Eagles & Glenn Frey: Beyond Cool, A Band for All Time

Looks so innocent but is probably about to say something totally incendiary

First of all, I have to say it’s simply crass to use a band member’s untimely demise as a platform to attack a band as Gersh Kuntzman does in this vitriolic diatribe for the New York Daily News, in which he calls the Eagles a horrific band. Why he is then astonished by the strong reactions of already grieving fans amazes me. It seems that the New York Times agrees, recently publishing an article on how to speak of the dead, partly as a reaction to these anti-Eagles tirades, the gist of which is summed up by this comment: 'Hey, it’s ok to not like the Eagles. It’s also ok to shut up about it for a few days when one of them dies.' Try to remember some of us are heart-broken.

Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, Don Henley, Glenn Frey

I’ve already written a blog riposte (‘Kick ’em When They’re Up'), to a similar wave of ‘cooler-than-thou’ journalism, which extended across most of the British broadsheets and in this, there’s a link to the idiotic article that inspired it (trashing Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles and any band who dared to have longevity as if their still being around was an affront to the world).

They invariably act like these bands were always dinosaurs and should be extinct by now. But to longtime fans, part of the appeal is their endurance and the fact that the songs, which were fresh and exciting when you first heard them and immediately memorable are now like old friends who you don't see that often but always get on well with when you do. They're as familiar and comfortable as the flannel shirts Don and Glenn wear onstage.

Heartfelt thanks to those, like Bob Lefsetz, who wrote moving tributes to Glenn. It's a shame that for every positive, there's a negative, like the aforementioned Kuntzman and a venomous piece from the Houston Chronicle that I can no longer access.

Jeff Bridges, The Dude in The Big Lebowski

Kuntzman's is the typical hipster's response; it runs along these lines: ‘The Coen brothers are cool, therefore their films are cool, their characters are cool, therefore the Dude must be cool (and Jeff Bridges of course), and the Dude doesn’t like the Eagles therefore the Eagles can't be cool, therefore, in order to be cool, I have to dislike the Eagles’. Do we care what these people think? Probably not as it’s their loss but it’s still incredibly aggravating when someone is ignorant enough to dismiss a band’s entire oeuvre. For more on my dislike of the Coen Brothers, see Inside Llewyn Davis.

With Don Felder

The Eagles don't need to be rehabilitated for the modern age or regarded from an ironic distance like people have a tendency to do with Abba (which is always so condescending). This sometimes happens when bands are inordinately successful. They exclude themselves from the cult of cool. Or cool of cult. There's always more cultural cachet to be had from supporting a little-known or even vaguely obscure artist and believe me, I'm crazy about a number of artists who fit the latter category, from Benedict Benjamin to XC-NN. I can see the cult in cultural. There aren't many people who want to believe that their taste is run of the mill and mainstream and there's an understanding that once you attain this universal popularity, you are somehow no longer worthy of it. You know the build 'em up to knock 'em down approach.

So, to rebut some of his assertions. Don't get me wrong, I know he has a right to his point of view, as much as I have a right to disagree. 

1 The Eagles were a lousy band (or 'horrific' as he puts in the title)

This is a statement designed purely to provoke attention and response. Surely no one who's heard Hotel California can really think this? Even if you think you don't know it, you know it.

2 The Eagles produced 'pop pap'.

To label One of These Nights, a song that could set my heart racing, it was so exciting, so atmospheric, 'pop pap' just beggars belief. It's possible that GK's childhood was a lot less mundane than mine. Either that or he has no imagination. Has he ever heard Outlaw Man (listen to that banjo), No More Walks in the Wood, Waiting in the Weeds, Doolin' Dalton? Pop pap would be Calvin Harris and his ilk.

3 The Eagles have too many songs with 'easy' in the titles.

Well, this does seem to be his point. Delve a bit deeper. There are plenty that don't.

