The first Eagles song to feature Don Felder
The massive rise of the Eagles didn’t happen by accident. Throughout the recording of their first album, none of the band members were going to rest until they had songs that became the epitome of California sunshine, like ‘Take It Easy’ and ‘Witchy Woman’. Although the band may have worked fine as a quartet, Glenn Frey knew they needed more as the years passed.
When first getting together, the band thought they had hit the jackpot working with Bernie Leadon as their lead guitarist. After turning in time working with Gram Parsons, Leadon had become a veteran of the LA music scene, known for mixing his love of rock with the sounds of country and bluegrass. Although it was enough to get them a record deal, the country ethos of Leadon faced a few setbacks when working on Desperado.
Despite the band being proud of it, the album didn’t register with audiences, thinking that this LA rock band had suddenly adopted cowboy personas and was going to be going down the rabbit hole into country music. Looking to correct that with a vengeance on their next album, On the Border, the band couldn’t get anything to gel until Don Felder was brought in.
When talking about working on the project, Frey discussed how tough it was trying to get a guitar sound that clicked for them, telling History of the Eagles, “Bernie Leadon was a country player, but every time I came in with a rock and roll song, he was the lead guitar player. When Bernie came in with a country song, I would be the lead guitar player, and I wasn’t a country player by any means.”
Scouring the session musicians around town, Felder was called in to work on the song ‘Already Gone’. Featuring a straightforward backbeat reminiscent of old-school rock and roll, Frey was shellshocked at how well Felder fit in, saying, “We brought in Don Felder, and this guy was all over the neck.”
After switching producers after a fallout with Glyn Johns, Frey also figured the band could use another guitarist. As Felder recalled, “I did the session, and then I went home, not thinking anything of it other than it was just another session. The next day, Glenn called me and asked if I wanted to join the band, and I said ‘absolutely’.”
Felder would also contribute to the song ‘Cold Day in Hell’ on the same album, but he wouldn’t get his proper time to shine until working on One Of These Nights. Having a slightly more rock and roll flair than before, Felder’s searing leads on the title track brought a level of intensity that Leadon wasn’t capable of, which would later lead to his expulsion.
Not wanting to play rock and roll for the rest of his life, Leadon thought he was slipping away from the rest of the band, leading to Frey picking Joe Walsh as their new guitarist after seeing him open up for them on a handful of shows. Without knowing it, Leadon had left the spot open for some of the greatest guitar-playing of the decade.
With Felder working off Walsh, songs like ‘Hotel California’ and ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ became anthems that took over the radio for the rest of the band’s time together, quickly getting picked up as classic rock staples. Although Leadon served his good fine in the early days, it wasn’t until Felder came in that everything started to mesh together.
