The new year is barely three weeks old and in that short time it’s already claimed the lives of two musicians of immense stature. First it was David Bowie and now Glenn Frey, who, according to an official statement, succumbed on 1/18/16 to complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia. In every sense, both literal and figurative, their deaths create an immense vacuum and, more to the point, a sense of shock and sadness that lends a sense of disbelief.
Countless words will be spoken in the coming days about Frey’s musical contributions, particularly as a member of the Eagles, one of the most successful bands in music history and a group that helped initiate Americana even before the term was widely adapted. Their hits are part of the lexicon of popular music, and it’s all but impossible to name an Eagles song that hasn’t been indelible part of nearly every popular radio format imaginable, not to mention a million seller, either as a single or album track. However, in remembrance of Frey’s remarkable talents, we here at Glide would like to make note of some of his songs that soared beneath the surface and are worth remembering today as part of his classic canon.
“After the Thrill Is Gone” — One of These Nights — 1975
One of Frey’s chief attributes was his soulful voice, one that was not only well suited to the country rock that the Eagles were so adapt at, but also allowed them to expand their parameters into other realms as well. One of These Nights was such an album, and Frey’s songs gave that effort an R&B edge that was somewhat shocking initially but durable enough to make it one of the band’s best-selling albums. Frey’s contributions to that record were significant, with songs such as the title track and “Take It To the Limit” emerging as bonafide classics. However, “After the Thrill Is Gone” is an equally essential track, one of Frey’s most aching vocals and certainly among his most affecting as well.
“You Belong to the City –– Miami Vice Soundtrack –1985
Although co-written with Jack Tempchin specifically for the TV series “Miami Vice,” Frey performed it frequently on tour with the Eagles, making it an essential part of their live repertoire. Much like the songs on One of These Days, it reflects Frey’s emotive vocals as well as his instrumental dexterity. (He plays everything but sax on the track. The music video that accompanied the song, originally released in 1984, finds Frey and a mysterious woman that he’s been observing from afar crossing paths on a city street and eventually finding an elusive connection.
“The Last Resort” – Hotel California — 1976
As one of the best selling albums of all time, Hotel California was filled with melodic gems that helped define the Eagles as one of the most proficient and prolific groups of the 20th century. Consequently, it’s hard to pick one song from that album that didn’t get immense attention. So while “The Last Resort” was certainly one of its highlights, it pales in radio play comparison to the title track, “New Kid In Town” and Joe Walsh’s barnburner “Life in the Fast Lane.” A song with a dire meaning, specifically about how mankind is messing up the environment, it purveyed the album’s conceptual theme in title only.
“Doolin’ Dalton” – Desperado – 1971
The Desperado album lifted the Eagles into an entirely different sphere, confirming their eventual elevation to superstar status. This song played on its central theme, one that dealt with the Old West, where outlaws were hotshots and the coolest cats around. Here Frey delivers an ode to one such gunslinger and, as usual, makes a convincing case in the process.
“Tequila Sunrise” — Desperado – 1971
Another track culled from Desperado, it received substantial attention on the album’s release before eventually yielding to the steady stream of hits that followed. Nevertheless, it remains of the Eagles’ greatest performances, a heartbreaking tale of heartbreak and solitude swept up in a last lonely cocktail. It wasn’t any coincidence that the tequila sunrise was the party drink of choice back in those heady days of the early ‘70s, a concoction that came to represent the decadence and depravity of the West Coast rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. Suffice it to say, the Eagles were an ideal match.
“New Kid in Town” – Hotel California – 1976
A remarkable song, not only for the fact that it helped establish a country rock sound that leaned more towards the latter, but also for its complex narrative. Eagles’ biographer Marc Eliot describe it as “a precise and spectacular moment immediately familiar to any guy who’s ever felt the pain, jealousy, insecurity, rage and heartbreak of the moment he discovers his girlfriend likes someone better and has moved on.”He also suggests that it captures a more abstract theme of “the fickle nature of both the muse and the masses.” Don Henley said “It’s about the fleeting fickle nature of love and romance and also about the fleeting nature of fame, especially in the music business.” It earned the Eagles one of their manly distinctions over the years, a Grammy for Best Arrangement for Voices. Henley would later reference the song on his first solo album I Can’t Stand Still, singing “there’s a new kid in town” over the fade for “Johnny Can’t Read.”
“Smuggler’s Blues” –– The Allnighter- 1984
Although not an Eagles song per se, “Smuggler’s Blues” helped Frey assert his individual identity on a number of fronts. Indeed, while other musicians contributed to Miami Vice’s hit-laden soundtracks — Phil Collins, Chaka Khan, Tina Turner and composer Jan Hammer in particular — Frey went one step further, actually playing a recurring character named Jimmy Cole, a smuggler who was especially fond of his guitar. The episode entitled “Smuggler’s Blues” not only introduced the character, but the song of the same name which Frey performed on that episode and in a subsequent story called “A Bullet for Crocket.”
“Out of Control” –– Desperado – 1971
One of Frey’s rockier efforts, the song is an all out clarion call to party and to party hard. The lyric about not having a woman in so long is a little bit of stretch — he was a charismatic rock star in one of the most successful bands in the world after all — but then again, artistic license for the sake of making an imprint is a rocker’s right. The song comes on fast and furious, and while Frey’s vocal is at the center of it all and spitting out the song with full fury, it’s his lead guitar playing that sets the tone and tenacity. The track is certainly lesser known by Eagles standards, but the performance itself gives it greater gumption,
“James Dean” – On the Border – 1974
Like the immortal actor name dropped in the title, “James Dean was a song that could have been about the Eagles themselves, a group of individuals who played hard and lived even harder. The song rocked at an unrelenting tempo, and was originally recorded for the album Desperado but then dropped when the record’s Wild West theme emerged. Thankfully it was later salvaged, subsequently becoming on of On the Border’s most memorable inclusions.
“Ol 55” — On the Border – 1974
Another rare outside cover, “Ol’ 55 was originally penned by Tom Waits and included on his debut album Closing Time. As Waits‘ career progressed, the song became something of anachronism, no longer in keeping with his subsequent scorching style. Frey’s vocal allowed it to find an ideal fit in the Eagles’s canon, thanks to a sentimental pull that was once the band’s stock in trade. Ironically, Waits himself didn’t care for their version, labelling it “A little antiseptic.” Nevertheless, his wonderful melody is made even sweeter by Frey’s touching treatment.
2 Responses
Fantastic list…thanks for including some deeper cuts. After the Thrill is one of my favorite all time so go and what more can you say about The Last Resort…Out of Control? YES….great inclusion as well!
Keep up the great work!
Don Henley sings Last Resort. It’s a Henley tune not Frey.
Otherwise, good picks.