Showing posts with label Bernie Leadon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bernie Leadon. Show all posts

Monday, October 30, 2023

Eagles et al: Top 100 Songs

Eagles et al

Top 100 Songs

1972 lineup: l to r: Bernie Leadon, Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Glenn Frey

1994 lineup: l to r: Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, Don Henley, Don Felder, Glenn Frey

The rock/country group the Eagles formed in Los Angeles in 1971. They only released six studio albums during their original run in the 1970s, but are one of the most successful acts in music history. They had five #1 songs with “Best of My Love,” “One of These Nights,” “New Kid in Town,” “Hotel California,” and “Heartache Tonight.” The compilation Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 is one of the best-selling albums in history.

Original members Glenn Frey (vocals, guitar), Don Henley (vocals, drums), Bernie Leadon (guitar, vocals), and Randy Meisner (bass, vocals) started out as Linda Ronstadt’s backing band. Meisner had previously worked with Poco (1968-69) and Leadon was with Dillard & Clark (1968-69) and the Flying Burrito Brothers (1969-71).

Don Felder (guitar, vocals) joined in 1974 and Joe Walsh (guitar, vocals), who’d previously recorded with the James Gang and as a solo artist, replaced Leadon in 1975. Meisner departed in 1977, replaced by Timothy B. Schmit (bass, vocals), who’d previously been with Poco (1969-77).

The brand broke up – seemingly for good – in 1980. Frey and Henley had successful solo careers. Frey, Henley, Felder, Walsh, and Schmit reunited for the Hell Freezes Over tour in 1994 and recorded four new songs. In 2007, absent Felder, they recorded their first new album in 28 years, Long Road Out of Eden.

After Frey’s death in January 2016, he was replaced on tour by his son Deacon Frey and country singer Vince Gill. Randy Meisner passed away in 2023.

Note: above links go to those acts’ DMDB music maker encyclopedia entries.

Other Links:

  • DMDB profile page for Eagles
  • DMDB music makers’ encyclopedia entry for Eagles

Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Awards (Eagles):

Top 100 Songs

Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Covers of Eagles’ songs have also been included in this list.

DMDB Top 1%:

1. Eagles “Hotel California” (1976)
2. Don Henley “The Boys of Summer” (1984)
3. Eagles “Take It Easy” (1972)

DMDB Top 2%:

4. Eagles “Desperado” (1973)
5. Eagles “Lyin’ Eyes” (1975)
6. Eagles “One of These Nights” (1975)
7. Eagles “New Kid in Town” (1976)

DMDB Top 5%:

8. Eagles “Heartache Tonight” (1979)
9. Eagles “I Can’t Tell You Why” (1979)
10. Eagles “Best of My Love” (1974)

11. Joe Walsh “Rocky Mountain Way” (1973)
12. Don Henley “Dirty Laundry” (1982)
13. Eagles “Life in the Fast Lane” (1976)
14. Eagles “Peaceful, Easy Feeling” (1972)
15. Eagles “Take It to the Limit” (1975)
16. Eagles “Please Come Home for Christmas” (1978)
17. Don Henley “The End of the Innocence” (1989)
18. Eagles “Tequila Sunrise” (1973)
19. Don Henley with Patty Smyth “Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough” (1992)
20. Joe Walsh “Life’s Been Good” (1978)

21. Eagles “The Long Run” (1979)
22. Don Henley “The Heart of the Matter” (1989)
23. Don Henley with Stevie Nicks “Leather and Lace” (1981)
24. Eagles “Witchy Woman” (1972)
25. Firefall (with Timothy B. Schmit on background vocals) “Just Remember I Love You” (1977)
26. Eagles “Already Gone” (1974)

DMDB Top 10%:

27. Eagles “Seven Bridges Road” (live, 1980)
28. Don Henley “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” (1984)
29. Don Henley “Sunset Grill” (1984)
30. James Gang “Funk #49” (1970)

31. James Gang “Walk Away” (1971)
32. Glenn Frey “The Heat Is On” (1984)
33. Glenn Frey “You Belong to the City” (1985)
34. Eagles “Get Over It” (1994)
35. Glenn Frey “Smuggler’s Blues” (1984)
36. Joe Walsh “All Night Long” (1980)
37. Eagles “Hole in the World” (2003)
38. Don Henley “New York Minute” (1989)
39. Joe Walsh “A Life of Illusion” (1981)
40. Don Henley “Not Enough Love in the World” (1984)

