Thirds

On the third James Gang album, the songwriting was more evenly distributed among the group’s three members than on the previous year’s Rides Again. Bassist Dale Peters and drummer/bandleader Jim Fox wrote two tracks each, and “Yadig?” was credited to all three, while Walsh wrote four. One of those was the single, “Walk Away,” on which he’s credited with “train wreck” because of the pileup of overdubbed guitars as the song fades out. The egalitarian/this-is-a-band spirit extends throughout; Peters and Fox sing the songs they wrote, and those songs take the trio into country-rock and pop-soul territory, while “Yadig?” is a short, intriguing instrumental on which Walsh plays electric piano and Fox overdubs some very nice jazz vibraphone.