Eagles songwriting

[UndertheWire]

Would anyone like to talk about Eagles songwriting? I'm thinking of the contributions of everyone within the band and a few from outside, not just the Henley-Frey team.

When the band formed, it seems that none of them had written much and they didn't have a lot of songs. Glenn seems to have had the most going followed by Randy.

Randy Meisner - one of Randy's Poco bandmates has said that Randy didn't write when he was in Poco. Whether he just wasn't writing or lacked the confidence to present his ideas, I've no idea. However, on the first Eagles album he has two sole writing credits and one co-credit with Bernie. They're good songs, too, not filler. Earlybird was written quickly in London because Glyn Johns felt that Bernie and Randy needed another song on the album.

On all the other albums, Randy's down to one or two songs and, again, they're good songs. Randy has said that writing takes him a long time which is why Glenn and Don would step in to help him finish.

I like Randy's Eagles songs. Musically, they seem designed to make use of his vocal range and lyrically, they seem to be personal and meaningful. He doesn't go in for the "she's so sexy, she's driving me wild" style of writing.

Randy's first solo album included a re-recording of Take it to the Limit but that was his only writing credit on the album. I've read that the record label wanted to get something out quickly and Randy didn't have any of his own material ready. For his second solo alum, he co-wrote most of the songs with established songwriters.

I'm sorry, I don't know much about Randy's pre- or post-Eagles career. What are his non-Eagles songs like?

Randy's Eagles songs:

Earlybird (with Bernie)
Take the Devil
Tryin'
Saturday Night (with Don, Glenn and Bernie)
Certain Kind of Fool (with Don and Glenn)
Is it True?
Too Many Hands (with Don Felder)
Take it to the Limit (with Don H and Glenn)
Try and Love Again

[travlnman2]

Felders biggest hit and only success as a solo write in what you would call mainstream music is writing the hit Heavy Metal from the film. Anyone who has seen the film or grew up with that movie knows he song

[WS82Classics]

Here's Bernie's songs, apart from his aforementioned contributions:

"Witchy Woman"(co-written with Henley)
"Train Leaves Here this Morning"(co-written with former Byrds member Gene Clark)
"21"
"Bitter Creek"
"My Man"(written about both Duane Allman and Gram Parsons)
"On the Border"(co-written with Frey and Henley)
"Hollywood Waltz"(co-written with brother Tom, Frey, and Henley)
"Journey of the Sorcerer"(instrumental piece, music composed by Leadon)
"I Wish You Peace"(co-written with girlfriend Patti Davis, daughter of future President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Davis)


Randy's solo song "Bad Man" was composed by him, Frey, and Henley. It appears on his first self-titled album and the "FM" film soundtrack. Of all of the Eagles' solo careers, his and Felder's are the two with which I am least familiar.

[UndertheWire]

"Bad Man" is listed as a Frey-Souther song.

Was "My Man" about Duane Allman? I thought it was Clarence White,
(along with Gram Parsons).

I love "Bitter Creek" and "Twenty-One" and "My Man" are also pretty good. Henley supplied the Hickory Wind line for "My Man".

I'm not that struck with the song-writing on "Natural Progressions". I like the songs for the music rather than the lyrics. "How can you live without love" could be autobiographical -

For seven years I lived alone on a hill
But my life was filled
With a succession of ladies and friends
Ah, the sweets of the world!

I haven't hear Mirror but I've read the lyrics posted on bernieleadonline and I like them. Humourous and pointed. He's come a long way in his writing. If only it was available as an mp3 rather than a CD import.

[Freypower]

"Bad Man" is listed as a Frey-Souther song.

Was "My Man" about Duane Allman? I thought it was Clarence White,
(along with Gram Parsons).

I love "Bitter Creek" and "Twenty-One" and "My Man" are also pretty good. Henley supplied the Hickory Wind line for "My Man".

I'm not that struck with the song-writing on "Natural Progressions". I like the songs for the music rather than the lyrics. "How can you live without love" could be autobiographical -

For seven years I lived alone on a hill
But my life was filled
With a succession of ladies and friends
Ah, the sweets of the world!

