Eagles' opinions on their own work

[thelastresort]

Firstly, sorry for the poor title, I couldn't think of anything else! Also, if this has been covered before please direct me.

I made a comment a while ago on the thread about what we'd like in Don's Cass County tour, about how I believed Don didn't like how BOML sounded live. Whilst I was trying to remember the source for that it got me thinking about what we know about what the guys think of their discography. I know Glenn's favourite Eagles song is One of These Nights and someone on here said Bernie loved the end of Hollywood Waltz (Don's drumming) but I was wondering if anyone knew of any other opinions held by them about their work?

Cheers

[Jonny Come Lately]

A few that spring to mind, with sources given:

- The liner notes of 2003's The Very Best Of indicate that Glenn is very keen on I Can't Tell You Why, his second favourite song after OOTN. I think he also says he thinks After The Thrill Is Gone is underrated, and praised The Last Resort, which he has referred to as 'Henley's opus'.
- Don H refers to Those Shoes as 'one of my favorites' in the same liner notes.
- According to a 1989 interview I came across, Randy prefers the rockers to the ballads and cited Too Many Hands as a song he was fond of.
- Don H and Glenn were not crazy on JOTS (from Don Felder's Heaven and Hell) and did not like IWYP at all (numerous sources).
- Don Felder's opinion of Hotel California is well known and it is fairly obvious that he considers it his proudest achievement with the band. He is also fond of The Sad Café (Heaven and Hell).
- Don Felder dislikes Teenage Jail and The Girl From Yesterday (both from Heaven and Hell).
- Joe is evidently fond of Desperado as he plays it in his solo shows even though he had no involvement with the original and has his own ballads he could play instead. Unlike with Don Henley's shows there is no expectation from the public for him to play Desperado. I think I read that Joe connects with the lyrics hence why he performs it in concert.

[NightMistBlue]

Congrats to TLR on your 1000th post milestone :)

My eyes got big when I read (yesterday) Don H. say that "Those Shoes" was one of his favorites. He's written so many things that are SO much better, IMO.

In the same interview*, he gently dissed "On the Border" (which I think is brilliant) as disappointing, saying, "I’m not sure it ever became what it could have been, musically."

Similarly, in an interview with Songwriter magazine in 1994, he opined that "The Long Run" - the song, not the album - could have been better. Au contraire, Don!

* with Cameron Crowe, 2003: http://www.theuncool.com/journalism/the-very-best-of-the-eagles/

[Funk 50]

It's a great title for a thread TLR.

I can recall praising Don's climactic drums at the end of Hollywood Waltz but It was my own opinion, I wasn't quoting Bernie Leadon.

I believe Randy's comment about preferring the fast songs were to do with live performances. During the ballads he tends to just play the root note at the beginning of each line. The up-tempo numbers are a little more interesting to play. Randy always seems very positive about the songs he's played on.

Joe picks out Lying Eyes as his favourite song to play in the Eagles set list. Sorry I can't remember sources.

Henley is the most publicly critical Eagle. He wanted them to spend more time on Long Road Out Of Eden. He's said Best Of My Love sucks live, although he has performed it solo.

He's apologised for the quality of the new HFO songs, saying they had a deadline to meet. He's critical of his vocal performance for Desperado, blaming Glynn Johns, for not allowing him more time to nail it. He was hoping Glynn would make him sound like John Bonham on record too.

In fact when Don was asked, which early Eagles tracks he'd like to go back and re-record, without hesitation, he answered "All of them!"

Glenn commented that, in their second act, they sound much better than they ever did in the 70s although he did also say, some years later, how great they sounded during the 1977 show, that they released with the HOTE documentary.

Glenn also said, at the time of LROOE's release. that LROOE had 17 or 18 great tracks on it, compared to 3 or 4 on their previous albums.

Also related to LROOE, Tim didn't like I Don't Want To Hear Any More the first time he heard it and Joe presented Guilty Of The Crime to the rest of the band on more than one occasion before it was accepted.

