Straight Shooter is the fourth studio album by James Gang, which was released in July 1972 on ABC Records in the US and Probe Records in the UK. This is the first James Gang album recorded after their guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Joe Walsh left the band and went on to form the band Barnstorm. The remaining members, Dale Peters (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Jim Fox (drums and organ) were joined on this album by ex-Bush singer Roy Kenner and guitarist Domenic Troiano. Bush, whose lone album was released in the United States by ABC's subsidiary label Dunhill Records, had broken up at about the same time as Walsh left the James Gang, so Kenner's and Troiano's joining Peters and Fox effectively merged the remnants of the two bands.
| Straight Shooter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 31, 1972 | |||
| Recorded | Early 1972 | |||
| Studio | Quadrafonic Sound (Nashville, Tennessee)[1] | |||
| Genre | Rock, hard rock | |||
| Length | 35:15 | |||
| Label | ABC, Probe | |||
| Producer | James Gang | |||
| James Gang chronology | ||||
| ||||
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
Reviewing for Allmusic, critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote of the album "the band was saddled by a noticeable lack of strong material, since none of the members could write songs with memorable hooks."[2]
Track listing
editAll songs by Roy Kenner and Domenic Troiano, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Madness" | 3:13 | |
| 2. | "Kick Back Man" | 4:51 | |
| 3. | "Get Her Back Again" | Troiano | 2:45 |
| 4. | "Looking for My Lady" | 2:53 | |
| 5. | "Getting Old" | Troiano | 3:43 |
| 6. | "I'll Tell You Why" | Dale Peters, Troiano | 3:53 |
| 7. | "Hairy Hypochondriac" | Kenner, Peters, Troiano | 2:57 |
| 8. | "Let Me Come Home" | Peters, Troiano | 4:59 |
| 9. | "My Door Is Open" | 5:55 |
Personnel
edit- Roy Kenner – lead vocals (all but 5), percussion
- Domenic Troiano – guitars, backing and lead (5) vocals
- Dale Peters – bass guitar, backing vocals, percussion
- Jim Fox – drums, backing vocals, percussion, keyboards
- Additional personnel
- Sheldon Kurland – violin
- Glen Spreen - strings
- Engineering
- Gene Eichelberger - Engineering, Remixing
- Cover artwork
- Jim Flournoy Holmes - Cover artwork
- David Powell - Cover artwork
Charts
edit| Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 | 58 |
| Canada RPM 100 Albums[3] | 39 |
References
edit- ^ "James Gang – Straight Shooter (1972, Vinyl)". Discogs. 1972.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Straight Shooter > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums - June 3, 1972" (PDF).