Eagles - Hotel California - Live Capital Center 1977

The band Eagles was formed in Los Angeles in 1970 by Glenn Frey after meeting in the accompaniment group of Linda Rondstat.

At the beginning, the band is composed of four members: Randy Meisner (vocals / bass), Bernie Leadon (vocals / guitar / banjo), Don Henley (vocals / drums) and founder Glenn Frey (guitar, piano and vocals).

The band's debut album was released in 1972 as The Eagles. This first album is very successful, thanks to the title Take it easy, written and composed by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey.

Their second album, Desperado, was released the following year, which included the title track Tequila sunrise and Desperado. This album was recorded in London in the studios of Chris Blackwell "Island Studios" in Basing Street. Enough of phonographic material are in reserve in this studio to realize a Desperado2.

In 1974, the Eagles enlisted a new guitarist, Don Felder, who was originally supposed to play only one song, Good day in hell for the slide-guitar, but the group was so impressed that they hired the newcomer. The group then recorded a third album, On the Border, which was so successful that it alone made it known the group on both sides of the Atlantic [ref. necessary]. It contains, among other titles, the play Already Gone.

The following year (1975) appeared their fourth album, One of These Nights, with Lyin'Eyes as their flagship title. Shortly after the release of the album, Bernie Leadon decided to leave the band. He is replaced by Joe Walsh, the ex-guitarist of James Gang.

The group made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine on September 25, 1975, and on September 28 the band joined Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and Toots and the Maytals for a concert in front of 55,000 people at Anaheim Stadium.

In 1976 released the best known of all the albums of the group, Hotel California. [Who?] Thinks that the eponymous song from the album was certainly inspired by Jethro Tull's play, written by Ian Anderson, We Used To Know on the Stand Up album published in 1969. But the consecutive listening of these two songs only makes it possible to notice the similarity of the music.

In 1979, after the departure of the first bassist Randy Meisner, replaced by Timothy B. Schmit ex-member of Poco, the band recorded a sixth album which he believed to be his last, The Long Run. The tensions that appeared in the group ended up dissolving it. Don Henley then said that the group would only reform when it "freezes over" (Hell Freezes Over). On this album, Tim Schmit co-wrote with Don Henley and Glenn Frey, their best ballad I can not tell you why, not to mention the song In the City by Joe Walsh.

In 1994, fourteen years after the separation of the group, it is always talk about him thanks to its flagship title Hotel California. This success prompted the group to re-form for a tour and a new album, Hell Freezes Over, which consists of four new compositions and the group's greatest hits in live version. A title of a solo album of Don Henley also appears (New-York Minute) as well as a new acoustic version of their biggest success, Hotel California very much appreciated by the fans of the group.

The tensions have disappeared and the group ironically asserts at the beginning of their tour that "it never separated, it simply took fourteen years of vacation". A DVD will follow this tour, with tracks from the last album, but also other titles from the solo quarries of Don Henley (The Heart Of The Matter) and Joe Walsh (Help Me Through The Night). But once again, internal problems reappear and Don Felder will eventually be ousted from the group. The group now consists of Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit.

After many years of silence, the group signed a double album, Long Road Out of Eden, whose release in October 2007 accompanies their return on stage.

Members [edit | change the code]
Steuart Smith was hired by the Eagles group in 2001 after the departure of Don Felder, expelled from the group that year. He shares the main lines of guitars with Joe Walsh. In addition to performing on stage with the group, he co-wrote several songs from the new album Eagles Long Road Out of Eden, released in 2007, also sharing production rights with the four members and drummer Scott Crago. Steuart also plays as a musician on Don Henley's solo tours, and occasionally plays concerts by Glenn Frey.