Eagles (band)

Eagles

The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1971 by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner.

With five number one singles and six number one albums, the Eagles were one of the most successful recording artists of the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century, two of their albums, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and Hotel California, ranked among the 20 best-selling albums in the U.S. according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Hotel California is ranked 37th in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and the band was ranked #75 on the magazine's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. They also have the best selling album in the U.S. with Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975), which sold more than 29 million copies.

The Eagles broke up in July 1980, but reunited in 1994 for Hell Freezes Over, a mix of live and new studio tracks. They have toured intermittently since then, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2007, Eagles released Long Road out of Eden, their first full studio album in 28 years. The next year they launched The Long Road out of Eden Tour in support of the album. The tour continued on into 2009, crossing North America and Europe, and will continue in 2010 with additional North American, as well as Australian, tour dates.

First incarnation

The seeds for the band were planted when Linda Ronstadt and then-manager John Boylan recruited session musicians Glenn Frey and Don Henley in the spring of 1971. Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon would join her group of performers by the summer tour. The original Eagles would play only once together as a live unit backing Ronstadt (for a July concert at Disneyland), but all four appeared on her eponymous 1971 album. After their tenure with Ronstadt and with her encouragement, they decided to form their own band, signing with Asylum Records, the new label started by David Geffen. Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts also initially managed the band.

Eagles (1972)

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Eagles in 1972 (l-r) Leadon, Meisner, Henley, Frey.

The group's eponymous debut album was recorded in England in February 1972 with producer Glyn Johns and released on June 17, 1972. Eagles was a breakthrough success, yielding three Top 40 singles. The first single and lead track, "Take It Easy", was a song written by Glenn Frey and his neighbor and fellow country-folk rocker Jackson Browne. Browne had written the first and third verses, and the chorus, but his work on the song had stalled. After giving Frey permission to work on it, Frey added the second verse. The song reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and propelled the Eagles to stardom. The single was followed by the bluesy "Witchy Woman" and the soft country rock ballad "Peaceful Easy Feeling", charting at #9 and #22 respectively.

The Eagles were a major force in popularizing the Southern California country rock sound. Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" ranked Eagles at number 374.

Desperado (1973)

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Eagles playing dead on back cover of Desperado photographed by Henry Diltz. (The two additional "bodies" are those of J.D. Souther [far right] and Jackson Browne [far left].)

Their second album, Desperado, was themed on Old West outlaws, drawing comparisons between their lifestyles and the lifestyles of modern rock stars. This album introduced the group's penchant for conceptual songwriting. It was during the recording sessions that Don Henley and Glenn Frey began writing with each other, co-writing 8 of the album's 11 songs, including two of the group's most popular songs: "Tequila Sunrise" and "Desperado". The bluegrass songs "Twenty-One," "Doolin' Dalton" and the ballad "Saturday Night" showcased guitarist Bernie Leadon's abilities on the banjo, guitar and mandolin.

Throughout the album, the story of the notorious Wild West "Doolin-Dalton" gang was the main focus, featuring in the songs "Doolin-Dalton," "Bittercreek" and "Desperado". The album was less successful than the first, reaching only #41 on the U.S. pop album charts, and yielding only 2 singles, "Tequila Sunrise", which reached #61 on the Billboard charts, and "Outlaw Man", which peaked at #59.

The album marked a significant change to the band, with Henley and Frey co-writing the bulk of the album, a pattern that would continue for years to come. Subsequently, the pair began to dominate the band in terms of leadership and songwriting, turning the focus of the band away from Leadon and Meisner despite early presumptions that it would be Leadon and Meisner who would steer the band.

On the Border (1974)

For their next album, On the Border, Henley and Frey wanted the band to break away from the country music style they were known for, moving more towards hard rock. Initially, the Eagles started off with Glyn Johns producing, but he tended to emphasize the lush side of their double-edged music. After completing only two songs, the band turned to Bill Szymczyk to produce the rest of the album. Szymczyk brought in Don Felder to add slide guitar to a song called "Good Day in Hell", and the band was so impressed that two days later they invited Felder to become the fifth Eagle. He appeared on only one other song on the album, the uptempo breakup song "Already Gone", where he performed the guitar duet with Glenn Frey. On the Border yielded a No. 1 Billboard single ("Best of My Love"), which hit the top of the charts on March 1, 1975, becoming the Eagles' first of five chart toppers.

Hotel California (1976–1978)

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Band photo on inner sleeve of Hotel California album. (l-r) Meisner, Frey, Walsh, Henley, Felder.

