the Eagles best songs

Just scanned through this so not sure if this song made the list but for me is “Best of my Love”

The two part Eagles documentaries were fantastic if you are an Eagles fan you will love it. Don Felder had personality conflicts and ego issues lol. When I learned that Henley and Frey essentially ran the band it made me see them in a little different light. Watch the documentary I highly recommend it. All the great songs with tons of video and interviews.

Take it Easy is my favorite Eagles song. I play that song all the time to remind myself not to work too hard.

playerplano is right, Don Henley is the biggest horse"s ass to ever walk on this planet .....he and Frey took 50% of the money intake because it was "their band", and the others had to split the rest ..... but that gorgeous opening riff and that excellent dual guitar ending of Hotel California was written by Don Felder ..... but they didn't let him sing the lead on any of the major songs (Henley claimed his voice wasn't good enough) he could only sing the ones he wrote himself, and he usually was allowed only one song on each CD .....

I saw Felder a few years ago, as an opening act. He did all Eagles songs, save for that Soundtrack song he did, that was a minor hit. He impressed me, vocally, I was surprised how well he represented the songs

playerplano is right, Don Henley is the biggest horse"s ass to ever walk on this planet .....he and Frey took 50% of the money intake because it was "their band", and the others had to split the rest ..... but that gorgeous opening riff and that excellent dual guitar ending of Hotel California was written by Don Felder ..... but they didn't let him sing the lead on any of the major songs (Henley claimed his voice wasn't good enough) he could only sing the ones he wrote himself, and he usually was allowed only one song on each CD ..... Originally Posted by 00 gauge

They treated Joe Walsh much the same. That kind of approach toward running the band is a major factor in why they stayed broke up for so many years. Henley and Frey had a reawakening during the Hell freezes over production. They realized the value that the other members brought to the table. That it wasn't all about them. They became much more humble. It came across in their shows too. I remember seeing them in the early 2000's or so. The first set was all Eagles songs, the stuff everyone wanted to hear. Second set was the Joe Walsh Show. They just turned him loose and let him be himself on stage. The dude is funny and engaging far more than Henley is or Frey was. He put on a hell of a show doing his songs and the rest just jammed along and harmonized.


While Henley and Frey took a lot of the money they also got screwed for many years by David Geffen. He was the real horse's ass. I don't think any of them are destitute though. Schmidt has a net worth of 25 million, Felder 60 million, Henley 250 million...Geffen?...9 billion.

Very interesting dynamic in that Joe Walsh was never an owner, or you could say, actual member of the band. He was just hired show to show like an employee.....while Don Felder was part owner. Then it became Felder and Walsh closeness because of their guitar skills, vs Henley and Frey songwriting skills. Anytime separate teams or pockets are around, there is a chance for friction and competition.


I agree Don Felder was correct in asking about where the money was going. But I also agree if Henley and Frey wrote most of the songs and lyrics, and Henley was the voice of the band, how they would feel their share of the take should be bigger than the others.


Then again, Don Felder contributed so much in terms of song composition. If you listen back to back to New Kid in Town, Take It to the Limit, and One of these Nights, his guitar composition throughout the songs is just wonderful, not to mention his virtuoso playing ability. Even Joe Walsh agreed Felder was a guitar virtuoso.

I love many of the Eagles songs but I've always been partial to Seven Bridges Road for it's uniqueness and the harmonies.

playerplano is right, Don Henley is the biggest horse"s ass to ever walk on this planet .....he and Frey took 50% of the money intake because it was "their band", and the others had to split the rest ..... but that gorgeous opening riff and that excellent dual guitar ending of Hotel California was written by Don Felder ..... but they didn't let him sing the lead on any of the major songs (Henley claimed his voice wasn't good enough) he could only sing the ones he wrote himself, and he usually was allowed only one song on each CD ..... Originally Posted by 00 gauge

