Today in Rock n' Roll History

[WalshFan88]

Agreed: "Hotel California" is right up there with "Bitter Creek"! (ducking and running)~!

Seriously, Hotel California, while it didn't "change my life" it did convince me that Eagles were making a full commitment to Rock n Roll...well, that song and the fact that Joe Freakin' Walsh had joined them! I knew they'd never be the same with HIM in the mix!

I'm NOT saying that the HC guitar solo was NOT the greatest guitar solo ever. But I would have a very hard time judging it from a technical as well as emotional level as being the absolute greatest ever.

You'd have to consider seriously the solos in "Stairway To Heaven", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Funk #49", Clapton's solo in "Crossroads" or "Layla" or any number of others. There's some really good work by Felder and Joe in "Life In The Fast Lane" too.

But when I think of guitar solos, I naturally think first of "Hotel California", "Stairway to Heaven" and Harrison and Clapton in "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." All three are monumental.

There are a lot of "great" guitar solos Mike and a lot that I like. But I've never heard a guitar solo make as much of a statement or be on the same level as the Hotel California solo. There just isn't anything like it. It's truly an amazing solo. It's what changed my life. It really did - no exaggeration. It made me want to play guitar and that's when I learned. I wasn't sad anymore. I had something to do and it got me out of my shell for once.

I'm not saying the others you mentioned are bad, quite the contrary, but I wouldn't put them in the same league as Hotel California's solo though either. All of those you mentioned are great solos. But I can't say they are on the same level or better than Hotel California.

It just boils down to the fact that the Hotel California solo is SO widely known and has inspired many guitarists to play (myself included). Not saying the others didn't, because I'm sure they did. But I find it rather easy to say the solo in "Hotel" is in a league of it's own and the best guitar solo. I've heard 'em all pretty much as far as music from that time and it's just the one with most passion, feeling, energy, and wicked licks. I'm gettting goosebumps just talking about it. I play that song once daily. I love it. I never get tired of it and it is never overplayed IMO. It's legendary I think.

The whole Hotel California album is a masterpiece. It is their best and biggest known album and song IMO. It was magic. Getting new blood in there and just totally rockin' it up. It made a big difference. That's why it did so well. There is not one song on that album I do not like. It's the one everyone associates with the Eagles without even thinking about it. I wouldn't be as big of an Eagles fan today if that album had not been made or if Joe Walsh never joined the band. We've talked about this in the other thread but I'm a rock/blues purist - that's my kind of stuff. I've never been a big Country fan at all. I can tolerate it/somewhat like it with Rock/Blues mixed in but straightforward Country music is a like a screechy chalkboard to me. It's just what I like. That's what I grew up on. My mom is a huge 80s rock/hair metal fan and my dad is more like me, a huge late 70s classic rock fan. I find modern music appalling and I find Country music to be boring.

One great thing about the Eagles is they have "flirted" with many different kinds of music and there is an album or song for EVERYBODY regardless of musical preferences. They've done rhythm and blues, soul, classic rock, country, country rock, blues rock, etc. They've pretty much had songs within all of those genres. I just prefer Hotel California. But I've never said and never will say that any of their early albums are bad. Because they aren't. I just prefer Hotel California, The Long Run, On The Border, and One Of These Nights.

[MikeA]

Yes, I grant that. Eagles have flirted with a lot of genres over the years. It is a bit surprising that a Reggae-Latino riff would have become the Eagles Signature song.

Glenn Frey described the origins of the song:
The song began as a demo tape, an instrumental by Don Felder. He’d been submitting tapes and song ideas to us since he’d joined the band, always instrumentals, since he didn’t sing. But this particular demo, unlike many of the others, had room for singing. It immediately got our attention. The first working title, the name we gave it, was ‘Mexican Reggae'.

I'd really have thought that it would have been something more like 'Lyin Eyes' in the Country spectrum or "Life In The Fast Lane" in the Rock genre. Have you ever tried to dance to HC? Not exactly a disco tune <LOL>

Still, I do agree that what Felder and Walsh did with the solo parts in HC was inspired....playing in different voiceings and still maintaining the general feel of the mood they were trying so successfully to convey. They did indeed "feed" off of each other and concert-goers did really get off on the interaction between Walsh and Felder...they pretty much stole the stage in that song. People in fact do sometimes tend to forget the classic vocals of Henley. They (or he anyway) took a lot of liberties with the English Language in that song <LOL>. But it accomplished what both he and Frey intended...an inside glimpse or at least a personal perspective of the potential trap that the entire LA scene was back in the Seventies. Genius.