I haven't hear Mirror but I've read the lyrics posted on bernieleadonline and I like them. Humourous and pointed. He's come a long way in his writing. If only it was available as an mp3 rather than a CD import.

My Man is about Gram Parsons.

[Delilah]

Would anyone like to talk about Eagles songwriting? I'm thinking of the contributions of everyone within the band and a few from outside, not just the Henley-Frey team.

I'm sorry, I don't know much about Randy's pre- or post-Eagles career. What are his non-Eagles songs like?


AFAIK, this is the earliest Randy-penned song. It was during his time with The Poor (mid-60s). It sounds very much of its time, a kind of psychedelic garage rock the band was performing and recording. I don't think it's Randy on lead vocal, however. Over time he would adapt to different musical styles and genres, which is one of the reasons I find him so talented (I wish I knew how to embed he video, but oh well). Thanks for asking, btw. I too would like to know about the songwriting of the other members outside the main team.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rdYt0X3dkeg

[WS82Classics]

"My Man" was written about both Allman(who used to refer to Leadon, at the time a session player, as 'my man') and Parsons. If there is a Clarence White association, I am wholly unaware of it.

As far as "Natural Progressions" goes, "As Time Goes on" is an auto-biographical stand out. "Glass Off" is unimpressive. Don't know much about the other songs.

[Delilah]

Henley supplied the Hickory Wind line for "My Man".


In the RS Special Edition, this is part of the short description of "My Man", which they ranked #32 in the list of "40 Greatest Songs":

When the Eagles reconvened in Los Angeles to finish the album, Leadon hadn't completed the words. "They said, OK, we're going to go to dinner, and you're gonna stay here and finish the song," Leadon laughs. "Henley gave me a clue for something to tie in, the Gram song 'Hickory Wind'. They came back, and I was like, 'OK, let's put the vocal on.' "

So Henley helped with the clue but didn't actually write the line.

[UndertheWire]

AFAIK, this is the earliest Randy-penned song. It was during his time with The Poor (mid-60s). It sounds very much of its time, a kind of psychedelic garage rock the band was performing and recording. I don't think it's Randy on lead vocal, however. Over time he would adapt to different musical styles and genres, which is one of the reasons I find him so talented (I wish I knew how to embed he video, but oh well). Thanks for asking, btw. I too would like to know about the songwriting of the other members outside the main team.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rdYt0X3dkeg

That was better than I expected. The sound is quite Beatle-like and not that different from the groups that were having hits in the UK in the mid-60s. The song's fine for what it is, too.

[UndertheWire]

Now for Don Felder.

His Eagles songs:
Visions (co-written with Don Henley)
Too Many Hands (co-written with Randy Meisner)
Hotel California (co-written with Don Henley and Glenn Frey)
Victim of Love (co-written with Don Henley and Glenn Frey)
The Disco Strangler (co-written with Henley-Frey)
Those Shoes (co-written with Henley Frey)

I don't think there's much doubt that Don F came up with the main musical ideas for all these songs but his contribution to the lyrics is more questionable.

I would guess that "Visions" has Felder lyrics with a polish from Henley. It's unlike anything else I've heard from Henley and is more like a few songs from Felder's Airborne album. Lyrically, I think it's the worst Eagle track. I hate those "Girl, you drive me wild" kind of songs.

In his book, Felder writes about the ideas being thrown around for Victim of Love, so it seems he played a part in the lyric-writing sessions with Frey, Henley and Souther.

When I listened to Airborne, I was surprised because the lyrics were not as bad as I had expected. However, some of them are creepy and sexist and just yuk. I'm going to guess that Don was just giving his audiences what he thought they wanted rather than writing from his heart. There's a nice song written for his wife about how they're going to grow old together. Overall, I've heard successful groups with worse lyrics but they're not up to "Eagles standard".

I haven't listened to much of the new album.

