Maps of Music

Ordinary Average Guy (1991)

Where the lyrics of Ordinary Average Guy take you, and where it was really made.

The album was Joe Walsh's first all-new studio record in four years, and the closing song's lead vocal went to drummer Joe Vitale, not Walsh.

Key places

Recorded at Pyramid Recording Studio (1991)

Recording site Pyramid Recording Studio — The album was recorded at Pyramid Recording Studio in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, together with Kiva Recording Studio in Memphis. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded and mixed at Kiva Recording Studio (1991)

Recording site Ardent Studios — Kiva Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee was used for recording, and the album was also mixed there. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Ordinary Average Guy: ninth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh
• Released 23 April 1991, in mid 1991
• Sony Music Entertainment is credited on the 1991 release
• First album of entirely new music since Got Any Gum? in 1987
• First solo album issued internationally by Epic, after a four-year alliance with Warner Bros. Records in the United States and Canada
• Guests include Ringo Starr, Survivor's lead vocalist Jimi Jamison, and Joe Vitale

Background

• Joe Vitale is the drummer from Walsh's former band Barnstorm
• Vitale also sings the lead vocals on the closing track "School Days"
• Personnel: Walsh on vocals, keyboards and guitars; Vitale on keyboards, drums, percussion and vocals
• Waddy Wachtel on guitars, Rick Rosas on bass, Chad Cromwell on drums and percussion, Otis Lawrence on saxophones
• Producers: Joe Walsh and Joe Vitale; executive producer Scott MacLellan

Recording

• Recorded at Pyramid Recording Studio in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, and Kiva Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee
• Mixed at Kiva Recording Studio
• Mastered at Sony Music Studios in New York City
• Recording and mixing credited to Dave Reynolds, with assistants Tim Ray and John Walls
• Recording of track 5 credited to Jim Nipar and Bill Szymczyk
• Art direction by David Coleman, photography by Alan Messer, barn photography by Patrick Cullie and Willie Gibson

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, born November 20, 1947 in Wichita, Kansas.
• Best known as a member of the rock band Eagles, joining in 1975 as guitarist and keyboardist, replacing Bernie Leadon.
• Earlier played with local Ohio bands, then the James Gang (1968–1971), known for the hit "Funk 49".
• Led Barnstorm (1971–1974) with Joe Vitale and Kenny Passarelli; "Rocky Mountain Way" reached No. 23 on the US Top 40.
• Solo hits include "Life's Been Good" (No. 12 Billboard Hot 100) and "A Life of Illusion".
• Rolling Stone ranked him No. 54 on its 2011 list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Eagles in 1998.

Recognition

• Eagles won five Grammy Awards in total, with Walsh a member of the group.
• Earned an honorary music degree from Kent State University in 2001.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Writing for AllMusic, critic Vincent Jeffries reviewed the album
• The review describes the record as a collection of nostalgia, decent balladry and quirky anthems
• The reviewer says the album probably reinforced any notions of Joe Walsh's creative decline
• The review calls the album reflective and sometimes half-hearted
• The review says the weariness on the record is both sad and difficult to appreciate
• The review says Walsh, described as a master, seems to go through the motions
• The assessment centers on the gap between Walsh's earlier work and this album
• The evaluation focuses on the mood of the whole album rather than on single songs
• The only critical verdict quoted in the source comes from AllMusic

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Vincent Jeffries of AllMusic wrote that the album was a collection of nostalgia, decent balladry and quirky anthems.
• Ringo Starr is among the guests on the album.
• Jimi Jamison, Survivor's lead vocalist, also appears on the record.
• Joe Vitale, a former member of Barnstorm, sings lead on the final track, "School Days".
• The album was mixed at Kiva Recording Studio in Memphis and mastered at Sony Music Studios in New York City.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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