Tag Archives: Don Felder

♫ Hotel California ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, music, music history, Social commentary

I last played this back in 2019, before many of you had discovered Filosofa’s Word.  I didn’t post much trivia, and what I did post wasn’t accurate, so I’m re-doing the background for the song just a bit.  So far this week, I’m 0 for 2, so I’m hoping this one will go over better than the last two days!

This song is the title track from the Eagles’ Hotel California album, released as a single in February 1977.  Written by Don Felder, Glenn Frey and Don Henley, this is perhaps the “best known recording” by the Eagles (at least so says Wikipedia!)  The song was awarded the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1978.

According to SongFacts, the song …

… is about materialism and excess. California is used as the setting, but it could relate to anywhere in America. Don Henley in the London Daily Mail November 9, 2007 said: “Some of the wilder interpretations of that song have been amazing. It was really about the excesses of American culture and certain girls we knew. But it was also about the uneasy balance between art and commerce.

On November 25, 2007 Henley appeared on the TV news show 60 Minutes, where he was told, “everyone wants to know what this song means.” Henley replied: “I know, it’s so boring. It’s a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream, and about excess in America which was something we knew about.”

He offered yet another interpretation in the 2013 History of the Eagles documentary: “It’s a song about a journey from innocence to experience.”

When the Eagles won the 1977 Grammy Award for Record of the Year, they didn’t show up to accept it because Don Henley didn’t believe in contests.

There’s much more background over at SongFacts, if you’re interested!  This song charted well around the globe, reaching #1 in both Canada and the U.S., and #8 in the UK.

Hotel California
Eagles

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night.

There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself
‘This could be heaven or this could be Hell’
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face.
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (any time of year) you can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the Captain,
‘Please bring me my wine’
He said, ‘we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty-nine’
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say”

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face.
They livin’ it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise), bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said, ‘we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’
And in the master’s chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can’t kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
‘Relax’ said the night man,
‘We are programmed to receive.
You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!’

Songwriters: Glenn Lewis Frey / Don Felder / Donald Hugh Henley
Hotel California lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ One Of These Nights ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, music, music history

I haven’t played this one in over three years … I was in the mood for some Eagles tonight, and I really wanted to play Desperado, my most favourite, but alas, I played it just a few months ago.  Story of my life!  But, since the Eagles have so many good ones to choose from, I tossed a coin to decide between this and Lyin’ Eyes …

Released in 1975, this song was written by Glenn Frey and Don Henley, and was inspired by the soul music Frey was listening to when he started writing it on the piano. Artists like B.B. King and Al Green were a big influence on many songs on the album.

According to Frey …

“It’s like, puttin’ things off … Everybody I’m sure has said, ‘One of these nights I’m gonna…’ Gonna drive back to that restaurant an’ take that waitress in my arms, whatever. Find that girl, make that money, buy that house. Move to that country. Any of that stuff. Everyone’s got his ultimate dream, savin’ it for ‘someday.’ And ‘someday’ is up to you.”

Frey used this as an example of how he and Don Henley ‘clicked’ when writing a song together …

“I’d go over to the piano and say, ‘Hey, what do you think of this?’  I’d play something, and he’d go, ‘Yeah, I like that, I like that.’ Maybe just get up and start singing. That’s the way we wrote ‘One of These Nights.’ I just went over to the piano and I started playing this little minor descending progression, and he comes over and goes, ‘One of these nights.’ I go, yeah, yeah.”

The song was a conscious attempt by the band to write something different from a country-rock and ballad-type song. Don Henley said …

“We like to be a nice little country-rock band from Los Angeles … about half the time. We wanted to get away from the ballad syndrome with One of These Nights. With Don Felder in the band now, we can really rock.”

And here’s another bit of trivia for you … do you know how the Eagles got their name?  Accounts of the origin of the name vary; Don Felder credited Leadon with originating the name when he recalled reading about the Hopis’ reverence for the eagle, while J.D. Souther suggested that the idea came when Frey shouted out, “Eagles!” when they saw eagles flying above. Steve Martin, a friend of the band from their early days at The Troubadour, recounts in his autobiography that he suggested that they should be referred to as “The Eagles”, but Frey insists that the group’s name is simply “Eagles”.

