As 1975 entered its final throes, the Eagles could reflect on the most momentous year yet in a career that had begun in 1971. Through the summer their fourth album ‘One of the These Nights‘ had become their first to top the U.S. charts where it stayed for four weeks, the record propelled to sales figures of several million not least by the fact it contained three, (‘Lyin’ Eyes‘, ‘Take it to the Limit‘ and the title-track), huge-selling singles.
Yet reaching a level where they were now one of the biggest bands in the world had not come without dilemma – the most pressing of which would shortly be resolved in fractious circumstances.
As their journey from purveyors of L.A. country-pop through to worldwide popularity as a soft-rock ensemble had unfolded, so the input of guitarist/pedal steel player Bernie Leadon had reduced. The direction of travel since the Eagles’ second album had been dictated by the songwriting axis of fellow founder members, drummer Don Henley and guitarist Glenn Frey – their melodic, well-crafted material noticeably different to the distinct country overtones evident in songs written by Leadon.
Bassist and other original member Randy Meisner – the Eagles extending to quintet when lead guitarist Don Felder joined in 1974 – had also seen his involvement as a songwriter diminish over time, but was responsible for the framework of ‘Take it to the Limit‘, (completed by Frey and Henley) that had earned the band a top five hit earlier in the year.
Yet as 1976 approached the group was mainly a vehicle for compositions of the core duo, such songs decorated by the soaring background vocals of Meisner and Leadon when either of the main songwriters sang lead, Felder where necessary adding sharp, succinct guitar lines.
Following a lengthy, sold out US tour that ran through to September 1975, such were the simmering tensions within the band (especially between Leadon and Frey), matters reached a head when they convened to start planning their next album, the disenchantment felt by Leadon resulting in him leaving with immediate effect. His departure was officially announced on December 20 1975 – while in virtually the same breath it was revealed ace guitarist and hotel room wrecking ball Joe Walsh had joined the group.
Quite how the former James Gang front man, now three albums into a solo career, would integrate his trademark tumult into the smooth, pristine sound of the Eagles was among any number of questions that followed news of his recruitment.
Those interested in such things were surprised a stray-Byrd or even more likely solo artist/songsmith JD Souther, a frequent writing collaborator of Henley and Frey had not been approached. In Irving Azoff the Eagles and Walsh shared the same manager and latterly with Bill Szymczyk had a producer in common, but even then it seemed a strange, somewhat confusing move for both parties.
True, the band gained a guitar player of considerable virtuosity, the joint presence offered by him and Felder a formidable proposition, but at the same time they had lost in Leadon a significant contributor to their distinctive harmonies. Walsh for his part, with a number of notable compositions to his name, would have to settle for minimal songwriting attention in a group whose planners on drums and guitar had built the foundations and were now creating designs for the future.
If the first stage in realising the ambitions harboured by Henley and Frey in elevating the Eagles to a higher plain still involved ingratiating Walsh to their audience, that mission was accomplished with extensive U.S. touring throughout 1976 – and during each leg of the tour, gargantuan sales of ‘Their Greatest Hits 1971-75‘ were paving the way for it to become the biggest selling album of all-time.
During breaks in the concert schedule and then at its completion, there were marathon recording bouts in Los Angeles and Miami. The sessions took place against a backdrop of legal issues surrounding the sale by David Geffen of Asylum (the label to which they signed back in 1971) and also a surfeit of alcohol and cocaine – this headfirst plunge into the twilight zone of L.A. hedonism informing much of the writing, particularly the vivid, if somewhat mystifying images depicted in the lyrics of Henley.
By the time it was finished the Eagles indeed had their fifth LP ready for release. But from a place among the prominent bands of the day, they gravitated to the position of undisputed front-runners by putting together the defining album of 70s mainstream rock.
‘HOTEL CALIFORNIA‘ (December 1976) saw the Eagles expand their creative oeuvre to such an extent they were able to infuse their disciplined, middle of the road sound with elements of reggae, soul, funk and hard rock, all seamlessly encased in the most complete presentation of their capabilities they would ever deliver.
