Ray Charles: The musician Joe Walsh always wanted to play for
Any aspiring rock guitarist can only hope to have the resume that Joe Walsh has accumulated. While he has already turned in classic tunes throughout his solo career, his work with the Eagles remains some of the most tasteful guitar playing that anyone has ever made, whether it’s the massive solo run of ‘Hotel California’ or the heartbreaking ballad ‘Pretty Maids All in a Row’. While Walsh has been able to play with other rock legends like Ringo Starr, he admits that he would have loved to add something to one late musician.
When working on finetuning his sound in the early days, though, Walsh was already gaining notoriety from some of the hard rock elite. Throughout the first few years working in the James Gang, Walsh’s subtle touch when playing lead was enough to win over artists like Pete Townshend, whom Walsh would eventually gift a guitar that he would use on the album Who’s Next.
As Walsh moved on to his solo career, it was a chance tour opening up for the Eagles that got him the gig in the band. Having been running into trouble working with founding guitarist Bernie Leadon, the band thought the next best move would be for Walsh to come into the fold instead, which gave them a degree of rock credibility that they never had before.
In the years since the band’s golden age, though, Walsh has been more open about discussing his favourite music beyond traditional rock and roll. Outside of the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page, Walsh’s tastes always were drawn to the smooth soul sounds of Ray Charles when he was first discovering music.
While many up-and-coming rock acts would pick up songs like ‘Hit the Road Jack’ and ‘What’d I Say’ from Charles, his impact on country music on albums like Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music would become paramount in the Eagles’ career, having an apparent influence on Don Henley when cutting the song ‘Desperado’.
Out of all the great artists he had played for, Walsh always regretted being unable to play alongside Charles, saying, “The one that got away that I really wanted to play with was Ray Charles. I really wanted to play guitar for Ray. I mean, he’s – I can’t describe it. American treasure. He was so great. He was just as pure spiritually R&B as you can get. And I really wanted to play guitar for him, but I didn’t make it”.
While Charles had always been slightly distant from the traditional sounds of rock and roll, he was able to work with some of the greatest guitarists in the world into his later years. During the final years of his life, Slash would even have a chance to work alongside him on the song ‘Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand’.
Although Walsh didn’t get to learn anything firsthand from Charles during his time on this Earth, his delicate touch on guitar is all the proof he needs to be a student of the keyboardist’s melodies. The Eagles may not be the most soulful band in the world, but no note that Walsh ever played was short of emotion.
