The one song that the Eagles struggled to record: “It was a real bitch to learn”
By the time the Eagles made it big, there was no time for Don Henley and Glenn Frey to be messing around.
They had made some of the biggest hits of their career, starting with their first album, and if they wanted to reach the same level as their heroes like The Beatles, they were going to need to go the extra mile to make sure they weren’t cramming every single album with filler. Every album they made needed to have some sort of smash on it, but that didn’t mean that all of them were the easiest to get down on tape, either.
Then again, a lot of that comes down to the standards that the band had set for themselves. Henley was the first one to put his all into every performance he gave, but even when they began working on their first album, he was never getting the drum sound that he wanted. He wanted to have that thunder he heard on old Zeppelin records, but he wasn’t exactly John Bonham whenever he hit the snare drum.
It took them a bit longer to understand the rules of the studio, but when Hotel California rolled around, they had finally matured into seasoned veterans. They could make a hit out of nearly anything they got their hands on, and while the title track will forever be known as their crowning achievement, it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park trying to get the rest of the album done, especially when Don Felder got stabbed in the back.
It’s no secret that Felder wasn’t the right singer for many of their songs, but when Henley went behind his back to record ‘Victim of Love’, it’s not like he was going to kiss and make up during the next session. At that point, everyone needed to grin and bear it, but Henley already had his hands full trying to sing along to ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ while locking in on the right tempo every time he sang.
Their ode to the excessive lifestyle relies on that airtight groove, and when looking back on the recording, Henley remembered how tough it was trying to make sure everything landed on the right beat, saying, “The bass guitar and bass-drum foot pedal, along with the rhythm guitar, provide the syncopation that underlies Joe’s riff in the choruses. It was a real bitch for me to learn how to do that syncopated bass-drum part and sing the melody at the same time.”
But that was kind of the point behind the record in the first place. When Joe Walsh first showed everyone the riff, it was supposed to be a dexterity exercise to warm up his fingers in between takes. So when that is translated to the drumkit, Henley’s syncopated hits provide the same sensation as trying to pat your stomach and rub your head, all while trying to ride a unicycle. And even then, Henley isn’t out of the woods.
Most people would be content to make it that far, but Henley also has to sing over that as well, which probably explains why the lines are done in short bursts. Henley knew to pick his battles whenever he was writing the melody, but the end of the verses, where he sings staccato lines, may as well have been his excuse to remind himself where the downbeat was when he was tearing through those final lines.
Henley had said for a long time that listening to ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ practically made him sick, but the nightmares about this song come from way more than simple rock and roll debauchery. Because if you’re not ready for a song like this when it comes up on a setlist, it’s enough to make anyone want to break out into cold sweats.