Jackson Browne

4 Jackson Browne’s version of Take It Easy is sexier than the Eagles' one.

This is plain crazy. Only a man could have written this. Ok, I know that JB was a ladies man in his day but sexier than Glenn, who simply oozed pheromones? I don't think so. I always thought of Jackson Browne as sensitive and thoughtful while Glenn was master of the snap retort, every hair toss replete with unabashed sex appeal. More on this in Glenn Frey, Cowboy Casanova and in this appreciation of Timothy B. Schmit. Plus only Glenn could have delivered these immortal lines: 'It's a girl, my Lord/In a flatbed Ford/Slowing down to take a look at me'. Or have the humour and self-awareness to sing in Already Gone:* 'Well, I heard some people talkin' just the other day/And they said you were gonna put me on a shelf/But let me tell ya/I got some news for you/And you'll soon find out it's true/And then you'll have to eat your lunch all by yourself'. 
* Already Gone was written by Jack Tempchin and Robb Strandlund but the lyrics seem to be quintessentially Glenn.

5 You can't like the Clash if you appreciate the Eagles.

Hmm, I'm pretty sure that I bought a Clash album and an Eagles album on the same day. They're not mutually exclusive. Although the Adverts are my favourite band from the punk era. Yes, and that was a totally gratuitous nod to the One Chord Wonders, simply because I could and more people should.

Bernie Leadon

6 There's an implicit assumption that, if it weren't for the Eagles, people who the author deems more deserving (because they have a smaller following or because they're less marketable) like Gram Parsons and Gene Clark would have been more successful. This is a fallacious argument. I would propose the opposite. For many, the Eagles were a ‘gateway’ band into obscurer terrain. Bernie Leadon’s My Man was in fact a tribute to Gram Parsons. If it hadn't been for the Eagles, I might never have listened to Poco or Gene Clark. It doesn't really matter who came first or who was more successful. And I expect there are those who believe that with the Eagles, it's all about the money. I appreciate their honesty - even when they were young, they admitted they wanted to make a lot of money. Because of this and because of funny items like this spoof of band members talking: 'Henley: Uh, I think what Glenn was trying to say was that sure, the album came out just fine, but do you not remember the torture it took us to make it? How Azoff had to ply us with $100 bills in a trail from our houses to the studio?', people have assumed that the music is secondary. They don't seem to realise that these are jokes but even so, doesn't it somehow make them cooler? For instance, this from the same cruel but funny article: 'Schmit: I can’t afford Eagles concert tickets. Henley: Well, I can. And trust me. You’d stay in your seat the whole time. Every time you turn your head away from the stage, you’ve wasted approximately 27 dollars.'

Joe Walsh

7 'This diatribe has one caveat: Joe Walsh. The greatest of all Eagles always kept his soft-rock comrades at arm’s length'.

Another thing you’ll notice about these carping critics. They always make an exception for Joe Walsh because they think he’s a card-carrying rockstar (complete with drugged-up past) with street cred because of his previous cool (read 'bad') behaviour, and his skill on the guitar. All the hipsters think Joe is cool – partly because he used to smash things up. Sure, he adds something but he’s not the Eagles (no offence to Joe fans, who are legend and legion), neither is Timothy B. Schmit (much as I like him now). They’re the Johnny-Come-Latelys, the New Kids in Town. Although I do make an exception for Don Felder. Whatever people say now, he'll always be an Eagle to me.

There were some straightforward but perfectly crafted country rock songs, but country rock itself wasn't even a proper genre then and what there was had little purchase on the music scene until the Eagles arrived. There was (the) Buffalo Springfield then Poco, but their reach was limited. And that's not to mention the influence the Eagles have had: Fleet Foxes, Jayhawks, Golden Smog and so on, all building careers on the template of exquisite harmonies, contagious melodies and something to say. Protest songs are now sadly a thing of the past but I love it when a writer cares about a cause or a situation. although I focus on some of my favourites here, in a list that includes Jackson Browne's tour de force, For America.

And there's so much wit and so much self-awareness in the title of their comeback tour: Hell Freezes Over. They simultaneously don't take themselves seriously while being deadly serious and cashing in on their previous pledge.

The trouble is that the Eagles are too successful and this kind of unprecedented achievement leads people to carp and moan. Once, when I was younger and more arrogant, I used to like to say that I thought the Beatles were overrated, in order to provoke a reaction. Now I think it's sort of great that I like some of the same music as my Dad and can take him to see the Eagles or Fleetwood Mac.

