But where Already Gone has a generic sort of upbeat country / rock sensibility that makes it solidly forgettable, Ol’ 55 has a melody + harmony combo so gorgeous as to make it the Eagles great what if. Already Gone was the other (minor) hit from On The Border, predating what the group must’ve thought or hoped was a dark horse, the belatedly released US #1 Best Of My Love. Tom Waits may’ve written this morning-after / car love song, but the Eagles own it as soon as those magical Frey-led harmonies hit on the lines, “And now the sun is coming up, I’m riding with lady luck, freeways, cars and trucks…” I still can’t believe Ol’ 55 wasn’t a single. “Still his jacuzzi runneth over” is my favourite line in this spooky Henley-sung warning of the phony ego-boosting ways of Hollywood agents and managers. This is moody, R&B-inflected Eagles at their very best. And yet the notion that The Long Run was three hits and nothing else should be chucked out when re-listening to King Of Hollywood. Maybe the combination of being so overdue and therefore an inevitably anticlimactic Hotel California followup, plus the presence of a couple of shockingly sub-par tracks like Teenage Jail and The Greeks Don’t Won’t No Freaks, is the answer. Schimdt’s US #8 I Can’t Tell You Why, the fun singalong of Heartache Tonight hit US #1 and even the somewhat boring title track made the top 10 (also peaking at #8). Or is it? Fans openly melt in concert over the blue-eyed soul of Timothy B. The album that took an impossibly long two and half years to make, that produced three US top 10 hits and sold millions, is staunchly unloved. To this day I get the feeling no-one really knows – not critics, fans nor the Eagles themselves – what to make of The Long Run, the album that effectively broke up the band for nearly 15 years. The lead acoustic finale is short, but long enough to thrust Bitter Creek as a contender for being Leadon’s finest moment as an Eagle. From the band’s underbought second album, this is a quietly enchanting song with strong harmonies and subtle guitar lines. “I’d try any ill to find the cure,” is a great, wayward-youth encapsulating line. “You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye,” is so depressing and yet so beautifully sung. The band themselves have downplayed the song, claiming it was never fully-realised musically, but from the first time I heard it as a kid until now as an adult, The Last Resort always gets me. The Last Resort is Henley’s magnum opus on the perils of commercialization and over-development, told through the lense of an American history lesson. The Last Resort – Hotel California – 1976 So with underrated Eagles and underrated Eagles songs in mind, here are six of my best picks of the lesser-known gems from the seven studio albums this incredible band released. Leadon’s presence has caused me to reassess his role in the earlier years of the band and a quick check of writing credits reveals he was much more than just a tag-along to the more dominant, more famous forces in the band. Other than the surprise of just how much I loved Joe Walsh in a live setting was the joy of seeing original lead guitarist Bernie Leadon who is currently touring with the band. The melodies and harmonies are the stars of an Eagles concert, but the charismatic, eccentric, real, flawed and brilliant musician that is Joe Walsh is a close second. I saw their first of two concerts in Auckland last month and while in part it was everything you’d expect from an Eagles show – perfect harmonies, precision of performance etc – there were some unexpected deviations.įor starters, Joe Walsh is a weird and wonderful loose counterpoint to the tightness of Don Henley and Glenn Frey. Nearly a month late (apologies), here’s a list of my favourite half dozen underrated Eagles songs.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |