Randy Stonehill's "Teen King"

I had never heard of Randy Stonehill, but I saw on Wikipedia that he wrote a song about Glenn called "Teen King"! After a bit of digging, I came up with the lyrics:

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"TEEN KING"

You were a small time session man scuffling around L.A..
Nights at the troubadour waiting for a chance to play
And I remember you were hanging around cause you had no place to stay
Man that seems like a long long ways away

Baby you're the teen king
Now they call you the teen king
Now that you're a star
All the chicks in the bar
Know what you're drinking

Well you made yourself a name and you're
Sitting on top of the world
And you smile like a heartbreaker shaking up the little girls
And every night when you walk on stage it's always just the same
You've got twenty thousand people screaming out your name

They come to see the teen king
Now they call you the teen king
And all the crazy nights
And the flash of the lights just leave you blinking

Oooh when are you gonna slow down
Oooh when are you gonna slow down teen king

Now you're living so high that you're walking on a dangerous line
And don't you know when you fall it's always unkind
Hey you were right when you said that it's hard to tell the night time from the day
But you're ending up a desperado anyway

They call you the teen king
Now they call you the teen king
Well they say they love you so
But you never know just what they're thinking

Baby you're the teen king
Now they call you teen king
All the crazy nights and flash
Of the lights just leave you blinking

Baby you're the teen king
Now they call you the teen king
Now that you're a star all the chicks in the bar
Know what you're drinking
Tequila sunrise

WRITTEN BY RANDY STONEHILL
© 1980 KING OF HEARTS (BMI)

Stonehill is on record saying this is about Glenn. He sure is an inspiration! lol

Oh its lovely :inlove:

"...Troubador....night time from the day....turning into a desperado....drinking a Tequilla Sunrise."


f you didn't already know the song was written about Glenn, the lyrics would give it away. There are so many references in them that you can't help but recognise who it's about. What do you suppose Glenn thought about his "Teen King" title?

Bizarre. I don't know what to think about it. :?

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Originally Posted by rcknalwys

f you didn't already know the song was written about Glenn, the lyrics would give it away. There are so many references in them that you can't help but recognise who it's about. What do you suppose Glenn thought about his "Teen King" title?

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Since he wore it on his T-shirts in the early 70s and temporarily called the Eagles "Teen King and the Emergencies," he seemed quite proud of the title at the time!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freypower

Bizarre. I don't know what to think about it. :?

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I agree.

Personally, I think Randy had a little crush going on the teen king. It was probably the hair. :wink:

Well, I was talking to mewsical from Rockphiles, and she says this guy was Glenn's roommate for a couple months before he moved in with JD! Gives new meaning to the first verse!

Wow, thanks for posting that, Soda. It's amazing how many songs Glenn :heart: has inspired.

I'm not much of a lyric analyst, but this is what I think of the song (I'd love to hear it, by the way):

If Randy Stonehill was a wannabe successful musician just as Glenn :heart: was during those tough times in the late '60s/early '70s, even rooming with Glenn :heart:, the underlying jealousy that seems to run through the song is understandable. It can't be easy to see someone who was in the same dire position as yourself ending up so much more successful. The fact that we haven't even heard of Randy Stonehill (well, I haven't - I can't speak for everyone) is testiment to that.

At the same time, Randy seems to be expressing concern over Glenn's :heart: high-flying, successful, yet excessive and irresponsible lifestyle, as well as the fickleness of fame:

They call you the teen king
Now they call you the teen king
Well they say they love you so
But you never know just what they're thinking

All those girls pursuing Glenn :heart: - would they have reacted that way to him had he not been a rock superstar, but the struggling musician spending so much of his time seeking fame and fortune at The Troubadour?

It's interesting that the song was published in 1980 - the same year that The Eagles broke up. I wonder when Randy wrote it. And I wonder what he thinks of Glenn :heart: now - now that he's an established, respected musician, still loved by millions, 27 years later; now that he's a happily married man for 17 years, with three children. Glenn :heart: has certainly done himself proud, and captured the hearts of many more fans (and women!) since those heady days of the '70s!

I think he wrote it a couple years earlier - but I bet that girls probably bought Glenn a few drinks even pre-fame, lol!

Randy Stonehill is a Christain folk singer. His albums have always been rather blah, but his live performances are generally well regarded. He's generally pretty sarcastic, but it generally fits into the 60's or 70's folk concept, usually poking fun at the complacency of what would later be called the 'christian right' or 'christian conservatives'.

Thanks for the info, "Ezekiel", and welcome! I vaguely remember that essay by C.S. Lewis on "Bulverism." Hopefully you are not a proponent. ;) (I adore C.S. Lewis, BTW, especially The Great Divorce).

