November 6, 2018
In mid-August 2018, this compilation of 10 ‘greatest hits’ regained its spot as the biggest selling U.S. album ever. Of the ten songs, six were co-written by the duo whose voices brought the tunes to life and propelled the group to international fame. That group is the Eagles and the musicians: Glenn Frey and Don Henley.
The Eagles circa 1974, left to right : Bernie Leadon, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Don Felder, and Randy Meisner
November 6, 2018 would have been Frey’s 70th birthday. Frey was born, and grew up, in Detroit. His musical inclinations showed themselves early as he took piano lessons at age five. He later switched to guitar and became a part of the mid-1960’s local rock and roll scene of southern Michigan. It was when he made his way to Southern California where, according to the Infallible Wikipedia:
“Frey met drummer Don Henley in 1970. They were signed to the same label, Amos Records, at that time and both spent time at the Troubadour. When Linda Ronstadt needed a backup band for an upcoming tour, her manager John Boylan hired Frey because he needed someone who could play rhythm guitar and sing. Don Henley was approached by Frey to join Ronstadt. Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon were also hired, although as the backing band personnel changed through the tour, the four had only played once together at a gig at Disneyland. Frey and Henley decided to form a band together while on the tour, and they were joined by Meisner on bass and Leadon on guitar, banjo, steel guitar, mandolin and dobro, forming the Eagles, with Frey playing guitar and keyboards and Henley playing drums. The band went on to become one of the world’s best-selling groups of all time.”
How great would it be to have an autographed cover of their Greatest Hits album? Wish it were mine!
Commercial success arrived in 1972 with the release of their self-titled album and the single “Take It Easy.” In that song we were introduced to their unique sound and the easy to listen to voice of Frey. It was also one of Frey’s earliest compositions, co-written with Jackson Browne. Also from the Infallible Wikipedia:
“Browne told a version of the story in a radio interview: ‘I knew Glenn Frey from playing these clubs – we kept showing up at the same clubs and singing on the open-mic nights. Glenn happened to come by to say ‘hi,’ and to hang around when I was in the studio, and I showed him the beginnings of that song, and he asked if I was going to put it on my record and I said it wouldn’t be ready in time. He said ‘well, we’ll put it on, we’ll do it,’ ’cause he liked it,” Browne explained. ‘But it wasn’t finished, and he kept after me to finish it, and finally offered to finish it himself. And after a couple of times when I declined to have him finish my song, I said, ‘all right.’ I finally thought, ‘This is ridiculous. Go ahead and finish it. Do it.’ And he finished it in spectacular fashion. And, what’s more, arranged it in a way that was far superior to what I had written.'”
Frey’s talent was indisputable and unstoppable. Along with Henley – and also J.D. Souther and Randy Meisner on two of the songs – he co-wrote the following which are on their Greatest Hits album: Desperado, Tequila Sunrise, Lyin’ Eyes, One of These Nights, Take It To The Limit, and Best of My Love.
In all, Frey co-wrote 35 songs and achieved success as a solo artist after the group took a ‘vacation’ from one another in 1980 until they reunited in 1994.
Their Greatest Hits CD has been a part of my ‘hitchhiker’ collection for the past 10 years now. What, you are no doubt wondering, is the ‘hitchhiker’ collection? When I started making the frequent trips to Yakima to help with my parents, I put together a shoebox of CD’s to listen to while I drove. Over time, CD’s were added or removed depending on my mood. What I discovered is that there were about 10 to 15 CD’s that are never removed. Ever. Chief among them is the Eagles Greatest Hits.
I have been known to post on Facebook that I picked up a hitchhiker to keep me company during the drive. The reactions the first time I posted I had done so were hilarious as people were appalled I would do such a dangerous thing. But soon everyone figured it out and were proffering guesses as to ‘who’ they were. For the Eagles it might read “Glenn and Don got in at Ellensburg and kept me entertained clear to the top of the pass when they got out and Carly hopped in.”
One thing is certain, however, every song on that Eagle’s CD is a winner and it’s nearly impossible to pick a favorite. That said, there is one which I love just a tiny bit more than the others. That would be “Desperado.” What’s your most loved Eagles song?
So as a bonus today you get not one, but two classic hits from the Eagles. Here’s the second one. Enjoy.
As always, a couple of links:
With the release of his 2014 album, Mandatory Fun, his published song list stood at 194. A truly huge number which speaks to his endurance as an artist. In fact, Weird Al’s career has outlasted most of the musicians whose song’s he’s parodied.
