"Funk #49" is a song written by

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr B ...

, Jim Fox, and Dale Peters, and recorded by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

The James Gang James Gang is an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band went through a variety of line-up changes until they recorded their first album as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh (guitars, lead vocals), Tom Kriss (bass), and ...

. The song featured as the first single off the group's second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

James Gang Rides Again ''James Gang Rides Again'' (alternatively known as simply ''Rides Again'') is the second studio album by American rock band James Gang. The album was released on the label ABC Records. It is the James Gang's first album to feature bassist Dale Pete ...

'' (1970). The song was a moderate success upon release, peaking at #59 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

.James Gang Funk # 49 Chart History , Billboard
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Composition

"Funk #49" is 3:54 in length, though it only has two verses. Much of the song is instrumental, drawing from

's guitar, Dale Peters' bass work, and Jim Fox's

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

ming. The lyrics focus on a wild girlfriend the singer cannot tame. Most of the song is a vehicle for Walsh's guitar performance. The song got its title as a sequel to "Funk #48", a song from ''

Yer' Album ''Yer' Album'' is the debut studio album by American rock band James Gang. The album was released in early 1969 on the Bluesway label. This is the James Gang's only album to feature their bassist Tom Kriss. He was replaced by Dale Peters for their ...

'', their first LP. Walsh explained the writing of the song, "I came up with the basic guitar lick, and the words never really impressed me intellectually, but they seemed to fit somehow. It was a real good example of how we put things together, bearing in mind that it was a three piece group, and I don't think that there was any overdubbing. The only thing we really added was the percussion middle part, which the three of us actually played, putting some parts on top of the drums, but that's the three piece James Gang, and that's the energy and kind of the symmetry we were all about." Walsh would later record a "Funk #50", which was included on his 2012 solo album ''Analog Man''.

References

{{authority control Songs written by Joe Walsh 1971 singles 1970 songs ABC Records singles James Gang songs