[Delilah]

Randy Meisner - one of Randy's Poco bandmates has said that Randy didn't write when he was in Poco. Whether he just wasn't writing or lacked the confidence to present his ideas, I've no idea.


I heard a radio interview Jim Messina gave a year or so ago where he describes how challenging it was to work with Richie Furay in Buffalo Springfield b/c Richie couldn't read music (Jim was their engineer/producer). Randy couldn't read music either, so perhaps that did hamper his confidence in his songwriting, given he had to work with Jim in Poco. Plus Jim and Richie were probably less open to input from other band members than Glenn was. Just my theory.

I would like to add that Randy co-wrote 3/9 songs from his third solo album (s/t 1982), which is a switch from "One More Song" where he co-wrote 6/9. On his last solo release, "Love Me or Leave Me Alone", he wrote or co-wrote 12/17 songs, inc. TITTL. I don't know who wrote the title track, though.

[WS82Classics]

There's probably a fair amount of Felder lyrics in "Too Many Hands," as it is unlike anything Meisner had written before or since.

I've not listened to either of his albums in full, but have listened to sound samples of his most recent album. He's very tone deaf, and a couple of the songs("Girls in Black" and "Sensuality") are just weird. His stand-alone Eagles contribution, "Visions," is an OK song, but I'd vote it off first in a 'Song Survivor' contest because I'm not usually enamored of extremely subjective lyrics. Probably the best song he ever did, though.


ETA: Someone mentioned Randy's 2004 "Love Me or Leave Me Alone" album(which I'd forgotten he'd done), and I went to listen to the two Eagles covers. That version of "Take it Easy" sounds like if you crossed Travis Tritt's version with a Donald Duck vocal take. :rofl:

[NightMistBlue]

That was better than I expected. The sound is quite Beatle-like and not that different from the groups that were having hits in the UK in the mid-60s. The song's fine for what it is, too.

I love it, it's so shimmery and beautiful. Ooh, that's the Randman on the sky-high "all you have to do is hold my HAND" harmony. :inlove:

[Delilah]

There's probably a fair amount of Felder lyrics in "Too Many Hands," as it is unlike anything Meisner had written before or since.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you there, those lyrics sound like Randy to me: burning, resting, turning around, those are Randy-like. Plus I'm not aware of Felder being environmentally conscious.


ETA: Someone mentioned Randy's 2004 "Love Me or Leave Me Alone" album(which I'd forgotten he'd done), and I went to listen to the two Eagles covers. That version of "Take it Easy" sounds like if you crossed Travis Tritt's version with a Donald Duck vocal take. :rofl:

OK buddy you crossed the line :machinegun: Haha, jk. That version sounds a lot like the one he performed for the World Class Rockers in early 2000. So his voice changed some.

[UndertheWire]

I don't have a hard time believing that Glenn was more encouraging when it came to songwriting. He seems to have just wanted good songs whoever they came from.

One thing it's worth mentioning is that when the Eagles started, they had a publishing company called "Kicking Bear" and they shared publishing equally, whoever wrote the songs (and with half going to David Geffen). If you look at the liner notes for the first three albums, it shows up. I believe this continued at least to "One of These Nights" and "Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975". "Take It Easy", "Train Leaves Here This Morning" and "James Dean" are not with Kicking Bear, probably because they were written earlier and with non-Eagles writers. On those first four albums, the credits for the Kicking Bear songs are spread across the original four members fairly evenly (roughly the equivalent of 5, 6, 7 and 8 songs respectively for Randy, Bernie, Don H and Glenn), so sharing publishing doesn't seem such a bad deal.

I know Don Felder's jibe at Glenn, "change a word to gain a third" has been spread about, but there seems little basis for it.

[Jonny Come Lately]

There's probably a fair amount of Felder lyrics in "Too Many Hands," as it is unlike anything Meisner had written before or since.

I think Randy's said that his contribution to TMH was the lyrics, with Don F writing the music - IIRC there's a video of Randy being interviewed in (I think) the late 1980s where he says this.