Glenn Frey, RIP Outlaw Man

Yes, as Bob Lefsetz mentions, they lived the American Dream, but they also analysed, deconstructed and dismantled it in songs like Hotel California and The Last Resort, showing how quickly it could turn into a nightmare. Henley’s lyrics roll off the tongue because they sound so natural but they’re still clever, polemical, insightful (surely there isn’t anyone too soulless or too secure to identify with the sentiment in Wasted Time?), or incisive, dismissive, satirical (Get over It: 'Victim of this/Victim of that/Your Momma's too thin/And your Daddy's too fat'). They’re not glib. But compare them with the subject matter of chart songs today – see my blog on ‘Modern Music’ – they raise issues, are often poetic and thought-provoking. They’re not about having a party or waving your hands in the air or being sexy in the club. So, you might say music is changing but subject matter, melody, scope are all decreasing. No longer do we have pop songs about boys being molested on school trips. Name that tune.

I’m not saying that I love every Eagles song – there are some on each album that I consider Eagles by numbers but these very tracks are other fans’ favourites: Busy Being Fabulous, Chug All Night (well maybe not Chug All Night) and so on.

And I'd like to ask: When does the Dude lose his 'coolness'? And surely, if everybody thinks he's cool, he's now too mainstream to actually be so. But what I meant to say was that Eagles music is timeless and will hopefully move and entertain future generations. They're not this week's fancy or last year's trend. They are much more than this, they are beyond cool and, as Glenn said, 'a band for all time'.

Every time I start to listen to an Eagles song now, I get all choked up and I know I'll feel this way for some time. I really wish I didn't have to write this but

RIP Glenn Frey.

The thrill has gone.

'Some called it country, some called it rock and roll': Poco and Timothy B. Schmit

Refreshingly casual

Links in song titles as usual. Tenuous Kinks connection is their country album, the brilliant Muswell Hillbillies. Here's a taster complete with Ray's customary pop at Dave.

When It All Began

I remember the feeling, not so long ago/The kids came dancin', their hearts were romancin'/And the music was live Poco/Some called it country, some called it rock and roll/But whatever the sound, it was sure to be found/With a heart, rhythm and soul

So, through the Eagles and Timothy B. Schmit, I finally get to Poco. What an amazing band. I said before that I thought they were a prototype for early Eagles. They were like outriders, checking out the territory, pioneers. Of course they were part of a bigger movement, a general progression that was taking place in California in the late 60s and early 70s and rose from the ashes of Buffalo Springfield (also forerunners) in 1968, with Richie Furay, Jim Messina and Rusty Young recruiting George Grantham and Randy Meisner. Having just read Hotel California by Barney Hoskyns, I can understand why their first album was called Pickin' up the Pieces. That’s what Stills and Young always seemed to leave in their wake. Pieces.

Particularly winsome: Randy Meisner

I had no idea that Randy Meisner was asked to leave the band. I had assumed (as a new fan) that he was poached by the Eagles but now I see that the timeframe for that would not work. Can't believe they took his picture off the sleeve and had George Grantham redo all his lead vocals. Goes to show that all bands have their spats. What’s astonishing is, if Randy was willing to upset the applecart with Poco, how did he last as long as he did with the surely less easy-going Glenn and Don?

Here’s an extract from an interview with Rusty Young about that era:

It was a great time to be there. The music scene wasn’t what it is today.  It was before MTV and all this other kind of stuff. It was a real local happening there in Los Angeles. Eras were changing. The Troubadour was the hub of it all.  We were like the house band at the Troubadour once we got our band together. Everybody hung out there, from Ricky Nelson to J. D. Souther, Jackson Browne, Waylon Jennings … any night there would be interesting people there.

The Troubador, LA

And here’s TBS on Richie Furay:

Richie is a dear friend of mine, still is to this day. He taught me a lot. I came to Los Angeles when I was still 21 I think, I turned 22 as I was working in that band. I was very young, and he really kind of showed me a whole new level of singing and being on stage. He really had a lot of faith and trust in my ability, which was really wonderful for me. I ended up doing Poco between 1969 and 1977, that’s how long I was in Poco. I was involved in about thirteen albums.

