A fine analysis of The Eagles – “a shirtless Byrds”. The solo on the track “HC” is OK, I suppose. In the track posted, I’ve found their, hah “Eagle” song by “the Swedish group”. Both are so “white” they make ELP seem like Sly and the Family Stone. (Maybe I exaggerate, but only just).
https://www.theringer.com/music/2021/5/5/22420083/the-eagles-glen-frey-don-henley-50-years
Never heard that track – my my it’s dull.
Hate? Nah, just never seen the greatness in them. Like the other thread going – Best Served By A Best Of.
Triffic group.
OK, The Beatles took the wind out of their sails but… oh, yeah, wrong Eagles… yep, of course, “The Eagles” are bleedin’ awful!
If there is a “sell the 60s to people who missed the 60s, while being nominally in the 60s missing the 60s, after the 60s,” and/or Golden-Age-It-Went-That-Away impasse, they are most definitely it.
That’s why they sold so many records. Like the fighting fish in “Dr. No,” they were the fish who waited for the aftermath and mopped up.
See also: Roman Aromabananarama… you know, the Chelsea guy, only he did it with… oh, you know…
Of course, they can have it!
The Eagles became dull and bloated but there’s a lot of great stuff on their earlier albums – On the Border especially still stands up well. There was a time when they were regarded as genuine heirs to the Flying Burrito Brothers. Nothing to hate there I don’t think.
I have never bothered with The Long Run, but I think right up to Hotel California they were at worst really good and frequently excellent. Do you think HC is dull and bloated?
I liked Hotel California and One of These Nights at the time but for me they’ve worn less well than the earlier records. Some great songs on both though, I agree.
Certainly agree they were inconsistent. Desperado should have been brilliant, with its bluegrass concept album error, concept. But it isn’t really. Ought to give it another spin and see if it’s improved.
I think Desperado was brilliant.
Although Tom Waits wasn’t too complimentary about their cover.
https://theantilaugh.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/ol-55-tom-waits-vs-the-eagles/
You have to remember that Tom was just trying to be clever/funny in the knowledge that he was becoming very rich from the royalties.
He wasn’t getting rich.
A few years later, Springsteen covered ‘Jersey Girl’ on his live album. He again thought he was getting richer.
He didn’t own the publishing to his early records. He thought he was a millionaire, but he wasn’t even a thousandaire.
Lucky for him, he got the movie soundtrack, met his wife, and we got swordfishtrombones.
He later took the ‘dust off the turntable’ comment back.
Thanks @bigstevie I just remember the quote about the dust, I didn’t know he’d taken it back.
At the time, early mid 70s, they were a welcome tonic for Byrdwatchers, with the first 3 records, well, singles apart, 2nd and 3rd pretty damn good. A lot of love. The odd ok decent song, including, hell, yeah, Hotel California, a stone cold to match the ubiquity of Stairway or Freebird. Don Henley still capable of a decent song, if reserved for himself, the guitarist new fella OK if reined in. More fond thoughts than fecund.
Great band.
Here ends the lesson.
Regarding Byrds Gene Clark did write a song for them:
https://youtu.be/D_ZF4AjcIT8
Don Henley though. He penned two of my all time favourite songs.
Having said that. They do appear to be corporate whores. Can’t have everything I guess.
I discovered The Eagles in about 1973, when Whispering Bob played Tequila Sunrise on the radio. It was – nice. Nice tune, harmonies, all the things about The Eagles that you can actually like. I went to see them supporting Neil Young. “We always come to England to record our albums” – they must have been recording Desperado at the time. I quite liked that song, I could appreciate immaculately written pop. But there was always something a little too clean about them. In the country rock vein I preferred Gram Parsons and Emmylou and The Band.
They came to New Zealand in January 1976. They played an outdoor gig on a Monday night. The previous Saturday I saw Frank Zappa at Auckland Town Hall. The difference was life changing. I did buy One Of Those Nights, but skipped Hotel California. By then I’d had enough.
The Eagles are a bellwether ring. We’re here also and we have massive support. It doesn’t matter what you think in regards to artistic merit.
