#Take it easy writer driver#

Frey set off on his own, recording solo material like You Belong to the City and Smugglers Blues, helping shape and shift the sounds of a new decade. The tunnel vision is what led to their demise in 1980, after tensions between Felder and Frey, amplified by drugs and booze, came to a head. When it came to the outside world, Frey, Henley and crew had tunnel vision. And why would they? The Eagles were selling out arenas and today still hold the record for the second-bestselling album of all time (Their Greatest Hits, released in 1976), behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Not that Frey or anyone else in the group cared much what critics thought. They tried to be a badass rock band like the rest of the crew, but their soft melodies were more rooted in country than hard rock.

Maybe it was the songs, then, that did in the Eagles’ reputation. Peers like Led Zeppelin, the Who and the Rolling Stones all acted like animals at some point, gorging on booze, drugs and women, making asses of themselves while still somehow managing to make music. Then again, matched up against other bands of the era, the Eagles’ indulgences were hardly unique. The Eagles, though, were doing it for both, and engaging in their share of debauchery while they were at it. What about Crosby, Still and Nash and Joni Mitchell and the Mamas and the Papas? Those musicians were doing it for the love of art, not for the love of cash. This, understandably, irritated a lot of people, particularly fans of the Southern California/Laurel Canyon sound in which the band was rooted. They were the poster boys for cliched rock’n’roll hedonism, with no shame about hollering how much money they were making, drugs they were taking or groupies they were sleeping with. Many thought of the Eagles as country rock’s resident bros.

#Take it easy writer driver#

There’s a scene in which the Dude demands that a taxi driver change the radio station because “I hate the fuckin’ Eagles, man” – which apparently displeased Frey. To many, the band had always been a joke – a reputation that continues to grow today thanks to repeat viewings of The Big Lebowski.

Of course, none of this ever mattered to the Eagles critics.

Frey’s had smooth underbelly with a slight twang at the end of each phrase, fitting perfectly between the rock and country genres the band balanced so well. Each of the members’ voices were as distinct as they were beautiful. They began to write, and write and soon became responsible for some of the most popular melodies of the 20th century: Take it Easy, Desperado, Lyin’ Eyes, Hotel California, Already Gone – all bona fide hits. By then, Frey and Don Henley had stopped singing backup for Ronstadt and decided to team up with Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon to form the Eagles. (Funnily enough, Johns turned down the offer twice – but then he heard a live demo of Earlybird and changed his mind.)įrey didn’t have Browne’s flair for words, but his melodies were another story. He once told Vanity Fair, “I read the backs of albums like they were the Dead Sea Scrolls.” That’s how Frey came to discover and eventually handpick Glyn Johns, the famed producer best known for his work with Led Zeppelin and the Who, to produce the Eagles’ first album. He was a student of music – the kind of guy who kept his ear to the ground. Also on Frey’s side was his attention to detail.