"Stairway" was a work of art too. Page took that number from quiet dreaminess to all out assault on the senses! And he did it in such a way as to make the entire metamorphosis seem NATURAL (with a little help from Plant.) Then he brings it back down to the quiet serene part at the end that puts you back into the frame of mind of contemplating the statement made by the song. That was genius!

And Harrison with "Weeps"....like just about everything else done by the Beatles, it was unique in concept. According to Harrison, he determined that he'd write a song based upon the first words he saw in a random book from a random page. He opened the book, and the first thing he saw was "Gently Weeps". But instead of writing about a person, he wrote of himself with his companion guitar implying that no matter how bad things got on the world scene, his guitar was a faithful though mournful companion. He made a statement about the political scene and embellished that by ultimately in 1868 (WOAH! I meant 1968 <LOL>), convincing the Guitar God of the day, Eric Clapton, to join in the recording of it. Between Clapton and Harrison, they created a somewhat underrated masterpiece and did it in a "radio length" song rather than in a 7 or 12 minute Opus! Again, genius.

I understand the sentimental connection you have with the song and I take NOTHING away from that. It is to you what it is and I would never try to change that.

If anything, my point is that other than from an emotional perspective, it is pretty much impossible to pick one song or solo and have it universally accepted as being the best that's ever been done. So much of that type proclamation whether it be by "Guitarist Magazine", "The Academy" or individuals, really does depend on acceptance by the individual.

I personally cannot look at the task objectively and pick just one as being the greatest ever.

[WalshFan88]

Another thing I think about Hotel California is that it was key to their increased success after the album was released.

The other day in a thread I can't remember which but I believe it was Dreamer said something to the effect that the Eagles probably wouldn't have had as much success and got launched into another level if it weren't for making the switch from country rock. I'll try to find the exact quote but I fully agree with it. I think it put them into a whole other level of success and stardom. I don't think they would have been as widely known today and as successful if it weren't for the Hotel California and Long Run albums and the addition of Joe Walsh....

Ah here it is! This is from Dreamer's post in the Felder thread:

Although some of you may not agree, I’ll go so far as to say I think that had the band not made the switch from country rock and successfully experimented with different musical styles, they probably would not have achieved the longevity and legendary status that they now enjoy.

I fully agree with it. I know everyone won't but I thought that pretty much sums up what I think too. Again, I have nothing against their early works but Hotel California really launched them into a new level and IMO made them even bigger and more widely known. And that's putting my bias or sentiment for the album aside. That is just what I think of the album. A true masterpiece. But that's just this rockin' dude's opinion on the matter. Like I said, the Eagles have recorded many different types of music and there is something for everybody I think in their music. And that's a great thing!

The key to it all though is just whichever is your favorite. I have mine! I just have preferences like everyone else. I just am a little bit more vocal about mine perhaps! But honestly, the HC solo does "get me off" to phrase it that way. I would give anything to see Walsh and Felder play that live with the band. I wish I could have seen them on the HFO tour. It was the only tour with Felder I could have seen as I wasn't born until 1988!

[WalshFan88]

Well, I wish you'd quit beating around the bush and tell me WHAT your favorite album is! (JK, heh heh heh)

[Freypower]

In 1998 voted the readers of Guitarist magazine the solo from Don Felder and Joe Walsh with Hotel California as greatest solo of all time!
http://www.musicradar.com/guitarist/...ll-time-372381

Here the first 3 places

1. Hotel California - The Eagles (Joe Walsh And Don Felder)
2. Eruption - Van Halen (Edward Van Halen)
3. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd (David Gilmour)

My still small voice says very quietly and thankfully that Sultans Of Swing & Brothers In Arms are on that list because they deserve it.

Much as I love Bohemian Rhapsody I think the solo in that song isn't really long enough to merit inclusion in the Top 20 of all time.

[MikeA]

"Bohemian Rhapsody"

That IS a piece of work! I'd agree that it doesn't belong on a list supposedly containing the greatest guitar solos, but it stands as a GREAT on its own merit!