True, this ultimate refining of everything Henley and Frey had strived for was slick and honed right down to every last note and vocal line. While such overt professionalism was held up by many as a scourge to have taken rock away from its freewheeling origins, (‘Hotel California‘ often cited as the album punk would come to rail against), when the sweep of the music was so compelling and the lyrical imagery contained such abundant intrigue, it was hard to reach any other conclusion than the Eagles making the definitive statement in wide scope, contemporary rock.
It also happened to be full of purpose at the same time.
Almost ten years before The Beatles had captured the essence of 1967 on ‘Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band‘, no rock album quite able to prove such a distillation of the times until ‘Hotel California‘ came along. Which is not to say the overriding theme of each record is markedly different.
The former, for the most part, is optimistic and upbeat in its connotations of tolerance and understanding, but the Eagles present a dark, disconcerting picture of where the Woodstock dream had led – the winding, mesmeric tale set at the ‘Hotel California‘, an allegory of how three days of music, peace and love had ended up at a place where alibies were a pre-requisite in the wake of Watergate and calamitous end to the Vietnam war with the fall of Saigon.
There is no doubting the record contains electric guitar solos for the ages and engaging choruses that sound outstanding no matter how many times they are heard. Yet at the hotel itself a quick peek at the dancers in the courtyard or brief glance into the captains chamber revealed America, in its 200th year, had lost a great deal of lustre.
‘It’s the Bicentennial Year and this is our Bicentennial statement,’ remarked Henley, when the record appeared. ‘It’s about the demise of the 60s and the decadence and escapism we are experiencing in the 70s. It’s also a comment on the destruction of the air and planet and ecology. I think California represents all that because its the vanguard of America, the furthest place you can go.’
From a working title of ‘Mexican Reggae‘ based on melodies composed by Felder, these evocative guitar progressions stirred in Frey visions based on the fantasy vision of California. Henley then drafted a set of imaginative lyrics, that drew upon their own extravagant lifestyles, strands of popular culture from contemporary literature (John Fowles novel ‘The Magus‘ widely taken as an influence) to rival rock bands (‘they stab it with their steely knives‘) – the track evolving into a six and half minute opus that is cinematic in scope and proportion.
At the outset the listener joins a lone traveler in the dead of an L.A. night. Surrounded by captivating aromas, the protagonist is unsure whether to continue on or retreat on seeing illumination coming from a distant building:
‘On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair/Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air/Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light/My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim/I had to stop for the night.‘
What he discovers on entry is aspirational idealism has been supplanted by willful decadence, the venue and residents seemingly a metaphor for the United States and a generation to have lost its way – the notion of universal love as espoused by the late-60s counter-culture now manifesting in personal interest and self-indulgence.
With the narrative coloured by canon-like drums, a sublime lead vocal (both the work of Henley) and bold rhythmic guitars, the instrumentation alone makes it a stunning piece of work. Indeed, transition from the closing lyrical couplet of ‘You can check-out any time you like/But you can never leave,’ to the howling, interlocking guitar solos of Felder and Walsh, is up there with the Daltrey scream in ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again‘ and pronounced piano chord ending ‘A Day in the Life‘ as a seminal moment in rock expressionism.
While not immediately apparent from the superb lead vocal of Frey – the song subsequently winning a Grammy for Best Vocal Arrangement for two or more voices – a resigned air also permeates through the masterful ‘New Kid in Town‘.
Composed by Souther, Henley and Frey, Walsh doing a fine turn on electric piano, at the heart of this sumptuous country ballad is the notion of just how fleeting and transparent stardom can be, ‘People you meet, they all seem to know you/Even your old friends treat you like you’re something new.’
