The Magicians may have disappeared, but Joe Walsh shines a spotlight on them with this single.
Kronomyth 0.9: This magic moment.
The advance single from Joe Walsh’s first album was a cover of I’ll Tell the World About You, originally performed by The Magicians (Alan Gordon and Allan Jacobs’ band) back in 1966. The original is a sweetly sentimental track that should have gotten the band national attention. Walsh’s version curdles the original and never should have been released as a single. I’m including a link to the original song by The Magicians so you can make up your own mind.
The B side is Mother Says, which would have made for a much better single, presuming they edited out the middle section. That would have left them with a tight three-and-a-half-minute song that featured the same compressed sound as Walsh’s hits with James Gang. Instead, in its full version, “Mother Says” is like James Gang meets Elton John with a nod to The Who at the end, only not as good as that sounds.
Original 7-inch single version
A1. I’ll Tell the World About You (Alan Gordon/Allan Jacobs) (3:56)*
B1. Mother Says (Joe Walsh/Joe Vitale/Kenny Passarelli) (6:20)
*Canadian single lists run time as 3:41.
The Plastic
Released on 7-inch single in September 1972 in the US and Canada (ABC Dunhill, D-4327). Also released as a promotional 7-inch single in 1972 in the US (ABC Dunhill, D-4327) feat. A only.