that's what happens in every band. they start out equal until they aren't. some of it like Henley and Frey are partly ego, but also talent. let's say you have 4 guys in a band. ideally they all get an equal split of everything .. album sales, touring. everything. yet this never happens because some are good at writing songs, either music or lyrics. these members now get a song writing credit and thus a royalty on top before any profits are split. then one member knows how to produce, i.e. handle the recording equipment and thus get a producer's credit. yet another royalty before profits are split. let's say this fictional band is named ... Led Zeppelin. certainly no one in Led Zeppelin was a hired musician .. more on that in a minute. up front they all got an equal split, except that Page and Plant did the bulk of the song writing. Page also had producing experience from his days as a session musician, as did John Paul Jones. Bonham did no producing, and not much contribution to song writing however both Bonhan and Jones probably should have gotten more credit for "filling in" what Page and Plant wrote. and early on Led Zeppelin didn't do much original tracks, a lot of what they did on their first two albums were blues covers and re-arrangements. and some stuff from the Yardbirds which Page was in before Jeff Beck drank his ass into a sanatorium and left Page stuck with a contract to do an album and european tour. no way Page could break that because Beck was in rehab and no court on the planet would force Beck to fulfill the contract and it tied Page's hands up basically forever until he fulfilled it. so he calls up his session buddy Jones to form a new band. Jones happens to know of a band that might have a good drummer, Bonham. this band, The Band of Joy, also had this tall blond chap singing named Robert Plant. Page and Jones originally went to see the Band of Joy to see Bonham, but came away wanting both Bonham and Plant. the rest as they say is rock and roll history .. minus a rather unimpressive album poorly recorded that Page went to great lengths to kill and a euro tour as Jimmy Page and the New Yardbirds. that tour was basically a practice session for what became Led Zeppelin I, which they recorded in a long weekend. over time, Page and Plant became the major song writers, and there was some early doubt if Plant could be a successful song writer, but he eventually proved up to the task. Page began doing the producing, as at times so did Jones. all this made that equal split unequal. and certainly while Bonham and Jones probably should have been given more credit for their contributions to the music, Bonham, while "low man on the totem pole" was no hired musician. if he was merely a hired drummer then Led Zeppelin would have replaced him after he died, as The Who did with Keith Moon, but they knew the feel of any new music wouldn't be the same with a replacement drummer so they quit.


this is how a band starts out being equal then isn't.


and Led Zeppelin did something that the Eagles couldn't. they broke the balls of the "David Geffen's" by becoming so big they could do what only the Beatles to that time had accomplished .. form their own music company.


and then there is this .. they succeeded the Beatles as the biggest rock band of the day. what might have happened if the Beatles hadn't imploded and called it quits? we will never know. but they passed over both the Rolling Stones and this guy's band .. both of whom saw themselves as the rightful heirs to the Beatles ..


and this guy didn't fucking like it. must be an ego thing. tough shit Pete.






BAHHAAAAA


now since this was about the Eagles .. if i had to pick one song this would be it





now one for Pete .. who as great a song writer he is and an underrated guitar player .. only Roger Daltrey could sing what Pete wrote ..






and now that band Pete doesn't like .. if i had to pick a song it would be Achilles Last Stand .. but this shows the real raw power of early Led Zeppelin

Regarding Walsh, and his extensive turn in the Eagles' sets..

It was not Henly and Frey 'letting' Walsh have a long set. Walsh was famous before joining the band. After a 14 year break up, returning to the stage, Walsh had CLOUT. The Eagles needed him, the fans wanted him. How are they going to do a real show, skipping ''funk 49'', ''life's been good'', and ''Rocky mountain way''? They couldn't. Those 3 songs were in every show, even as huge Eagles hits, like ''Best of my love'' went unplayed.

Regarding Walsh, and his extensive turn in the Eagles' sets..

It was not Henly and Frey 'letting' Walsh have a long set. Walsh was famous before joining the band. After a 14 year break up, returning to the stage, Walsh had CLOUT. The Eagles needed him, the fans wanted him. How are they going to do a real show, skipping ''funk 49'', ''life's been good'', and ''Rocky mountain way''? They couldn't. Those 3 songs were in every show, even as huge Eagles hits, like ''Best of my love'' went unplayed. Originally Posted by Chung Tran

correct. Walsh already was famous and you could say the Eagles were lucky he agreed to join them, not that they let him in.


there is a old rock legend that Walsh was basically retired around 1969 or so and living on a house boat on the Thames near London. and this up and coming guitarist named Jimmy Page would hang out with Walsh. at the time Page was beginning to make a name for himself in the Yardbirds but didn't really have big money yet. so every time he'd go to a London guitar shop to buy a Gibson Les Paul for say 400 pounds he'd get recognized and suddenly the price was 4,000 pounds. you wonder why Page didn't send someone else in to buy it? anyway the story goes he was bitching about it while hanging out on Walsh's house boat and Walsh just said .. "here dude, have one of mine" and gave him a Les Paul, and not just any Les Paul, this one had gold plated frets and ivory inlays on the neck. Page supposedly still has it to this day.

On a side track, there never seemed to be an issue with the Beatles as to who gets what. Lennon & McCartney always seemed to share song writing credit. George chafed a bit as he didn't get many of his songs on albums. I wonder what the split was between the 4 ? They had a level headed manager in George Martin, probably helped them more than anyone realizes.


It was nice to see Ringo have some success on his own after the split, a few of his songs are actually enjoyable.


George put out that double album almost right away after the split, but it seemed to be more of an attempt to show off what he couldn't get on the Beatles albums. But I only remember maybe 1 memorable song from the whole double album.


