In the end, everybody brought something to the party, even if life within the Eagles didn't always feel like one big party. Schmit - were all real parts of the Eagles' winning equation. Those were some of the influences.Īs time went on, the creative core of the Eagles increasingly seemed to become the songs of drummer/vocalist Don Henley and guitarist/vocalist Glenn Frey, though the contributions of the other band members - initially bassist/vocalist Randy Meisner and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Bernie Leadon, later guitarist Don Felder, guitarist/vocalist Joe Walsh and bassist/vocalist Timothy B. After that, they would crank up the Beatles and then maybe the Dillards. Then, they would turn around and listen to George Jones and Merle Haggard just as avidly. In the early days, the boys used to sit around and listen intently to recordings by Al Green, Ray Charles, The Isley Brothers, The Spinners, The Ohio Players and Sly and the Family Stone. Henley and Frey are the first to admit that they weren't pioneers, but they were fans of the best parts of several different genres. The song was the thing, and in the end the Eagles' songs took them far indeed. The Eagles were hardly purists, and as a result, the band eventually covered the musical waterfront as they wisely followed wherever their best songs took them. And the whole thing certainly wasn't due to the nifty videos or studio wizardry either - there really weren't videos then and in concert the Eagles always sounded almost exactly like those well-crafted records. Apart from the attitude of the songs, there was precious little showbiz on display. The Eagles' success clearly wasn't much about persona. In truth, there were plenty of similar-looking cosmic cowboys riding the FM prairie, trying to rustle up a few hits, but none of them had the tunes the Eagles did. Though a pretty attractive bunch, they managed to underplay this, effectively hiding themselves under period hairstyles, beards, and moustaches. Indeed, few major groups have ever done a better job of lying low in the press and keeping their faces off the front of their album covers. Unlike some major acts that would follow, the Eagles' popularity can't be considered just another profitable by-product of hype. Others may have pioneered the fusion of rock & roll with country music, but nobody ever made that union sound so harmonious, so potent, so perfectly right. The Eagles didn't always do things first - they just did them better than the rest. On reflection, it seems that the Eagles were not so much musical revolutionaries as master craftsman creating solid pieces built to last. Ultimately these artists must be considered winners of a different sort of race, one measured in the long run. They create a living record of their journey that continues to connect with people in a way that is deep and enduring. Some troubadours travel a road so well at precisely the right time that they become part of that road. Yet every once in a great while, a group of musical artists bands together and in its moment creates a body of work that doesn't fade away like so many boys of summer, but rather resonates year after year. "They will never forget you 'til somebody new comes along" goes one knowing line in New Kid in Town that artfully communicates the harsh speed with which new kids on the block can find themselves old news. Eagles fans were long ago forewarned about this often-cruel relentlessness of time and fashion. In our increasingly fickle pop culture, we tend to change our heroes a little like we change our t-shirts.
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