The group's next album, Hotel California, came out in December 1976. "New Kid in Town" was a #1 hit in Billboard on February 26, 1977, and the title track, "Hotel California" on May 7, 1977. Told during a 60 Minutes interview (November 25, 2007) that "everyone wants to know what this song [Hotel California] means," Don Henley replied, "I know, it's so boring...It's a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream, and about excess in America, which was something we knew about."

"Life in the Fast Lane" was also a major success, establishing Joe Walsh's position in the band with its more hard rock sound. The ballad "Wasted Time" closed the first side of the album, while an instrumental reprise of it opened the second side. The album concluded with "The Last Resort", the song Frey, to this day, refers to as Don Henley's greatest work.

The run out groove on Side Two has the words "V.O.L. Is Five-Piece Live"; this means that the song "Victim of Love" was recorded live, with just the band and no overdubbing. Don Henley confirms this on the inner booklet of The Very Best of the Eagles. Hotel California has appeared on several lists of the best albums of all time. It is also their best-selling studio album, with over 16 million copies sold to date in the U.S.

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Glenn Frey, Don Felder and Joe Walsh during Hotel California tour

After the tour, Randy Meisner left the band and moved back to his native Nebraska, where he began a solo career. The band replaced Meisner with the same musician who had succeeded him in Poco, Timothy B. Schmit. In 1977, the group, minus Don Felder, performed some instrumental work and backing vocals for Randy Newman's album Little Criminals, including the controversial surprise hit "Short People" which has backing vocals by Frey and Schmit.

The Long Run and breakup (1979–1980)

In 1977, the Eagles went into a recording studio to produce their next studio album, The Long Run. The album took two years to make, and was originally intended to be a double album but the band were unable to come up with enough songs. It yielded the group's fifth and last #1 single in Billboard, "Heartache Tonight" (November 10, 1979). "Heartache Tonight" was co-written by Frey and fellow Michigan native Bob Seger.

The Eagles also contributed to Boz Scaggs' hit single "Look What You've Done to Me", the love theme from the 1980 film Urban Cowboy, and featured on its soundtrack. The Eagles helped Scaggs re-record certain vocals for "Look What You've Done to Me" so that his most recent hit could be included on his greatest hits album. The soundtrack album was released by Elektra, who would not license Scaggs' original mix to Columbia for his Hits! album. The Eagles' work for Scaggs was perhaps a favor to their manager Irving Azoff who was also the producer of Urban Cowboy. The version of "Look What You've Done to Me" that was featured in the movie and soundtrack album uses a female chorus instead of the Eagles' background vocals. However, the Eagles' 1975 hit "Lyin' Eyes" was featured in the movie.

On July 31, 1980, in Long Beach, California, tempers boiled over into what has been described as "Long Night at Wrong Beach." Frey and Felder spent the entire show describing to each other the beating each planned to administer backstage. "Only three more songs until I kick your ass, pal," Frey recalls Felder telling him near the end of the band's set. Felder recalls Frey making a similar threat to him during "Best Of My Love."

It appeared to be the end of the Eagles, although the band still owed Elektra a live record from the tour. Eagles Live (released in November 1980) was mixed by Frey and Henley on opposite coasts; the two decided they couldn't bear to be in the same state, let alone the same studio, and as Bill Szymczyk put it, "The record's perfect three-part harmonies were fixed courtesy of Federal Express." With credits that listed no fewer than five attorneys, the album's liner notes simply said, "Thank you and goodnight".

Post-breakup (1980–1994)

After the breakup of the Eagles, each ex-member tried his hand in a solo career. Joe Walsh had already established himself as a solo artist in the 1970s before and during his time with the Eagles, but it was uncharted waters for the others.

Joe Walsh released a successful album in 1981, There Goes the Neighborhood , but subsequent albums throughout the 1980s, such as Got Any Gum? were less well-received. During this time Walsh also performed as a session musician for Dan Fogelberg, Steve Winwood and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, among others, and produced and co-wrote Ringo Starr's Old Wave album.

Don Henley achieved the greatest commercial solo success of any former Eagle. In 1982, he released I Can't Stand Still, featuring the hit "Dirty Laundry". This album would pale in comparison to his next release, 1984's smash, Building the Perfect Beast which featured Billboard #5 hit and classic rock radio staples, "The Boys of Summer", "All She Wants to Do Is Dance (#9)," "Not Enough Love In The World" (#34), and "Sunset Grill" (#22). Henley would not release another album for 5 years until 1989's The End of the Innocence. This album was also a major success and included the hits "The End of the Innocence", "The Last Worthless Evening" and "The Heart of the Matter". His solo career was cut short due to a contract dispute with his record company, finally resolved when the Eagles reunited in 1994.

