The Eagles Flying Free in Any Direction they Choose

By Pete Oppel
Country Rambler
January 27, 1977

 

 

 

The Eagles are resting in a dressing room deep inside the futuristic Convention Center in Forth Worth, Texas, passing time and priming themselves for the soon-to-be wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling audience now on its way to attend tonight’s show. On stage, roadies are going through final sound checks, but the squeaks and squawks don’t seem to bother Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey as he talks about critics’ claims and musical labels.

Frey and partners Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Don Felder and Joe Walsh are angry over what they feel is a bad rap. In recent months, certain West Coast writers have charged that the group is “commercializing” on the easy-going, hip California lifestyle in much the same manner that would-be and never-were outlaws are trying to cash in on what’s happening in Austin today.

 

The critics seem disturbed that although the Eagles are based in Los Angeles, none of the current group is a native Californian. That fact is one weapon that the writers use in claiming the Eagles have no right to synthesize country and rock into what has become a unique, evolving California sound, one accepted and enjoyed by both longhairs and rednecks.

 

The Eagles hope that California Hotel, their new album on the Asylum label, will silence the critics forever. “I think it will be clear up front that on this record we’re not turning the California way of life into something to be exploited by folks as far away as the East Coast,” Frey told me.

 

“This is our bicentennial album,” added Henley. “It’s our statement on the mood of the world in 1976 as seen through California as a microcosm.”

 

Outside, in the auditorium, seats filled, and the Eagles took to the stage. It was clear from the beginning that the folks who gathered didn’t give a damn about what the critics had to say. Their attention and obvious appreciation was focused squarely on the performance of the five young men before them. They accepted them simply for what they were—the Eagles.

 

“That means a lot,” Frey said afterward, “particularly here in Texas. I guess you’d have to say we play Southern California music if you feel a need to put a geographic label on it. But it’s music that has its roots here in Texas.

The idea of the rebellious musician as an outlaw has lurked long in dark corners of the entertainment business, but there are some folks who’ll say it was never clearly defined until the Eagles recorded their Desperado album, in which their lyrics literally compared the outlaw of the Old West with the rock band of today. The music on that album spawned images contained in every John Ford movie or Zane Grey western novel ever conceived. The roots of the music were buried deep in Texas soil that gave the world Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Tex Ritter and Bob Wills.

 

Although the Eagles insist they never sought the label of musical outlaws, the story they told and the sound the presented on that LP caused young listeners to adopt the group as a gang of country-music renegades.

 

“That came as quite a surprise to us,” said Henley. He and Frey were members of Linda Ronstadt’s backup band in 1971. “During those early days, Glenn and I talked about forming a band of our own. We were sure we could learn from the mistakes of others and put together a group that could avoid some of the roadblocks to success.

 

Their chance came later that year when John  Boylan, Ronstadt’s manager, teamed them up with Meisner and Bernie Leadon to give Linda’s group more punch. Together, they comprised the four original Eagles.

 

The group broke away from Ronstadt the next winter, blending musical influences learned throughout the US. Frey was from Detroit. A guitarist and keyboard man, he’d backed Motown rocker Bob Seger and, along with John David Souther, had been half of the Longbranch Pennywhistle Duo. Henley grew up in tiny Linden in East Texas . He’d been the drummer-lead singer for a group called Shiloh. Meisner was from Scottsbluff, Nebraska. A former member of Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band, he’d been the first bass guitarist for the rock group, Poco. Together, they mixed their sounds with those of Leadon, a San Diego native, to produce a powerful, dynamic blend.

 

The group signed on with Asylum and went to London to record their first album, produced by Glyn Johns, whose credits include LPs by the Who, Rolling Stones, and Steve Miller Band. The Eagles’ first single, “Take it Easy”, was released in May, 1972, followed by the album one month later. After a successful American tour, the group returned to Britain that fall to begin work on Desperado.

 

“That whole outlaw thing was laid on us after we did that album,” Henley said. “I don’t know where it came from, and frankly, it was okay for a while. We never pretended to be cowboys, though. I mean, I’m wearing boots, but I’ve worn them all my life.”

 

“Look, I like Waylon Jennings’ music, and I like Willie Nelson’s music, but I don’t like that whole, schlock outlaw trip. Like they made an album and called it “Wanted: The Outlaws. It’s really a myth, you know, that everybody around here rides around with cactus up their butts. It’s not true.”

 

Jennings and Nelson might not be totally to blame, Henley said, but other folks are. Once again, in the finest of American traditions, something that started out on a solid foundation has been hyped beyond reason by commercial-crazed Image makers concerned about making a buck. Now, singers who never owned a pair of boots, a Stetson or a single Hank Williams’s album have adopted the outlaw lifestyle. Even though they’ve probably never committed any crime more serious than premeditated overparking, they’re growing beards and drinking gallons of beer, making Nashville aware of what it can do to itself if it so desires, and they’re betting “laid back”.

 

As far as the Eagles are concerned, that’s not cool. All of the outlaws are suffering from an image problem. And they Eagles surely want to avoid that trip. At the same time, they don’t mind being branded both country and rock. The two labels give them freedom to do what they want to do.

 

The first sign that the group was gaining prominence in the country field came in 1974 with the release of the single, Best of My Love. The lead vocal had more than a faint hint of country-boy drawl. The song placed well in the pop charts, crossed over and received strong play on country stations too.

 

Ironically, as this was going on, the Eagles were back in London for work on a third album with Glyn Johns. Midway through the project, however, the group decided it needed a tougher, more explicit rock style. The Eagles returned to California and enlisted producer Bill Szymczyk to finish up. During the last days in the studio, Szymczyk decided he wanted a slide guitar added for the song Good Day in Hell. He hired Don Felder to put down the needed riffs. A Floridian, who’d worked with David Crosby and Graham Nash, Felder melded with the group so well that he was asked to become the fifth Eagle.

 

Felder accepted and Eagle addicts caught on quickly that he was providing still another dynamic influence, one that broadened and enhanced the existing sound. With him in the fold, 1975 proved to be the Eagles’ biggest year to date. Best of My Love earned Grammy nominations in both pop and country categories. Lyin’ Eyes placed well on both charts. An album went gold. As 1975 became 1976 and the Country Music Association nominated the Eagles for Vocal Group of the Year honors, however, Bernie Leadon announced he was leaving to pursue a career as a single.

 

The search for a successor ended with Joe Walsh, whom some critics viewed as a most unlikely replacement. One of the most popular lead guitarists in all of rock and known for his wild facial contortions, Walsh was leader of the heavy-metal James Gang in the late ‘60s. More recently, his solo efforts produced three well-received LPs.

 

At a time when the Eagles were easing their way into the country field and gaining approval from the CMA, something that few country-rock groups have attained, some fans are fearful that the Eagles are about to shoot off into another direction, one that will surface with the release of Hotel California.

 

“We got a little more into rock ‘n’ roll, a little more into rhythm ‘’n’ blues and a little less into country on this album,” Don Henley admits. “But that’s not to say we’ve given up country. We’re only exploring a bit of new territory for a while.

 

The Eagles want everyone to know that they’re not going to court anyone for acceptance. Nor are they going to go against the establishment. Quite simply, the just want to make their presence known.