Eagles

1971–1973: Formation, Eagles and Desperado

The Eagles had their origin in early 1971, when Linda Ronstadt and her manager John Boylan recruited musicians Glenn Frey and Don Henley for her band. Henley had moved to Los Angeles from Texas with his band Shiloh to record an album produced by Kenny Rogers, and Frey had come from Michigan and formed Longbranch Pennywhistle; the two then met in 1970 at The Troubadour in Los Angeles and became acquainted through their mutual record label, Amos Records. Randy Meisner, who had been working with Ricky Nelson's backing band, the Stone Canyon Band, and Bernie Leadon, a veteran of the Flying Burrito Brothers, also later joined Ronstadt's group of performers for her summer tour promoting the Silk Purse album.

2013–2016: History of the Eagles, Glenn Frey's death, and second hiatus

In February 2013, the Eagles released a career-spanning documentary called History of the Eagles and began the supporting tour with 11 US arena concerts in July. Henley said that the tour, which expanded internationally and continued until July 2015, "could very well be our last...we're gonna include at least one former band member in this tour and kinda go back to the roots, and how we created some of these songs. We're gonna break it down to the fundamentals and then take it up to where it is now." Original Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon also appeared on the tour. Walsh stated, "Bernie's brilliant, I never really got a chance to play with him, but we've been in contact. We see him from time to time, and I'm really glad he's coming...

Musical style

Influenced by 1960s rhythm and blues, soul, bluegrass, and rock bands such as the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, the Eagles' overall sound has been described as "California rock". In the words of Sal Manna, author of the CD liner notes of the band's 1994 album Hell Freezes Over, "no one knew quite what 'California rock' meant – except perhaps that, because in California anything was possible, music that came from that promising land was more free-spirited and free-ranging."

Already Gone

"Already Gone" is a song recorded by the American rock band the Eagles for their 1974 album On the Border. It was written by Jack Tempchin and Robb Strandlund and produced by Bill Szymczyk.

Background

"Already Gone", which is four minutes and 13 seconds long, was written by Robb Strandlund and Jack Tempchin. In the liner notes for The Very Best Of, Glenn Frey said that Tempchin sent him a tape of the song through the mail. Tempchin had already written one of the Eagles' previous singles, "Peaceful Easy Feeling".

Release

"Already Gone" is the opening track of the Eagles' album On the Border, which was released by Asylum Records on March 22, 1974. It was released as the first single from the album in April 1974. Its b-side was "Is It True".

Critical reception

Cash Box said that this was the Eagles' "best single release to date" calling it a "hard rocker driven by the group's incredible harmonies." Record World said that "one particular loneliness analogy here warrants repeating: 'And you'll have to eat your lunch all by yourself,'" and said that the song was "the act's best since 'Take It Easy.'" "Already Gone" has been described as a "classic". In his book To the Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles, Marc Eliot wrote that the song "was an out-and-out rocker ... Musically it sounded like a fuel-injected rave-up, with melodic echoes of both 'Peaceful Easy Feeling' and 'Take It Easy.' In 2017, Billboard ranked the song number nine on their list of the 15 greatest Eagles songs, and in 2019,...

Hotel California

"Hotel California" is a song by the American rock band Eagles, released as the second single of their 1976 album Hotel California on February 22, 1977. It was written by Don Felder (music), Glenn Frey, and Don Henley (lyrics).

It features Henley on lead vocals and concludes with a long electric guitar solo by Felder and Joe Walsh, in which they take turns playing the lead before harmonizing and playing arpeggios.

Composition

Don Felder developed a demo of the instrumental in a rented house on Malibu Beach. He recorded the basic tracks with a Rhythm Ace drum machine and added a 12-string guitar on a four-track recording deck in his spare bedroom, then mixed in a bassline, and gave Don Henley and Glenn Frey copies of the recording. Felder, who met the Eagles through his high school bandmate Bernie Leadon, said Leadon advised him to make tapes of songs he wrote for the band so that other band members like Henley, whose forte was in lyrics, might work with him on finishing the songs they liked. His demos were always instrumental, and on every album project he would submit 15 or 16 ideas. The demo he made for "Hotel California" showed influences from Latin and...

Recordings

The Eagles recorded the track with Don Henley on lead vocal three times, twice at the Record Plant in Los Angeles and finally at the Criteria Studios in Miami. They first recorded a riff, but when it came to recording the vocal, it was found to be in too high a key for Henley's voice, so Felder progressively lowered the key from E minor, eventually settling on B minor. The second recording, however, was judged too fast. In Miami, the band fine-tuned the instrumentation and the lyrics and recorded numerous complete takes. Five or six best ones were selected, and the best parts were then spliced together to create the released version. According to the producer Bill Szymczyk, there were 33 edits on the two‑inch master. The final section...

