Jimmy Fox Reveals Joe Walsh Wanted To Issue Ultimatum At Taylor Hawkins Tribute Show

James Gang drummer Jimmy Fox revealed that an ultimatum was given by Joe Walsh during Taylor Hawkins’ tribute show.

The power trio started in 1966 and recorded their debut, which features Walsh, Fox, and Tom Kriss. While Dale Peters joined the band to replace Kriss on the second and third records. However, in 1971, Walsh went solo and then eventually joined the Eagles. Although they looked for a replacement for Walsh, they eventually failed and split in 1977.

On September 3, James Gang reunited for the first time after 16 years to perform at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert held at Wembley Stadium. Fox revealed that everyone rehearsed on their own for the show and thought of performing 3 to 5 songs. Unfortunately, they are only allowed to play three songs due to the TV simulcast and according to Fox, Walsh wanted to take a stand against this decision.

However, upon knowing that the decision was made by David Grohl, the band did not complain anymore as a sign of respect. Fox stated:

“Everyone started on their own. We weren’t sure how much time we would be allotted. We had to be a bit flexible with the songs we learned. We knew it would be between three and five. The fifth one at that point would have been ‘Funk #49,’ which we would have used as an encore with Dave had it gone that way. But as time approached, it started to look more and more like time was going to be crucial.

“As confident as Joe was that we could have the time that we needed, TV took over. All of a sudden, the decisions shifted; from everywhere, they were being made specifically to the TV people. It came back to us, ‘Three songs it is.’ Joe wanted to take a stand and say, ‘No, we’re not doing that.’ We talked about it a lot and decided that’s not the place to make a stand. You know, it’s out of Dave’s control. It’s out of everyone’s control. It’s in the hands of television.”

He then continued:

“So we thought, ‘Well, let’s do the best we can to kick ass at three.’ There wasn’t much question as to which three songs. We were pretty confident. ‘Walk Away’ and ‘Funk #49’ were no-brainers, so where’s your third song? ‘The Bomber’ seemed to be the one.

“Once we got to Los Angeles, we arranged five days of rehearsal. We had a full soundstage. We wound up usually rehearsing at noon for four or five hours. We did it every day, and I don’t think we took a day off, but we did start late one day. That was as much rehearsal as it was when we were all kids. It was, let’s get into a room, let’s get face to face, and let’s get right to this. We worked like dogs.”