to be proud of This is a superb album by anyone s standards 4 Release history editIn addition to the usual two channel stereo version this album was also released in a four channel quadraphonic edition on LP and 8 track tape in 1974 The quad LP is encoded using the QS Regular Matrix system Audio Fidelity issued a limited 24 karat gold edition CD in 2009 This was followed in 2011 by a version in Japan with a miniature replica of the original sleeve in the SHM CD format 5 Track listing editAll songs written and composed by Joe Walsh except where noted Side ANo TitleWriter s Length1 Rocky Mountain Way Joe WalshJoe VitaleKenny PassarelliRocke Grace5 152 Bookends Vitale2 453 Wolf 3 094 Midnight Moodies Grace3 395 Happy Ways PassarelliBernard Zoloth2 40 Side BNo TitleWriter s Length6 Meadows 4 367 Dreams 5 508 Days Gone By Vitale5 549 Daydream Prayer 1 56Total length 35 44 Different versions of the album have various spellings for two of the tracks Day Dream Prayer is spelled Daydream Prayer on the CD versions and Book Ends is spelled as Bookends on some other releases Personnel editBarnstorm Joe Walsh guitars keyboards synthesizer backing vocals lead vocals on 1 3 6 7 9 Kenny Passarelli bass guitar guitar backing vocals lead vocals on 5 Joe Vitale drums percussion piano keyboards flute backing vocals lead vocals on 2 8 Rocke Grace keyboards backing vocalsSession musicians Joe Lala percussion Venetta Fields backing vocals Clydie King backing vocalsProduction and artwork Joe Walsh record producer Bill Szymczyk record producer engineering mixing Mike D Stone of the Record Plant engineering Ronnie Alpert engineering Al Blazek engineering Jimmy Wachtel album design Bob Jenkins photographyCharts editAlbum Billboard United States Year Chart Position1973 Pop Albums 6Singles Billboard United States Year Single Chart Position1973 Rocky Mountain Way Pop Singles 231974 Meadows Pop Singles 89Certifications editUK Silver 6 US Gold 7 See also editList of albums released in 1973 Joe Walsh s discographyReferences edit Martin C Strong The Great Rock Discography Random House Inc New York NY 1998 p 900 Classic Rock Review 18 June 2018 The Smoker You Drink the Player You Get Retrieved May 8 2019 Adams Deanna R 2002 Rock n Roll and the Cleveland Connection Kent State University Press ISBN 0 87338 691 4 a b Davies Ben The Smoker You Drink the Player You Get gt Review Allmusic Retrieved July 9 2011 The Smoker You Drink the Player You Get Cardboard Sleeve Mini LP SHM CD Limited Release Joe Walsh CD Album CDJapan Certified Awards Archived from the original on January 24 2013 Retrieved August 27 2009 Gold amp Platinum Recording Industry Association of America External links editThe Smoker You Drink the Player You Get at Discogs list of releases Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Smoker You Drink the Player You Get amp oldid 1206932960, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