Notable cover versions

The Orb, under the name of Jam on the Mutha, produced a version that charted at No. 62 in the UK in 1990.

Alleged theft of handwritten lyrics

On July 13, 2022, three individuals – rare-book dealer Glenn Horowitz and rock memorabilia specialists Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski – were charged after allegedly conspiring to sell Henley's handwritten lyrics to the song "Hotel California" and two other songs from the same album that the Manhattan District Attorney's office claims were improperly obtained. Prosecutors claim the lyrics could be worth over $1 million at auction. The three men pleaded not guilty and were released without bail pending trial. Eagles manager Irving Azoff said the case exposed "the truth about music memorabilia sales of highly personal, stolen items hidden behind a façade of legitimacy". In February 2024, Henley testified that he never gave the lyric...

One of These Nights

"One of These Nights" is a song by the American rock band Eagles, written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey. The title track from their 1975 One of These Nights album, the song became their second single to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart after "Best of My Love" and also helped propel the album to number one.

The single version was shortened from the album version of the song, removing most of the song's intro and most of its fade-out, as well. Henley is lead vocalist on the verses, while Randy Meisner sings high harmony on the refrain.

Background

The song was a conscious attempt by the band to write something different from a country-rock and ballad-type song. Don Henley said: "We like to be a nice little country-rock band from Los Angeles ... about half the time." He added, "We wanted to get away from the ballad syndrome with 'One of These Nights'. With Don Felder in the band now, we can really rock." Frey said that they "wanted 'One of These Nights' to have a lot of teeth, a lot of bite—a nasty track with pretty vocals."

Reception

Billboard praised the "strong harmonies" and said that "One of These Nights" was similar to the Eagles' earlier song "Witchy Woman" at times. Cash Box said it had "a fresh, relaxed sound which should catapult the group to the top." Ultimate Classic Rock critic Sterling Whitaker rated it as the Eagles 6th most underrated song, praising Don Felder's "blazing" electric guitar solo.

Desperado

"Desperado" is a ballad by the American band the Eagles. The track was written by Glenn Frey and Don Henley, and appeared on the band's second studio album Desperado (1973) as well as numerous compilation albums.

Although it was never released as a single, it became one of Eagles' best-known songs. It ranked No. 494 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Composition

According to Henley, "Desperado" was based on a song he started in 1968, written in the style of old songs by Stephen Foster. The song was originally about a friend named Leo and with the opening line "Leo, my God, why don't you come to your senses..." In 1972, after they had recorded their debut studio album, Eagles, in London, Glenn Frey and Henley decided that they should write songs together, and within a day or two after returning from London they wrote "Desperado". They also wrote "Tequila Sunrise" in the first week of their collaboration.

Recording

The song was recorded at Island Studios in London, with musicians from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra was conducted by Jim Ed Norman, Henley's friend from his former band Shiloh, who also wrote and arranged the strings for the song. According to Henley, he was given only four or five takes to record the song by the producer Glyn Johns who wanted to record the album quickly and economically. Henley felt intimidated by the large orchestra, and would later express regret that he did not sing as well as he could. He said: "I didn't sing my best ... I wish I could have done that song again."

Critical reception

"Desperado" is one of Eagles' most well-known songs, and it was ranked No. 494 on the Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004. It was voted the second-most-favorite Eagles song in a poll of Rolling Stone readers. In 2000, the song was included in MOJO magazine's list of greatest songs, nominated by songwriters such as Paul McCartney, Hal David, and Brian Wilson. Members of the Western Writers of America included it in their list of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. In 2017, Billboard ranked the song number two on their list of the 15 greatest Eagles songs, and in 2019, Rolling Stone ranked the song number three on their list of the 40 greatest Eagles songs. In June 2026, CBS News included the song in its...

In popular culture

The song inspired the title of the 1987 Western television film, Desperado, written by Elmore Leonard. In season 4 episode 2 of Succession the song is referenced. The song is also a plot device in the seventh episode of Seinfeld season 8.

Lyin' Eyes

"Lyin' Eyes" is a song written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey and recorded in 1975 by the American rock band Eagles, with Frey singing lead vocals. It was the second single from their album One of These Nights, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 8 on the Billboard Country chart.

It remained their only top 40 country hit until "How Long" in 2007–2008.

