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.

'Kick 'em when they're up':* Backlash Lashback: Response to Eagles' Detractors

Long Road out of Eden era

* 'Dirty Laundry', Don Henley

This is really a rejonder to the general press’s reactionary response to the Eagles. Obviously the band don’t need me or anyone else to defend them but that won't stop me.

‘And still all the critics keep saying/Are they still around?/When are they gonna stop?’
(‘The Road’, The Kinks, the rest of the song is also pertinent)

I’m struck when I read the press reviews of the Eagles UK gigs that no one is saying very much. They’re very short and somewhat grudgingly appreciative but the common tenor is that the band have just been going too long. I was originally going to write a review but this rant got too long so I'm going to publish it as a separate blog.

'I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour/But heaven knows I'm miserable now' ('Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now', The Smiths) Miserable and not afraid to sing about it! Plus you can't knock a song with the lyric 'What she asked of me at the end of the day/Caligula would have blushed'

Prior to this tour, I read a really negative piece (worth reading for the cutting ripostes in the comments) in The Guardian (one of my least favourite papers) championing the new over the old and advocating that the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones, if they couldn’t do the decent thing and chuck it all in to let the new bands have a chance, should at least pay a tax to finance the development of such bands. It is possible to like old and new bands. So-called 'old' music does not prevent so-called 'new' music from existing. Much of the new music sounds like either generic rock posturing or is unimaginatively derivative. Friends go crazy for the Scissor Sisters, Arcade Fire and their ilk who ‘are all about fun’ and the current stand seems to be that you can't be any fun unless your songs are a melee of different styles, all rehashed with a sardonic ‘aren't we clever, look what we’ve done?’ knowingness, with a general emphasis in the lyrics on ‘having fun’ as if, if you don't say it every second, you're suddenly miserable and being miserable is a crime. They sound anything but original but are more like a fusion of several styles I never particularly cared for in the first place. The word that always comes to mind is ‘ersatz’.

I think hell's just about to freeze over

‘We set out to become a band for our time. But sometimes if you do a good-enough job, you become a band for all time.’
(Glenn Frey, HOTE documentary)

But why should liking current bands prevent anyone from appreciating older ones? After all, although of its time, truly great music is timeless. It isn't finite. There’s always room for more. If someone is successful, it doesn’t stop someone else being successful. Instead of criticising the Eagles who have created (and we hope will continue to make) so many beautiful songs, how about noticing the fact that much of popular music these days is lyrically drivel and musically limited? Most songs that get to Number One have the same words rearranged plus some often quite objectionable and/or childish rap inserted for the sake of it. I’m not saying it’s all like that but shouldn’t we fight against this endemic deterioration in standards, where there’s a sample of a previous song (sometimes a good one – not so bad – at least it’s bringing it to another generation) and if we’re lucky one original but ever so slight melodic refrain? See my previous blog for more on this, and, in particular, the Black-Eyed Peas.

Anyway, who’s to say what’s new or old? If it’s new to you, does it matter if it was made in the 60s? What’s that got to do with whether it’s worthwhile or not? I’ve just discovered Poco and Gene Clark as well as more recently, Citizen Cope, Christian Kane, Shakey Graves. None of these acts have had the acclaim or success they deserve but I’m sure they don’t blame the Eagles for this.

Morrissey

‘I decree today that life/Is simply taking and not giving/England is mine - it owes me a living’

(‘Still Ill’, The Smiths, a band that seemed totally different to anything that had gone before, replete with passion and pathos, memorable tunes and witty, evocative, thought-provoking lyrics)

I fear this bleating, which is typical of the wishy-washy, bleeding-heart liberals at The Guardian, always ready to jump on the next musical bandwagon but always a couple of years behind the times; they just about grab onto it as it disappears into the sunset and the credits roll, as with Jackie Leven or the Fleet Foxes, or just after an act has become a parody of itself and ever so quick to denigrate something they think is passé, is all part of this ‘the world owes me a living’ attitude. It doesn’t.

