We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
When they met in the bar at the Troubador in LA, both Texan Don Henley and Michigan native Glenn Frey knew what they wanted. A kickass rock & roll band. What they got, was a country-rock success story like no other. Joining up with Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon, Henley & Frey formed the Eagles who dropped their self-titled debut LP in June of 1972.
The guys had been working in LA, most recently backing Linda Ronstadt on one of her early tours…..when David Geffen signed them to his fledgling label, Asylum, and sent them to Aspen to work on their act.
Frey wanted noted rock producer Glyn Johns to produce the record and Geffen agreed. but as the group started recording in London, Johns, who had worked with The Who & Led Zeppelin could not get the sound he wanted, until he heard the band singing 4 part harmony with an acoustic guitar. Thus was born the signature Eagles “sound”.
The LP has three major hits, Take It Easy (which Frey helped Jackson Browne finish), Peaceful Easy Feeling, and Witchy Woman. But there is much more here.
Although Frey & Henley became the dominant forces within the group, this album is a much more balanced affair with Leadon and Meisner contributing some really good stuff.
Meisner’s “Take The Devil” is a gem and Leadon’s take on a song he wrote with Gene Clark, ‘Train Leaves Here This Morning” is a perfect example of the acoustic beauty of the early Eagles work. Frey even let Meisner sing lead on his song “Most Of Us Are Sad”…that certainly wouldnt have happened five years later.
It really was a stunning debut, and along with “Desperado” and “On The Border” form a trio of LPs that stand with any band’s early work. That they would get rich, bloated, high and strung-out for the next 9 years doesnt matter right now. They sound young & fresh…and, at least on this record, will forever.
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