This is typical Timothy – grounded, modest, unassuming, always ready to give credit to others – it’s no wonder he keeps all his friends.

And Poco were pretty central to the whole vibe according to Domenic Priore as quoted in Hotel California:

The Eagles will tell you that the Dillard & Clark shows were like fucking revival meetings … Pogo and Dillard & Clark and Linda Ronstadt were really the seminal events.

Yes. That's when they were still called Pogo. I can imagine that at that time, they would have seemed like the band most likely to make it even though in 1969, David Geffen decided to swap them with Clive Davis for David Crosby.

The biggest hit

As a latecomer to the band, it’s hard for me to catch up with all the albums and changes in line-up. It’s probably best if I don’t try for the moment. I’ve experienced this before, discovering Husker Du by way of Nirvana, so seven years after the former had broken up. If you don’t grow up with a band, you have an entirely different perspective on them than if you watch them progress alongside you. For instance, I’m exploring Poco songs on YouTube but usually there’s little extraneous detail so when I heard Crazy Love (amazing song and as I understand it, their biggest hit and ranked by Billboard as the no.1 Adult Contemporary hit of 1979). I thought that it was TBS singing, not realising that this was after he’d left and it was Rusty Young. Listen to the lyrics and you’ll see what I mean – they sound like something TBS would write and their voices aren't unalike.

Tonight I'm gonna break away/Just you wait and see/I've never been imprisoned by/A faded memory/Just when I think I'm over her/This broken heart will mend/I hear her name and I have to cry/The tears come down again

I’ll concentrate more on TBS’s contribution to Poco although I love many Poco songs written and sung by other members. He arrived with the second album, Poco. [Other core members have included: George Grantham, Richie Furay, Jim Messina, Randy Meisner, Paul Cotton.]

They're trying not to laugh

I can't find where I saw this but I know Justin Hayward, when asked which band he would have liked to be in if he hadn’t been in the Moody Blues, said Poco. Strange, you wouldn’t think they moved in the same circles or that country rock would appeal to him. I get the idea that Poco were a musicians’ band, that other musicians recognised their integrity and ability and wanted to be part of it.Be interesting to know who else had auditioned to be in Poco (apart from Gregg Allman who Rusty mentions in his interview).

As you can see from early Poco clips on YouTube (and there aren’t many), they were characterised by a joie de vivre that all band members seemed to share, what seems to be a simple love of playing, unfettered enthusiasm. Naturally some of these performances would have been mimed but their unselfconscious enjoyment shows.

So, first, my take on some beautiful Poco tracks.

1 Just for Me and You (written by Richie Furay, lead vocal by Richie Furay)

Album: From the Inside

All of them are buzzing with energy. TBS and Paul Cotton seem to have borrowed some of John Denver’s shirts. The melody is all girl-nextdoor prettiness – wholesome and bubbly. When Timothy’s vocals come in, the song gains another dimension. He’s so into it, so vehement.

Wish that I could come/With the mornin' sun/Shinin' through your window/I could be the one/To open up your day/Ooh, words can't begin to say/Feelings that are hidden in/In such a special way/And they're just for me and you.

J. J. Cale (RIP)

2 Magnolia (written by J. J. Cale, lead vocal by Paul Cotton)

Album: Crazy Eyes (the title track was about Gram Parsons)

I can't even begin to describe the passion and soul in this cover version. How does all the guitar playing manage to sound completely uninhibited and yet masterfully controlled?  They let it go just so far and pull it back. Go, Rusty! Chills of pleasure each time I hear it. Simply awe-inspiring.

Whippoorwill's singing/Soft summer breeze/Makes me think of my baby/I left down in New Orleans/I left down in New Orleans/Magnolia, you sweet thing/You're driving me mad/Got to get back to you, babe/You're the best I ever had/You're the best I ever had 

3 Faith in the Families (written by Paul Cotton, lead vocal by Paul Cotton)

Album: Seven

Sounds very America(the band)-esque, West Coast, beautiful tune, lovely piano, marvellous harmonies, full of hope.

