The Eagles vocals Vince Gill said matched Ray Charles
Artists come and go with the changing of the tides, but a trailblazer of Ray Charles’ calibre never truly disappears from the cultural map. After all, those pioneering R&B experiments back in the 1950s sprouted the roots of everything from funk and soul to rock ‘n’ roll, and everyone from Otis Redding to the Eagles.
On the face of it, the Eagles occupied an entirely different realm from that of Ray Charles, dealing in expertly crafted soft rock smashes which made them the defining sound of 1970s America.
It is worth remembering, though, that without the efforts of Charles decades prior, the likes of Don Henley and Glenn Frey might never have chosen the sacred path of musical expression – for better or for worse. What’s more, in the eyes of Vince Gill, at least, the two titans of the music industry did share some common characteristics.
If anybody has done their homework on the history of the Eagles, it is Vince Gill. Given the unenviable task of filling the shoes of Frey, following the songwriter’s death in 2017, Gill had to do his due diligence in emulating those timeless contributions of the founding Eagle; if only out of respect for the fans. Luckily, the veteran Oklahoma artist had multiple decades of Eagles appreciation to draw from, going back to his bluegrass and soft rock days back in the 1970s, when Frey and Henley ruled the airwaves.
Throughout those many decades, Gill seemed to soak up every ounce of the Eagles’ extensive output, and that dedication even extended to the band members’ respective solo projects, which tended to divide opinion even among the most blindly faithful Eagles fanatics. It should go without saying, then, that Gill did not arrive at the Eagles unprepared.
Arguably, in fact, Gill is among the best-positioned people to give an account of the Eagles’ extensive history, given that he is connected to the group without having experienced the vast periods of vitriol between the band members back in the day. Then again, while singing the praises of the band’s country-tinged single ‘Desperado’ with Rolling Stone, the songwriter did equate their performance with that of Ray Charles.
“It’s the first song that Glenn [Frey] and Don [Henley] wrote together, which is pretty astounding,” Gill shared of the 1973 track, which managed to become one of the Eagles’ defining tracks despite not being a hit upon its initial release.
He then added, “Don’s voice is so distinctive; it’s not unlike hearing Ray Charles.”
Now, aside from the blatant contradiction that Henley’s vocals are simultaneously distinctive and comparable to somebody else, it is difficult to see the comparison between the greatest voice in R&B history and Don Henley. The Eagle certainly adopts a soulful style of singing on the track, and it is inarguably among his greatest – certainly his most recognisable – vocal efforts, but as far as Charles goes, the two singers are leagues apart.
For starters, Charles always seemed to sing and speak directly from the soul on his recordings, which coupled with his otherworldly skill as a pianist and that infallible R&B swing to create a discography that is utterly incomparable to anybody else, never mind an early country music-based effort from the Eagles.
