The Eagles
FORMED: 1971, Los Angeles, CA
DISBANDED: 1982
With five number one singles and four number one albums, the Eagles were
among the most successful recording artists of the 1970s; at the end of the
20th century, two of those albums, Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975
and Hotel California, ranked among the ten best-selling albums ever, according
to the certifications of the Record Industry Association of America. Though
most of its members came from outside California, the group was closely identified
with a country- and folk-tinged sound that initially found favor in and around
Los Angeles in the late '60s, as played by such bands as the Flying Burrito
Brothers and Poco, both of which contributed members to the Eagles. But the
band also drew upon traditional rock & roll styles and, in their later
work, helped define the broadly popular rock sound eventually referred to
as classic rock. That helped the Eagles to achieve a perennial appeal among
generations of music fans who continued to buy their records many years after
they had split up, which inspired the reunion they mounted in the mid-'90s.
The band was formed by four Los Angeles-based musicians who had come to the
West Coast from other parts of the U.S. Singer/bassist Randy Meisner (born
in Scottsbluff, NE, on March 8, 1946) moved to L.A. in 1964 as part of a
band originally called the Soul Survivors (not to be confused with the East
Coast-based Soul Survivors, who scored a Top Five hit with "Expressway to
Your Heart" in 1967) and later renamed the Poor. In 1968, he was a founding
member of Poco, but left the band prior to the release of its debut album,
joining the Stone Canyon Band, the backup group for Rick Nelson. Singer/guitarist/banjoist/mandolinist
Bernie Leadon (born in Minneapolis, MN, on July 19, 1947) arrived in L.A.
in 1967 as a member of Hearts and Flowers before joining Dillard and Clark
and then the Flying Burrito Brothers. Singer/drummer Don Henley (born in
Gilmer, TX, on July 22, 1947) moved to L.A. in June 1970 with his band Shiloh,
which made one self-titled album for Amos Records before breaking up. Glenn
Frey (born in Detroit, MI, on November 6, 1948) performed in his hometown
and served as a backup musician to Bob Seger before moving to L.A. in the
summer of 1968. He formed the duo Longbranch Pennywhistle with J.D. Souther,
and they signed to Amos Records, which released their self-titled album in
1969.
In the spring of 1971, Frey and Henley were hired to play in Linda Ronstadt's
backup band. Meisner and Leadon also played backup to Ronstadt during her
summer tour, though the four only did one gig together, at Disneyland in
July. They did, however, all appear on Ronstadt's next album, Linda Ronstadt,
released in early 1972. In September 1971, Frey, Henley, Leadon, and Meisner
signed with manager David Geffen, agreeing to record for his soon-to-be-launched
label, Asylum Records; soon after, they adopted the name the Eagles. In February
1972, they flew to England and spent two weeks recording their debut album,
Eagles, with producer Glyn Johns. It was released in June, reaching the Top
20 and going gold in a little over a year and a half, following the release
of two Top Ten hits, "Take It Easy" and "Witchy Woman," and one Top 20 hit,
"Peaceful Easy Feeling."
The Eagles toured as an opening act throughout 1972 and into early 1973,
when they returned to England and Glyn Johns to record their second LP, Desperado,
a concept album about outlaws. Released in April 1973, it reached the Top
40 and went gold in a little less than a year and a half, spawning the Top
40 single "Tequila Sunrise." The title track, though never released as a
single, became one of the band's better-known songs and was included on its
first hits collection.
After touring to support Desperado, the Eagles again convened a recording
session with Glyn Johns for their third album. But their desire to make harder
rock music clashed with Johns' sense of them as a country-rock band, and
they split from the producer after recording two tracks, "You Never Cry Like
a Lover" and "The Best of My Love." After an early 1974 tour opened by singer/guitarist
Joe Walsh, they hired Walsh's producer, Bill Szymczyk, who handled the rest
of On the Border. Szymczyk brought in a session guitarist, Don Felder (born
in Gainesville, FL, on September 21, 1947), an old friend of Bernie Leadon's
who so impressed the rest of the band that he was recruited to join the group.