Taking the dream how we ran/In the rage of another plan/Heading for the mountain wall/Where it all began to fall/When we heard the wind call/Take your homes in the sun/There ain't no need to run/You've been here, you've been there/You've been everywhere/And the time has come to really care

Timothy B. Schmit

4 Bitter Blue (written by Timothy B. Schmit, lead vocal by Timothy B. Schmit)

Album: Cantamos (‘we sing’ in Spanish – and they weren’t kidding)

The intro and the backing guitars so tentative and tender throughout the contemplative verse building up to the muted anguish of the chorus. Timothy as melancholy minstrel. These women keep doing him wrong. How can he understand the mysterious creatures?

There’s a fantastic, impassioned middle eight too. Have you noticed that these often come quite near the end of songs rather than the middle? Or is it only me?

I keep on calling out your name/I look outside and find the rain/If I only had an idea what to do

5 Keep On Tryin’ (written by Timothy B. Schmit, lead vocal by Timothy B. Schmit)

Album: Head over Heels

Already talked about this in Schmitten. Two and three-quarter minutes of perfection. In the chicken video as I call it (you’ll see why), they all look so casual and confident and their vocals are as pristine as Glenn recalls: a veritable celestial choir.

And I feel so satisfied when/I can see you smile/I want to confide in/All that is true/So I'll keep on tryin'/I'm through with lyin'/Just like the sun above/I'll come shinin' through

Paul Cotton

6 Rose of Cimarron (written by Rusty Young, lead vocal by Paul Cotton)

Album: Rose of Cimarron

Discussed this in Part One and Part Two of my Schmitten blog. Yeah, when am I going to shut up?

In the linked complete version,  you can see TBS shyly smiling – he can't seem to stop himself.

Rusty Young says:

Rose of Cimarron is a song I wrote after I picked up a brochure while [Poco] were on tour in Oklahoma in 1973. It told a story of a woman who took in outlaws in the 1800s. She fed them, mended their wounds and sent them on their way. Or so they say. ... [W]hen I played Rose for the band, everyone wanted to make it a Poco record.

Rusty Young

I love the counterpoint of their voices, Tim’s high harmonies, the grandiose, orchestral-sounding ending and eventual diminuendo.

Hearts like yours belong/Following the dawn/Wrapped up in a song/Rose of Cimarron

Criminal that it only reached no. 94 in the singles chart in August 1976. Why on earth wasn’t it a huge hit? I don't know whether Emmylou Harris’s cover version fared any better. Here's a truncated version in which TBS looks particularly callow, earnest and appealing, in another freebie T-shirt.

When did he alter his style, graduate from freebie T-shirts to the obligatory waistcoats, worn over a loose shirt, three sizes too big for him? 1992?

7 Starin’ at the Sky (written by Timothy B. Schmit and John "Juke" Logan, lead vocal by Timothy B. Schmit)

Album: Rose of Cimarron

More delectable guitar parts. A bright, sunny, stirring sound full of youth and promise.

I've come to discover you've got to think it out on your own/And it takes some time for the words to rhyme/To really feel what you've always known/And when you break through/You might even feel as though you can fly/But when it all comes down I hope I'm around/And not alone again starin' at the sky

Trying to look a little more serious

8 Stay (Night Until Noon) (written by Timothy B. Schmit and Noreen Schmit, , lead vocal by Timothy B. Schmit) 

Album: Indian Summer

A glorious romp of a song from a devil may care Timothy; it always cheers me up. Like children rushing headlong down a hill, like the Ingalls girls in the credits for Little House on the Prairie.

Baby can you stay - oooh stay until the break of day/I wanna feel your body sway/We can let them say what they want to/They can talk themselves into shades of blue/Oooh Baby I got lots of room/Wanna stay with you night until noon

Who wouldn't stay?

The Timothy in Poco was a far more robust figure than the effete, doe-eyed, lovelorn minstrel he is in the Eagles (much as we love him like that). Poco themselves are a breath of fresh air, air redolent of unbridled optimism, boundless freedom and endless possibility.

Thanks once again to http://www.timothybschmitonline.com,

http://eaglesonlinecentral.com and Wikipedia.

Next blog will tackle the eternal question: What did the Eagles have that Poco didn't?

For another poem on TBS, click here.