It’s not only journalists who indulge in this kind of carping. Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin) says he knows why the Eagles still tour: ‘It’s not about the money. It’s because they’re bored.’ Always amazes me when somebody has the gall to claim they understand someone else's motivation. Henley (never a shrinking violet) has hit back at this in Rolling Stone but also at the London shows when he said they don’t do it because they’re bored but because it’s the best job on the planet or words to that effect. Sort of reminds me of when Oasis and Blur gloved up in the 90s.

‘You don't want to work, you want to live like a king/But the big, bad world doesn't owe you a thing’ ('Get Over It', Eagles) 

It’s always been difficult for new artists to break through and the talented don’t always thrive while the screechers and flavours of the day (according to the papers) such as Paloma Faith and Ed Sheeran (although I do like ‘I See Fire’) make it. Whether they do or not has nothing to do with whether Fleetwood Mac are touring or not. The two are not mutually exclusive.

The Mac

I hate this labelling. The Eagles songs and harmonies and ideas would still sound fresh and exciting if you were to hear them for the first time today. Same with the Stones. And there’s a reason that ‘The Chain’ is still used as background build-up for all the Formula 1 events on UK TV. It’s as exciting now as it ever was. A couple of years ago I finally discovered the Kinks who became a fairly long-lived musical obsession of mine. Not new but new to me.

So I say ‘live and let live’. Stop bitching and moaning. Good music is good music and it will endure. That’s not a fault, that’s a virtue. I like this comment on The Guardian article from MickGJ: ‘If it wasn't for these old acts there wouldn't be any 30-year old records for them to sound a bit like.’ I’m discovering new and old music all the time.That's how it should be.

The thrill ain't gone

Christian Kane – Covered in Glory

Musician

I’m a huge fan of Christian Kane and his original songs but I also really love his interpretations of other people’s. He puts his heart and soul into anything he chooses to sing. Country music isn’t a big deal in the UK so I often hear Christian’s versions of a song before I encounter the original and discover that I don’t like it as much. Weird, because I’m usually someone who’s a stickler for the original, for instance, Judy Garland – Over the Rainbow; Frank Sinatra – Well, anything Frank did really. I don’t like the watered-down, limp versions common in the charts today – usually by fey songstresses with affected, insipid vocals, popularised by their ubiquity in adverts: Ellie Goulding’s bafflingly turgid Your Song; Lily Allen’s total crucifixion of Somewhere Only We Know; that awful, soulless Wherever You Will Go by Charlene Soraia.* Whereas these seem to drain the life and spirit out of the song, Christian Kane does the opposite. He invests them with more emotion and verve, making the originals sound just a little colourless in comparison. His voice is a gift – unique but with echoes of Elvis, reverberations of Springsteen. It has a depth and resonance that can reinvigorate an old song, making it seem contemporary and new and real. And it appears totally effortless. His original material showcases his talents even better but that's another blog.

* Of course there are exceptions – Adele’s Make You Feel My Love; the Byrds’ Tambourine Man; Timothy B. Schmit’s Caroline No; the Eagles’ Ol’ 55, Poco's Magnolia.

Apologies if any of these aren’t the originals you know. I’ve tried to put down the writer when I thought it relevant. Links are in the words ‘Original’ and ‘Kane’ if you want to hear what I’m talking about. Obviously Christian Kane has covered ‘ songs live that I haven’t included e.g. Sweet Home Alabama, either because I haven’t heard them, couldn’t find a good version of them or he hasn’t played them that often. 

Actor

Fast Car

Original: Tracy Chapman 

Unstoppable rhythm and melody, compelling narrative. I love her deep voice. It has a certain intensity and immediacy.

Kane studio; Kane live: A little hard to listen to owing to the enthusiastic fans singing along and occasionally drowning him out (he loves it). He still sounds tender and true. Plaintive and melancholy but that natural growl lets you know he’s no pushover.

You got a fast car/I want a ticket to anywhere/Maybe we can make a deal/Maybe together we can get somewhere/Any place is better/Starting from zero got nothing to lose/Maybe we'll make something/Me myself I got nothing to prove

The One I Love 

Original: David Gray

I’ve got to admit that I’m not a fan of his voice, thought he bleated like a lamb on his big hit This Year’s Love but this is better.

