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| Glenn Frey, Eagle |
The sad death of Glenn Frey on 18 January, in a short period that has seen rather too many sudden check-outs, has caused me to reflect on
the place (the) Eagles have held in my musical affections since first seeing
them at the Royal Festival Hall in 1973. Frey, as some have recently pointed
out, was the leader of the band, even if the golden-throated Don Henley was the
main creative force. Together they were a formidable team, both vocally and as
songwriting partners.
Eagles – there was never a ‘The’ they insisted – supported my
theory that the perfect four-piece rock band comprises an architect, an
interior designer, a plumber, and an electrician. In other words, a visionary,
a focal point, a grafter, and someone who can get out of the van on the road at 2am and fix the carburettor. Although there are exceptions, and they usually
break up after the first album – imagine a band with four leaders – this
sweeping generalisation does fit most successful rock quartets.
As for Eagles, they started out the near-perfect combination.
Founder members Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner (the plumber and the
electrician maybe, no slight intended) were great instrumentalists and
vocalists, but both quit - at different points - roughly around the time the
band went multi-platinum. Replacements and augmenters comprised the apparently
difficult Don Felder, the eminently suitable Timothy B Schmit, and the rather incongruous
Joe Walsh.
The golden vocal blend of Frey and Henley (with other
members complementing the harmonies) was their trademark sound, used to good
effect outside of the band on Randy Newman’s ‘Rider In The Rain’. It was this ‘ear
candy’ that Eagles detractors found cloying, and annoying, especially when
combined with Frey and Henley’s singleness of purpose and undoubted ambition.
But had they not have aspired to producing ‘perfect’ records, with appealing
melodies and lyrics that spoke to their fans, they would have been left behind
with the other country rock under-achievers, such as the Flying Burrito
Brothers and Poco.
I am not a total fan – much of Hotel California I found dull; The
Long Run was makeweight; lines such as ‘you’ll have to eat your lunch all
by yourself’ are simply stupid, and I’m not crazy about ‘Chug All Night’, or
‘James Dean’. But the high points – ‘Take It Easy’, the opening guitar chords of
which heralded the arrival of some serious contenders; their sophomore Desperado LP, the artistic high point,
and great songs such as ‘Lyin’ Eyes’, ‘One Of These Nights’, and Bernie
Leadon’s ‘My Man’, place them among the all-time greats.
