Take It Easy

[Brooke]

I intended to start this topic on June 24th in honor of Take It Easy's 35th anniversary, but I forgot! Remember, I can actually remember SOME things from that long ago. I'm old!

Anyway, what are your thoughts about it? Like it, love it, hate it? Remember the first time you heard it? I know, SOME of you weren't even born in 1972! But there was still a first time you heard it! Remember that?

Personally, I was 16 when it came out. I loved it! Every time I heard it on the radio I would crank it up loud. To me, it's the Eagles anthem. It's just such a feel good, fun song. Glenn's sweet, young voice just melted me back then (and still does now!). I know he didn't write the whole song, but he sure finished it! And the Eagles made it their song! Jackson Browne's version is wonderful, too, but to me it's really an Eagles song, cause they just do it perfect! I always feel good when I hear it.

In that article "32 Reasons Why the Eagles Are the Best Band in the Universe" it was listed as #4. "Take It Easy"-classic song, classic bumper sticker.

Exactly.

How about you?

[Maleah]

I love the song! I'm sure i heard the song before this, but don't remember it.........the first time I REMEMBER hearing it was when we went to see Travis Tritt in concert. He did an EXCELLENT job on it! Then, of course, I got into the Eagles and fell in love with the original. It's such a great song because you can't resist singing along with it!

[Randy's Girl]

I love it!! I don't remember specifically the first time I heard it, although it would've been in 1987.

It's a great driving song, but you have to have it up loud. I love hearing Randy's harmonies (his voice is a bit more distinctive than Timmy's in this song). Everytime I hear it, I can see them in the BBC concert.

Just a fab song

[glenneaglesfan]

Great topic, Brooke, thanks! I really can't remember when I first heard 'Take it Easy', but it seems to have been with me since its conception in the seventies. I must have known it when I bought the 'Greatest Hits' LP in 1998. It stands out as the classic driving track - I love it as much now as I did then, the difference being that now I know it's Glenn singing it, and that adds even more to its appeal. I also have Jackson's version, which casts a whole new light on it, and I suppose it's really his song in the first place.

I prefer Glenn's version, though.

[Freypower]

Wow - I would have been in England when the song came out. Preoccupied as I was by 'glam rock' I probably hated it. I probably only started to listen to it in 1975 when the OOTN songs caught my ear. The first time I saw it performed was in 1988 as part of a medley with Lyin' Eyes. It wasn't enough, of course.

I love the song & I love watching Glenn sing it. It is one of his more exuberant performances. He is doing his 'Teen King' persona but in a more subtle way his 'In Charge' persona. He is also preaching what he considers to be the classic Eagles message of self-reliance. As well as this we have the ringing guitars and the perfect harmonies (I agree with RG that Randy is particularly prominent. When they do it now Tim's voice is a bit too sweet for the 'standing on a corner' harmony part).

It's a great song. Does this mean we don't have to have the Eagles album Survivor now? :P

[Brooke]

It's a great song. Does this mean we don't have to have the Eagles album Survivor now? :P

Ooohhh, I hope not! I certainly didn't mean to jeapordize that! I just thought that since it was having an anniversary we should celebrate it!

[Freypower]

That was a joke... I'm looking forward to that as well. I think this topic was a good idea. It might be worthwhile starting more topics on individual songs & then throwing them open for discussion.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I agree that this is a great idea for a topic. Thanks Brooke. As far as the song, I'm old too, so I first heard Take It Easy sometime during the summer of '72. I remember that I loved it from the beginning. Of course, like everyone else, I had never heard of the Eagles, but it wasn't long before everyone one was talking about them and the song. I bought the Eagles album sometime that summer and little did I know I would still be listening to the song 35 years later, and loving it just as much now as I did then. For me, it's just one of those songs that I never tire of no matter how many times I hear it. I particularly love the Live version.

[Sexy Girl]

For me, it's just one of those songs that I never tire of no matter how many times I hear it. I particularly love the Live version.

This also applies to me

Of course I was much too young to listen to "Take It Easy" when it first came out. I was just 5

I bought their Greatest Hits album about nine or ten years later and immediately was in love with that song, one of my absolute favourites. I'm still in love with it

Like Dreamer I like the live versions best, but I have to admit not so much the recent ones including violin, rather the ones from the HFO era.

It goes without saying that on the official HFO DVD "Take It Easy" is one of the highlights for me, "and here is how it all started ..."

[Perfect Little Sister]

I'd just like to point out that if "40 is the new 20" and "60 is the new 40", we're all in our prime! Just a few weeks ago my mom and I were discussing how we liked the "new" take on our ages.