DMDB Top 20%:

41. Poco “Rose of Cimarron” (1976)
42. Eagles “Learn to Be Still” (1994)
43. Eagles “Love Will Keep Us Alive” (1994)
44. Linda Ronstadt “Desperado” (1973)
45. Glenn Frey “The One You Love” (1982)
46. Don Felder “Heavy Metal (Takin’ a Ride)” (1981)
47. Eagles “How Long” (2007)
48. Eagles “The Last Resort” (1986)
49. Don Henley “The Last Worthless Evening” (1989)
50. Don Henley “I Can’t Stand Still” (1982)

51. Eagles “Victim of Love” (1976)
52. Don Henley “Through Your Hands” (1996)
53. Glenn Frey “True Love” (1988)
54. Glenn Frey “Sexy Girl” (1984)
55. Eagles “James Dean” (1974)
56. Eagles “In the City” (1979)
57. Travis Tritt “Take It Easy” (1993)
58. Clint Black “Desperado” (1993)
59. Poco “Keep on Tryin’” (1975)
60. Don Henley “Come Rain or Come Shine” (1995)

61. Joe Walsh “Space Age Whiz Kids” (1983)
62. Joe Walsh “The Confessor” (1985)
63. Don Henley “Taking You Home” (2000)
64. Poco “You Better Think Twice” (1970)
65. Randy Meisner “Never Been in Love” (1982)
66. Randy Meisner “Hearts on Fire” (1980)
67. Flying Burrito Brothers “Wild Horses’ (1970)
68. Jackson Browne “Take It Easy” (1973)
69. Don Henley “Johnny Can’t Read” (1982)
70. Eagles “Outlaw Man” (1973)

71. Don Henley “How Bad Do You Want It?” (1989)
72. John Anderson “Heartache Tonight” (1993)
73. Glenn Frey “Part of You, Part of Me” (1991)
74. Don Henley “Who Owns This Place?” (1986)
75. Eagles “Those Shoes” (1979)

Beyond the DMDB Top 20%:

76. Glenn Frey “Party Town” (1982)
77. Glenn Frey “I Found Somebody” (1982)
78. Randy Meisner “Deep Inside My Heart” (1980)
79. Joe Walsh “The Radio Song” (1987)
80. Poco “Indian Summer” (1977)

81. Don Henley “A Month of Sundays” (1984)
82. The Gipsy Kings “Hotel California” (1990)
83. Don Henley “Drivin’ with Your Eyes Closed” (1984)
84. Johnny Cash with Don Henley “Desperado” (2002)
85. Joe Walsh “Turn to Stone” (1972)
86. Joe Walsh “Meadows” (1973)
87. Joe Walsh “Ordinary Average Guy” (1991)
88. Glenn Frey “All Those Lies” (1982)
89. Eagles “Wasted Time” (1976)
90. James Gang “Midnight Man” (1971)

91. Eagles “Ol’ ‘55” (1974)
92. Timothy B. Schmit “Boys Night Out” (1987)
93. Eagles “No More Cloudy Days” (2005)
94. Eagles “After the Thrill Is Gone” (1975)
95. Eagles “The Sad Café” (1979)
96. Poco “C’mon” (1971)
97. Joe Walsh “Vote for Me” (1992)
98. Don Henley “The Garden of Allah” (1995)
99. Bruce Springsteen “Take It Easy” (live, 2016)
100. Little River Band with Glenn Frey “Take It Easy/Lyin’ Eyes” (live, 1988)

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First posted 7/22/2017; last updated 10/30/2023.

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Monday, September 8, 1975

Eagles “Lyin’ Eyes” released

Lyin’ Eyes

Eagles

Writer(s): Glenn Frey, Don Henley (see lyrics here)

Released: September 8, 1975

First Charted: September 12, 1975

Peak: 2 US, 3 CB, 2 GR, 2 HR, 2 RR, 3 AC, 8 CW, 2 CL, 23 UK, 19 CN, 34 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.2 UK

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 72.61 video, 152.10 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

The Eagles formed in Los Angeles in 1971 and released three platinum-selling albums from 1972 to 1974 which produced hits like “Take It Easy,” the top-10 “Witchy Woman,” and the #1 song “Best of My Love.” 1975’s One of These Nights gave them another #1 hit with the title song and top-5 hits “Lyin’ Eyes” and “Take It to the Limit.” It propelled the album to #1 and four million in sales.

