If I Was The President

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About If I Was The President

LIVE JOE WALSH BROADCAST RECORDING FROM INDEPENDENCE DAY 1990 Following the breakup of the Eagles in July 1980, with whom Joe Walsh had been a member since 1975, he continued to release solo albums throughout the 1980s, but sales did not meet the same level as that of his earlier projects. Joe had started his career with The James Gang in 1968, and had written the group s two biggest and best songs; Walk Away and Funk 49. He left in 1971 and released his first three solo albums in 72, 73 and 74 respectively. His stint with the Eagles was his most successful era, and indeed his guitar solo at the end of the enormous Hotel California title track is known the world over and is familiar to millions. It was also during this time that Walsh released his best known solo-album and single But Seriously Folks, featuring the radio-friendly Life s Been Good. So when the band split, he had the kind of time that had eluded him for the past five years, allowing him to run for President of the United States in 1980, promising to make Life's Been Good the new national anthem if he won. Joe ran on a platform of Free Gas for Everyone, a tempting proposition for the average American at the time, the country having come out of the 1970s oil crisis with gasoline costing five times what it had been at the decade s start. Walsh however was only 33 in 1980 thus not meeting 35-year-old requirement to actually assume office, presumably the main reason that the somewhat older and many may say less enlightened - Ronald Reagan ended up taking up the post the following year. In 1992 Walsh ran for vice president with Rev. Goat Carson under the slogan We Want Our Money Back! So, when, on Independence Day 1990, Joe was headlining the 8th annual Fountain Valley Fiesta, in Mile Square Park a yearly six day event that culminated on 4th July with fireworks and concerts - he took the opportunity to remind those in attendance of his occasional political career, and indeed his If I Was The President Rap reveals Joe s still somewhat eccentric pledges, ending with the repeated assurance that Life s Been Good would become the NA, before launching into a sterling version of the classic tune. The set, peppered with much good natured albeit hilarious banter with the radio presenter/MC on the day, is sensibly constructed from a superb selection of JW s best loved numbers, culminating with a Hendrix-esque Star-Spangled Banner - presumably to remind the crowd how much better and more appropriate his own choice of patriotic composition for the USA would be.