Kane: ‘Somebody else wrote this but it’s one of my favourite songs’. More rough tenderness, he always sounds as if he’s lived what he’s singing. Passion and restraint.

Next wave coming in/Like an ocean roar/Won't you take my hand darling/On that old dance floor/We can twist and shout/Do the turtle dove/And you're the one I love/You're the one I love

Wary and suspicious

I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man

Original: Prince 

The single is bouncy, infectious, unputdownable although I couldn't find it on YouTube.

Kane: This doesn’t completely work countrified (not sure about the fiddle) but it’s very lively and upbeat and it's plain CK identifies with the sentiment.

I asked her if she wanted to dance/And she said that/All she wanted was a good man/And wanted to know/If I thought I was qualified/And I said baby don't waste your time/I know what's on your mind/I may be qualified for a one night stand/But I could never take the place of your man

Mid-party?

Jolene

Original: Ray LaMontagne

Low-key, breathy, mournful but, combined with his very deliberate phrasing, it sounds a little affected.

Kane: ‘It had so much to do with my life – I just fell in love with it’. In Christian’s earnest, heartfelt rendition, there’s a memory of anguish, hard times and misguided youth that makes it affecting.

I found myself face down in the ditch/Booze on my hair/Blood on my lips/A picture of you, holding a picture of me/In the pocket of my blue jeans/Still don't know what love means

Drift Away

Original: Dobie Gray (written by Mentor Williams) Easy-going, laidback, likeable.

Kane: There’s palpable joy in the energy and exuberance in his version.

Thanks for the joy that you've given me/I want you to know I believe in your song/And rhythm and rhyme and harmony/You've helped me along/Makin' me strong/Oh, give me the beat, boys and free my soul/I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away

Part cowboy

Should’ve Been a Cowboy

Original: Toby Keith

I can't really fault this. Jaunty and upbeat, a country no.1 in 1993.

Kane:‘I lost country for a while. This is the one of the songs that brought me back.’  Part-cowboy, part-Cherokee, CK rocks out, breathing new life into this song.

I should've been a cowboy/I should've learned to rope and ride/Wearing my six-shooter riding my pony on a cattle drive

Luckenbach, Texas

Original: Waylon Jennings (written by Chips Moman and Bobby Emmons), a country no. 1 in 1977.Easy-listening, old-school country.

Kane: Christian reinvents this; it barrels along with enthusiasm and gruff charm and something about his tone really reminds me of Elvis.

The only two things in life/That make it worth livin'/Is guitars to tune good/And firm feelin' women

Part Cherokee

The Dance

Original: Garth Brooks (written by Tony Arata)

Sort of middle of the road, pleasant and inoffensive, Garth has a nice, even tone that’s easy to listen to.

Kane: Only a tiny clip of this. I’d kill to hear more as this is a great appetiser. There’s a depth of experience in the few lines we have here and that twang of a Texan accent on the last word kills me. Also rate Scotty McCreery’s version which, despite his youth, still has gravitas, although not the rueful quality of the Christian snippet.

And now I'm glad I didn't know/The way it all would end the way it all would go/Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain/But I'd have had to miss the dance

Redneck Side of Me

Original: Jamey Johnson (written by Jerrod Niemann)

The instrumentation is wonderful (is that an organ at the beginning?) but the vocal sounds sort of creepy, like a bad uncle, someone you wouldn't want to meet on a dark night and is too much on one level, there’s not enough drama. Great accent though.

Kane: Again, only a tantalising snippet,. In a couple of minutes, he conveys a promise, a threat, gentleness. Listen to the line: ‘I never hunted 'gators in the Everglades’. The softness and timbre of his voice make my throat quiver. 

I never was a roughneck pumpin' crude down the line/An' I ain't logged no timber, sawin’ on them Georgia pines/I can't mix the best batch of etouffee/I never hunted 'gators in the Everglades

(Aside from Wikipedia: Étouffée or etouffee is a dish found in both Cajun and Creole cuisine typically served with shellfish over rice.)