Off the top of my head, that's all I got.

Oh Joe's unforgettable comment about All Night Long on his Anthology CD sleeve. I'm quoting so I checked, "This was an Eagles encore for a while"

[UndertheWire]

I read show reports here from one of Glenn's 2007 solo shows. Apparantly he described "Long Road Out of Eden" (song, not album) as "ponderous".

Glenn has also grumbled that "Peaceful Easy Feeling" is off-key and he should have been allowed more takes.

[Funk 50]

I've heard that Long Road Out Of Eden originally had a slower tempo. I'd sure like to hear that! Maybe Glenn got them to speed it up a bit.

A regular intro from Joe "If I knew that I'd have to sing this song everyday for the rest of my life, I'd have written something else." I'm sure he's used it for both Rocky Mountain Way and Life's Been Good. Maybe Funk #49 too.

Classic Henley; "Sometimes I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than sing Desperado."

[chaim]

I remember Glenn saying in some interview that their 70's albums were...what's that phrase in English..."Three songs deep", or something like that, was what he said. He was saying that their albums had two or three great songs (the hits) and the rest of the album was usually fillers. I think he was talking about ones before Hotel California. I'm pretty sure he mentioned the OOTN album, which was surprising. It's not that bad! Francis Rossi has said the same thing about the classic Status Quo albums.

EDIT:

I must admit that I don't know whether Glenn was talking about his own tastes or what the "masses" like.

[Jonny Come Lately]

I would completely disagree with that statement for On The Border, which I feel is consistently strong throughout, and even more so for Desperado, which was always meant to be (and IMO is) a very cohesive album largely devoid of obvious hit singles. I can perhaps sympathise with his view more on the debut album and OOTN, although if he said they were 'Five songs deep' I'd agree with him a bit more. I personally definitely would not want to lose TLHTM, Take The Devil, Too Many Hands or ATTIG.

If you made an album out of the best five songs from OOTN and the Eagles LP you'd have a pretty great record in my book. I'd miss most of the other songs to some extent but not nearly as much as I would miss losing any of the songs from Desperado, OTB or the IMO near flawless Hotel California. The Long Run is a bit different as I feel that while there a couple of fillers (I actually like TJ quite a lot, the other two obvious candidates not so much), the core of 6-7 songs from the album is very strong so the two songs I am not crazy about don't affect my enjoyment of the record much (it also helps that they are both relatively short).

The best artists tend to be self-critical I think, Roger Waters is a good example (he once said he wouldn't play Atom Heart Mother if you gave him a million pounds). There are cases where I think the artists are totally wrong about their own music, like Coldplay's Chris Martin who criticised Parachutes as being 'terrible music' when most music experts I've come across tend to say that the compositions on that album were the best they've ever written musically.

[Funk 50]

If you made an album out of the best five songs from OOTN and the Eagles LP you'd have a pretty great record in my book.

Develop that idea a little more. Strip it down to Glenn's 3. Throw in tracks from Desperado and On The Border and you could just get the top selling album of the 20th Century. :grin:

I think the track choices they made for the 1975 Greatest Hits album are absolutely spot on. To name just one track, I'd like to have seen Saturday Night added to it but I really don't know what I'd take off to make a space for it.


Francis Rossi has said the same thing about the classic Status Quo albums



Francis Rossi, has owned up that he prefers country pop to the heads down rock that made his name. The best concert he's attended, The Eagles at Wembley Arena during the Hotel California tour. One of the few occasions when Randy's Take It To The Limit was accompanied by a 40 piece string orchestra. Wish I Was There!

A very recent non vocal comment that I read here in a HOTE Show review. Bernie introducing Witchy Woman crediting Don with writing the great lyrics. Henley demonstrably shaking his head, :nope:

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Very interesting thread - I've enjoyed reading everyone's contributions. :thumbsup:

[AlreadyGone95]

On GFO, Soda created "Quoteable Frey", a page with various quotes that Glenn has said on different topics. If anyone is interested, here's (http://www.glennfreyonline.com/quotes/songs.htm) the page for quotes about individual songs. Some of the quotes are opinions, and others are about writing the song.

