The guitarist that kept the Eagles together: “A brilliant player”
Eagles have never been comfortable until everything they played sounded perfect.
Don Henley and Glenn Frey worked tirelessly until everything sounded pristine on their records, and when they put on their shows to this day, they have tried everything in their power to remind everyone why they were considered one of the greatest vocal groups that Los Angeles had ever seen. It can be hard to sustain that over time, though, and sometimes it takes the right person to help keep the band afloat over the years.
The entire concept of them getting back together at all was already a miracle after 1981, but Hell Freezes Over showed that they could at least still play the same way that they used to. Nothing had changed about their voices over that time, but after more than a few disagreements with Don Felder, there was a good chance that the band would have rather gone with anyone else than discuss their financial problems.
But when you have someone who helped write ‘Hotel California’ and played it in perfect harmony with Joe Walsh, how are you supposed to replace that? There are so many people who would kill for that position, but when listening to the way that Steuart Smith fit into the equation, everything seemed right with the world again. He had always been a hired gun from the minute that he joined the band, but he was only too happy to play those iconic solos as well as he could back in the day.
Long Road Out of Eden showed that he could be a decent writer, too, but after struggling with Parkinson’s for a while, there was no way that he was going to be able to play the same way that he used to. But for a minute, it looked like they had one of the greatest replacements anyone could have asked for in Vince Gill. He may have been a country star with that angelic voice, but if you put a Stratocaster in Gill’s hands, he becomes a completely different animal onstage.
He can play anything that was thrown at him, but since his job was to fill Frey’s shoes after he passed away, they needed a bit more muscle. And for someone who appreciated the more rustic side of rock and roll, Henley was transfixed by what Chris Holt was doing. He had already been working on Henley’s solo material, but the singer was knocked out by how well he filled in for Smith.
While we’re twice removed from the original thing, Henley felt that Holt did exactly what he needed to on every one of their songs, saying, “Chris, I met when he was my kid’s guitar teacher, but I didn’t realize what a big deal he was in Dallas. I mean, what a following he’s got in the scene there. Chris has been a great addition. He just stepped up and did it. Very unfortunate about Steuart Smith — he was a brilliant guitar player. But Chris just stepped right in like a pro and rose to the occasion.”
And given what he had played on Cass County, Holt clearly knew what he was talking about. He was deeply engrossed in the world of country guitar playing, and given how Bernie Leadon played on so many of their early songs, bringing in someone like that to fill out the sound gave them the credibility that they had as one of the originators of what country rock was all about back in the day.
Henley might do whatever he can to keep the band going for their final run of shows, but it was never about replacing any of the original members permanently. He’s only hoping to carry on the music that they all created together, and that comes from getting the right person who could try to fill the shoes of the biggest names in rock and roll playing.