'Country music has always been first and foremost in my heart'

I think my main point is that Christian Kane always sounds more than credible because he chooses songs that mean something to him. And he can sing anything. I’m mystified as to why he hasn’t had a huge hit although I know that talent doesn’t always translate into success and am probably not the best placed person to try to fathom the machinations of the country music business. But he’s personable and appealing and let’s face it, fine-looking. By rights, he should have ‘made it’ with any of his original songs, such as A Different Kind of Knight, America High, Rattlesnake Smile or with Let Me Go (written by Casey Beathard and Tom Shapiro), which he begged to be allowed to sing. Part of me thinks it’s because he has more than one string to his bow being an actor too (maybe Nashville doesn’t like the fact that he isn’t solely a musician, that he wants to have his cake and eat it too); part of me thinks it’s owing to the extreme dedication of his fanbase (to some extent drawn from fans of his acting that have got into the music) – it’s possible that this contributes to the mainstream country/rock industry’s failure to take him seriously; or perhaps he’s just refusing to play by the rules. I’ve been watching Nashville and wondering why he hasn’t got one of the major roles. Perhaps they wanted musical newcomers but he would be a shoo-in for a recurring cameo of a roughneck country rocker, perhaps on the wrong side of the law.

Could it be?

I’ll end with this exchange, which sort of sums Christian Kane’s music up.

My Dad asked me what Christian Kane's music was like. I said 'It's country rock' and he said 'Like the Eagles?' I said 'More country' and my sister added 'And more rock'.

Perhaps he’s just too much of each to be fully accepted by either (having played to rock audiences at the Viper Room). But they say this is The Year of Kane. 

He also features in another blog of mine:

http://sshh-sshh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/opinion8-songs-about-school.html.

Another blogger’s take on CK live: http://bashfulbadgersblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/christian-kane-rocks-out-at-the-jazz-cafe-in-camden/.

Thanks to Wikipedia, Kane Nation, A-Z Lyrics Universe and CMT. 

Christian Kane’s music is available from: www.ChristianKane.com.

 

Poco versus Eagles: 'To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven'*

*Title quote taken from Ecclesiastes 3:1, also familiar from the Byrds song ‘Turn, Turn,Turn’, written by Pete Seeger. Richie Furay got together with Chris Hillman from the Byrds and J. D. Souther to form the imaginatively named Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. Well, it worked for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Early days

So, this blog is really about why the Eagles made it and Poco didn’t.It's pure speculation of course.

‘What’s in a name?’

Well, Shakespeare thought nothing but I’m so glad that they changed the name from Pogo. Who could have taken them seriously? Poco was really a complete accident name-wise but you know, to the uninitiated, it could mean anything, peace in Arapahoe, for instance, river in Sioux. It has connotations of depth. I don't think there’s much to choose between the names Eagles and Poco though.

Could they look any more louche?

Genre-bending

Don Henley:

Even now the Eagles are thought of as a country-rock band. The music industry and the media saddled us with that label at the very beginning, and, no matter how diverse our musical palate, it has been impossible to shake that stereotype. At the end of the day, we’re an American band. We’re a musical mutt with influences from every genre of American popular music. It’s all in there.

[‘Saddled with’ seems like an apt term when we consider the cowboy-themed Desperado but the implication is that this is something you would want to avoid but I don't believe Poco ever felt the need to disassociate themselves from this category and I’m with them – in the 70s, surely it was the best thing to be? Or perhaps it shows foresight on Don’s part that he realised they had to transcend this label to achieve world domination.]

Despite this quote, it isn’t really true. The Eagles have crossed over. And everyone knows it. They straddle a number of genres, like musical giants. In doing this successfully, they also attract criticism from purists along with accusations of selling out. As if to sell records and to sell out were synonymous. Poco never sold out but neither did they ever sell as well as the Eagles.

So how did this band of talented musicians and songwriters, with a great pedigree, proven track record, manage to escape fame and fortune in the 70s? How did they do that usually quintessentially English thing – snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

They could!

Naked ambition

We know that the Eagles had this in spades along with tons of confidence.

David Geffen:

The Eagles weren’t going to fail. It was a group that was put together with clear intentions.

