Early years Drummer
Jim Fox first played with the
Cleveland-area band
the Outsiders but left them in 1965 to attend college. After they had a national hit the following year with "
Time Won't Let Me" (no.5 on the Billboard Hot 100), Fox returned temporarily to play with them after their drummer was drafted. After leaving them again to return to school, Fox, heavily influenced by the sound of
British Invasion bands such as
the Beatles,
the Who and
the Yardbirds, began to think about forming his own band and teamed up with schoolmate Ronnie Silverman (guitar),
bassist Tom Kriss and keyboardist Phil Giallombardo in 1966. The James Gang's earliest lineup consisted of Fox (drums), Kriss (bass), Silverman (guitar), Giallombardo (vocals, keyboards), and after auditioning some 25 candidates for lead guitar, the band decided to go with Greg Grandillo, who later played with another popular Cleveland band, Rainbow Canyon. He was soon replaced by Dennis Chandler, who was then succeeded by John "Mouse" Michalski who, with the
Count Five, had just enjoyed a national hit with "Psychotic Reaction". A short time later, Fox was invited to audition for a nine-piece
rhythm and blues band that was being assembled. Fox initially declined the offer but changed his mind when he heard that local guitar legend
Glenn Schwartz, who was fresh out of the army, was to be in attendance. After hearing Schwartz play, and hearing that two of his influences were the
Spencer Davis Group and
Jeff Beck, Fox was impressed and invited Schwartz to join the James Gang. However, Michalski was not as enthused by his playing and left the band. Silverman soon departed as well to enter the military. Bill Jeric was then brought in to play alongside Schwartz. No recordings were ever released by these early lineups of the band. Around Christmastime of 1967, Schwartz, who was found to be
AWOL from the army and was breaking up with his wife, decided to leave the band and move to California, where he ended up forming the band
Pacific Gas & Electric. Later in 1969, Szymczyk was music coordinator for the
George Englund movie
Zachariah (which was released in 1971), based on the 1922 novel
Siddhartha by writer
Hermann Hesse. Szymczyk arranged for the band to appear in the movie, with two James Gang songs, "Laguna Salada" and "Country Fever", also being used. For the recording of these two songs, vocalist Kenny Weiss, a friend of Fox's, was brought in to allow Walsh to focus on his guitar playing. However, Weiss was gone by the time the group arrived in Mexico to film their scenes in the movie. "Laguna Salada" and "Country Fever" later reappeared as bonus tracks on the 2000 re-release of
The James Gang Greatest Hits. In November 1969 bassist Tom Kriss left the band after his father was diagnosed with lung cancer. Kriss was replaced by Dale Peters, who was brought in from another group called Case of E.T. Hooley. In 1969 Roger Abramson went to JB's, a small club in Kent, Ohio, and advised Belkin Productions to start a Management division with the James Gang and the band Silk, which included
Michael Stanley. In July 1970 the band, composed of Fox, Peters and Walsh, released its second album,
James Gang Rides Again, which included the popular single "Funk #49." In the spring of 1970, Belkin Productions arranged for the band to open for
the Who for six dates during a US tour and their guitarist
Pete Townshend was so impressed with them he invited the band to open for them on their fall tour of the United Kingdom. Townshend and Walsh then started a long friendship with Townshend telling
Rolling Stone that Walsh was "the best" American guitar player. In January 1971 they appeared on
Top of the Pops in the United Kingdom. In July 1971 the Gang returned to tour Europe. so Troiano left the band in 1973 and would subsequently join
the Guess Who. Troiano was replaced by guitarist
Tommy Bolin, formally from
Zephyr, after Joe Walsh called to recommend him to the band. Bolin joined the band in August 1973 and appeared on two albums,
Bang! and
Miami, that saw the band moving from
ABC Records over to
Atlantic Records'
Atco label. During the recording of
Miami in 1974, Kenner ran into legal troubles after a drug bust and was not available initially for recording. Other singers were reportedly auditioned but eventually Kenner was able to return to complete the album. Not happy with the musical direction, and frustrated with the indifference from Bolin concerning new material, Kenner gave notice, telling Fox and Peters he would stay on until a replacement was found. Aware of this development, a disillusioned Bolin decided to leave as well, albeit in a slightly different manner: no notice, and simply not showing up for the gig. Bolin went on to work with
Dr. John and
Alphonse Mouzon and attempted to form another group with future
Crosby, Stills and Nash keyboardist
Mike Finnigan before accepting the offer from
Deep Purple in 1975. The trio then gathered together again to perform at an election rally for President
Bill Clinton at the Cleveland State University Convocation Center on November 4, 1996. They also appeared on
The Drew Carey Show in the 1998–99 season and at the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the
Allen Theater in Cleveland for three shows in February 2001, joined by keyboardist
Mark Avsec (ex-
Wild Cherry and
Donnie Iris & the Cruisers). And in the summer of 2005, the group performed another handful of shows (joined again by Avsec) in the Cleveland area. As of May 2004,
Glenn Schwartz was playing guitar and singing Thursday nights at "Major Hooples" in the Flats, Cleveland. And as of 2014, Schwartz continued to perform at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland. Schwartz died on November 3, 2018, at the age of 77. tribute concert in September 2022 In April 2006 it was announced that the Walsh/Peters/Fox lineup of the group would be touring the United States later that summer, supported by keyboardist Bill Appleberry and backing vocalists Gia Ciambetti, Robbyn Kirmsse and Stacy Michelle. During this summer tour, the band appeared in August performing live on
The Howard Stern Show on
Sirius Satellite Radio. The James Gang participated in their first in-store signing event in over 50 years on November 8, 2022, at Used Kids Records in
Columbus, Ohio. After a brief interview, Jimmy Fox, Joe Walsh and Dale Peters signed autographs at the store, which is located just a few blocks from Walsh’s childhood home. Proceeds from the event raised funds for various veterans-related organizations via Walsh’s VetsAid charity. On November 13, 2022, once again supported by Mark Avsec and a vocal trio, and joined on their encore on drums by
Dave Grohl, the group performed at the VetsAid concert in Columbus, Ohio. There were early reports that VetsAid would be the final gig for the James Gang, but Joe Walsh said that may not be the case. "
Glenn Frey used to say never say never, so I'm not," Walsh explained. "We played the concerts for Taylor Hawkins and it worked really good; we got in front of an audience and we were able to do what we used to do. I haven't played loud on 11 in a long time; I play in a vocal group, so I have small amps. It's different to turn it up and go for it, and I didn't realize how much I missed it until we started cookin' with the James Gang. I can't wait to play again." == Discography ==