The two albums that made Don Henley move to California: “It seemed like the right thing to do”
There’s a certain aura that draws people to Los Angeles. Despite the countless horror stories of celebrities being chewed up and spit out by the fame machine, there’s something about the city that keeps aspiring stars coming back, wondering if they have what it takes to become the next superstar. Don Henley, who achieved stardom with the Eagles, is a testament to this allure—he ventured out west with nothing but his music to guide him.
Although rock and roll had been around for some time when Henley was first getting behind the drumkit, he wasn’t necessarily gravitating to just old Elvis Presley records. He had been brought up in a small town in the middle of Texas, which meant a lot of country music was being played, just as much as rock and roll.
Once Henley saw The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show, he knew he had found what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. After putting together his first group, Shiloh, Henley cut his teeth in his local music scene before finally finding the place where all successful artists end up: Memphis.
Despite being known as one of the main forces in California music, Henley spent some time in the soul capital of the world to see if he could snag a country deal. While the Eagles had their soulful moments, it only took two records for Henley to start thinking that his future was in the Los Angeles sunshine.
When talking at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Henley remembered artists like The Flyin’ Burrito Brothers and Jesse Winchester lighting a fire in him, saying, “The music we were gravitating toward was coming from Los Angeles. We had grown up with country music but we also liked rock music. I remember buying the first Flyin’ Burrito Brothers album and listening to that over and over and Jesse Winchester’s album, which I think is a masterpiece. So it seemed like the right thing to do to go out West.”
While The Flyin’ Burrito Brothers had their roots in bands like The Byrds, Gram Parsons was always the one pushing the genre closer to country music, blending the uptempo rockers with the kind of lowdown ballads that had the potential to break your heart in more than a few places. Henley even lucked out once he got the Eagles off the ground, grabbing former Burrito Brother Bernie Leadon in the process.
Then again, it’s hard to really call the Eagles a purely country rock act. They had the hallmarks of both of those genres, but they had prided themselves on playing all kinds of music that they loved, whether that meant putting together a hard rock staple like ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ or something centred around soul music like ‘I Can’t Tell You Why’ and ‘Wasted Time’.
They might not have liked to be placed in a box, but what the Eagles did is still being felt within the world of country music as well as rock music to this day. Say what you want to about their credentials in whatever genre, but whenever you hear that signature guitar twang these days, it’s going to sound like the Eagles.