Glenn Frey:

This was our best shot. Everyone had to look good, sing good, play good and write good. We wanted it all. Peer respect. AM and FM success. Number one singles and albums, great music and a lot of money.

Bernie Leadon:

We had lofty goals …Here we are, you want us or not?

They sound so single-minded. Then again, it might have been mere bravado. Glenn Frey:

There was a certain intensity … perhaps a lot of it was bluff.

But I’m sure Poco were also driven, just more carefully. Timothy B. Schmit:

But I had a vision – I just wanted to write songs and travel and be on stage.  I wanted that adoration from being a musician.

Maybe Poco were too much of their time, too laidback and easy-going. No doubt they had ambition but it wasn’t the vaunting hubris that launches careers (for instance, a band who call themselves America – that’s a bold statement). They probably thought they could leave all that behind with Stills and Young. But they fit perfectly into the Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter culture. Folk/country rock was up and coming, the latest rage. It was surely the right time and place for them.

Bitter Blue

Perhaps they didn’t rate themselves highly or take themselves seriously enough. Perhaps they looked like they were having too good a time, that nothing more was needed. The template in a way for the early Eagles, a vocal harmony group (the essence that the Eagles wanted to recapture when they reformed in 1994), as mentioned in my first Poco blog, they watched that band soar (forgive the pun) into the stratosphere while they languished on the ground, performing, releasing records, garnering admirers but never really ‘making it’.

They’re like a diamond in the rough. If you polish it, you gain something but you also lose something: the spontaneity, the freshness. I still love Eagles harmonies and loved it when they sang No More Walks in the Wood on the Long Road out of Eden tour but it was almost too perfect, too pristine.

Why did the people who walked away – Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Randy Meisner, Timothy B. Schmit – go on to greater things? It surely wasn't just talent.

Irving Azoff

The Eagles of course had a ruthless, devoted and feisty manager in Irving Azoff. They were his cause and he never lost sight of the big picture. Loyal to them above all. My favourite quote from the Hotel California book is from J. D. Souther:

Irving’s 15% of everybody turned out to be worth more than everyone’s 85% of themselves.

But did he really alter the course of their history? And I don’t want to suggest that Poco’s management was less effective although someone on the Border has just reminded me that Poco's management turned down an offer to play Woodstock - possibly not the greatest decision. As with everything though, it’s probably a combination of all of the above.
 

Wow! Joe looks gorgeous

Then there’s Joe Walsh. He attracted a whole raft of rock fans (and still does) and although I think he’s a crazy and entertaining character with a great sense of humour, the well-brought-up, un-rock-and-roll side of me doesn’t approve of all those destructive rampages. I just don’t see the point and can't help but feel sorry for the people who had to clean up after him. He brings rock credibility, at no. 54 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. And his onstage guitar duels with Don Felder were something else.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven

I tend to believe this is simply serendipity rather than strictly meritorious. Even given that taste is subjective, we all know bands/singers whose work has never received the recognition it deserves while lesser talents are lauded (not that I’m in any way implying the Eagles were lesser talents). People seem to like what they hear most often and these days that tends to be rap, hip-hop and fey, affected girl singers. See my first ever music blog for my thoughts on this.

Path less travelled

Poco followed the country route, unlike the Eagles, who made a transition, became a bonafide country-rock hybrid and didn’t lose anything, only seemed to gain. It was no accident that  Bernie Leadon fell by the wayside. He wanted to stay closer to their country roots. Poco have stayed more grounded in this way. They appear in the Country Music Hall of Fame (with their own exhibit) rather than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But, even if we accept that the Eagles’ huge success was down to their ability to cross the divide, it doesn’t explain the popularity of tracks from early in their career, such as Peaceful Easy Feeling, Witchy Woman and Take It Easy, a time when they were more country-orientated. These all made the Top 40.

Rose of Cimarron

'I write the songs' 

Rusty Young highlights the importance of being able to write songs in this entertaining interview. David Geffen, speaking to Rusty, after convincing Richie Furay to leave Poco: 

You don’t write and you don’t sing.  You’re in big trouble.

