The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get

The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get
Studio album by Joe Walsh and Barnstorm
Released	June 18, 1973
Recorded	Late 1972–Early 1973
Genre	Rock
Length	35:44
Label	ABC-Dunhill
Producer	Joe Walsh Bill Szymczyk
Joe Walsh and Barnstorm chronology
Barnstorm (1972) The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get (1973) So What (1975)

The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get is the second album by Joe Walsh and his band Barnstorm, released in 1973 (see 1973 in music), although the album's front cover (right) credits only Walsh. It proved to be his commercial breakthrough, largely on the strength of the Top 40 hit single, "Rocky Mountain Way", which helped propel the album into the Top 10.

On this album, Walsh shares the vocals and songwriting with the other three members of Barnstorm, drummer/multi-instrumentalist Joe Vitale, bassist Kenny Passarelli, and the new member, keyboardist Rocke Grace. As a result, a variety of styles are explored on this album. There are elements of blues, jazz, folk, pop, and even Caribbean music.

After the success of this album, Barnstorm disbanded, and Walsh continued as a solo artist.

Cover

The cover of the album features a British Sopwith Snipe fighter.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

Writing for Allmusic, critic Ben Davies wrote of the album "Walsh's ability to swing wildly from one end of the rock scale to the other is unparalleled and makes for an album to suit many tastes... [it] features some of the most remembered Joe Walsh tracks, but it's not just these that make the album a success. Each of the nine tracks is a song to be proud of. This is a superb album by anyone's standards."

Track listing

All songs by Joe Walsh, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Rocky Mountain Way" (Joe Walsh, Joe Vitale, Kenny Passarelli, Rocke Grace) – 5:15
2. "Book Ends" (Vitale) – 2:45
3. "Wolf" – 3:09
4. "Midnight Moodies" (Grace) – 3:39
5. "Happy Ways" (Passarelli, Bernard Zoloth) – 2:40

Side two

1. "Meadows" – 4:36
2. "Dreams" – 5:50
3. "Days Gone By" (Vitale) – 5:54
4. "(Day Dream) Prayer" – 1:56

Personnel

Barnstorm

• Joe Walsh: Lead guitars, synthesizers, bass guitar, keyboards, vocals.
• Kenny Passarelli: Bass guitar, guitar, vocals.
• Joe Vitale: Drums, percussion, piano, keyboards, electric piano, flute, vocals.
• Rocke Grace: Keyboards, vocals.

Session musicians

• Joe Lala: Percussion.
• Venetta Fields: Backing vocals.
• Clydie King: Backing vocals.

Production

• Producers: Joe Walsh, Bill Szymczyk
• Engineers: Ronnie Alpert, Al Blazek, Mike "Clay" Stone, Bill Szymczyk
• Mixing: Bill Szymczyk
• Design: Jimmy Wachtel
• Photography: Bob Jenkins

This LP had a STEREO release as well as a QUADRAPHONIC release. The surround sound information on the QUAD LP can be extracted by today's audio-video receivers using the DOLBY PRO LOGIC setting.

Charts

Album – Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1973	Pop Albums	6

Singles – Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1973	"Rocky Mountain Way"	Pop Singles	23
1974	"Meadows"	Pop Singles	89