The Eagles song Glenn Frey worried was “too cliche”
Over the course of seven albums, Eagles were known for having written countless soft rock hits that would live on as some of the most celebrated tracks in the history of music. Their six album run in the 1970s was considered untouchable by many, and record sales were consistently high, with their album Hotel California being one of the best-selling albums of all time, and others such as On The Border also reaching Platinum status shortly after its release.
The scope of Eagles’ reach was massive, and their fanbase is still incredibly strong, with tours continuing to generate an exorbitant amount of revenue despite the relative studio inactivity of the group. With such a gigantic following behind them, you’d assume that the band think fondly of the material that led them to become global superstars, but there’s always at least one song in a band’s catalogue that not everyone is proud of.
In the case of the late Glenn Frey, the group’s founding guitarist and co-lead vocalist alongside drummer Don Henley, he was less than satisfied with the band’s 1973 single, ‘Tequila Sunrise’ at the time of writing it. While its success at the time of release was minimal, with it only reaching a peak position of number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song has become a beloved staple of the band’s live repertoire and has featured on numerous compilations that the band have released.
According to Henley in an interview with Cameron Crowe for their 2003 compendium, The Very Best Of, Frey took umbrage with the lyrics he wrote for the song initially. “I think he was ambivalent about it,” Henley explained, “because he thought that it was a bit too obvious or too much of a cliché because of the drink that was so popular then.” With the beverage having been created in the early ‘70s, this would have coincided with the peak of its popularity, so there’s no wonder that he considered it to be somewhat clichéd.
Henley would go on to explain how he had to convince Frey that the song was worthy, saying that he told the guitarist, “look at it from a different point of view. You’ve been drinking straight tequila all night, and the sun is coming up,” before offering a slice of background on the line ‘take another shot of courage’, which was in reference to the fact that they used to refer to tequila as “instant courage”.
It was enough to turn Frey’s opinion on the song, as in the same interview, he was quoted as saying “I love the song. I think the goal of any songwriter is to make a song appear seamless, to never show the struggle. Nothing should sound forced.” He would then go on to make the bold claim that while it was written under pressure and with great speed, he said “I don’t think there’s a single chord out of place.”
Eagles would of course have much more successful songs within their lockers, but it isn’t unusual for a band of their stature to butt heads over whether a track is good enough. That said, ‘Tequila Sunrise’ has remained a fan favourite, and is perhaps one of the band’s more underappreciated gems in their acclaimed career.