Glenn Frey also found solo success in the 1980s. In 1982, he released his first album, No Fun Aloud, which spawned the #15 hit, "The One You Love". He followed this album with 1984's The Allnighter, which featured the #20 hit "Sexy Girl." He reached #2 on the charts with "The Heat Is On" from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. He had another #2 single in 1985 with "You Belong to the City" from the Miami Vice soundtrack, which featured another Frey song, "Smuggler's Blues". He also contributed the songs "Flip City" to the Ghostbusters II soundtrack and "Part of Me, Part of You" to the soundtrack for Thelma and Louise.

In 1982, former music writer turned filmmaker Cameron Crowe saw his first screenplay turn into a feature length movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Crowe was a fan and had written articles about Poco and the Eagles. The film was co-produced by the Eagles' manager Irving Azoff, who also co-produced the soundtrack album released by the Eagles' long-time record label Elektra, which also owned the rights to solo albums from each member of the Eagles. Henley, Walsh, Schmit, and Felder all contributed solo songs to the film's soundtrack. In addition, the band playing the dance toward the end of the movie covers Life in the Fast Lane.

Don Felder also released a solo album, and contributed two songs to the soundtrack of the movie Heavy Metal: "Heavy Metal (Takin' A Ride)" (with Henley and Schmit providing backing vocals) and "All of You".

Timothy B. Schmit was quite busy during the band's "fourteen year vacation". Schmit had a hit song on the Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtrack with "So Much in Love". Schmit and his wife were invited to Hawaii so that Schmit could contribute vocals to the Crosby, Stills & Nash album Daylight Again. CSN needed an extra vocalist due to Crosby's drug overindulgence. Schmit contributed vocals to at least half of the album, including the hits "Southern Cross" and "Wasted on the Way". He also sang backing vocals on Toto's Toto IV album, including a featured role in their hit song "I Won't Hold You Back". Schmit appeared as a backing vocalist on Toto's 1982 European tour. Schmit also spent three years (1983–1985) as a member of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer band and coined the term "Parrotheads" for Buffett's die-hard fans. He had a Top 40 solo hit in 1987 with "Boys' Night Out" and also a top-30 Adult Contemporary hit with "Don't Give Up", both from his album Timothy B. Schmit appeared with former Eagles Randy Meisner and Joe Walsh on Richard Marx's debut hit "Don't Mean Nothing", a song which was co-written by Bruce Gaitsch who also co-wrote and engineered Schmit's Timothy B. album. Schmit toured with Warren Zevon in 1988. In 1992, Schmit toured along side his former Eagles bandmate Joe Walsh as members of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band and appeared on the live video from the Montreux Jazz Festival. Also in 1992–1993, Schmit attempted to put together a band with Don Felder, Paul Carrack and Jim Capaldi. The venture was ultimately unsuccessful, however a song from that effort "Love Will Keep Us Alive" was later resurrected by Schmit for the Eagles' reunion album Hell Freezes Over. In 1993, Schmit toured with Dan Fogelberg, playing bass and contributing backing vocals. Some of the live recordings from that tour were featured on Fogelberg's 2000 album Live: Something Old New Borrowed...and Some Blues. Schmit also released solo albums Playin' It Cool in 1984 and Tell Me the Truth in 1990. Schmit was the only Eagle to appear on the 1993 Eagles tribute album Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles, singing backing vocals on Vince Gill's cover of his hit song "I Can't Tell You Why". He can also be heard contributing backing vocals on the soundtrack of the Johnny Depp film "Cry Baby" directed by John Waters. Schmit harmonizes on a cover of "Sh-Boom" performed by the crew-cutted Squares early in the film.

Randy Meisner had a #14 hit with the song "Hearts on Fire" in 1981.

Reunion (1994–present)

Hell Freezes Over (1994–1999)

Fourteen years after the breakup, an Eagles country tribute album titled Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles was released in 1993. Travis Tritt insisted on having the Long Run-era Eagles in his video for "Take It Easy" and they agreed. After the "Take It Easy" video was completed the following year, and following years of public speculation, the band finally formally reunited. The lineup comprised the five Long Run-era members – Frey, Henley, Walsh, Felder and Schmit – supplemented by additional musicians: Scott Crago (drums), John Corey (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals), Timothy Drury (keyboards, guitar, backing vocals) and Al Garth (sax, violin) on stage.