Just checked, here's the video, Randy starts talking at 18:56:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzt_BDRnCLE

I've long thought that Too Many Hands as a song has quite a quirky and unique feel (which I personally really like), and I think it's partly because it's an unusual combination of writers who had never co-written a song previously and to my knowledge never worked together again. The closest thing to a truly unique Eagles songwriting partnership (ignoring contributions from non-members) other than this I've come across from the 1970s albums is Earlybird, which is a Meisner/Leadon co-write, although both are also credited for Saturday Night. By contrast, while Visions is unique in being co-written by the two Dons, all of Felder's other Eagles songs bar TMH are also credited to Don and Glenn, so Felder co-writing with Henley is not all that unusual, it's just that that was the only case where Glenn wasn't involved.

[NightMistBlue]

I heard a radio interview Jim Messina gave a year or so ago where he describes how challenging it was to work with Richie Furay in Buffalo Springfield b/c Richie couldn't read music (Jim was their engineer/producer). Randy couldn't read music either, so perhaps that did hamper his confidence in his songwriting, given he had to work with Jim in Poco. Plus Jim and Richie were probably less open to input from other band members than Glenn was. Just my theory.

That's a bit odd that Messina would cite that, because (it seems to me) MOST rock/pop musicians don't read music. Not even the really brilliant ones, who seem like they would know - Lindsey Buckingham, for example. And it's not like Poco had lush orchestrations or horn charts a la Chicago: their songs were pretty straightforward. A songwriter would only need to supply a lead sheet with chords written in a very basic way, like C / / / for each measure.

It may have been a confidence thing with Randy. He was the lead singer in his first band, but he didn't put himself forward as a singer for his next two bands. I wish he'd write his memoirs; otherwise we'll never know.

[Delilah]

NightMistBlue, I'll try to find that radio interview and post the link on the Poco thread, so as not derail this one. I do remember Jim saying something about sheets or charts.

I'd love it if Randy would write his memoirs.

[Freypower]

Now for Don Felder.

His Eagles songs:
Visions (co-written with Don Henley)
Too Many Hands (co-written with Randy Meisner)
Hotel California (co-written with Don Henley and Glenn Frey)
Victim of Love (co-written with Don Henley and Glenn Frey)
The Disco Strangler (co-written with Henley-Frey)
Those Shoes (co-written with Henley Frey)

I don't think there's much doubt that Don F came up with the main musical ideas for all these songs but his contribution to the lyrics is more questionable.

I would guess that "Visions" has Felder lyrics with a polish from Henley. It's unlike anything else I've heard from Henley and is more like a few songs from Felder's Airborne album. Lyrically, I think it's the worst Eagle track. I hate those "Girl, you drive me wild" kind of songs.

In his book, Felder writes about the ideas being thrown around for Victim of Love, so it seems he played a part in the lyric-writing sessions with Frey, Henley and Souther.

When I listened to Airborne, I was surprised because the lyrics were not as bad as I had expected. However, some of them are creepy and sexist and just yuk. I'm going to guess that Don was just giving his audiences what he thought they wanted rather than writing from his heart. There's a nice song written for his wife about how they're going to grow old together. Overall, I've heard successful groups with worse lyrics but they're not up to "Eagles standard".

I haven't listened to much of the new album.

I like most of Airborne, particularly from a musical standpoint, but about Road To Forever the least said the better. It's an album which even Felder's most steadfast defenders rarely discuss. Soda suggested doing a Survivor for it & there were only five votes (including me) so it never happened. I tried to like it but every time I listen to any song from it I dislike it more.

[thelastresort]

I don't want to derail this thread, but I always find it odd how much Felder attests that he had so many great ideas for songs and laid down all these demo tapes and how Glenn and Don H had such a stranglehold on what made the cut, then only releases two solo albums in 35 years...

[WS82Classics]

Hmm. I would never have thought "Too Many Hands" was about the environment. Always assumed it was about some popular dancer at the London Fog or the Whiskey a-Go Go and the lecherous men who took to her, something like that. There's certainly many perspectives from which to view a song...

