Studio betrayal and broken promises: The song that broke up the Eagles
By the time the Eagles reached the mid-1970s, they were on top of the world. They had been sorting their way through every rock trope they could think of, and the album One of These Nights spawned three different singles, which all showed the promise of a long and storied career in the spotlight. With success also comes pressure, though, and the band had their backs against the wall when it came time to make Hotel California.
In hindsight, it is easy to shrug off these concerns. Hotel California is one of the best-selling rock albums of all time, with over 30 million units sold. The record is full of hits that not only helped to etch the name of the avian soft rock giants into the annals of music history but also soundtracked an entire generation of music lovers. The Eagles captured a moment in the 1970s that signalled to the world that everything might be fine.
When talking about making the concept for the album, Don Henley mentioned wanting to say something about the state of Hollywood, saying, “There’s a fine line between the American dream and the American nightmare.” The rest of the band were more than willing to comply, with Joe Walsh coming up with the original lick for ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ on a whim.
Walsh had claimed to use the lick as a warm-up exercise, but it turned into its own piece once Glenn Frey got the title for the track. The track was famously inspired by a cocaine dealer who seemed to be living fruitfully off the habits of Hollywood’s biggest stars, and after an exchange with Frey. Remembering the story as part of The History of the Eagles, “I was riding shotgun in a Corvette with a drug dealer on the way to a poker game. The next thing I know, we’re doing 90. Holding! [cocaine] Big time! I say, ‘Hey man!’ He grins and goes, ‘Life in the fast lane!’ I thought, ‘Now there’s a song title’”.
While guitarist Don Felder came up with the main chord progression for the title track, he had his sights on another song that he wrote for the album.
The feud over ‘Victim of Love’ that fractured the Eagles
Midway through recording, Felder said that he wanted to sing the track ‘Victim of Love’, which he claimed to have written by himself. As Henley remembers, Felder presented the band with just a collection of riffs, which was then turned into a song by Frey and JD Souther. The latter was a frequent collaborator with the band and was often involved in the songwriting.
After one butchered take after the next, the band told Felder that it would be better if he didn’t sing the song, only for Felder to put his foot down. Tensions were beginning to bubble into animosity, and the group saw no need to cause too much of a fuss over one number. The band acquiesced and let Felder have his own take on the track, but they also kept a close eye on their manager.
As the sessions were winding down, the band gave manager Irving Azoff a job: take Felder out to dinner while they re-recorded the entire track. When Felder found out that he was being erased from the tune, he mentioned feeling betrayed: “It was like Don was taking that song from me. I had been promised a song on the next record.”
While Henley, to this day, disputes that there were no promises made to Felder that he could keep the track as his own venture for the group, this started the dividing line between the band that would end up splitting them entirely. As the touring got bigger and bigger, Felder started to get more resentful towards Frey and Henley for getting all of the songwriting royalties. ‘Victim of Love’ was just the tip of the iceberg, but the kind of heavy-duty block that could capsize the Eagles’ Titanic.
By the time the band pulled into Long Beach for a benefit concert, Felder took it one step too far after making an off-handed remark to Senator Alan Cranston about the free show. Compared to the petty squabbling behind the scenes, there was audio taken of the infamous gig, which led to Frey and Felder threatening to kill each other onstage. When the house lights went out that night, Felder took his guitar, smashed it, and drove off, never to be heard from again.
Once bassist Timothy B Schmitt called Frey about the next rehearsals, he confirmed the worst: the band was history. The Eagles’ music may have reeked of California sunshine, but their final days ended with plotting, resentment, and some of the worst drama a band could ask for.