"For the record, we never broke up, we just took a 14-year vacation", announced Frey at their first live performance in April 1994. The ensuing tour spawned a live album titled Hell Freezes Over (named for Henley's recurring statement that the group would get back together "when hell freezes over") which debuted at #1 on the Billboard album chart, and included 4 new studio songs, with "Get Over It" and "Love Will Keep Us Alive" both becoming Top 40 hits. The album itself proved as successful as the reunion tour, selling 6 million copies in the U.S. While the tour was briefly interrupted in September 1994 due to Frey's serious recurrence of diverticulitis, it resumed in 1995 and continued into '96. In 1998, the Eagles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the induction ceremony, all seven Eagles members (Frey, Henley, Felder, Walsh, Schmit, Leadon and Meisner) played together for two songs, "Take It Easy" and "Hotel California". Several subsequent reunion tours followed (without Leadon or Meisner), notable for their record-setting ticket prices.

The new millennium (1999–2001)

The Eagles performed at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on December 31, 1999. This concert marked the last time Don Felder played with the band and these shows (including a planned release of the video) would form a part of the lawsuit that Felder later filed against his former band mates.

The concert was released on CD as part of the four-disc Selected Works: 1972-1999 box set in November 2000. Along with the millennium concert, this set included the band's hit singles, album tracks, as well as outtakes from The Long Run sessions. Selected Works sold approximately 267,000 copies at about $60 a unit.

The group resumed touring once more in 2001 with a line-up consisting of Frey, Henley, Walsh, and Schmit, along with Steuart Smith (guitars, mandolin, keyboards, backing vocals; who unofficially replaced Don Felder who was fired in early 2001), Michael Thompson (keyboards, trombone), Will Hollis (keyboards, backing vocals), Scott Crago (drums, percussion), Bill Armstrong (Horns) Al Garth (sax, violin), Christian Mostert (sax) and Greg Smith (sax, percussion)

Don Felder sues the Eagles (2001–2002)

On February 6, 2001, Don Felder was fired from the Eagles. Felder responded by filing two lawsuits against "Eagles, Ltd., a California corporation; Don Henley, an individual; Glenn Frey, an individual; and "Does 1–50", alleging wrongful termination, breach of implied-in-fact contract, and breach of fiduciary duty, reportedly seeking $50 million in damages.

In his complaint, Felder alleged that from the 1994 Hell Freezes Over tour onward, Henley and Frey had "... insisted that they each receive a higher percentage of the band's profits ...", whereas the money had previously been split in five equal portions. Felder also accused them of coercing him into signing an agreement under which Henley and Frey would receive three times as much of the Selected Works: 1972-1999 proceeds than Felder.

On behalf of his clients Henley and Frey, attorney Daniel M. Petrocelli stated:

[Henley and Frey] felt — creatively, chemistry-wise and performance-wise — that he should no longer be part of the band...They removed him, and they had every legal right to do so. This has been happening with rock 'n' roll bands since day one.

It was also reported that Don Felder usually did not agree with the rest of the band concerning touring or recording schedules. The rest of the band members wanted the freedom to tour or record as they wanted on their own terms.

Henley and Frey then countersued Felder for breach of contract, alleging that Felder had written and attempted to sell the rights to a "tell-all" book. The book, Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974–2001), was published in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2007. The initial U.S. release was canceled after publisher Hyperion elected to back out, in September, when an entire print run of the book had to be recalled for further cuts and changes. The American edition of Heaven and Hell was published by Wiley on April 28, 2008, with Felder embarking on a full publicity campaign surrounding its release.

On January 23, 2002, the Los Angeles County Court consolidated the two complaints, and the single case was dismissed on May 8, 2007 after being settled out-of-court for an undisclosed amount.

"Hole in the World" (2003–2006)

In 2003, the Eagles released a new greatest hits album The Very Best of the Eagles. The two-disc compilation was the first that encompassed their entire career, from Eagles to The Long Run. The album also included a new single, the September 11-themed "Hole in the World". The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts and eventually gained triple platinum status.

Also in 2003, Warren Zevon, a longtime Eagles friend, began work on his final album, The Wind, with the assistance of Henley, Walsh, and Schmit.