Background and writing

The title and idea for the song came when Glenn Frey and Don Henley were in their favorite Los Angeles restaurant/bar Dan Tana's, which was frequented by many beautiful women, and they started talking about beautiful women who were cheating on their husbands. They saw a beautiful young woman with a fat and much older wealthy man, and Frey said: "She can't even hide those lyin' eyes." According to Henley, Frey was the main writer of the song, although he had some input with the verses and the music. The song was written when Frey and Henley were sharing a house in Trousdale, Beverly Hills. Frey said of the writing of the song that "the story had always been there. I don't want to say it wrote itself, but once we started working on it,...

Recording

In their 2025 book, Buzz Me In: Inside the Record Plant Studios, Martin Porter and David Goggin report "The final vocals on 'Lyin’ Eyes' were also made on [the] MCI console. According to Bill Szymczyk, the song’s opening line, 'City girls just seem to find out early,' was compiled ('comped') from six different takes from four different days. In fact, the two syllables 'Ci' and 'ty' were pulled from two different vocal-booth performances.

Critical reception

Billboard described the song as "a country flavored story of a girl who drives across town daily to meet someone a bit more suited to her than the one she lives with," and praised the instrumentals and harmony vocals. Cash Box said that "the instrumentation is lightly acoustic, with a sobbing pedal steel lacing together the plaintive lead vocal and chorus" and mentioned "the Eagles' uncanny talent for fitting hit-making riffs together." Billboard and Rolling Stone both ranked "Lyin' Eyes" as the Eagles' seventh-greatest song.

Covers

Among the many covers of "Lyin' Eyes" are Lynn Anderson's 1976 recording and Kenny Rankin's 1980 version on his After The Roses album. Diamond Rio also covered the song on the 1993 compilation Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles.

Take It Easy

"Take It Easy" is the debut single by the American rock band Eagles, written by Jackson Browne and Eagles band member Glenn Frey, who also provides lead vocals. It was released on May 1, 1972, and peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on July 22, 1972.

It was also the opening track of the band's eponymous debut album and has become one of their signature songs, included on all of their live and compilation albums. It is listed as one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Composition

Jackson Browne originally began writing "Take It Easy" in 1971 for his own eponymous debut album but was having difficulty finishing the song. Browne's friend Glenn Frey – who lived in the same Echo Park, California, apartment building as Browne – had heard an early version and later asked Browne about it. Browne then played the unfinished second verse that begins with "Well, I'm a-standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona...", and Frey finished the verse with "Such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin' down to take a look at me." Browne was very happy with the result and suggested that they finish the song together. The resulting song became the first track on the Eagles' debut album and was released as...

Recordings

The song was recorded at the Olympic Studios in London with producer Glyn Johns. Glenn Frey sings the lead vocal on the Eagles recording of "Take It Easy". Bass player Randy Meisner sings the harmony vocal in the second verse with Frey, with drummer Don Henley harmonizing in the chorus, on the line "Though we will never be here again. So open up, I'm climbin' in." Bernie Leadon provides the lead guitar and distinctive banjo parts, as well as harmony vocals. The track's producer Johns said: "On 'Take It Easy' I got Bernie to play double-time banjo; they all thought it was a bonkers idea but it worked. It was already a great song, but that one little thing made it different."

Witchy Woman

"Witchy Woman" is a song written by Don Henley and Bernie Leadon, and recorded by the American rock band Eagles. Released as the second single from the band's debut studio album, Eagles (1972), it reached No. 9 on the Billboard pop singles chart.

Background and writing

Guitarist Bernie Leadon started writing "Witchy Woman" whilst he was still a member of the country rock band the Flying Burrito Brothers. After joining the Eagles, Leadon and Don Henley then finished the song together, and it would be the only song on the Eagles' debut album where Henley had a writing credit. The song was conceived while Don Henley was living in an old house near the Hollywood Bowl, with his flat mate, Henry Vine (aka 'Blitz'). Henley said of the origin of the song: "[Leadon] came over one day and started playing this strange, minor-key riff that sounded sort of like a Hollywood movie version of Indian music — you know, the kind of stuff they play when the Indians ride up on the ridge while the wagon train passes below. It...

Critical reception

The song is the first commercially successful one Henley wrote, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He called it "[a]n important song for me, because it marked the beginning of my professional songwriting career". Billboard described it as "a strong easy beat slow rock ballad". Cashbox described it as being "midway between Redbone and CSN&Y" with "distinctive harmony power." Record World said that "a tom-tom back beat

In popular culture

The song, along with "Desperado", were both used and referred to in an episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. In an episode of Dharma & Greg from the first season, Abbey, Dharma's mother, mentions that she dated Henley and is almost certain she is Witchy Woman. The song was used in a 2005 episode of the series Cold Case titled "In the Woods" (the episode was set during 1972, the year of the song's original release). It is also used in the 2001 movie America's Sweethearts to depict Catherine Zeta-Jones' character as she is getting out of a limousine.