The Eagles album choice Don Henley “strongly opposed”
Throughout the 1970s, Eagles honed a winning formula of country-infused soft rock music. With chart-busting hits like ‘Take It Easy’ and ‘One of These Nights’, they became one of the world’s most beloved and successful acts by the mid-1970s. Their breezy hippie-hangover sound captured the other half of a generation in the grip of punk rock, notably inspiring Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks in their mission to revolutionise Fleetwood Mac’s sound following Peter Green’s departure.
Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Bernie Leadon formed the classic trio of songwriters at the heart of the Eagles during their early rise to fame. This talented collective exhibited a breezy front in their music, but behind the scenes, the Eagles were serious about their craft, precipitating comings, goings and plenty of dramatic animosity over the years.
Despite the band’s unprecedented success in 1975 with One of These Nights, Leadon decided to leave the band, seemingly avoiding the dawning limelight. Some claim that Leadon left because he was dissatisfied with the band’s gradual departure from purer country to radio-friendly pop rock.
In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Leadon discussed his departure as a convergence of factors. “That’s an oversimplification,” he retorted when asked about his pure country-rock sensibilities. “It implies that I had no interest in rock or blues or anything but country rock. That’s just not the case. I didn’t just play Fender Telecaster. I played a Gibson Les Paul, and I enjoyed rock ‘n’ roll. That’s evident from the early albums.”
With the recruitment of Don Felder in 1974, the Eagles were equipped to deal with Leadon’s departure, even more so with the induction of former James Gang frontman Joe Walsh as a direct replacement in 1975.
Most fans recognise Frey and Henley as the Eagles’ co-leaders and the main creative force behind the band. As long-serving co-founders, they wrote most of the band’s material together, yet with such a wealth of singing and songwriting talent in their ranks, power struggles were rife.
The most significant rift in Eagles lore formed between Felder and Frey. In July 1980, during an infamous show at Long Beach, California, sometimes named the ‘Long Night at Wrong Beach’, animosity between Frey and Felder reached a violent pitch. Onstage taunts led to a gritty confrontation after the concert and, ultimately, the band’s dissolution in 1980.
Over the following three decades, the Eagles returned periodically for reunion tours. Frey and Henley invited Felder back in the 1990s, but disagreements led to a more permanent banishment in 2001. As court cases unfolded into the 21st century, the Eagles regrouped for Long Road Out of Eden, their first studio album since 1979’s The Long Run.
Long Road Out of Eden became the final album the Eagles released before Frey’s death in 2016. It received a tepid response from critics as only a distant echo of past success. Some fans attributed its shortcomings to Felder’s absence, but as far as Henley was concerned, the album was simply too voluminous.
Speaking to Irish Independent in November 2007, Henley revealed that he was “strongly opposed a double album”. At 90 minutes long, the album fans need a pair of waders to tackle it in one sitting. Henley continued, noting that Frey had pushed for the omnibus. “Mr Frey wanted a double record, and he’s the boss,” he continued. “Everybody thinks I’m the boss, but I’m not.”
Henley blamed the all-too-familiar “band politics” for the album’s outcome. “When you have four lead singers, you want everybody to be represented,” he explained. “I wrote ‘Do Something’ with Timothy [Schmit], and Joe sings a Frankie Miller song [‘Guilty of the Crime’], and he wrote ‘Last Good Time in Town’ with J D Souther. Frankly, Joe and Timothy didn’t bring in a lot of stuff. We were waiting for it, but it never came.”
Frankly, if Schmit and Walsh had contributed any more songs, the album might have rivalled a cinematic reproduction of War and Peace for runtime. All the same, with so many songwriters competing for album space, you have two choices: a run of “White Albums” or an irritated George Harrison.
