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Eagles (album)

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Eagles is the debut album by the rock band the Eagles. The album was recorded at London's Olympic Studios with producer Glyn Johns and released in 1972. The album was an immediate success for the young band reaching No. 22 on the charts and going platinum. Three singles were released from the album, each reaching the Top 40: "Take It Easy" (number 12), "Witchy Woman" (number 9), and "Peaceful Easy Feeling" (number 22). The band, starting with this album, played a major role in popularizing the country rock sound.[1]

The album was ranked number 368 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time published in 2012.[2] The single "Take It Easy" is part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".[3] This album was slated for Quadraphonic release and even given a Quadraphonic catalog number but it was never released in that format.

Background

In 1971, the band had just been formed and signed by David Geffen, who then sent them to Aspen, Colorado, to develop as a band. For their first album, Glyn Johns was chosen as the producer by Glenn Frey, as Johns had produced a number of rock albums they liked, by bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin. Johns was invited by Geffen to see the band perform at a club called Tulagi in Boulder, Colorado, in December 1971.[4][5] Johns, however, was not impressed by the band's live performance, thinking that the band was confused and lacking in cohesion—Frey wanted it to be a rock & roll band while Bernie Leadon wanted a country feel—so Johns declined to produce the album.[6][7] Johns was persuaded by Geffen to have a second listen in a rehearsal setting in Los Angeles, but Johns did not change his opinion of the band until all four started singing harmonies with acoustic guitar on a ballad written by Meisner, "Take The Devil".[8] Johns was impressed by their harmony singing, and later said: "There it was, the sound. Extraordinary blend of voices, wonderful harmony sound, just stunning."[6] Johns emphasized the vocal blend of the band and has been credited with shaping the band into "the country-rock band with those high-flyin' harmonies".[9]

Recording

The band went to London where they spent two weeks recording the album at the Olympic Studios. The album cost $125,000 to produce.[10] Johns tried to introduce a more acoustic sound in the recording, and concentrated on the vocal blend and arrangements.[8] Frey later admitted: "He was the key to our success in a lot of ways", but added: "We just didn’t want to make another limp-wristed L.A. country-rock record."[9] As a result, there were frequent disagreements over the sound of the band between the producer and Frey and Don Henley during the making of the album.[10] Frey and Henley wanted a rougher rock and roll sound, while Johns was interested in using Bernie Leadon's banjo and Randy Meisner's bass to create a more country sound.[10] On "Take It Easy", Johns got Leadon to play double-time banjo on the song, a little touch that Johns felt made the song different.[8]

Three of the songs recorded in London feature Frey on lead vocals, another three with Meisner and two with Leadon. The chirping sound at the start of the song by Leadon and Meisner, "Earlybird", was taken from a sound-effect library.[11]

Originally, Henley only had one song on the album, namely "Witchy Woman". Later, a further track, "Nightingale", was recorded in Los Angeles after Geffen and manager Elliot Roberts listened to the tape of the album and decided that it needed another song with Henley on lead vocals.[12] Johns had previously recorded a few takes of the song in London, but abandoned it as he felt it did not work. Geffen tried to get the song recorded with another production team,[13] and Johns, angered by the attempt to record "Nightingale" behind his back, then re-recorded the song with the band at Wally Heider's Studio 3 in Hollywood. Even though Johns judged this recording unsatisfactory, it was included in the album.[14]

Artwork

Album cover artist Gary Burden with photography by Henry Diltz were responsible for the album artwork. The album was initially designed as a gatefold album that would further open up into a poster, however Geffen thought it would be confusing, and glued it together so that it would not open, and the gatefold image of the band members at Joshua Tree then became orientated the wrong side up.[15] In the documentary History of the Eagles, Glenn Frey revealed that the band were all on peyote when the gatefold picture of the band members were shot in Joshua Tree National Park.[16]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[17]
Robert ChristgauB[18]
Rolling Stone[19]

Robert Christgau felt that the band wrote good songs, but he was unsure about the authenticity of their country roots so what they produced was "suave and synthetic--brilliant, but false."[18] Bud Scoppa of Rolling Stone on the other hand, reviewing in 1972, felt that they had "distinguished" country-rock backgrounds, and wrote: "The Eagles is right behind Jackson Browne's record as the best first album this year. And I could be persuaded to remove the word "first" from that statement."[20]