As to Meisner and his future plans, I had heard some talk right after Glenn died about his possibly putting out new music. Like with the memoir that was mentioned earlier, it will have to take a distant back seat for some time, and for good reason.

[Delilah]

I don't want to derail this thread, but I always find it odd how much Felder attests that he had so many great ideas for songs and laid down all these demo tapes and how Glenn and Don H had such a stranglehold on what made the cut, then only releases two solo albums in 35 years...

I'm not sure how much "so many" is, but Road to Forever has something like 16 tracks on it, all material that was co-written by him. That's like 2 albums worth of songs. For Airborne, he solo penned 6 out of 8 tracks, lyrics and music. Plus he wrote songs for 5 different movie soundtracks: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Heavy Metal, Secret Admirer, The Sluggers Wife, and Nice Dreams. He also created the music for "Galaxy High", an animated tv show. This is in addition to the session work he did for other musicians, like the Bee Gees.

In his book, Don F discusses his desire to spend time with his family after being on the road so much with the Eagles. That's why he turned offers to tour with other musicians, like Don H who was still single (although he was caring for a sick girlfriend). I think he was more prolific than he is given credit for.

Btw, here's a sample from the Galaxy High intro, which shows a different side of Don Felder, lyric-wise: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ISdr6wf68Kk

[UndertheWire]

I'm going to apologise for being rather superficial with my coverage of the songwriting so far. I'm hoping that those of you who love the writing of the individuals will jump in and say why. How have they developed over the years? What different writing partners have they had?

With Don Felder, we can see that he was fairly prolific in the early 80s but then he seemed to stop and only seems to have started to write again since 2001. Of course, this may be wrong and he may have been writing throughout and just not released any of it. I know he said that he wanted to stay home with his family, but he also built himself a home studio so could have worked from home. How much has his writing changed? If I compare "Girls in Black" with "Bad Girls", he doesn't seem to have come very far but some of his other songs look more promising. How about musically? Does he have good melody, good hooks, interesting guitar riffs?

[WS82Classics]

While I have never listened to "Bad Girls," I can easily imagine it being far superior to "Girls in Black.

Felder seemed to regress lyrically through the years(to say nothing of vocally). His apex was the songs he wrote/co-wrote with other Eagles. "Too Many Hands," "Visions," "Victim of Love," "The Disco Strangler," and "Those Shoes" all constitute great songs, and "Visions" was probably the best Felder ever sang in a recorded performance.

"Airborne" doesn't feature, based on the sound samples I've heard(an ignorant way to judge, I know, but I'm not yet brave enough to plop down any fundage for the album), the most impressive of material, but it is almost certainly many miles above the recent album.

[UndertheWire]

Someone has uploaded Airborne onto youtube. Soda has transcribed the lyrics for all the songs by all of the Eagles past and present if you look under the discographies on the main site.

http://www.donfelderonline.com/solo/airborne/badgirls.htm

Bad girls, lookin' so good
Love it when they walk that way
They'll keep you up, they'll keep you up all night long
Just to play those little games they play

http://www.donfelderonline.com/solo/roadtoforever/girlsinblack.htm

I love those girls in black
I love those girls in black
Lord, you know I love, I love those girls in black

The latter is comparable with this gem (sarcasm alert) from Frey-Tempchin:

She's a sexy girl (sexy girl, sexy girl)
She's a very sexy girl, mmhmm
She's a sexy girl (sexy girl, sexy girl)
She's a very sexy girl

[Funk 50]

The quality of the songwriting on Hotel California makes it quite a shock to go back through their earlier albums and discover how undeveloped their song writing skills were on their first few albums and how quickly they became outstanding songwriters. The songwriting on the first album is above average at best. Nightingale is a JB cast off. It's the vocal arrangements that stand out.

Glenn and Don quickly developed the ability to pick a good song and how to take a potentially good song idea and work it into a great track. The Eagles had the mind set, resources and work ethic to make the "Success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration" adage apply to their music career.