The frat which impacted us the most were the Phi Delta Theta’s – aka Phi Delt’s (their house pictured above) – whose members included most of the UPS football team as well as a fair number of the wild boys. And during Hell Week they did interesting things.
By the middle of the decade, the Beatles were in the rear-view mirror and the hard rock of the late sixties and early seventies had given way to bubblegum and pop. And could there be any better symbols than two sugary treats to describe this song by a group called The Starland Vocal Band?
In the world of music, Afternoon Delight is what’s known as a ‘One Hit Wonder.’ Although the musicians who made up the group had some success before and after their big song, it was Afternoon Delight which catapulted them to a brief moment of fame.
At the time, the lyrics were a little bit shocking, especially to the parents of younger Baby Boomers who had pretty much lost control of their children by then. We, thinking we were hip and edgy, embraced the song with a wink and knowing nod because, well, our generation invented it, after all. What could our parents possibly know?
It was on June 19, 1971 when her double sided single It’s Too Late/I Feel The Earth Move hit number one on the Billboard charts and remained there for five weeks.
In the summer of 1971, Tapestry was one of three albums which I wore out. The angst of King’s songs spoke – not only to me – but to a whole generation of teenagers experiencing love and heartbreak for the first time. Although I couldn’t directly relate to the lyrics of It’s Too Late, there was a sadness and loneliness which emanated loud and clear. It was a perfect breakup song.
It was a different song, however, which was just downright weird and creepy and which no one can figure out why the duo recorded it (or the band America for that matter). That song: Muskrat Love.
by having the song’s end run into the locked groove of the 45.”
Around noon he waved at me from outside (my sewing room at the time was our dining room and the windows looked to the east) and pointed to a large maple tree which straddled the property line between us and the neighbor. I looked up to where he was pointing and there were the two raccoons asleep on separate branches some 30 to 40 feet above the ground. The presence of the nocturnal omnivores was observed by all in the house and then everyone continued on with their activities.
“This is NOT the story of a convict who had told his love to tie a ribbon book to a tree outside of town. I know because I wrote the song one morning in 15 minutes with the late lyrical genius Irwin Levine. The genesis of this idea came from the age old folk tale about a Union prisoner of war – who sent a letter to his girl that he was coming home from a confederate POW camp in Georgia… Anything about a criminal is pure fantasy…”
Billboard has ranked “Yellow Ribbon” as the number one song for 1973, selling 3 million records in the United States in just three weeks. In fact, BMI (Broadcast Music Inc) which tracks songs for artists claims the song as been played over 3 million times in 17 years of continuous airplay. That’s true staying power.
In the past 50 years there has not been an artist, more than this one, who has provided the soundtrack for our lives. He embodies the concept of be ‘an original’ and has, since the beginning of his long career, gone his own way. In addition to his commercial success, he’s been recognized by his own country and was knighted on January 30, 1998.
As a teenager in the 1970’s you could not turn on the radio without hearing many of Elton John’s songs. One song in particular stands out for me. It was late fall of 1972 and I was a sophomore in high school. And there was this guy – Ron – who I had a thing for. He, however, was pretty clueless when it came to the whole dating thing, so our relationship never went beyond ‘friends.’ Mostly we’d sit with each other at the Eisenhower High School basketball games and talk to each other in the one class we shared.
“It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. David and Bacharach also won Best Original Score. The song was recorded by B. J. Thomas in seven takes, after Bacharach expressed dissatisfaction with the first six. In the film version of the song, Thomas had been recovering from laryngitis, which made his voice sound hoarser than in the 7-inch release. The film version featured a separate vaudeville-style instrumental break in double time while Paul Newman performed bicycle stunts.”
Raindrops keep falling on my head but that doesn’t mean, my eyes will soon be turning red- crying’s not for me. And I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining, because I’m free- nothing’s worrying me!”
Ultimately, the BJ Thomas version has been given the nod as a significant song. Also from the infallible Wikipedia:
That artist: Taylor Swift.
We spent the night near Coeur d’Alene and the next day stopped at a rest area just east of the Continental Divide on I-90. There in the parking lot was an unmarked tour bus, its darkened windows a detriment to prying eyes. Was Taylor Swift on that bus? I like to think so. It is highly possible as the next stop on her tour was just five days away, September 6th, in Fargo, ND.
barbaradevore.com 