The Eagles songs that Eagles band members hated: “Nobody else wanted it”
The Eagles are often dubbed as the American Beatles, and it’s easy to see why. It wasn’t just that they were popular; they changed the face of music. Country music was quite one-dimensional until they came along and showed people that you could alter the style of music and infuse country with the sounds of rock and the blues.
As soon as their debut was released, it became clear to people that the band was on to something special. Now, six decades later, the songs that they wrote continue to live on in the hearts of music lovers. The tracks are bigger than the band that wrote them. They represent a turning point for sound as we know it, a specific moment in time when everything changed.
While it’s great to look at the success of these songs and act as if everything was always fine and dandy for the Eagles, there was a lot more controversy than that. The band were constantly in conflict with one another, and there was a great deal of friction amongst them. The result is that there are a number of different Eagles songs that members of the band despised, regardless of how well received they may have been by the public.
Don Felder, Glenn Frey and Don Henley were never worried about making their opinions known, and subsequently were happy to reveal when they did and didn’t like a song. Here are some of the Eagles songs that Eagles band members couldn’t stand.
Eagles songs that The Eagles hated
Don Felder – ‘Victim of Love’
The Eagles were very successful, so there was a lot of pressure on them to continue delivering the goods. This meant that they were sometimes ruthless when it came to ensuring their songs were of the best possible quality. Don Felder was incredibly excited about recording the vocals for ‘Victim of Love’; however, as the rest of the band weren’t big fans, they decided to take matters into their own hands.
One evening, when Felder was out at lunch with their manager, the rest of the group went to the studio and completely erased his vocals. Felder was furious with the move and has held disdain towards the track ‘Victim of Love’. As Glenn Frey put it, “Don Felder, for all of his talents as a guitar player, was not a singer.”
Glenn Frey – ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’
Eagles set the bar for themselves early on with their debut self-titled album. While a lot of fans listen back to their early work and see it not only as great music but also as music that changed the way people viewed the sound of country, there are some songs the band wasn’t happy with. Glenn Frey, for instance, was never a big fan of his vocals on ‘Peaceful Easy Listening’, and found it a very difficult listen as a result.
During a discussion with Jack Black, Tom Scharpling explained why he thinks insecurity contributed to the band’s attitude toward some of their earlier music. “I think they knew the rap on them the whole time is that they’re these pretty boys who are trading in the mythologies of country music and Americana or whatever you want to call it, but they’re just not legit,” he says. “That crushing insecurity is why they’re dicks.”
Don Henley – ‘I Wish You Peace’
‘I Wish You Peace’ was one of Bernie Leadon’s last contributions to the band. Other members of the Eagles weren’t particularly keen on the track, but Leadon forced them to record the song. “I let it be known that if they didn’t record that song, I was going to break Glenn’s arm. It’s absurd, right?” Said Leadon, “The song is ‘I Wish You Peace’, but I’m gonna break your fucking arm if you don’t record it.”
None of the band were fans of the song and only recorded it because of Leadon’s insistence; however, Don Henley in particular couldn’t stand the track. He described it as “Smarmy cocktail music,” before adding, “Nobody else wanted it. We didn’t feel it was up to the band’s standards.”