On the Border was released in March 1974. It went gold and reached the Top
Ten in June, the Eagles' fastest selling album yet. The first single, "Already
Gone," reached the Top 20 the same month. But the most successful song on
the LP, the one that broke them through to a much larger audience, was "The
Best of My Love," released as a single in November. It hit number one on
the easy listening charts in February 1975 and topped the pop charts a month
later.
The Eagles' fourth album, One of These Nights, was an out-of-the-box smash.
Released in June 1975, it went gold the same month and hit number one in
July. It featured three singles that hit the Top Five: the chart-topping
title song, "Lyin' Eyes," and "Take It to the Limit." "Lyin' Eyes" won the
1975 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus,
and the Eagles also earned Grammy nominations for Album of the Year (One
of These Nights) and Record of the Year ("Lyin' Eyes"). The group went on
a headlining world tour, beginning with the U.S. and Europe. But on December
20, 1975, it was announced that Bernie Leadon had quit the band. Joe Walsh
(born in Wichita, KS, on November 20, 1947) was brought in as his replacement.
He immediately joined the tour, which continued to the Far East in early
1976.
The Eagles' extensive touring kept them out of the studio, and with no immediate
plans for a new album, they agreed to the release of a compilation, Eagles:
Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, in February 1976. The first album certified
platinum for sales of one million copies, it topped the charts and became
a phenomenal success, eventually selling upwards of 25,000,000 copies and
dueling with Michael Jackson's Thriller for the title of the best-selling
album of all time in the U.S.
It took the Eagles 18 months to follow One of These Nights with their fifth
album, Hotel California. Released in December 1976, it was certified platinum
in one week, hit number one in January 1977, and eventually sold over 10,000,000
copies. The singles "New Kid in Town" and "Hotel California" hit number one,
and "Life in the Fast Lane" made the Top 20. "Hotel California" won the 1977
Grammy for Record of the Year and was nominated for Song of the Year; the
album was nominated for Album of the Year and for Best Pop Vocal Performance
by a Duo, Group, or Chorus. The Eagles embarked on a world tour in March
1977 that began with a month in the U.S., followed by a month in Europe and
the Far East, then returned to the U.S. in May for stadium dates. At the
end of the tour in September, Randy Meisner left the band; he was replaced
by Timothy B. Schmit (born in Sacramento, CA, November 20, 1947), formerly
of Poco, in which he also had replaced Meisner.
The Eagles began working on a new album in March 1978 and took nearly a year
and a half to complete it. The Long Run was released in September 1979. It
hit number one and was certified platinum after four months, eventually earning
multi-platinum certifications. "Heartache Tonight," its lead-off single,
hit number one, and "I Can't Tell You Why" and "The Long Run" became Top
Ten hits. "Heartache Tonight" won the 1979 Grammy for Best Rock Performance
by a Duo or Group with Vocal. The Eagles toured the U.S. in 1980, and at
a week-long series of shows at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, they recorded
Eagles Live. (Also included were some tracks recorded in 1976.) Released
in November 1980, the double-LP (since reissued as a single CD) reached the
Top Five and went multi-platinum, with the single "Seven Bridges Road" reaching
the Top 40.
The Eagles were inactive after the end of their 1980 tour, but their breakup
was not officially announced until May 1982. All five released solo recordings.
(Walsh, of course, maintained a solo career before, during, and after the
Eagles.) During the rest of the 1980s, the bandmembers received several lucrative
offers to reunite, but they declined. In 1990, Frey and Henley began writing
together again, and they performed along with Schmit and Walsh at benefit
concerts that spring. A full-scale reunion was rumored, but did not take
place. Four years later, however, the Eagles did reunite. In the spring of
1994, they taped an MTV concert special and then launched a tour that ended
up running through August 1996. The MTV show aired in October, followed in
November by an audio version of it, the album Hell Freezes Over, which topped
the charts and became a multi-million seller, spawning the Top 40 pop hit
"Get Over It" and the number one adult contemporary hit "Love Will Keep Us
Alive."
The Eagles next appeared together in January 1998 for their induction into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, when the five present members performed alongside
past members Leadon and Meisner. On December 31, 1999, they played a millennium
concert at the Staples Center in Los Angeles that was recorded and included
on the box-set retrospective Selected Works 1972-1999 in November 2000. ~
William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide