The 1976 Eagles song “so beautiful” that Joe Walsh could hardly bring himself to play it
The Eagles were a band of two distinctly different sides.
On the surface, they were as sweet a rock band as you were ever likely to find. Free-flowing hair, charming smiles and perfectly curated three-part harmonies presented a band who were the sunny image of Californian rock and roll in the 1970s. Songs about living in the fast lane or pining over a potential lover were in order for a band that, for all intents and purposes, were perfect for Hollywood.
But in keeping with the duplicity of Hollywood, behind the scenes of Eagles existed a different reality. The band were fraught with drama and conflict, regularly falling out and constantly slipping into personal struggles that would ripple problems into the wider band.
Under the fierce hierarchy of Don Henley and Glenn Frey, the band were on the edge of emotional breakdown at all times, and the sunny disposition of their music felt worlds away from the environment in which it was created.
Everything was fraught with emotion, not least for Joe Walsh, who suffered the most debilitating cocaine and alcohol addiction within the band. For him, their music was truly an escape from the troubles of his daily life, and so when his chance came to break free from the rule of Frey and Henley and use the dark backdrop of the band to write his own song, he delivered something deeply impactful.
“To make the Eagles really valid as a band, it was important that we co-write things and share things,” he explained. “’Pretty Maids All In A Row’ is kind of a melancholy reflection on my life so far, and I think we tried to represent it as a statement that would be valid for people from our generation on life so far. Heroes, they come and go…”
Adding, “Henley and Frey really thought that it was a good song, and meaningful, and helped me a lot in putting it together. I think the best thing to say is that it’s a kind of melancholy observation on life that we hoped would be a valid statement for people from our generation.”
Of all the songs that portrayed emotion for the fans, ‘Pretty Maids All In A Row’ was the one that actually displayed it for Walsh. A song that was uniquely his and one at times, he struggled to perform, even stuttering out the words “this song is so beautiful” before performing it for their 1994 MTV Unplugged session. It was as pure a representation of an artist you are likely to find and quietly makes it one of the Eagles’ best songs, if not the world’s best, according to Bob Dylan.
After listening to the song, Dylan said, “That could be one of the best songs ever,” revealing something that maybe Eagles fans wish the band had realised earlier: when the Eagles stepped away from the third-person storytelling that made them so famous and instead gazed further inwards, they were able to tell stories that had a far deeper meaning.
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