The classic Eagles song that Don Henley wishes he could do again
As the Eagles said in their own words, the unexpected mainstream success of their eponymous first record scared the hell out of them. Even though they made positive strides as a band on the back of the album, Don Henley questioned their fame and said in The History of the Eagles: “Why me and some friends of mine that I like playing music with? It happened to me, and it didn’t happen to some of my colleagues. Why? I don’t know.”
They couldn’t live off the album forever and needed to return to the studio to make the follow-up. After stumbling upon a gunslinger book with Jackson Browne, Henley and Glenn Frey began to write songs associated with people on the fringes of society. In between the outlaw efforts, ‘Desperado’ was a bitter warning to the lonesome kid on the streets about what could happen if he gambles with his life.
The original thought for the song came from legend Ray Charles, as Henley remembered in the liner notes for The Very Best of the Eagles: “I said, ‘When I play it and sing it, I think of Ray Charles – Ray Charles and Stephen Foster. 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”.
Upon going into the studio with legendary producer Glyn Johns, Henley remembered being a nervous wreck when he was laying down the vocals with the assistance of an orchestra. After first writing the track years earlier in 1968, Henley had fallen out of love with the song by the time they finished recording it. He told Mojo, “Some older gentleman had brought chessboard, and they would play between takes. I would hear these remarks like, ‘Well, you know, I don’t feel much like a desperado.’ I was so intimidated that I didn’t sing my best”.
He added: “Our producer Glyn Johns, who is still a friend of mine, I think, wanted to get the album done quickly and economically, and he didn’t let me do many takes. I wish I could have done that song again”.
Despite being one of their most well-known songs, ‘Desperado’ didn’t get popular off the back of the Eagles. The original version of the song to gain traction was Linda Ronstadt’s cover of the tune. Ronstadt had previously worked with Henley and Frey as part of her backing band, and Henley called her version flattering to him, saying, “It was really her that popularised the song. Her version was very poignant and beautiful”.
As much as Henley didn’t care for his performance, ‘Desperado’, also the title of their second album, remained a key part of the Eagles’ setlist throughout the years, often used to close out the show at the end of the night. Years later, he discussed the difficulties of singing it night after night, and said: “You’ve done it so many times that you’re just doing it. But since you have so many people in front of you, you need to make this version of the song special for them”.
