Joseph Fidler was born on this day in 1947 in Wichita. His father, a flight instructor for the United States Air Force, who later died in a plane crash in Okinawa. His mother remarried when he was 5, but Joe retained Fidler as his middle name. The family moved to Franklin County, Ohio, and then to New York. When he was 10, he got a guitar and quickly learned to play it. Joe graduated high school, went to Kent State University and began playing in some garage bands in the area. He was present at the Kent State Massacre in 1970 and it made him think about needing a degree, as it was not required in his desired profession, so he dropped out of college.
He kept playing the guitar and bounced around with several bands in the late 60’s. He joined a band in 1968, The James Gang, that signed a record deal with ABC Records. The group opened for “the who” and were so impressed they invited them on their European tour. Joe moved to Colorado and formed his own band, releasing two albums, one song reaching number 23 on the billboard top 40, another all the way to number 6, then the band broke up. That same year, 1975 Joe had a big break, the lead guitarist for a big name band left and the group invited Joe to take his place, and he did. But, some of the band members thought Joe was too wild for them and he wouldn’t fit in. The band was producing a major album I know you have heard of. Hotel California was released by The Eagles in December of 1976 and yielded a large number of big hits. That’s right, Joe Wilder, born in Wichita, blended with the Walsh family when his mother remarried and became the Joe Walsh, who is currently on the final tour, again, with The Eagles. Happy 76th birthday to one of rock’s best guitarists of all time, Joe Walsh, and it all started, right here in Kansas.
