Glen Frey on the song that stretched the “boundaries” of Eagles
When a band is doing well and has found a formula that works, it can be easy for them to settle into it and never bother trying anything new. The Eagles had made some of the music world’s biggest hits and could have easily rested on their highly profitable laurels. However, they decided to push themselves creatively.
What separates a good band from a great band is the ability to try and bring something new to the table every time. It’s easy for artists to work out a formula to secure hits, but a great artist will find different variations. They will experiment with various genres that impact their lives at that specific moment, and they will continually try to push the boundaries of what they create.
Eagles did this on multiple occasions, but they state one of the most significant songs this occurred on was ‘Wasted Time’. This track can be found on the album Hotel California, and the band were so proud of its production that they decided to include it at the end of side one and then have an instrumental version of it as the first song on side two.
The origin of the sound was far from California, as the band would listen to an eclectic mix of music and found a particular style they enjoyed in Pennsylvania. So, they made a quick move, figurately, that way.
“I loved all the records coming out of Philadelphia at that time,” said Glenn Frey, “I sent for some sheet music so I could learn some of those songs, and I started creating my own musical ideas with that Philly influence. Don was our Teddy Pendergrass. He could stand out there all alone and just wail. We did a big Philly-type production with strings – definitely not country rock. You’re not going to find that track on a Crosby, Stills and Nash record, or Beach Boys record. Don’s singing abilities stretched so many of our boundaries. He could sing the phone book. It didn’t matter.”
It’s good that the Eagles discovered how much talent they had within the band and, as such, decided to use said talent to create new, exciting sounds and try to stretch beyond what the band would initially be comfortable playing. As Frey says, when you have a singer like Don Henly on board, it’s almost a waste to have him repeat the same vocal melodies and ranges all the time.
Although the Eagle’s discography has some hits and some misses, they were a band that liked to try different things, which means progression and variation can be heard throughout their careers. It’s one of the aspects that continues to give them such a voice in music today.