Also, great idea for a thread, TLR. :) :thumbsup:

[NightMistBlue]

The best concert he's attended, The Eagles at Wembley Arena during the Hotel California tour. One of the few occasions when Randy's Take It To The Limit was accompanied by a 40 piece string orchestra. Wish I Was There!

Oh my. The mere thought of that... Anybody heard tell of a bootleg?

[Funk 50]

The Eagles Live Album from 1981 has Take It To The Limit with the string chart.

I've listed a lot of comments, where the Eagles have been critical of their own music, I feel obliged to balance it up with some positives. I'm sure there are some but none come directly to mind. I'll have to give it some thought. :)

[VAisForEagleLovers]

F50, there likely isn't as many positives as saying something positive about your own work smacks of bragging, and they are reluctant to do that. They've never needed to, because their record sales speak for them! I'm sure there are some examples, but it will require thought.

[DJ]

I've heard that Long Road Out Of Eden originally had a slower tempo. I'd sure like to hear that! Maybe Glenn got them to speed it up a bit.

A regular intro from Joe "If I knew that I'd have to sing this song everyday for the rest of my life, I'd have written something else." I'm sure he's used it for both Rocky Mountain Way and Life's Been Good. Maybe Funk #49 too.

Classic Henley; "Sometimes I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than sing Desperado."


Oh but Mr. Henley everytime I hear the Desperado Reprise version I cry. It is soooo soulful and poignant!

[Jonny Come Lately]

I think with a band like the Eagles the negative opinions perhaps stand out more because they are very self-critical and have always been looking at ways to improve. I guess they sometimes know things about the recording process. For instance, looking back at Don Henley's comment about On The Border the song not being fully realised, it is difficult for us to know how he originally wanted it to turn out. I don't worry about this when I listen to the song although no doubt he would notice all the problems he thought they were with the end result.

Some bands are keen to talk up their own music, but the Eagles (and I would say Glenn in particular) are bit reluctant to do so. Even if they do praise their music they tend to seem a bit wary of coming across as boastful. I distinctly remember reading a quote from Glenn Frey about his excellent ICTYW guitar solo where he seems to think twice before explaining why it worked before than anything the more technically gifted Joe or Don Felder could come up with, and that's a song I believe he rates very highly. Likewise, if you look at the section of the liner notes from 2003's The Very Best Of covering The Last Resort, Glenn is full of praise for the song (describing it as Henley's opus) whereas Henley says 'lyrically it's not bad'. He does in fairness comment to some extent on its meaning but I suspect that he was simply reluctant to get overly excited about his own composition (There's a quote from him from about 1987 or so where he says the song is one of his favourites).

[NightMistBlue]

Well, we know that Glenn thinks his vocal is out of tune on "Peaceful, Easy Feeling." I assume he means the chorus, and perhaps the "woah -oh oh" near the end. What do ya'll think? The pitch may be *slightly* slack but I don't think it's actually out of tune.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Now I'm gonna have to listen to it at least three times and see! I will say it's a song I've always preferred live, and maybe this is why.

[Funk 50]

If you look at the section of the liner notes from 2003's The Very Best Of covering The Last Resort, Glenn is full of praise for the song (describing it as Henley's opus) whereas Henley says 'lyrically it's not bad'. He does in fairness comment to some extent on its meaning but I suspect that he was simply reluctant to get overly excited about his own composition (There's a quote from him from about 1987 or so where he says the song is one of his favourites).

I've only heard or more likely read, Henley's comment about the music not really going anywhere. I'm delighted to read that The Last Resort is one of his favourites.

When asked what are his solo favourites, Henley answers, without a pause, the same as everybody else. The Heart Of The Matter, Boys Of Summer and The End Of The Innocence were the ones he named from memory.

I've heard (or read) Glenn congratulating himself for the guitar solo in I Can't Tell You Why and rightly so, it is exceptional, adding that the bass players tend to opt for his guitar solos for their tracks. Randy's Try And Love Again immediate springs to mind.


