The one Eagles album Don Henley wanted to have no hits: “We don’t want to have another”
When The Beatles went to America, they completely revolutionised music. This wasn’t just because of the music they were making and the fact that it was well-received, but also because they changed what people were looking for in bands. The British Invasion started, and the way that artists wanted to look, sound and market themselves was altered in the process.
It’s often said that there are no bands like The Beatles because nobody ever altered music in the way that they did. While there is undoubtedly some truth to that, The Eagles came incredibly close, as their approach to music also ushered in a completely new age of artistry. For them, it was less about bringing a new sound to a new location and more about creating a new sound altogether.
What they did so well was merge the sounds of rock ‘n’ roll with that of country. Both were very popular genres at the time and while some artists had tried to do a spin on both, no one managed it as well as the Eagles did. As soon as the sound reached the masses, they were a hit. A long time spent on the road refining that sound meant they were ready to run with it as soon as the success came.
When people mentioned the idea of them being an overnight success to Don Henley, he would often correct them, saying it took them a while to get to the sound which was ready to be popular. “Well, it might seem that way,” he said, “If you don’t count the six years of driving around Texas in Econolinel.”
Their debut self-titled album was a gorgeous record filled with tracks that people still consider classics. Songs like ‘Take It Easy’ perfectly epitomise why people love the band so much. The chord sequencing and tempo are that of rock music, but there are country-infused inflexions in the guitar and vocals that would sound more at home on a country record. The blend works perfectly, and it was a hit in the making.
Of course, after the success of the debut, it was tricky for the Eagles to create an album which would live up to the hype. Their major achievements came later in their career when they changed direction completely. Until then, their second album, Desperado, fell slightly flat, as Don Henley himself admitted.
“As The Eagles we did have success right off the bat,” he said, “And then we followed it up with this artsy-fartsy concept album – It was almost as if our reaction to success was, ‘We don’t to have another LP with hit singles on it!’”
While many fans enjoy the album, the record labels couldn’t stand Desperado. When Henley speaks about it, he seems more distant than anything, acknowledging that the album happened but not leaning any particular way when talking about it.
“Well, the people at the label let us do it, but they hated it. I remember the head of Atlantic Records, Jerry Greenberg, who was our distributor then, he listened to it and said, ‘Oh God, they’ve gone and made a fuckin’ cowboy album!’” recalled Henley, “Because they didn’t hear any singles. ‘Desperado’ was never a hit for us – it didn’t become well-recognised ’til Linda Ronstadt covered it.”
