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Thread: The original lineup underrated?

  1. #1
    Stuck on the Border
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    Default The original lineup underrated?

    Am I the only one on the planet who feels that the original Eagles doesn't get the recognition it deserves? This post was inspired by the Taylor/Joe discussion in the other thread.

    When Felder was let go, there were (and still are) an awful lot of people who insisted they're nothing without him. There also seems to be people who feel the same away about Joe/Eagles.

    But when you look at their first Greatest Hits album, which sold a copy or two, I think the original lineup did just fine too:

    Take It Easy (original lineup)
    Witchy Woman (original lineup)
    Lyin' Eyes (original lineup, with Felder probably strumming an acoustic with Glenn)
    Already Gone (original lineup, with Felder playing some long notes on top of Glenn's solo)
    Desperado (original lineup)
    One Of These Nights (Felder was important in arranging this one. He has made this very clear. Although I still say that Glenn did the harmony guitars. Felder also plays a nice solo.)
    Tequila Sunrise (original lineup)
    Take It To The Limit (I don't know who played what here, but certainly Felder didn't make it what it is)
    Peaceful Easy Feeling (original lineup)
    Best Of My Love (original lineup)

    Felder says in his book that Randy and Bernie deserved to be honored for this album as much as Glenn, Don and himself. I think he was being a bit kind to himself. Randy and Bernie are a much bigger part of this album than him! Of course one could say that Felder (and later Joe) joining the band made people buy this album!

    I understand that Don F and Joe were great additions - especially live - when they joined, but it seems to me that today a lot of people have forgotten that there even was an Eagles before them. Even Glenn's ICTYW solo is Don's today. So it seems that the history of the Eagles has been distorted slightly in people's minds. How many people even know who Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon are?

    And a lot of those who do remember the original lineup seem to remember what they lacked before Felder joined, and not what was already there.

    I'm biased, of course, as I'm a big Randy/Bernie fan, and Desperado is my favorite Eagles album...
    Last edited by chaim; 02-16-2015 at 04:32 AM.

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    Default Re: The original lineup underrated?

    I agree with you but then I'm biased - the peak of my fandom was Desperado/On the Border.

    Their Greatest Hits 1972-75 was awarded platinum status after just 3 weeks of release and 8 months before the release of Hotel California. So there's a good case that GH drove sales of HC rather than the reverse.

    What's interesting is to see how the reunion boosted the sales of GH - it went from 14xplatinum in Dec 1993 to 22x in Jun 1995

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    Stuck on the Border VAisForEagleLovers's Avatar
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    Default Re: The original lineup underrated?

    In the couple weeks after HOTE being shown on Showtime, and for several weeks after HOTE was released here in the US, GH made the Billboard 200. That amazes me, because if I was a casual fan looking to restock my CD collection with Eagles music, I'd choose The Very Best Of. I think there was a week or so where it was on the Billboard 200 as well after the release of HOTE.

    To go along with the premise of the thread, yes, I think the original line up is very underrated. I really liked Joe and the James Gang, so when it was announced he was joining the Eagles I thought I was in heaven. Yet of my top Eagles songs, NKIT is the only one made after Bernie left.
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    Default Re: The original lineup underrated?

    I've seen several comments recently from people who liked the original lineup. One was Glyn Johns who noted they were more successful after they stopped working for him but he prefered the earlier version. The other was Chris Hillman.

    Do people who buy Greatest Hits albums necessarily know who's in the band and how much do they care? I doubt I would know or care that much if it was another band. Yet, I'm still shocked when people don't seem to realise that the Eagles were successful before Joe and before Felder.

    FWIW, when it came to seeing the band for the first time, for me the decider was Bernie. A chance to see three out of the original four? A no brainer.

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    Border Rebel Scarlet Sun's Avatar
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    Default Re: The original lineup underrated?

    The original lineup is pretty much the only reason i'm an Eagles fan. "Overrated/underrated" though, I know what I think about them and that's enough

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    Default Re: The original lineup underrated?

    Quote Originally Posted by Scarlet Sun View Post
    The original lineup is pretty much the only reason i'm an Eagles fan. "Overrated/underrated" though, I know what I think about them and that's enough
    I know exactly what you mean. I hate all this overrated/underrated stuff too. But this is one exception where I feel the term "underrated" can really be used. When it comes to the original four, people tend to mention problems between the guitarists (Bernie being country, Glenn being rock), Randy not wanting to be in the spotlight, people fighting for album space, problems with the producer etc. etc. So the common conception of the Eagles history seems to be that there were nothing but problems before Don F (and later Joe) came to rescue.

    But when you look at the material (and the first GH album), they did quite a bit of classic Eagles stuff, just the four of them. The material is not underrated, but the band is IMO.

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    Default Re: The original lineup underrated?

    Quote Originally Posted by UndertheWire View Post
    I've seen several comments recently from people who liked the original lineup. One was Glyn Johns who noted they were more successful after they stopped working for him but he prefered the earlier version. The other was Chris Hillman.