Rusty Young:

That’s the day I became a songwriter.  Whether he knew it or not, David Geffen gave me the best advice I have ever heard.

There’s been much discussion on the Poconut forum lately about which band has the best writers and I have to admit to 'Sitting on a Fence’. I can see that Henley’s lyrics chimed with the Zeitgeist in a way that Poco’s didn’t (while prefiguring its eventual disillusion/dissolution - Henley's always been prescient that way) and that, at the same time, they were incredibly evocative and alluring to people who were only aware of the 70s, the Californian scene, after the fact and from a great distance. The Eagles became a soundtrack to the era. I love both Frey and Henley’s songs (and the contributions of Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, Don Felder, Joe Walsh, Jack Tempchin and Jackson Browne) equally. But Poco had as many talented writers as the Eagles, with Richie Furay, Rusty Young, Paul Cotton, Timothy B. Schmit, Jim Messina all writing. They just couldn’t seem to translate critical acclaim into commercial success. This simple fact led to a series of line-up changes as members became disenchanted or were poached by record companies, but Poco still endured, with the core altering a little each time.

In my last blog, I mentioned a few Poco songs that I think are on a par with Eagles songs but there are more: Furay’s What If I Should Say I Love You (the passion and fervour bring tears to my eyes every time); Schmit’s Find Out in Time; Cotton’s Angel; Young’s magical Spellbound.

And I’m only a newcomer to Poco whereas I know Eagles albums like the back of my hand. I’m probably only scraping the surface of their material. All taste is subjective so I’m certain there are plenty of Poconuts who would choose completely different tracks to these or those in my last blog.

But perhaps they were mere featherweights in a heavyweight field. Their gossamer-fine songs lacked the punch of the best of the Eagles material.

Exposure
I suspect though that radio play was a significant factor. I can't speak for the States but in the UK, it was hard not to hear the Eagles, whereas you would only ever hear Rose of Cimarron by Poco. It’s not that their songs did not resonate as strongly, more that they never reached the same market and never got a chance to become standards in the way of Desperado or New Kid in Town. It might be a question of how they were promoted or how they were perceived.

Go, Don!

It's all about sex, really (to quote my former English Lit teacher)

But I think what really did it, what made the difference, is something I can actually trace in my own experience. One of These Nights was simply the sexiest thing I’d ever heard on late-night radio and the first time I heard the Eagles. Its intro sent a thrill through me. Rose of Cimarron I believed pleasant but unmemorable although my first Schmitten blog confirms it had entered my consciousness and I did remember it years later.

Don Felder came up with the opening bass line of One of These Nights (and let's not forget his other vital contribution: Hotel California). Don Henley:

With Don Felder, we can really rock. He's made us nastier and he's done a great guitar solo on One of These Nights.

The very act of listening to One of These Nights (and Witchy Woman which has the same ‘satanic country-rock’ vibe) seemed illicit and exhilarating (well, I did live in Sidcup and we got real excited about a chicken the other day – it was a magnificent chicken though). You felt complicit in a crime.

Languid, mysterious

Glenn and Don, in particular, Glenn, let’s face it, the cascading hair, the droopy moustache, those molten blue (I admit I always thought they were brown), come-to-bed eyes, looked and sounded dangerous. Poco seemed like safe, down-home country boys nextdoor, the Eagles like bad boys from the wrong side of the tracks. But I can't even say this had anything to do with looks because I'd never seen young Timothy B. Schmit.  Then there were those straightforward lyrics ‘I wanna sleep with you in the desert tonight’ (Peaceful Easy Feeling) or ‘It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me’ which leads to ‘Open up, I’m climbing in’, so compelling, direct and honest.

Of course, the Eagles played up the outlaw image with the Desperado album but we were already convinced. More West Coast than Wild West, it was all the same to those of us in the London suburbs. Something out in the Wild Blue Yonder.

Anyway, these are just a few of my thoughts. Be interested to hear what any readers think.

Now, if I'd seen this ...

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

http://eaglesonlinecentral.com, http://www.poconut.org/ and Wikipedia.

'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.