One of These Nights proved to sort of be a last hurrah for the Eagles’ country-rock phase as it was the last album to feature the original lineup of Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner. Leadon left out of frustration with the band’s move away from country and towards mainstream rock. The addition of guitarists Don Felder and Joe Walsh pushed the band even farther away from country and more into classic rock.

However, in the midst of this transition, the Eagles achieved the biggest country hit of their career with “Lyin’ Eyes.” It wasn’t just their first entry on that chart, but their only song to reach the top 10 on the country charts. The song tells the story of a woman who tells her husband she’s going to visit a friend, but she actually goes to meet her lover.

The song grew out of an observation by Frey of a beautiful young woman with an older, wealthy, overweight man while at the Los Angeles restaurant/bar Dan Tana’s. He said to Henley, “She can’t even hide those lyin’ eyes.” WK Realizing they had a song title, they started scribbling down lyrics on cocktail napkins. SF Henley said he had some input with the verses and music but that Frey was the main writer of the subsequent song. WK

The song was nominated for a Grammy for Record of the Year and won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus.

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First posted 3/15/2023; last updated 4/26/2024.

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Tuesday, June 10, 1975

Eagles’ One of These Nights released

First posted 3/26/2008; updated 10/17/2020.

One of These Nights

Eagles

Released: June 10, 1975

Peak: 14 US, 8 UK, 2 CN, 5 AU

Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 0.03 UK, 7.5 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: country rock

Tracks: Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. One of These Nights (Don Henley/Glenn Frey) [4:51] (5/30/75, 11 US, 11 CB, 1 CL, 20 AC, 23 UK, 13 CN, 33 AU)
  2. Too Many Hands
  3. Hollywood Waltz
  4. Journey of the Sorcerer
  5. Lyin’ Eyes (Don Henley/Glenn Frey) [6:21] (9/13/75, 2 US, 3 CB, 2 CL, 3 AC, 8 CW, 23 UK, 19 CN, 34 AU)
  6. Take It to the Limit (Don Henley/Glenn Frey/Randy Meisner) [4:48] (12/20/75, 4 US, 5 CB, 5 CL, 4 AC, 12 UK, 16 CN, 30 AU)
  7. Visions
  8. After the Thrill Is Gone (Don Henley/Glenn Frey) [3:56] (20 CL)
  9. I Wish You Peace

Total Running Time: 43:08

The Players:

  • Glenn Frey (vocals, guitar, piano)
  • Don Henley (vocals, drums)
  • Bernie Leadon (guitar, vocals, banjo, mandolin, pedal steel guitar)
  • Randy Meisner (bass, vocals)
  • Don Felder (guitar, vocals)

Rating:

3.967 out of 5.00 (average of 19 ratings)

Awards:

About the Album:

“The Eagles recorded their albums relatively quickly in their first years of existence, their albums succeeding each other by less than a year. One of These Nights, their fourth album, was released in June 1975, more than 14 months after its predecessor.” AMG

“Anticipation had been heightened by the belated chart-topping success of the third album’s ‘The Best of My Love’; taking a little more time, the band generated more original material, and that material was more polished.” AMG

“More than ever, the Eagles seemed to be a vehicle for Don Henley (six co-writing credits) and Glenn Frey (five), but at the same time Randy Meisner was more audible than ever, his two lead vocals including one of the album’s three hit singles, Take It to the Limit, and Bernie Leadon had two showcases, among them the cosmic-cowboy instrumental Journey of the Sorcerer (later used as the theme music for the British television series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy].” AMG

“Nevertheless, it was the team of Henley and Frey that stood out, starting with the title track, a number one single, which had more of an R&B – even disco – sound than anything the band had attempted previously, and continuing through the ersatz Western swing of Hollywood Waltz to Lyin’ Eyes, one of Frey’s patented folk-rock shuffles, which became another major hit.” AMG

“One of These Nights was the culmination of the blend of rock, country, and folk styles the Eagles had been making since their start; there wasn’t much that was new, just the same sorts of things done better than they had been before. In particular, a lyrical stance – knowing and disillusioned, but desperately hopeful – had evolved, and the musical arrangements were tighter and more purposeful. The result was the Eagles’ best-realized and most popular album so far.” AMG

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Friday, March 22, 1974

Eagles’ On the Border released

First posted 3/26/2008; updated 10/17/2020.

