The Eagles - Desperado (1973)

Desperado" is the second studio album by the American rock band Eagles. "Desperado" is a concept album, based on the Dalton gang and the Old West.

If Don Henley was the sole member of the Eagles underrepresented on their debut album, "Eagles", with only two lead vocals and one co-songwriting credit, he made up for it on their follow-up, the "concept" album "Desperado". The concept had to do with Old West outlaws, but it had no specific narrative. 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." All of this became more overt on "Desperado", and it may be that Henley, who hailed from Northeast Texas, had the greatest affinity for the subject matter. In any case, 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. 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" (strangely never released as a single). But where Eagles seemed deliberately to balance the band's many musical styles and the talents of the band's members, "Desperado", 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. 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.

Tracklist

01.  "Doolin-Dalton"  (Glenn Frey, J. D. Souther, Don Henley, Jackson Browne)  - 3:26

02.  "Twenty-One"  (Bernie Leadon)  - 2:11

03.  "Out of Control"  (Henley, Frey, Tom Nexon)  - 3:04

04.  "Tequila Sunrise"  (Henley, Frey)  - 2:52

05.  "Desperado"  (Henley, Frey)  - 3:36

06.  "Certain Kind of Fool"  (Randy Meisner, Henley, Frey)  - 3:02

07.  "Doolin-Dalton (Instrumental)"  (Frey, Souther, Henley, Browne)  - 0:48

08.  "Outlaw Man"  (David Blue)  - 3:34

09.  "Saturday Night"  (Meisner, Henley, Frey, Leadon)  - 3:20

10.  "Bitter Creek"  (Leadon)  - 5:00

11.  "Doolin-Dalton / Desperado (Reprise)"  (Frey, Souther, Henley, Browne)  - 4:50

Personnel

Glenn Frey - guitars, keyboards, piano, harmonica, vocals

Don Henley - drums, percussion, vocals

Randy Meisner - bass guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals

Bernie Leadon - guitars, mandolin, banjo, vocals

Notes

Released:  April 17, 1973

Recorded at:  Island Studios, London, England

Genre:  Country Rock

Length:  35:40

Label:  Asylum

Producer:  Glyn Johns

(43) The Eagles - On The Border (1974)

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. They reconvened with a new producer, Bill Szymczyk, who had produced artists like B.B. King and, more significantly, Joe Walsh. 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 bandmember 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." 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. The title track, meanwhile, points the band in a new R&B direction that was later pursued more fully. 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.

Bernie Leadon's "My Man" is a tribute to Gram Parsons, who had died of a drug overdose in September 1973. Leadon and Parsons had been members of the pioneering country-rock band The Flying Burrito Brothers.

"On the Border"This track was inspired by the infamous Watergate scandal and fears at the time of the government overstepping its bounds and infringing on people's privacy. Barely audible at the end of the song, someone (either Henley or Frey) can be heard whispering "Say Goodnight, Dick," a line made famous by Dan Rowan of Rowan and Martin but in this case referring to Richard Nixon's resignation.

Track listing

01.  Already Gone  (Strandlund, Tempchin) -  4:13

02.  You Never Cry Like a Lover  (Henley, Souther)  - 4:02

03.  Midnight Flyer  (Craft)  - 3:58

04.  My Man  (Leadon)  - 3:30

05.  On the Border  (Frey, Henley, Leadon)  - 4:28

06.  James Dean  (Browne, Frey, Henley, Souther)  - 3:36

07.  Ol' 55  (Waits)  - 4:22

08.  Is It True  (Meisner)  - 3:14

09.  Good Day in Hell  (Frey, Henley)  - 4:27

10.  The Best of My Love  (Frey, Henley, Souther)  - 4:35

Personnel

Glenn Frey - lead vocals, lead guitar, slide guitar, piano

Don Henley - lead vocals, drums, guitar

Randy Meisner - lead vocals, bass guitar

Bernie Leadon - lead vocals, lead guitar, banjo, steel guitar

Don Felder - electric guitar, slide guitar

Notes

Released:  March 22, 1974

Recorded at:  Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, CA, Olympic Studios, London, 1973-74

Genre:  Country Rock

Length:  40:29

Label:  Asylum

Producer:  Bill Szymczyk, Glyn Johns