“Always melodic”: The Eagles member Don Henley called a freak of nature
No member of the Eagles really claimed to be the absolute best at what they did. Every one of them treated their job as being one of the best rock and roll bands that the world had ever seen, but that came through blood, sweat, and tears rather than training to become an Olympian athlete at their instruments. Although Don Henley could still sing like an angel and Joe Walsh had his fair share of bright spots, the frontman argued that one particular member of the band had come from a completely different planet.
If Henley had had his way, though, the group probably wouldn’t have been nearly as crazed as they were in the 1970s. Compared to Walsh, who would have thrown televisions out of hotel windows and let the chips fall where they may, Henley was the one with enough self-awareness to figure out when a TV should be thrown into a pool and not accidentally maim someone walking down the street.
Because outside of the touring schedule, Henley was more than happy to put together the songs that made people think a little bit harder. A track like ‘Take It Easy’ had that laid-back, breezy sound to it, but for every feel-good tune, there would be something like ‘The Last Resort’, which twisted everything on its head and made people pay attention to the real problems going on in the world.
No one can spend their career being that kind of straight man forever, and Glenn Frey was always the partner in crime right at Henley’s side. Despite Henley taking the lead vocal on half of their greatest hits, Frey was the de facto leader of the group, being the good-natured spirit being everything and having the ability to conjure up that one perfect line out of thin air.
That’s before getting into his status as a rock and roller. Even though the California rockers developed a reputation of being far too lightweight, Frey was a seasoned Detroit veteran, always using his guitar as a weapon and playing the perfect piece of ear candy that put him on the same level as Don Felder and Joe Walsh whenever he performed.
Despite never taking a solo on ‘Hotel California’, Henley still marvelled at Frey’s ability to conjure tunes out of thin air, saying, “Glenn [got] great rhythm and lead sounds out of one guitar, that single operational pickup and, usually, one small amp. His rhythm playing was chunky and funky; his leads, if not the most technically proficient, were always imaginative, melodic. They were soulful and memorable. He was something of a freak of nature.”
And sometimes that’s the right thing that any song needs. Even though rhythm guitarists tend to fade into the background of most major bands, seeing Frey make the most out of that steady pulse on ‘Lyin’ Eyes’ or turn in something a bit funkier on ‘One Of These Nights’ made him a shoo-in for one of the best rhythm players of his generation.
Because nothing that he played was meant to be flashy. It was about serving the song, and even if Walsh and Felder had him beat by a large margin, Glenn Frey still deserves the accolades for blowing away any guitarist purely through cocky swagger and good-natured humour whenever he played.