Rubber Soul was a great album, if you like albums before all the studio sound track manipulation started. Many great songs on there.

that's what happens in every band. they start out equal until they aren't. some of it like Henley and Frey are partly ego, but also talent. let's say you have 4 guys in a band. ideally they all get an equal split of everything .. album sales, touring. everything. yet this never happens because some are good at writing songs, either music or lyrics. these members now get a song writing credit and thus a royalty on top before any profits are split. then one member knows how to produce, i.e. handle the recording equipment and thus get a producer's credit. yet another royalty before profits are split. let's say this fictional band is named ... Led Zeppelin. certainly no one in Led Zeppelin was a hired musician .. more on that in a minute. up front they all got an equal split, except that Page and Plant did the bulk of the song writing. Page also had producing experience from his days as a session musician, as did John Paul Jones. Bonham did no producing, and not much contribution to song writing however both Bonhan and Jones probably should have gotten more credit for "filling in" what Page and Plant wrote. and early on Led Zeppelin didn't do much original tracks, a lot of what they did on their first two albums were blues covers and re-arrangements. and some stuff from the Yardbirds which Page was in before Jeff Beck drank his ass into a sanatorium and left Page stuck with a contract to do an album and european tour. no way Page could break that because Beck was in rehab and no court on the planet would force Beck to fulfill the contract and it tied Page's hands up basically forever until he fulfilled it. so he calls up his session buddy Jones to form a new band. Jones happens to know of a band that might have a good drummer, Bonham. this band, The Band of Joy, also had this tall blond chap singing named Robert Plant. Page and Jones originally went to see the Band of Joy to see Bonham, but came away wanting both Bonham and Plant. the rest as they say is rock and roll history .. minus a rather unimpressive album poorly recorded that Page went to great lengths to kill and a euro tour as Jimmy Page and the New Yardbirds. that tour was basically a practice session for what became Led Zeppelin I, which they recorded in a long weekend. over time, Page and Plant became the major song writers, and there was some early doubt if Plant could be a successful song writer, but he eventually proved up to the task. Page began doing the producing, as at times so did Jones. all this made that equal split unequal. and certainly while Bonham and Jones probably should have been given more credit for their contributions to the music, Bonham, while "low man on the totem pole" was no hired musician. if he was merely a hired drummer then Led Zeppelin would have replaced him after he died, as The Who did with Keith Moon, but they knew the feel of any new music wouldn't be the same with a replacement drummer so they quit.


this is how a band starts out being equal then isn't.


and Led Zeppelin did something that the Eagles couldn't. they broke the balls of the "David Geffen's" by becoming so big they could do what only the Beatles to that time had accomplished .. form their own music company.


and then there is this .. they succeeded the Beatles as the biggest rock band of the day. what might have happened if the Beatles hadn't imploded and called it quits? we will never know. but they passed over both the Rolling Stones and this guy's band .. both of whom saw themselves as the rightful heirs to the Beatles ..


and this guy didn't fucking like it. must be an ego thing. tough shit Pete.






BAHHAAAAA


now since this was about the Eagles .. if i had to pick one song this would be it





now one for Pete .. who as great a song writer he is and an underrated guitar player .. only Roger Daltrey could sing what Pete wrote ..






and now that band Pete doesn't like .. if i had to pick a song it would be Achilles Last Stand .. but this shows the real raw power of early Led Zeppelin



Originally Posted by The_Waco_Kid

Good explanation on Led Zep but IIRRC there were some legalities to the "incorporation" of Led Zep that prevented them from continuing under that name after Bonham died. Maybe it had something to do with the production company you mentioned. I read a biography on them some years ago. I just don't remember all the details of why they couldn't tour as Led Zep. They toured as Page/Plant for a while I believe. I don't think Jones joined them. It had to be all four or no Led Zep. The story that has been given, is that Bonham had such an effect on their live performances and the music actually changed considerably from the studio cuts mostly because of what he was able to do, they just didn't think another drummer could duplicate what they did on stage. If there was ever such a thing as a lead drummer Bonham was it.


This 10 minute video is great at detailing how much he actually contributed.

Although not really an Eagles song "Heart of the Matter."

From what I read, Randy had to struggle to hit the last very high notes at the end of Take It to Limit, and didn't want to sing it live very often. But Glen Frey always wanted him to perform it with the high notes, because the crowd would go crazy. That lead to Randy leaving the band. Originally Posted by VitaMan

I've seen Van Halen several times since 1977. It's my understanding that on the VH recordings Michael Anthony hit all the high notes and not DLR. I saw him perform with Sammy a year ago and was front row and sure enough, he sang all the high notes. I think Sammy said Michael was "born with a piccolo." I hope he was talking about his singing voice.

Good explanation on Led Zep but IIRRC there were some legalities to the "incorporation" of Led Zep that prevented them from continuing under that name after Bonham died. Maybe it had something to do with the production company you mentioned.... Originally Posted by boardman

I saw an interview with Plant and Page (only a few years ago) and they said producers came to them with an ungodly amount of money and an idea of a tour and letting John Bohman's son play drums. They turned it down. I guess they already have an ungodly amount of money.

BTW, when I saw Hagar 1-2 years ago, Bohnam was drumming.