Eagles Radio Sirius Channel 30 November 17, 2017

[Delilah]

I missed J.D.’s first guest DJ segment but I managed to listen to the repeat. Shun already gave most of it so I will just add a few details while it’s fairly fresh in my mind.

J.D. starts off by saying he will be playing his favorite Eagles songs plus some others. He says he was fired from being a college DJ for playing too much John Coltrane. He promised not to do that this time.

1. New Kid in Town -“magnificently put together.” He had the chorus for about a year. There were a couple of Cuban players in his band at the time and the chorus became more Cuban over time (this is a bit confusing to me b/c this song never struck me as having a “Cuban” flavor but more Southwesten/Border town feel). At some point Don and Glenn called him, they sat around a picnic table and threw down some pieces of music they all had. He showed them the chorus and about 8 months later the song was finished. It’s one of his favorite Glenn vocals with a beautiful arrangement and beautifully sung.

2. Polly by Dillard & Clark- “beautiful waltz” When he was in a duo with Glenn, they performed this on stage. When JD’s friend Bucky Baxter asked if there are any songs his musician son should listen to for inspiration, JD suggested this one. He and Glenn had listened to this one frequently for a couple of months.

3. Cry Like a Lover This was what JD called it, more than once. Maybe this was the original title and he forgot or was never told there was a change, lol. He says he started it and had 2 verses, nothing else. He played it for Joni Mitchell. There was a certain line, “see the sky through the stone and wood” that JD felt was clumsy and awkward. But it was Joni’s favorite line so it stayed. The harmony and other parts came later; he assumed all done by Don and Glenn. He didn’t seem to remember if he had helped with those parts too. He commented about how it starts as a simple song then has this build-up towards the end.

4. Little Girl Blue written by Richard Rogers and Lawrence Hart- “beautiful ballad” As a classical pianist, Nina Simone starts with a familiar melody we all recognize as “Good King Wenceslas” and ends up with a beautiful combination of 2 compositions.

5. Victim of Love - his association with this song started a little late. It was based on a Don Felder guitar riff -“a really good one by the way”- it was finished at the Criteria Studios lounge upstairs while Bill S. was downstairs overdubbing guitar parts. Later they realized the song was a few lyrics short (fwiw, I recall reading that Don F had written about 1/4 of the lyrics) and they could hear Don F and Joe working on their guitar solos downstairs. Basically the song came together in a rush.

[Delilah]

J.D.’s Guest DJ stint cont....

6. Black Rose - from the album of the same name. They called themselves “Gentlemen Boys” which is listed on the credits for backing vocals. In addition to Don, Glenn and himself, this included Ned Doheny. There’s a lot of harmony in the song. He’s been told it sounds like an Eagles record (he doesn’t mention it but Joe plays guitar on the album).

7. Heartache Tonight- as Shun said this came about after he and Glenn had been listening to Sam Cooke albums all afternoon. It started out with no instruments, just he and Glenn walking around the pool, snapping their fingers. When they got stuck, they called Don H for help and the song got better. They were trying to write singles for the LR album. But they didn’t have a chorus for it until Glenn called Bob Seger on the phone. Bob listened and then came in on the downbeat with his part. Glenn roughly went over it with JD who agreed to having a 4th songwriter. JD didn’t hear it again until the song was completed much later (this is interesting b/c didn’t Glenn say that Bob was present when he came up with the chorus part, that Bob went outside by the pool and belted it out?).

8. Rider in the Rain - He says this was their (his, Don’s and Glenn’s) best harmony singing up to that point. The bridge is meant to be sarcastic while RN sings in his usual wry manner. He and Glenn sing the 2-part bridge.

9. If Dirt Were Dollars- written under curious circumstances; he was at Don H’s house in Aspen. They wrote 3 songs including Heart of the Matter. IDWD addresses the disparity between the rich and the poor. He calls it a “heck of a Blues song” and calls DH “one of the great white blues singer ever.”

10. Don’t Know What I’m Going to Do - It keeps changing keys; when he wrote it he thought it would be a good song for the Eagles but they weren’t together at that time and they were all working on their solo careers. So he recorded it himself. It modulates up a step.

JD closes by saying “it’s been a pleasure being with you guys, playing my favorite Eagles songs and a few others” then plays a song he says was a very important one for the band and him.

11.Best of My Love - he says this was their 1st gold record for Don, Glenn and him(are you sure JD cuz I had always heard TITTL was the 1st gold record). He says this started while he and Glenn were in L.A. messing with a guitar tuning. He’s not going to share it b/c he promised not to tell anyone. But when he hears someone covering this in a bar or somewhere, he wants to tell the dudes “listen, drop the blank string another blank step” (I guess he doesn’t know Henley’s been spilling the beans at every concert). Anyway, he didn’t have much input at the beginning except for the guitar tuning. Later he’s at Peter Asher’s house when he gets the call from Don to go to London and help out with the bridge. He goes to London and has a wild night of drinking with Billy Connelly. He helps the guys out and returns to L.A. He didn’t hear the final product until the album was released. Don and Glenn wanted to release the song as a single but the record company didn’t b/c it was too slow, there were no drums, and had a steel guitar. Instead the record company worked another single which was mid-charting. Then he continues with the familiar story of the DJ in Minneapolis playing the song which led to more requests, etc. Although Asylum/Electra finally and hastily produced an edited 45 version (which the guys had nothing to do with), the radio stations continued to play the album version. This is one of his favorite vocals by one of his favorite vocalists.

[chaim]

Thanks, Delilah. I've always wondered which parts J.D. already had of New Kid In Town before he took it to Don and Glenn.

Everyone has always said that Victim Of Love was all live in terms of instruments. This is the first time I hear about guitar overdubs.

[New Kid In Town]

Delilah and Shun - Your recap of JD DJing was awesome ! Thank You so much I really appreciate it !

[chaim]

Why on earth was the BOML tuning supposed to be a secret, by the way?

[New Kid In Town]

Why on earth was the BOML tuning supposed to be a secret, by the way?

Chaim - I know right ! Like it's some state secret or something !

[NightMistBlue]

Thank you, Miss Shun. It would be interesting to know which of the VOL lyrics Don F. wrote. I wonder if the central concept/story was his, but it's so characteristic of Henley, IMO, that strong judgmental tone towards women.

[shunlvswx]

Just heard right now on Sirius that Bob's guest DJ show is this Monday 6:00pm Eastern/5:00pm Central. I figured it was coming up real soon since they were showing Bob Seger- Guest DJ icon a lot yesterday even though they didn't say when.

That means Jack's show is probably going to be debut either next week or the following week.

[New Kid In Town]

Just heard right now on Sirius that Bob's guest DJ show is this Monday 6:00pm Eastern/5:00pm Central. I figured it was coming up real soon since they were showing Bob Seger- Guest DJ icon a lot yesterday even though they didn't say when.

That means Jack's show is probably going to be debut either next week or the following week.

Thanks Shun !

[The Disco Strangler]

I finally discovered this channel on Thursday when I was cleaning and Christmas decorating. It's about time. Loving it!