The litany of grievances in that article could equally apply to other entitled and privileged rich hippy or ex-hippy rockstars who have behaved badly and selfishly and ended up reactionary old gits. Hardly a unique story. As ever we separate the art from the person, except when it comes to the act who’s art you despise it seems. It’s not great art in this case, although I enjoy HC the song despite it’s ubiquity. At least it rocks out and has a bit of grit, whereas they are generally so bland and inoffensive in that mid-seventies way. HC the album is all right for the most part in fact. Life In The Fast Lane has a bit of a ZZ Top feel. It sounded good on the radio at the time. Actually soft rock generally sounds better now than it did then without the negative associations of old wave v new wave and other contemporary considerations. You can just enjoy it for what it is. Mmm…nice.
I don’t hate the Eagles. Okay, so they came to epitomise the worst excesses of ruthless ambition and infighting coupled with a bloated West Coast lifestyle, but they knew how to knock out a good tune. Desperado and Hotel California still hold up as cracking pieces of work. On the flip side, their comeback album Long Road Out of Eden is best forgotten about, and they really should have called it a day after Glenn Frey’s death. They have now become their own corporate tribute band, and it’s hard to escape the conclusion that it’s all about the bucks.
FWIIW, I saw the Eagles a couple of years ago in the Liverpool super dooper Amex barclays arena thingy & they were shit hot.
Whither Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future?
Acts who’s music people get rather disproportionately cross about:
Eagles
Queen
ELO
Abba
All hugely successful and big in the mid-seventies.
I’d add Elton John, the Carpenters and Bread.
This could start a thread of acts whose songs are good but not the arrangements. FWIW, my fave Carpenters album is the mid-90s grunge band tribute.
Desperado makes the case for listening to just one album by an artist, compared to just buying the greatest hits. You get the measure of their ability to string a cohesive series of songs together. In the same way that you would get to the heart of Steely Dan more by listening to Countdown To Ecstacy or The Royal Scam than from Steely Dan Gold. Desperado was the album that would always come out in mixed company. Boys and girls both love the Eagles, especially the early stuff, hence the ubiquity of Greatest Hits. But Desperado went much deeper. The lonely boy in town, looking for the heart of Saturday night; the outlaw man who needs to let somebody love him, before it’s too late. It’s an album about searching, and just a great collection of songs made for lovers.
A supergroup that were remarkable in their longevity. Up until then supergroups rarely lasted more than a couple of years. Musicianship, obviously, and a carefully-crafted Sunny California schtick.
Very much of their time and that time is now quite a long time ago. They have nothing to say about this century.
And it’s “Eagles” btw, no “The” I believe.
There is an excellent two part documentary on the band floating around that I saw on television. Don’t know what it is called but it was full of stories about how much Frey and Felder hated each other. Every five minutes Frey seemed to be storming off saying, “That’s it! I’m gonna fucking kill him!”
If I remember correctly, David Hepworth did a podcast with Don Felder. Interesting and entertaining too. I think I remember Felder saying something along the lines of ‘when there’s hundreds of millions of dollars to fight about, everybody hates everybody else’.
In 1975, I was a callow teenager. There was a girl, more sophisticated than me, who was sensible about Pop music. She liked to dance or to sing along or, preferably, both. Of course, she loved Queen, Elton John and The Eagles. I thought my music taste was superior, David Bowie, Little Feat, Steely Dan. However, one song seeped itself into my consciousness, one that told me to be brave, step up and make a move for love.
Years later, in a dark place, soused in booze and bad thoughts, that song came on the radio, whispering a message just for me. I barely heard it, had to rouse myself from a near stupor and turn up the sound. This time, it told me to keep going, put one foot in front of another, lift my chin from the floor.
Nowadays, whenever I feel low or stuck in a dilemma, that song is more powerful than ever. As time goes by, it gives me more strength to face the day, to enjoy the journey as much as the destination.
It’s the only single on which Randy Meisner sang lead. At the end, he hits the highest possible note for a human to reach, a Soprano C. Few artists ever attempt it. It became a huge obstacle to overcome whenever he performed it live. He was petrified and frequently resorted to high grade marijuana to help. In the end, a song about resilience, determination and courage overcame him. At one gig, he came to blows with Glenn Frey over the song and left the band.
Still, it is a performance I waltz towards increasingly as I age, less encumbered by the prejudice engendered by The Big Lebowski and Steely Dan.
Take It To The Limit
https://youtu.be/d7-8rfGGnd0
Many, many people bought Eagles records and went to their concerts. Critics may have have snarked but I’m betting the lovers outnumber the haterz by a considerable margin. Put me in the lover camp.
Vital piece of info missing there Tiggs – is this a “reader, I married her” story?
Sadly, no. She’s one that got away. 😟