One of These Nights
Eagles

One of these nights, one of these crazy old nights
We’re gonna find out, pretty mama, what turns on your lights
The full moon is calling, the fever is high
And the wicked wind whispers and moans
You got your demons, you got your desires
Well, I got a few of my own

Oh, someone to be kind to in between the dark and the light
Oh, coming right behind you, swear I’m gonna find you, one of these nights

One of these dreams, one of these lost and lonely dreams, now
We’re gonna find one, mm, one that really screams
I’ve been searching for the daughter of the devil himself
I’ve been searching for an angel in white
I’ve been waiting for a woman who’s a little of both
And I can feel her but she’s nowhere in sight

Oh, loneliness will blind you in between the wrong and the right
Oh, coming right behind you, swear I’m gonna find you, one of these nights

One of these nights oh, in between the dark and the light
Coming right behind you, swear I’m gonna find you
Get you, baby, one of these nights
One of these nights (oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh-oh)
One of these nights (I can feel it, I can feel it)
One of these nights (coming right behind you, swear I’m gonna find you now)
One of these nights (and gets so dark, it’s so dark and cold)
One of these nights (one of these crazy crazy crazy nights)
One of these nights (swear I’m gonna find you coming right behind you)
One of these nights (oh)
One of these nights (and I want to say ah)
One of these nights (one of these, one of these)
One of these nights (coming right behind you, swear I’m gonna find you)
One of these nights (One of these nights, one of these crazy nights)

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Glenn Frey / Don Henley
One of These Nights lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ I Can’t Tell You Why ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

This has been a long week, don’t you thi … um … wait … it’s only Tuesday???  Wow, feels like it should be Friday!  I’ve got the Friday night tireds!  But, maybe some Eagles’ tunes will perk me back up … ya think?  Let’s find out …

I almost didn’t do a music post tonight, so distraught am I over the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  But, I figure since I’m not likely to sleep anyway, why not listen to some music and share with my friends?  Continuing on with Eagles’ Week, I have chosen one of my most favourite Eagles’ songs.

Eagles bass player Timothy B. Schmit, who replaced Randy Meisner in 1977, sang lead and was the primary songwriter.  According to Schmit …

“It was co-written by me and Don (Henley) and Glenn (Frey). I did bring a portion of that song, unfinished, to them back then, because I was new in the band and they wanted to introduce me on a good note, no pun intended. And I had this little piece of a tune that they really liked. It was loosely based on my own experiences.”

Glenn Frey played lead guitar on this song, which was rare at the time since Don Felder or Joe Walsh usually played lead, relegating Frey to rhythm.  In an interview with Bob Costas, Frey said that this and One Of These Nights were the two Eagles songs he helped write that he would put into a time capsule to represent the Eagles best work.

Now here’s something that might surprise you.  Jimmy Buffett sang background on this track and David Sanborn played saxophone. Timothy B. Schmit is the one who came up with the term “Parrotheads” to describe Jimmy Buffett’s fans.

I Can’t Tell You Why
Eagles

Look at us baby, up all night
Tearing our love apart
Aren’t we the same two people who live
Through years in the dark?
Ahh
Every time I try to walk away
Something makes me turn around and stay
And I can’t tell you why

When we get crazy
It just ain’t to right (try to keep you head little girl)
Girl I get lonely too
You don’t have to worry
Just hold on tight (don’t get caught in your little world)
Cause I love you
Nothing’s wrong as far as I can see
We make it harder than it has to be
And I can’t tell you why
No, baby, I can’t tell you why
I can’t tell you why

Every time I try to walk away
Something makes me turn around and stay
And I can’t tell you why
No, no, baby, I can’t tell you why
I can’t tell you why
I can’t tell you why

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Don Henley / Timothy B. Schmit / Glenn Lewis Frey
I Can’t Tell You Why lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Eb Music Services

♫ Take It To The Limit ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

I played this one just over two years ago during what became ‘Eagles Week’ here on Filosofa’s Word, and for some reason it popped into my head this evening.

I’ve picked one of my favourites for this morning’s post, but if you have a favourite that I haven’t already played, let me know and I’ll squeeze it in this weekend!

Don Henley, Randy Meisner and Glenn Frey wrote this song. Meisner sang lead, making this one of only three US Top 40 Eagles songs not sung by Don Henley or Glenn Frey, the others being I Can’t Tell You Why and In the City.