It's often said that you need to capture a song in the first few takes before the magic starts to dissipate. Considering the Eagles recorded Hotel California three times before they were happy with it shows, that if you dedicate enough time and effort, in the creative process, and have paid your dues, learning your craft, a song can spread it's magic forever.
As Leonardo da Vinci said "Art is never finished, only abandoned"

Felder says he started writing the title track of his Return To Forever album in the mid 70s. It may have been on that same cassette that included the origins of Hotel California. If it's been around that long, he obviously sees something in it that I'm not hearing. The whole album is a disappointment compared to Airborne but he was probably expecting to present the Airborne tracks to Glenn and Don as potential Eagles tracks. Tough audience!

[UndertheWire]

Next up for a quick summary is Joe Walsh. I'm hoping all the Walsh fans will step up.

Within the Eagles:
Pretty Maids All in a Row (with Joe Vitale)
Life in the Fast Lane (with Henley-Frey)
In the City (with Barry de Vorzan)
The Sad Cafe (with Henley, Frey and Souther)
Last Good Time in Town (with JD Souther)

and of course, the Eagles played quite a few of Joe's songs from his James Gang, Barnstorm and solo careers.

My impression is that Joe has written a lot. Lyrically, the funny ones are most memorable. With others, it's the music and riffs that I think of.

[WS82Classics]

Henley co-wrote "Falling Down" with Walsh on his "So What?" album, the earliest known Walsh/Eagles collaboration. Frey, Henley, and Meisner also contributed vocals to "Turn to Stone" and "Help Me Through the Night." Additionally, various members of the Eagles contributed to Walsh's solo recordings in the late 70's and early 80's.

Off the top of my head, Felder co-wrote and contributed duelling guitars on "Rivers(of the Hidden Funk)," which was a Long Run-era composition. Schmit also sang backup vocals on the parent album, "There Goes the Neighbourhood." Another Felder co-write(featuring him on guitars and backing vocals) from around the time of "Long Run" is "Told You So," from the "You Bought it--You Name it" album. Henley and Schmit did backing vocals on "Here We are Now."

Schmit was a co-writer on "I Can't Tell You Why" and also co-wrote on "Do Something" and "Long Road Out of Eden." Henley, Walsh, and JD Souther also had significant involvement with Schmit's "Playin' it Cool" album, and Walsh played guitar on "I'll Always Let You in" from the "Feed the Fire" album.

[thelastresort]

As much as I love the more mainstream and perhaps slightly less serious items in Joe's discography, I genuinely wish he'd stuck at the album Barnstorm sound a little more. At age 24 he penned the likes of Birdcall Morning, One and One and the superb Midnight Visitor singlehandedly and the whole album has some wonderful moments: Giant Bohemoth is an absolute monster (:D) and I love the use of Morse Code and flute (hats of to Mr. Vitale for that), and the harmonica at the end of Comin' Down kills me every time I hear it. Add to that Turn to Stone and you've got pretty much the perfect album. Whilst TTS was probably a heads up of that was to come in later years I just wish he'd explored the vast array of styles he portrayed here instead of heading into more generic rock and roll so soon. As I said I love Rocky Mountain Way, Life's Been Good and the more delicate likes of Help Me Thru the Night, but I still always wonder what might have been had he stuck on the Barnstorm road...

[thelastresort]

I forgot Mother Says in my post above. I feel ashamed of myself! Another belter of a song, and whilst perhaps again like Turn to Stone more like the Joe that became really famous it still fits in very well with the feel of the album.

Just listening to One and One / Giant Bohemoth now - absolutely superb.

[Funk 50]

Next up for a quick summary is Joe Walsh. I'm hoping all the Walsh fans will step up.

Within the Eagles:
Pretty Maids All in a Row (with Joe Vitale)
Life in the Fast Lane (with Henley-Frey)
In the City (with Barry de Vorzan)
The Sad Cafe (with Henley, Frey and Souther)
Last Good Time in Town (with JD Souther)

and of course, the Eagles played quite a few of Joe's songs from his James Gang, Barnstorm and solo careers.

