![]() ![]() Browne had already written some of the lyrics based on an experience hanging out in Winslow, Arizona, waiting for a car to be repaired. that’s when we became a team.įrey also succeeded as a creative partner to Jackson Browne on “Take It Easy.” The song came about after Jackson Browne started playing a fragment for Glenn Frey. And that was the beginning of our songwriting partnership. It’s really a Southern gothic thing, but we can easily make it more Western.” Glenn leapt right on it - filled in the blanks and brought structure. I said, “When I play it and sing it, I think of Ray Charles - Ray Charles and Stephen Foster. Glenn came over to write one day, and I showed him this unfinished tune that I had been holding for so many years. As Don Henley related in the liner notes to The Very Best of the Eagles: He was also responsible for helping Don Henley turn a song fragment into “Desperado,” one of the band’s signature tunes. Their reliance on physical location to inspire them helped produce one of the great songs in rock history. They’d drive out to a house in the San Bernardino Mountains and sleep on the floor to clear their heads and let ideas settle in. For instance, he and Don Henley developed Don Felder’s initial guitar riff into “Hotel California” literally by driving around southern California together, looking for visual cues to stimulate their thinking, including trips into the desert. Throughout the sometimes-turbulent history of the Eagles, Frey was the band’s undisputed co-leader with Don Henley, but he was also an adventurous collaborator. When the Eagles came out of retirement to release one last album in 2007, Long Road out of Eden, Frey’s skillful songwriting helped create a stunning epic with the album’s title track. His lead guitar and co-writing on “I Can’t Tell You Why” added a soulful touch that reflected his Detroit roots. Years later, his sweet voice would heighten the sense of loss and sadness in “New Kid in Town,” one of my personal favorites. Frey’s tender, almost boyish sounding voice made the song’s themes of personal betrayal and heartache sound more poignant, and his gentle guitar strumming gave “Tequila Sunrise” a country inflection. In time, “Tequila Sunrise” would gain appreciation as a quintessential Eagles song (which is to say, a quintessential country rock song). ![]() The band’s second album, Desperado, considered a commercial and critical disappointment, yielded “Tequila Sunrise,” which would chart only as high as 64. With each subsequent album, Frey contributed more songs, always by co-writing with other band members, most notably Don Henley. He also sang brilliantly on “Peaceful, Easy Feeling.” He made an impact with the Eagles from the start, co-writing (with Jackson Browne, a perennial friend of the group) and singing on “Take It Easy” on the band’s first album in 1972, a song that would reach Number 12 on the charts. And when the Eagles developed a harder edge to their music, Frey adapted while reminding the group that they were still a powerful force when writing ballads. But between his laid-back vocal style, gentle rhythm guitar playing, and narrative approach to songwriting, Glenn Frey deserves as much credit as anyone for shaping the mellow Southern California rock sound. Bernie Leadon, Don Felder, and Joe Walsh usually owned the spotlight as guitarists. Henley’s gritty singing style was more distinctive. The Eagles could not have sold 150 million records without Glenn Frey.Īs an ensemble member, Frey was often overlooked and underappreciated. As a founding member of the Eagles, Frey co-wrote and sang on songs that defined a generation, including “Lyin’ Eyes,” “Tequila Sunrise,” and “New Kid in Town.” He and Don Henley rank right up there among the great songwriting duos of rock. His solo career was somewhat successful and had its moments, notably with the 1980s hits “The Heat Is On” “Smuggler’s Blues,” and “You Belong to the City.” But he really excelled as a collaborator. ![]() Glenn Frey, who passed away January 18 at age 67, did not shine in the spotlight like David Bowie did. Notice: Undefined index: ssba_bar_buttons in /data/user2/2019/300/14752/wordpress/.c358fd9b46b9fddccddd7a427e522f9b/wp-content/plugins/simple-share-buttons-adder/php/class-buttons.php on line 598 ![]()
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