No matter how much acclaim is bestowed during the climb to the top, the true challenge is to remain there, the final verse encapsulating the sense fame can last fifteen minutes – or only as long it takes for someone younger to arrive on the scene:
‘There’s talk on the street, it’s there to remind you/Doesn’t really matter which side you’re on/You’re walking away and they’re talking behind you/They will never forget you ’til somebody new comes along.’
For the high-rolling, promiscuous couple depicted in ‘Life in the Fast Lane‘ it is more a case of living in the moment, their lives wrapped in coursing cocktail of gratification. Fueled by a high octane riff worked up by Walsh, the title and lyric were based on a remark made to Frey while speeding along an L.A. freeway with a drug dealer on the way to a poker game, Henley painting a colourful, yet candid picture of a licentious lifestyle:
‘Eager for action and hot for the game/The coming attraction, the drop of a name/They knew all the right people, they took all the right pills/They threw outrageous parties, they paid heavenly bills.’
If this was the epitome of the tough rocking proposition Henley and Frey thought the Eagles could become with Walsh in tow, by contrast side one closer ‘Wasted Time‘ revealed their sensitive side, this serene break-up ballad, influenced by the lush arrangements of Philadelphia soul.
Framed by a gorgeous string arrangement by Jim Ed Norman (who would be credited on the emotive instrumental reprise that opens side two), Henley produces a suitably earnest vocal in delivering his lyrics, the painful end to a love affair explained from the prospective of both parties:
‘Back out on the street/And you’re trying to remember, oh/How do you start it over/You don’t know if you can/You don’t care much for a stranger’s touch/But you can’t hold your man. You never thought you’d be alone/This far down the line/But I know what’s been on your mind/You’re afraid it’s all been wasted time.’
By the end Henley, accompanied by Frey on piano and sweeping strings worthy of an emotional film scene, offers hope their shared experiences were not without worth and in time will be felt with less heartache than here in the present:
‘The love has come and gone/The years keep rushing on/I remember what you told me/Before you went out on your own/Sometimes to keep it together/You got to leave it alone/So you can get on with your search, baby/And I can get on with mine/Maybe someday we will find/That it wasn’t really wasted time.’
Built on another of the guitar motifs thought up by Felder, the hard-edged rock track ‘Victim of Love‘ is fleshed out with lyrics by Henley, Frey and Souther.
The strident electric guitars give added edge to a fiery track describing a wronged-woman contributing to her own downfall in a tempestuous relationship (‘I heard about you and that man/There’s just one thing I don’t understand/You say he’s a liar, and he put out your fire/How come you still got his gun in your hand?’)
While Felder again asserts himself as a guitarist, the lead vocal opportunity that by assumption he thought was his came to be denied. Having sung on several takes, Felder was apparently taken out to dinner by Eagles manager Irving Azoff – while at the same time a new vocal was installed, the finished article sung by Henley, who later recalled, ‘He sang it dozens of times over the space of a week but it simply did not come up to band standards.’
Composed, by Walsh, in conjunction with long-time collaborator Joe Vitale, ‘Pretty Maids All in a Row‘ is an aching lament on growing older and facing the challenges that overtime life presents – not least in the case of the latest Eagle being the tragic death of two-year old daughter Emma in a traffic accident almost three years before.
While not entirely out of character, Walsh had written a couple of effective ballads – including ‘Song for Emma‘ – on ‘So What‘ (1974), his most recent solo album, which Frey, Henley and Meisner had appeared on, but this was the most compelling song in such vein he would ever write.
Far closer to something by Randy Newman than ‘Rocky Mountain Way,’ seated at the piano Walsh considers how life does not adhere to any fixed pattern, while contemplating the bittersweet nature of experience:
‘Hi there, how are ya? It’s been a long time/It seems like we’ve come a long way/My, but we learn so slow
And heroes, they come and they go/And leave us behind/As if we’re s’posed to know (why? Why?)/Why do we give up our hearts to the past?/And why must we grow up so fast?‘
The words become even more resonant when Walsh sings, ‘Gone are the ribbons and bows‘ which sounds direct reference to the child he has lost. The vocal is clearly heartfelt through a song displaying remarkable vulnerability for one steeped in the tradition of riotous rockstar behaviour, Keith Moon being a particular close friend.
