Sat Eye Candy: Eagles

JUST DRIVIN’ DOWN THE ROAD TRYIN’ TO LOOSEN OUR LOAD

Established in 1970, the Eagles have evolved into the definition of brand name mainstream rock with the swinging pair to name a tour “Farewell 1” – an implication of a long goodbye with more numbers to come – and then a few years later put out a new album and pretend they’d never stoked the nostalgia engine by pretending to retire in the first place. But, at the dawn of the ’70s the Eagles were young bucks with a winning sound that helped define California country rock as well as ultimately reshape Nashville’s sensibilities and offer subconscious influence on hip young acts like Fleet Foxes, The Moondoggies and countless others. One story from their early, pre-album house parties describes a young Joni Mitchell dancing so wildly to “Witchy Woman” that she dropped her wine glass, danced over the shards and just kept on moving as her feet bled. That, folks, is some good rock ‘n’ roll, and the Eagles produced a lot of it with clockwork efficiency for about a decade. It also happened to be the decade that saw the birth of stadium rock, the hyper avarice of the modern recording industry and cocaine – all of which the Eagles had a greedy hand in. Still, step away from what they’ve become and just take in the music in its heyday and it’s pretty dang swell. A peaceful, easy feeling to be sure.

This looks like quite the scene. Try not to sing along as you taste the rainbow. And some pretty sweet harmonies, right?

The mid-tempo ballad has rarely been better handled than “Take It To The Limit,” and this version from the Hotel California tour shows bassist Randy Meisner in fine voice.

They used to write the best beer swiggin’ rockers!

If it was good enough for Joni, it’s good enough for us. And we’re quite certain that Glenn Frey isn’t a little loaded in this clip. Real menace to this one, which touches something genuinely dark with its groping guitars and lascivious vocals.

Not only did the Eagles score a monster guitar player in Joe Walsh in the late ’70s but they also added a few gems to their canon like this James Gang killer.

The Eagles owned this Tom Waits number in the early ’70s, not to mention sharing the same label as Tom, Asylum Records. Nice vocal interplay between Henley and Frey here.

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“Mirrors on the ceiling/ pink champagne on ice/ We are all just prisoners here of our own device.” As succinct encapsulations of 1970s hedonism it’s a hard line to beat, and despite it’s cultural omnipresence this one still has some serious juice.

You can feel the wind in your hair and asphalt flying by beneath you when this corker cranks up. Belt it out loud and see if it doesn’t make you smile.

Though viewed as a lesser work by comparison to what precedes it, 1979’s The Long Run had some fine cuts, including this Joe Walsh tune, which has a vibe one picks up on in recent Mother Hips material.

The rocker as Old West gunslinger motif got a big boost from 1973’s Desperado album, whose title track was supposedly inspired by several of the Eagles’ former boss, Linda Ronstadt.

One of the standouts on the Eagles self-titled 1972 debut is this lovely Gene Clark/Bernie Leadon number.

As romantic invitations go, “I want to sleep with you in the desert tonight, with a billion stars all around,” is quality stuff. We bid you adieu and hope the sentiment of this one infuses the whole of your weekend.