Joe, feigning tears, "This song is so beautiful" when introducing Pretty Maids All In A Row during the HFO show. When he performs it live, Joe often says Over And Over is one of his favourite solo tunes.

The Shadow is one of Tim's favourites from his own catalogue.

There's a very amusing response from Glenn on one of the Soul Pole discs. I'm quoting from memory here, but after going off key singing New Kid In Town, Glenn blurts out the self critique, that may be good enough for The "Hoot" on a Monday Night but it's not going to get me in to no Rock'n'Roll, bullshit, Hall Of Fame.. or words to that effect....:grin:

[UndertheWire]

Glenn talking to Bob Costas about his favourite Eagles and solo songs back in 1992:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHPwHeTLLV0

[chaim]

Well, we know that Glenn thinks his vocal is out of tune on "Peaceful, Easy Feeling." I assume he means the chorus, and perhaps the "woah -oh oh" near the end. What do ya'll think? The pitch may be *slightly* slack but I don't think it's actually out of tune.

Interesting. I've never heard about this before. I don't tend to notice stuff like that either - if a note or two is slightly out of tune. And if I do, it doesn't bother me.
There's one high "ooooooooo" in the background vocals in Most Of Us Are Sad that goes out of tune and comes back. Probably Randy. It does bother me a bit. I can't check now, but I think it's at the end.

[Funk 50]

Glenn talking to Bob Costas about his favourite Eagles and solo songs back in 1992:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHPwHeTLLV0

Thanks UTW. I raised an eyebrow when Glenn said True Love. I was expecting him to say Smuggler's Blues. I always enjoy hearing True Love but I never realised it was one of Glenn's faves.

When Bill Szymczyk started remastering the Eagles back catalogue, he discovered that the first CD edition of their first album actually played half a tone too slow. :|

I used to tune my guitar to Eagles records, They were so reliable.

Glenn describes the marvellous synth solo, he plays during, Teenage Jail as out of tune and out of time... but it works. I just wonder how many times he attempted to better it before accepting defeat. I Love It!

[AlreadyGone95]

Well, we know that Glenn thinks his vocal is out of tune on "Peaceful, Easy Feeling." I assume he means the chorus, and perhaps the "woah -oh oh" near the end. What do ya'll think? The pitch may be *slightly* slack but I don't think it's actually out of tune.

I listened to the song several times yesterday to see if I could notice anything, and honestly, I don't. At least, nothing that makes me go "what happened here?". Then again, maybe there's something there that people who aren't singers can't detect lol.

[chaim]

Thanks UTW. I raised an eyebrow when Glenn said True Love. I was expecting him to say Smuggler's Blues. I always enjoy hearing True Love but I never realised it was one of Glenn's faves.


There are many reasons why a musician/songwriter may like certain songs more than others, of course. The reason can be the song itself. It can be the studio session - if it was fun to make etc. It can also be, especially with someone like Glenn, that he decided to take some influences he loves and managed to write a nice song of his own out of that.

[NightMistBlue]

I listened to the song several times yesterday to see if I could notice anything, and honestly, I don't. At least, nothing that makes me go "what happened here?". Then again, maybe there's something there that people who aren't singers can't detect lol.

I imagine their ears are very finely tuned and discerning, especially a harmony singer like Glenn. There's almost certainly a digital gizmo these days that can say spot on whether a voice or instrument is on point and to what degree.

F50: "When Bill Szymczyk started remastering the Eagles back catalogue..." would this be the 2005 remasters? I've read that there were also remasters done in 1999 [not sure about the reliability of that info].

[Funk 50]

Looks like 1999 NightMistBlue,

I've got all these Eagles compilations. I just listen to mp3s now.

http://www.allmusic.com/album/selected-works-1972-1999-mw0000105627

[NightMistBlue]

Thank you, Funk. Oh my. This could get expensive. I'll have to ponder for awhile.