It is Meisner found with an aching heart on his self-written ‘Try and Love Again‘ a mid-tempo country-rock track of telling high quality. Through his distinct, expressive vocal and bass pushed up in the mix, alongside some striking Gretsch guitar work from Walsh, he dominates a song where the narrator is ruing the end of a relationship, finding little solace in looking forward:
‘Right or wrong, what’s done is done/It’s only moments that you borrow/But the thoughts will linger on/
Of the lady and her song/When the sun comes up tomorrow/Well, it might take years/To see through all these tears/Don’t let go/When you find it you will know.’
In a curious, but equally fitting way it would prove the last Eagles song to bear his name, Meisner leaving the band less than 12 months later at the end of a world tour to promote ‘Hotel California.’ Exhausted by pressures found at the summit of the rock world, he quit and headed back to his native Nebraska to start planning a solo career, although like Leadon before him (and Felder further down the road), discovered being at loggerheads with Frey was a surefire way to end tenure as an Eagle.
Following on from the musings of Walsh and Meisner, there is no escaping either the sense of loss emanating from the epic seven minute closing track ‘The Last Resort‘ – only now the losses are being counted up by the United States, Henley, in lyrics set to music by Frey (who guides the song from piano), taking a rueful view of how America has misused its resources and lost sight of core values.
Through the near 50-year existence of this magnificent, often disillusioned, always thought-provoking song, Henley, on occasion, has referred to it as ‘The Vast Report‘ or ‘How the West was Lost‘, his self-effacement not detracting in any way from a work of great depth and ambition.
The story begins with a young woman, (‘She came from Providence/The one in Rhode Island‘), before unfolding out to encompass the rapid industrial development of a country whose expansion, in both economic and geographical terms, comes at a devastating cost to the environment, profit and pollution the price of apparent progress:
‘Some rich men came and raped the land/Nobody caught ’em/Put up a bunch of ugly boxes/And Jesus people bought ’em/And they called it paradise/The place to be/They watched the hazy sun/Sinking in the sea.’
In one final observation of how man has imposed himself on the surroundings, Henley describes Sunday morning churchgoers as they ‘Stand up and sing about/What it’s like up there.’ The glory of heaven evoked in the hymns they are singing is cast in ironic light by the writer, who has described how greedy and shortsighted human endeavours have wrecked beautiful places on earth, utopia an unfortunate label to attach to anywhere, irrespective of it being above or below the clouds, ‘They call it paradise/I don’t know why/You call someplace paradise/Kiss it goodbye’ – this resplendent album thus brought full circle with allusion to the fading allure of California.
Given the growing momentum behind the Eagles going into the second half of the 1970s, their fifth album was always likely to generate huge attention, not to mention sales, but the fact ‘Hotel California‘ was so accomplished and refined sent them into a stratosphere very few have reached.
By the middle of the following year it had already notched sales of over ten million, spent two months at number one in the U.S. album charts and in time became a landmark 70s cultural artefact, taking its place alongside other phenomenon’s of the era such as ‘Star Wars‘ and ‘Close Encounters.’
For the Eagles, however, it did become something of a millstone, with three years and countless unproductive recording sessions to endure before a follow-up finally appeared, the album coming to define them back then as it does to this day.
Down the years people have worn out several vinyl copies and moved to owning ‘Hotel California‘ in various other formats.
Which just goes to prove – you can chuck it out anytime you like, but it never leaves………
EAGLES – HOTEL CALIFORNIA (Released December 8 1976):
Hotel California/New Kid in Town/Life in the Fast Lane/Wasted Time/Wasted Time (Reprise)/Victim of Love/Pretty Maids All In a Row/Try and Love Again/The Last Resort;
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.