On the Border

Eagles

Released: March 22, 1974

Peak: 17 US, 28 UK, 12 CN, 27 AU

Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.06 UK, 4.5 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: country rock

Tracks: Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. Already Gone (Robb Strandland/Jack Temphcin) [4:13] (5/4/74, 32 US, 17 CB, 2 CL, 12 CN)
  2. You Never Cry Like a Lover
  3. Midnight Flyer (Paul Craft) [3:58]
  4. My Man
  5. On the Border (Don Henley/Bernie Leadon/Glenn Frey) [4:28] (17 CL)
  6. James Dean (Jackson Browne/Glenn Frey/Don Henley/J.D. Souther) [3:40] (9/7/74, 77 US, 49 CB, 10 CL, 56 CN)
  7. Ol’ ‘55 (Tom Waits) [4:22]
  8. Is It True
  9. Good Day in Hell
  10. Best of My Love (Don Henley/Glenn Frey/J.D. Souther) [4:35] (11/30/74, 11 US, 4 CB, 1 CL, 11 AC, 11 CN)

Total Running Time: 40:25

The Players:

  • Glenn Frey (vocals, guitar, piano)
  • Don Henley (vocals, drums)
  • Bernie Leadon (guitar, vocals, banjo, mandolin, dobro)
  • Randy Meisner (bass, vocals)
  • Don Felder (guitar)

Rating:

3.755 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings)

Awards:

About the Album:

“The Eagles began recording their third album in England with producer Glyn Johns, as they had their first two albums, but abandoned the sessions after completing two acceptable tracks. Johns, it is said, tended to emphasize the group’s country elements and its harmonies, while the band, in particular Glenn Frey and Don Henley, wanted to take more of a hard rock direction…[so] they reconvened with a new producer, Bill Szymczyk, who had produced artists like B.B. King and, more significantly, Joe Walsh.” AMG

“But the resulting album is not an outright rock effort by any means. Certainly, Frey and Henley got what they wanted with Already Gone, the lead-off track, which introduces new band member Don Felder as one part of the twin guitar solo that recalls the Allman Brothers Band; James Dean, a rock & roll song on the order of ‘Your Mama Don’t Dance’; and Good Day in Hell, which is strongly reminiscent of Joe Walsh songs like ‘Rocky Mountain Way’.’” AMG

“But the album also features the usual mixture of styles typical of an Eagles album. For example, Midnight Flyer, sung by Randy Meisner, is modern bluegrass; My Man is Bernie Leadon’s country-rock tribute to the recently deceased Gram Parsons; and Ol’ 55 is one of the group’s well-done covers of a tune by a singer-songwriter labelmate, in this case Tom Waits.” AMG

“Like most successful groups, the Eagles combined many different elements, and their third album, which looked back to their earlier work and anticipated their later work, was a transitional effort that combined even more styles than most of their records did.” AMG The title track “points the band in a new R&B direction that was later pursued more fully.” AMG Meanwhile, the more adult contemporary-focused Best of My Love became the band’s first chart-topper.

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Tuesday, April 17, 1973

Eagles’ Desperado released

First posted 7/19/2010; updated 10/17/2020.

Desperado

Eagles

Released: April 17, 1973

Peak: 41 US, 39 UK, 35 CN, 31 AU

Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.06 UK, 4.0 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: country rock

Tracks: Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. Doolin-Dalton (20 CL)
  2. Twenty-One
  3. Out of Control
  4. Tequila Sunrise (6/23/73, 64 US, 5 CL, 26 AC, 68 CN)
  5. Desperado (3 CL)
  6. Certain Kind of Fool
  7. Doolin-Dalton (instrumental)
  8. Outlaw Man (9/15/73, 59 US, 13 CL)
  9. Saturday Night (47 CL)
  10. Bitter Creek
  11. Doolin-Dalton/Desperado (Reprise)

Total Running Time: 35:40

The Players:

  • Glenn Frey (vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica)
  • Don Henley (vocals, drums)
  • Bernie Leadon (guitar, vocals, banjo, mandolin, dobro)
  • Randy Meisner (bass, vocals)

Rating:

3.809 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings)

Awards:

About the Album:

“These southern California boys…built a steady rolling FM hit factory on basic tenets of Gram Parsons’ invention of country-rock.” AZ While their first album, the eponymously-titled “Eagles seemed deliberately to balance the band’s many musical styles and the talents of the band’s members,” AMG this one largely became the work of Don Henley. If he “was the sole member of the Eagles underrepresented on their debut…, with only two lead vocals and one co-songwriting credit, he made up for it on their follow-up, the ‘concept’ album Desperado.” AMG “He had co-writing credits on eight of the 11 selections and sang such key tracks as Doolin-Dalton and the title song. What would become recognizable as Henley’s lyrical touch was apparent on those songs, which bore a serious, world-weary tone.” AMG