On June 14, 2005, the Eagles released a new 2-DVD set titled Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne featuring 2 new songs: Glenn Frey's "No More Cloudy Days" and Joe Walsh's "One Day at a Time." A special edition 2006 release exclusive to Wal-Mart and affiliated stores also included a bonus audio CD with three new songs: a studio version of "No More Cloudy Days" plus "Fast Company" and "Do Something."

Long Road Out of Eden (2007–present)

In 2007, the Eagles consisted of Frey, Henley, Walsh, and Schmit. On August 20, 2007, "How Long", written by J. D. Souther – who had previously worked with the Eagles co-writing some of their biggest hits including "Best of My Love", "Victim of Love," "Heartache Tonight" and "New Kid in Town" – was released as a single to radio with an accompanying online video at Yahoo! Music and debuted on television on CMT during the Top 20 Countdown on August 23, 2007. The band performed the song as part of their live sets in the early-to-mid '70s, but did not record it at the time due to J.D. Souther's desire to use it on his first solo album.

On October 30, 2007, the Eagles released Long Road Out of Eden, their first album of all-new material since 1979. For the first year after the album's initial release, it was available in the U.S. exclusively via the band's website, Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. It was commercially available through traditional retail outlets in other countries. The album debuted at #1 in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands and Norway. It became their third studio album, seventh release overall, to be certified at least seven times platinum by the RIAA. In an interview with CNN, Don Henley declared, "This is probably the last Eagles album that we'll ever make."

The Eagles made their awards show debut on November 7, 2007, when they performed "How Long" live at the Country Music Association Awards.

On January 28, 2008, the second single of Long Road Out of Eden was released. "Busy Being Fabulous" peaked at #28 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and at #12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.

The Eagles won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "How Long." It was the band's fifth Grammy Award.

On March 20, 2008, the Eagles launched their world tour in support of Long Road Out of Eden at The O2 Arena in London, England. The Long Road out of Eden Tour concluded their last 2009 scheduled American venue on May 9, 2009 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. It was the first concert ever held in the new soccer stadium. The group was touring in Europe, their last tour date there scheduled July 22, 2009 in Lisbon, Portugal. Currently they are back in North America, doing some touring along the Pacific coast.

On March 16, 2010, it was announced they will be touring jointly with the Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban in a stadium tour that will take place across North America in summer 2010. The Eagles opened the tour on Friday, April 16, 2010, at the legendary Hollywood Bowl.

Band members

Current members

• Glenn Frey – vocals, guitars, keyboards, harmonica (1971–1980, 1994–present)
• Don Henley – vocals, drums, percussion, guitar (1971–1980, 1994–present)
• Joe Walsh – guitars, vocals, keyboards (1975–1980, 1994–present)
• Timothy B. Schmit – bass, vocals, acoustic guitar (1977–1980, 1994–present)

Former members

• Bernie Leadon – guitars, vocals, banjo, mandolin (1971–1975)
• Randy Meisner – bass, vocals, guitar, guitarrón (1971–1977)
• Don Felder – guitars, mandolin, vocals, keyboards (1974–1980, 1994–2001)

• 
  Glenn Frey
• 
  Don Henley
• 
  Joe Walsh
• 
  Timothy B. Schmit

Eagles performing in December 2008.

Awards

• Eagles have won six Grammy awards:
  • (1975) Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus: "Lyin' Eyes"
  • (1977) Record of the Year: "Hotel California" (single)
  • (1977) Best Arrangement for Voices: "New Kid in Town"
  • (1979) Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group: "Heartache Tonight"
  • (2008) Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: "How Long"
  • (2009) Best Pop Instrumental Performance: "I Dreamed There Was No War"
• The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
• On December 7, 1999 the Recording Industry of America honored the group with the Best Selling Album of the Century for Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975).
• Eagles were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.
• The group ranked number 34 on CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music in 2003. They were one of four artists who were either a duo or a group on the list with the others being Alabama at number eleven, Flatt & Scruggs at number 24, and Brooks & Dunn at number 25.

Discography

Main article: Eagles discography

Studio albums

• Eagles (1972)
• Desperado (1973)
• On the Border (1974)
• One of These Nights (1975)
• Hotel California (1976)
• The Long Run (1979)
• Long Road out of Eden (2007)

See also

• Best selling music artists in the United States
• Best selling music artists (worldwide)
• Winslow, Arizona has a public park containing a large mural commemorating the song Take It Easy.

External links

• Eagles official website
• Don Henley official website
• Bernie Leadon official website
• Timothy B. Schmit official website
• Joe Walsh official website
• Glenn Frey