    Do people who buy Greatest Hits albums necessarily know who's in the band and how much do they care? I doubt I would know or care that much if it was another band. Yet, I'm still shocked when people don't seem to realise that the Eagles were successful before Joe and before Felder.

    FWIW, when it came to seeing the band for the first time, for me the decider was Bernie. A chance to see three out of the original four? A no brainer.
    A very good point. But when people open the door to this discussion, saying things like "they're nothing without Felder", I think it would be appropriate to point out that they already were something before he joined. And the GH album (a lot of which is part of the common musical consciousness) is a proof of that.
    Of course it's kind of pointless to rave about this here, but I had to get it off my chest.
    Last edited by chaim; 02-16-2015 at 12:14 PM.

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    Default Re: The original lineup underrated?

    Quote Originally Posted by chaim View Post
    Am I the only one on the planet who feels that the original Eagles doesn't get the recognition it deserves? This post was inspired by the Taylor/Joe discussion in the other thread.

    When Felder was let go, there were (and still are) an awful lot of people who insisted they're nothing without him. There also seems to be people who feel the same away about Joe/Eagles.

    But when you look at their first Greatest Hits album, which sold a copy or two, I think the original lineup did just fine too:

    Take It Easy (original lineup)
    Witchy Woman (original lineup)
    Lyin' Eyes (original lineup, with Felder probably strumming an acoustic with Glenn)
    Already Gone (original lineup, with Felder playing some long notes on top of Glenn's solo)
    Desperado (original lineup)
    One Of These Nights (Felder was important in arranging this one. He has made this very clear. Although I still say that Glenn did the harmony guitars. Felder also plays a nice solo.)
    Tequila Sunrise (original lineup)
    Take It To The Limit (I don't know who played what here, but certainly Felder didn't make it what it is)
    Peaceful Easy Feeling (original lineup)
    Best Of My Love (original lineup)

    Felder says in his book that Randy and Bernie deserved to be honored for this album as much as Glenn, Don and himself. I think he was being a bit kind to himself. Randy and Bernie are a much bigger part of this album than him! Of course one could say that Felder (and later Joe) joining the band made people buy this album!

    I understand that Don F and Joe were great additions - especially live - when they joined, but it seems to me that today a lot of people have forgotten that there even was an Eagles before them. Even Glenn's ICTYW solo is Don's today. So it seems that the history of the Eagles has been distorted slightly in people's minds. How many people even know who Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon are?

    And a lot of those who do remember the original lineup seem to remember what they lacked before Felder joined, and not what was already there.

    I'm biased, of course, as I'm a big Randy/Bernie fan, and Desperado is my favorite Eagles album...

    Well Said Chaim!

    So Put Me On A Highway And Show Me A Sign
    And Take It To The Limit One More Time..............

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    Stuck on the Border shunlvswx's Avatar
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    Default Re: The original lineup underrated?

    I have to admit. I was one of these people who didn't know who Bernie or Randy was before the documentary. I do remember Bernie in the country group Run C&W, but I didn't know he was actually in that group until I read it somewhere. I didn't know his name back then, but I remember him. I had thought Timothy sung TITTL.

    I only knew the 1994 to current lineup since when I first discover the Eagles it was the Don/Glenn/Don F/Joe/Timothy lineup and of course the current. I did buy the Very Best CD after the documentary. That was my first Eagles CD and others just followed.

    When I did watch the guys get inducted into the HOF in 1998, I was like who are those other two guys. Its funny I said the same thing when I first saw the documentary. So when I first heard of the Eagles, I didn't know it was Randy and Bernie in the early work. I do love some of their early work, but The Long Run/HFO lineup to current lineup is who I'm more familiar with.

    It was good to see Bernie back in the band and I wish Randy was well enough when they first started the tour.

  10. #10
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    Default Re: The original lineup underrated?

    Quote Originally Posted by shunlvswx View Post
    I have to admit. I was one of these people who didn't know who Bernie or Randy was before the documentary. I do remember Bernie in the country group Run C&W, but I didn't know he was actually in that group until I read it somewhere. I had thought Timothy sung TITTL.

    I only knew the 1994 to current lineup since when I first discover the Eagles it was the Don/Glenn/Don F/Joe/Timothy lineup and of course the current. I did buy the Very Best CD after the documentary. That was my first Eagles CD and others just followed.

    When I did watch the guys get inducted into the HOF in 1998, I was like who are those other two guys. Its funny I said the same thing when I first saw the documentary. So when I first heard of the Eagles, I didn't know it was Randy and Bernie in the early work. I do love some of their early work, but The Long Run/HFO lineup to current lineup is who I'm more familiar with.
    It's perfectly understandable that there are people who don't know Randy and Bernie - especially if they don't own the albums. And I don't really mind that. It's only when people go "they're nothing without this or that guy" - failing to see that the band recorded great material without them - that I start seeing red.

    People who say that they're nothing without Felder or Joe should know that a lot of the time they are (were, in Felder's case) playing Bernie's classic licks (Take It Easy, Lyin' Eyes...).

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