[Koala]

1954 Reba McEntire is born.

1964 Madame Tussauds, London unveiled the wax works images of The Beatles, the first pop stars to be honoured.

1967 Working on session for the new Beatles album Sgt Pepper at Abbey Road studios in London, John Lennon recorded his lead vocal for ‘Good Morning Good Morning’, and Paul McCartney added a lead guitar solo to the track. Lennon had decided he wanted to end the song with animal sound effects, and asked that they be sequenced in such a way that each successive animal was capable of scaring or eating the preceding one.

1970 Simon and Garfunkel were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', the duo's only UK No.1. Only Art Garfunkel sang on the track.

1976 Genesis began their first North American tour since Peter Gabriel left the band, appearing in Buffalo, New York, with Phil Collins taking over as lead singer.

1986 Mike Rutherford of Genesis releases 'Mike & the Mechanics'. It reaches #26 in the US.

1992 over a $100,000 (£58,800) worth of damage was caused at The Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, California, when Ozzy Osbourne invited the first two rows of the audience on stage. Several others took up the offer and the band was forced to exit the stage.

1996 Phil Collins leaves Genesis.

2000 Jimmy Page accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages from a magazine which claimed he had caused or contributed to the death of his Led Zeppelin bandmate John Bonham. Page's solicitor, Norman Chapman, told High Court Judge Mr Justice Morland that the feature in Ministry magazine printed in 1999 claimed Page was more concerned with keeping vomit off his bed than saving his friend's life, and that he stood over him wearing Satanist robes and performing a useless spell.
　

[TimothyBFan]

2000 Jimmy Page accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages from a magazine which claimed he had caused or contributed to the death of his Led Zeppelin bandmate John Bonham. Page's solicitor, Norman Chapman, told High Court Judge Mr Justice Morland that the feature in Ministry magazine printed in 1999 claimed Page was more concerned with keeping vomit off his bed than saving his friend's life, and that he stood over him wearing Satanist robes and performing a useless spell.
　

Seriously? Glad Jimmy filed against them for that! How awful a thing to accuse him of when it was such a devastating thing for them all to endure.

[Koala]

1966 Rolling Stone Mick Jagger was injured during a gig in Marseilles after a fan threw a chair at the stage, Jagger required eight stitches in the cut.
1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Black Sabbath, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Curved Air, J.J. Jackson's Dilemma, Shy Limbs, Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Sunflower Brass Band and Toe Fat all appeared at the London Free Easter Festival in Bethnal Green, London, England.

1975 Led Zeppelin becomes the first band in history to have 6 albums on the chart at once: 'Physical Graffiti' (#1), 'Led Zeppelin IV', 'House of the Holy', 'Led Zeppelin II', 'Led Zeppelin', and 'Led Zeppelin III'.

1980 Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson leave Yes.

1980 Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of The Moon', spent its 303rd week on the US album chart, beating the record set by Carole King's album 'Tapestry.' It remained on the charts for 741 weeks (from 1973 to 198, longer than any other album in history, with an estimated 45 million copies sold.

1986 Austrian singer Falco started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Rock Me Amadeus', also a No.1 in the UK. Falco became the first German speaking artist to achieve a No.1 on the US charts.

2000 Phil Collins took out a high court action against two former members of Earth, Wind And Fire. Collins claimed his company had overpaid the musicians by £50,000 ($85,000) in royalties on tracks including ‘Sussudio’ and ‘Easy Lover’.

　
　
　

[TimothyBFan]

1986 Austrian singer Falco started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Rock Me Amadeus', also a No.1 in the UK. Falco became the first German speaking artist to achieve a No.1 on the US charts.

Now the darn thing will be stuck in my head all day!! Gotta love it tho!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U990QFyvN3M[/ame]

1980 Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of The Moon', spent its 303rd week on the US album chart, beating the record set by Carole King's album 'Tapestry.' It remained on the charts for 741 weeks (from 1973 to 198, longer than any other album in history, with an estimated 45 million copies sold.

One of the best albums ever.....

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOSm3V6aGSk[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLQrzPZB58A[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSLqbl2Xshs[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBWY3bli92Y[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl6NfQyNLto[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFiyEVaU8EU[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQziHb74J9A[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRBz2VbSN8g[/ame]

The only song I skip is Any Colour You Like which is an instrumental and it's not that I don't like it but I'm a vocals kind of girl.

Sorry---got a bit carried away with the videos, didn't I?