My impression is that Joe has written a lot. Lyrically, the funny ones are most memorable. With others, it's the music and riffs that I think of.



As much as I love the more mainstream and perhaps slightly less serious items in Joe's discography, I genuinely wish he'd stuck at the album Barnstorm sound a little more. At age 24 he penned the likes of Birdcall Morning, One and One and the superb Midnight Visitor singlehandedly and the whole album has some wonderful moments: Giant Bohemoth is an absolute monster (:D) and I love the use of Morse Code and flute (hats of to Mr. Vitale for that), and the harmonica at the end of Comin' Down kills me every time I hear it. Add to that Turn to Stone and you've got pretty much the perfect album. Whilst TTS was probably a heads up of that was to come in later years I just wish he'd explored the vast array of styles he portrayed here instead of heading into more generic rock and roll so soon. As I said I love Rocky Mountain Way, Life's Been Good and the more delicate likes of Help Me Thru the Night, but I still always wonder what might have been had he stuck on the Barnstorm road...

Hotel California is one of the biggest selling albums of all time. I don't think Barnstorm even made the charts when it was initially released but I've probably listened to Barnstorm a guesstimate of 20 or so more times for every time I've listened to the Eagles masterpiece. As it wasn't instantly as successful as The James Gang, Joe went in a more crowd pleasing direction. I'm still hoping for a serious revaluation of his Barnstorm album. It's probably my favourite album. The other Barnstorm album, The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get is stellar too.

Walsh made his name as a guitarist but he has some pedigree as a songwriter. One of his earliest recordings, Collage, from the first, late sixties, James Gang album was covered impressively by Hedge And Donna, complete unknowns but I got to hear it in England, and Prince Charles's favourite group at the time, UK vocal harmony group, The Three Degrees.

Since the internet increased it's accessibility it's now been covered many times. Golden Earring have done a version.
Collage is a lovely Dm song but Joe's very rarely performed it live.

Being a highly regarded early seventies rock guitarist has led to Joe's, guitar lick songs becoming something that both amateur and professional rock bands are going to play. Funk #49 and Rocky Mountain Way have been covered hundreds of times, notably Van Halen, Ozzy Osborne and Michael Bolton off the top of my head. I think Glenn said one of his early Detroit bands played Funk #49 in their garage.

Unlike Felder, Joe's informed and literate enough to write articulate and engaging lyrics. Comparing mankind with the musicians on the sinking Titanic, playing obliviously as a catastrophe is going on around them, is quite an analogy. (The Band Played On from Analog Man).

[WS82Classics]

Being a highly regarded early seventies rock guitarist has led to Joe's, guitar lick songs becoming something that both amateur and professional rock bands are going to play. Funk #49 and Rocky Mountain Way have been covered hundreds of times, notably Van Halen, Ozzy Osborne and Michael Bolton off the top of my head. I think Glenn said one of his early Detroit bands played Funk #49 in their garage.

Unlike Felder, Joe's informed and literate enough to write articulate and engaging lyrics. Comparing mankind with the musicians on the sinking Titanic, playing obliviously as a catastrophe is going on around them, is quite an analogy. (The Band Played On from Analog Man).


Everybody thinks of Walsh as being the ultimate "guitar hero," and that isn't even a close descriptor at all. He has also crafted some rather mellow, poppy(sometimes novelty), psychedelic tunes, in addition to composing songs like "All Night Long," "Funk 49," "Life's Been Good," "Rocky Mountain Way," "The Bomber," "Turn to Stone" and "Walk Away." In fact, much to my surprise when I was listening to his LP's some time back, most of his music leans towards the former camp.

His song-writing skills have also matured considerably since his Eagles days in the late 70's("Rivers of the Hidden Funk," "Rockets," "Space Age Whiz Kids," "Rosewood Bitters," "Songs for a Dying Planet," etc).