But Seriously, Folks...
{{For|the Full House episode|But Seriously, Folks (Full House)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = But Seriously, Folks...
| type = studio
| artist = Joe Walsh
| cover = Joe Walsh - But Seriously Folks.jpg
| border = yes
| alt =
| released = May 16, 1978
| recorded =
| studio = Bayshore (Coconut Grove, Florida)
| genre = Rock, hard rock, soft rock
| length = 35:22
| label = Asylum
| producer =
| prev_title = You Can't Argue with a Sick Mind
| prev_year = 1976
| next_title = The Best of Joe Walsh
| next_year = 1978
}}
But Seriously, Folks... is the fourth studio album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh. The album was released in mid-1978, on the Asylum label. It included the satirical song "Life's Been Good". The original 8:04 (8:57 on CD releases with a speech at the end) album version of this track was edited down to 4:35 for the single release, and this became Walsh's biggest solo hit, peaking at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The album also featured the other four members of Eagles – which Walsh had joined two years earlier – as well as singer-keyboardist Jay Ferguson, a former member of the groups Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne (who co-wrote one track on the album), drummer Joe Vitale from Walsh's former band Barnstorm, and bassist Willie Weeks.
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |first=Al |last=Campbell |title= But Seriously, Folks... > Review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id= r21461 |pure_url=yes}} |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=July 9, 2011}}
| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide
| rev2score = C+{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: W|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=W&bk=70|accessdate=March 21, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}
}}
In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote that, although Walsh has "a gift for tuneful guitar schlock", most of the album's songs fall "far short of the irreverent shuck-and-jive" of "Life's Been Good".{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=September 4, 1978|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv9-78.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|accessdate=April 29, 2013}} In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Al Campbell said that the album is "Joe Walsh's most insightful and melodic", and "captures a reflective song cycle along the same thematic lines of Pet Sounds, only for the '70s".
Cash Box said that the single "Over and Over" "has several distinctive rhythmic breaks, organ backing, swirling guitar work, slip and slide beat and good double-tracked vocals" and praised Walsh's slide guitar solo.{{cite news|title=CashBox Singles Reviews|date=October 21, 1978|page=28|newspaper=Cash Box|accessdate=2022-01-01|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1978/CB-1978-10-21.pdf}}
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Joe Walsh, with additional writers noted.
{{Track listing
| title1 = Over and Over
| length1 = 4:53
| title2 = Second Hand Store
| writer2 = Mike Murphy
| length2 = 3:35
| title3 = Indian Summer
| length3 = 3:03
| title4 = At the Station
| writer4 = Joe Vitale
| length4 = 5:08
| title5 = Tomorrow
| length5 = 3:39
| title6 = Inner Tube
| length6 = 1:25
| title7 = Theme from Boat Weirdos
| writer7 = Vitale, Jay Ferguson, Willie Weeks, Bill Szymczyk
| length7 = 4:43
| title8 = Life's Been Good
| note8 = Life's Been Good ends at 8:04 and is followed by an untitled hidden track that runs for 42 seconds
| length8 = 8:56
| total_length = 35:22
}}
Personnel
Musicians
- Joe Walsh – vocals, synthesizers, guitars
- Jay Ferguson – keyboards
- Joe Vitale – synthesizers, drums, percussion, flute, backing vocals (1-4, 7, 8)
- Joey Murcia – 2nd guitar
- Willie Weeks – bass
Guest musicians
- Don Felder – pedal steel guitar (2), guitar (4)
- Bill Szymczyk – tambourine (4), backing vocals (8)
- Jody Boyer – backing vocals (2, 3, 8)
- Glenn Frey – background vocal arrangements and backing vocals (5)
- Don Henley – backing vocals (5)
- Timothy B. Schmit – backing vocals (5)
Production
- Bill Szymczyk – producer, engineer, digital remastering
- Ed Mashal – engineer
- Ted Jensen – mastering
- Jimmy Wachtel – album design, cover photography, sleeve photography
- Michael Curtis – design assistant
- Mark Foltz – design assistant
- Jage Jackson – design assistant
- Lorrie Sullivan – sleeve photography
- Recorded at Bayshore Studios (Coconut Grove, Florida)
- Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York)
Charts
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center;" |
| Chart (1978)
! Peak |
|---|
| scope="row"|Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, New South Wales|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=332}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 31 |
| {{album chart|Canada|9|artist=Joe Walsh|album=But Seriously, Folks|chartid=4671a|access-date=June 6, 2024|rowheader=true}} |
| {{album chart|Netherlands|46|artist=Joe Walsh|album=But Seriously, Folks|access-date=June 6, 2024|rowheader=true}} |
| {{album chart|New Zealand|10|artist=Joe Walsh|album=But Seriously, Folks|access-date=June 6, 2024|rowheader=true}} |
| {{album chart|UK2|16|date=19780730|access-date=June 6, 2024|rowheader=true}} |
| {{album chart|Billboard200|8|artist=Joe Walsh|access-date=June 6, 2024|rowheader=true}} |
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Joe Walsh|title=But Seriously, Folks|award=Platinum|type=album|relyear=1978|certyear=1978}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Joe Walsh|title=But Seriously Folks|award=Silver|type=album|relyear=1978|certyear=1978|id=1136-2878-2}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Joe Walsh|title=But Seriously, Folks|award=Platinum|type=album|relyear=1978|certyear=1978}}
{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}