“On Eagles, the group had already begun to marry itself to a Southwest sound and lyrical references, from the Indian-style introduction of ‘Witchy Woman’ to the Winslow, AZ, address in ‘Take It Easy.’” AMG The sophomore outing for the Eagles was a concept album “based on the Dalton gang and the Old West,” WK which was “a natural for those born unto rock and roll soil,” AZ “It may be that Henley, who hailed from Northeast Texas, had the greatest affinity for the subject matter,” AMG “but it had no specific narrative.” AMG and “despite its overarching theme, often seemed a collection of disparate tracks – Out of Control was a raucous rocker, while ‘Desperado’ was a painfully slow ballad backed by strings – with other bandmembers’ contributions tacked on rather than integrated.” AMG

“Randy Meisner was down to two co-writing credits and one lead vocal (Certain Kind of Fool), while Bernie Leadon’s two songs, Twenty-One and Bitter Creek, seemed to come from a different record entirely. The result was an album that was simultaneously more ambitious and serious-minded than its predecessor and also slighter and less consistent.” AMG

One of the album’s greatest assets, however, is that “Henley had begun co-writing with Glenn Frey, and they contributed the album’s strongest material, which included the first single, Tequila Sunrise, and Desperado,” AMG which “feature the flawless harmonies and strong vocals of Glenn Frey and Don Henley.” AZ While the “the title track is one of the Eagles' signature songs, it was never released as a single.” WK

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Saturday, June 24, 1972

Eagles chart with debut album

First posted 3/26/2008; updated 10/17/2020.

Eagles

Eagles

Charted: June 24, 1972

Peak: 22 US, -- UK, 13 CN, -- AU

Sales (in millions): 1.92 US, 0.06 UK, 3.0 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: country rock

Tracks: Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. Take It Easy (6/3/72, 12 US, 1 CL, 12 AC, 8 CN, 49 AU)
  2. Witchy Woman (9/9/72, 9 US, 5 CL, 8 CN, 81 AU)
  3. Chug All Night
  4. Most of Us Are Sad
  5. Nightingale
  6. Train Leaves Here This Morning
  7. Take the Devil
  8. Early Bird
  9. Peaceful, Easy Feeling (12/30/72, 22 US, 5 CL, 20 AC, 35 CN)
  10. Tryin’

Total Running Time: 36:43

The Players:

  • Glenn Frey (vocals, guitar)
  • Don Henley (vocals, drums)
  • Bernie Leadon (guitar, vocals, banjo)
  • Randy Meisner (bass, vocals)

Rating:

3.681 out of 5.00 (average of 19 ratings)

Awards:

About the Album:

“Balance is the key element of the Eagles’ self-titled debut album, a collection that contains elements of rock & roll, folk, and country, overlaid by vocal harmonies alternately suggestive of doo wop, the Beach Boys, and the Everly Brothers.” AMG

“If the group kicks up its heels on rockers like Chug All Night, Nightingale, and Tryin’, it is equally convincing on ballads like Most of Us Are Sad and Train Leaves Here This Morning.” AMG

“The album is also balanced among its members, who trade off on lead vocal chores and divide the songwriting such that Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner all get three writing or co-writing credits. Fourth member Don Henley, with only one co-writing credit and two lead vocals, falls a little behind, while Jackson Browne, Gene Clark, and Jack Tempchin also figure in the writing credits.” AMG

“The album’s overall balance is worth keeping in mind because it produced three Top 40 hit singles…that do not reflect that balance. Take It Easy and Peaceful Easy Feeling are similar-sounding mid-tempo folk-rock tunes sung by Frey that express the same sort of laid-back philosophy, as indicated by the word ‘easy’ in both titles, while Witchy Woman, a Henley vocal and co-composition, initiates the band’s career-long examination of supernaturally evil females.” AMG

“These are the songs one remembers from Eagles, and they look forward to the eventual dominance of the band by Frey and Henley. But the complete album from which they come belongs as much to Leadon’s country-steeped playing and singing and to Meisner’s melodic rock & roll feel, which, on the release date, made it seem a more varied and consistent effort than it did later, when the singles had become overly familiar.” AMG

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