I think I'll look Stonehill up on iTunes. Sounds interesting. Do you own any of his stuff?

While not reaching superstar status, like Glenn, Randy Stonehill is a very well respected singer/songwriter and guitar player in the Christian music scene. He's been around quite a while, too. The thing about alternative forms of music, is that you can be way more talented than pop stars, you just don't have the appeal with the masses. Take Bernie Leadon for example. That guy can play circles around all of the other Eagles instrumentally, but he's gone off and done bluegrass, gospel and even some jazz and no one hardly knows who he is. Yet, it was him who probably had the biggest influence on the Eagles "country rock" sound. I think the Stonehill song is interesting, but like a few others wrote here, was it just a simple comment on Glenn's superstar status, or is there something deeper going on there?

Good point about alternate music, mac. It takes more than just pure talent to make it, that's for sure.

And welcome, BTW!

This is cute
dig the lyrics...so very much Glenn at the time!
(from what I've heard haha)

anyway I was wondering what it sounded like and found this on youtube

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ddpllwgPDo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ddpllwgPDo[/ame]

in case anyone hasn't heard it

Glenn does inspire so many people in their musical business for sure. LOL I have always wondered what this song sounded like. I've seen that title worn by Glenn (on shirts) many times, but never knew it was a song until now. Thank you for finding this link. I love learning and hearing about the incredible Glenn (Teen King). Love the lyrics by the way.

I know this is very old thread.. But I grew up with Stonehills music.. And I looked up what he said about Glenn Frey... This is from. Facebook in 2016

Farewell, Mr. Frey,

The first time I met Glenn Frey was in 1973. It was both surreal and unforgettable. I was backstage with Ron Wood and Pattie Harrison at the Rainbow Theatre in London, England (like I said...surreal!). A security guard was clearing the hallway for Neil Young's approach to the stage and we were hustled through a side door into a brightly lit room. It was the "Eagles" dressing room! There they all sat, having just come off stage. Everyone was a bit surprised at first, but then the band recognized Ron and Pattie, so all was well. The rest is a story for another time.

Though our paths crossed three different times over the years, I didn't really know Glenn Frey, but tonight, I feel both a great sense of loss, as well as, a great debt of gratitude. Glenn and the "Eagles" were the musical backdrop and part of the fabric of that young, romantic season in my life, when my own music and vision was starting to take shape, so there's an unexpected sense of connection and heartache that has come with his departure.

In 1974, as the "Eagles" were beginning to leave an indelible mark on the culture, I sat with my guitar, gazing out the window of my North Hollywood apartment on Otsego Street. I remember thinking, "If Glenn and Don were Christians, what kind of song would they right?" I began playing the riff that would become the guitar hook for "Keep Me Runnin'". Thank you Glenn and Don, for being a musical catalyst! A few years later, I was kicking around song ideas with a lady friend who had dated Glenn briefly. As we talked about her time with him, she laughed as she told me that the rest of the band had nick-named him "Teen King". A song was born! A musical commentary on the world's empty gifts that masquerade as success; "Teen King" found it's home on my record, "The Sky is Falling".

I'm sitting here writing this, partly I guess, out of the need for closure, as well as for all of you who were touched by Glenn's music. I'm haunted, in a hopeful way, by this Scripture that keeps echoing in my heart. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) If that indeed is God's heartfelt, holy desire, then surely, at the last, Living Hope is not yet beyond each man's grasp. I believe God's Word, which states clearly, "...it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgement" (Hebrews 9:27). The question that I will probably never have answered this side of Heaven is, "Father, do You reveal Yourself to them in the twilight? In those precious final moments, before a man's last breath, do You extend Your hand and say, "Come to Me, repent of your sin, confess your need, and come to Me...it's still your choice, it's not too late." I would never cheapen or diminish what the atonement cost our precious Savior, but I just can't help thinking that the other worldly, mighty power of the Cross continues to woo a soul up to the very edge of eternity. For Glenn's sake, I pray that it does.

Farewell, Mr. Frey.

#GlennFrey

That's lovely. Thanks for posting it.

jkpits, beautiful! I hope you're right.

Thanks for your post, jk. I feel confident that Glenn was a Christian and is resting in eternal peace. I believe one or more of his children attended a Catholic school in their early years.

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Originally Posted by Ive always been a dreamer

Thanks for your post, jk. I feel confident that Glenn was a Christian and is resting in eternal peace. I believe one or more of his children attended a Catholic school in their early years.

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I think Taylor attended a Catholic girls high school in LA. It was listed on her FB page at one time.

Thats a lovely tribute! Thanks for posting it.