Allmusic's William Ruhlmann, in his retrospective review, sums up the album as balanced in terms of songwriting, however noting that the three hit singles were sung by Frey and Henley who would later go on to dominate the band.[21] Rolling Stone listed it as number 368 on their "500 Greatest Albums" with the comment that the album "created a new template for laid-back L.A. country-rock style".[2] It was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[22]

Commercial performance

The album debuted on the US Billboard 200 chart at number 102 in its first week of release,[23] rising at number 22 in its sixth week on the chart.[24] The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 20, 2001 for shipment of 1 million copies in the United States.[25]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Take It Easy"
Glenn Frey3:34
2."Witchy Woman"
Don Henley4:10
3."Chug All Night"FreyFrey3:18
4."Most of Us Are Sad"FreyRandy Meisner3:38
5."Nightingale"BrowneHenley4:08
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Train Leaves Here This Morning"
Leadon4:13
2."Take the Devil"MeisnerMeisner4:04
3."Earlybird"
  • Leadon
  • Meisner
Leadon3:03
4."Peaceful Easy Feeling"Jack TempchinFrey4:20
5."Tryin'"MeisnerMeisner2:54

Personnel

Eagles

Production[26]

Charts and certifications

References

  1. ^ Michael Ray, ed. (December 1, 2012). Disco, Punk, New Wave, Heavy Metal, and More: Music in the 1970s and 1980s. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-61530-912-2.
  2. ^ a b "500 Greatest Albums: The Eagles – The Eagles | Rolling Stone Music | Lists". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  3. ^ "Experience The Music: One Hit Wonders and The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  4. ^ Brown, George (June 1, 2004). Colorado Rocks!: A Half-century of Music in Colorado. Pruett Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-87108-930-4.
  5. ^ Matt Sebastian (January 19, 2016). "Glenn Frey and the Eagles a storied part of Boulder's music history". Daily Camera.
  6. ^ a b History of the Eagles. 2013. Event occurs at 34:50–36:55.
  7. ^ Eliot, Marc (2004). To The Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles. Da Capo Press. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-0-306-81398-6.
  8. ^ a b c "Glyn Johns – Album by Album". Uncut.co.uk. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  9. ^ a b Cameron Crowe (September 25, 1975). "Rolling Stone #196: The Eagles". The Uncool.
  10. ^ a b c Eliot, Marc (2004). To The Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles. Da Capo Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN 978-0-306-81398-6.
  11. ^ Browne, David (June 10, 2016). "Eagles' Complete Discography: Don Henley Looks Back". Rolling Stone.
  12. ^ Eliot, Marc (2004). To The Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles. Da Capo Press. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-306-81398-6.
  13. ^ Bill Halverson. "Unreleased Eagles Music".
  14. ^ Johns, Glyn (November 13, 2014). "The Eagles, 1971". Sound Man: A Life Recording Hits with The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Eric Clapton, The Faces. Plume. ISBN 978-1-101-61465-5.
  15. ^ History of the Eagles. 2013. Event occurs at 47:20–48:00.
  16. ^ The Eagles' Greatest Hit Grantland, August 14, 2013.
  17. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Eagles". Allmusic. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  18. ^ a b Christgau, Robert. "The Eagles: Desperado". Robert Christgau.com. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  19. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). Eagles. Simon and Schuster. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  20. ^ Scoppa, Bud (June 22, 1972). "The Eagles – The Eagles". Billboard.
  21. ^ William Ruhlmann (2011). "Eagles – Eagles | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved September 13, 2011. by Frey and Henley.
  22. ^ "1001 Albums You Must Hear – 2008 Edition". rocklistmusic.co.uk. 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2011. Eagles
  23. ^ "Billboard 200". Billboard. June 24, 1972.
  24. ^ "Billboard 200". Billboard. August 5, 1972.
  25. ^ a b "American album certifications – Eagles – Eagles". Recording Industry Association of America.
  26. ^ "Eagles – Eagles". Discogs.
  27. ^ "Eagles / Awards". Allmusic.
  28. ^ "Eagles Album & Song Chart History – Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
  29. ^ "Eagles Album & Song Chart History – Easy Listening". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
  30. ^ "RPM100". RPM.
  31. ^ "RPM Pop Music Playlist". RPM.
  32. ^ "dutchcharts.nl – Dutch charts portal". dutchcharts.nl.
  33. ^ id MUST BE PROVIDED for UK CERTIFICATION.
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