Meisner, who is from rural Nebraska, was the most subdued member of the band, describing himself to Rolling Stone as “Shy and nervous about putting myself on the line.” He was a founding member of the Eagles, but left in 1977 as tensions rose and the lifestyle became too much for him. Leaving the band may well have been a good mental health decision. Don Felder, who joined the band in 1974, said:

“Really the only thing you can do when you’re in the Eagles is eat, breathe, and sleep Eagles. I mean, you’re either on the road, writing in the studio, or doing press – it’s just all consuming.”

The high note at the end of this song was not easy for Randy Meisner to hit. He could pull it off in the studio, but not always in concert, since he would get nervous. At one point, he asked to take the song out of the set, which became a source of contention and a factor in him leaving the band.

In the 2013 History of the Eagles documentary, Glenn Frey and Don Henley recall a show where Take It To The Limit was planned as the encore, but Meisner refused to do it. Frey says that he got in a fight with Meisner backstage, and that Henley made sure security at the venue stayed out of it so they could settle it. Meisner left the band soon after and was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit, who was in the band Poco.

The song reached #4 in the U.S., #16 in Canada, and #12 in the UK

Take It to the Limit
Eagles

All alone at the end of the evening
And the bright lights have faded to blue
I was thinking ’bout a woman who might have loved me
I never knew
You know I’ve always been a dreamer
Spent my life runnin’ ’round

And it’s so hard to change
Can’t seem to settle down
But the dreams I’ve seen lately keep on turning out
And burning out and turning out the same
So put me on a highway and show me a sign
And take it to the limit one more time
You can spend all your time making money
You can spend all your love making time
If it all fell to pieces tomorrow
Would you still be mine?
And when you’re looking for your freedom
Nobody seems to care
And you can’t find the door
Can’t find it anywhere
When there’s nothing to believe in still you’re coming back
You’re running back, you’re coming back for more
So put me on a highway and show me a sign
And take it to the limit one more time

Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time

Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time

Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time

Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time

Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time

Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time

Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Glenn Frey / Don Henley / Randy Meisner
Take It to the Limit lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ I Can’t Tell You Why ♫

Posted on by under music

I almost didn’t do a music post tonight, so distraught am I over the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  But, I figure since I’m not likely to sleep anyway, why not listen to some music and share with my friends?  Continuing on with Eagles’ Week, I have chosen one of my most favourite Eagles’ songs.

Eagles bass player Timothy B. Schmit, who replaced Randy Meisner in 1977, sang lead and was the primary songwriter.  According to Schmit …

“It was co-written by me and Don (Henley) and Glenn (Frey). I did bring a portion of that song, unfinished, to them back then, because I was new in the band and they wanted to introduce me on a good note, no pun intended. And I had this little piece of a tune that they really liked. It was loosely based on my own experiences.”

Glenn Frey played lead guitar on this song, which was rare at the time since Don Felder or Joe Walsh usually played lead, relegating Frey to rhythm.  In an interview with Bob Costas, Frey said that this and One Of These Nights were the two Eagles songs he helped write that he would put into a time capsule to represent the Eagles best work.

Now here’s something that might surprise you.  Jimmy Buffett sang background on this track and David Sanborn played saxophone. Timothy B. Schmit is the one who came up with the term “Parrotheads” to describe Jimmy Buffett’s fans.

I Can’t Tell You Why
Eagles

Look at us baby, up all night
Tearing our love apart
Aren’t we the same two people who live
Through years in the dark?
Ahh
Every time I try to walk away
Something makes me turn around and stay
And I can’t tell you why

When we get crazy
It just ain’t to right (try to keep you head little girl)
Girl I get lonely too
You don’t have to worry
Just hold on tight (don’t get caught in your little world)
Cause I love you
Nothing’s wrong as far as I can see
We make it harder than it has to be
And I can’t tell you why
No, baby, I can’t tell you why
I can’t tell you why

Every time I try to walk away
Something makes me turn around and stay
And I can’t tell you why
No, no, baby, I can’t tell you why
I can’t tell you why
I can’t tell you why

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Don Henley / Timothy B. Schmit / Glenn Lewis Frey
I Can’t Tell You Why lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, Eb Music Services

♫ Take It To The Limit ♫

Posted on by under music

I really didn’t start out with the intention of making this “Eagles’ Week”, but I started on Wednesday playing Tequila Sunrise, then someone asked for Lyin’ Eyes, and when I jokingly said perhaps it ought to just be Eagles’ week, a couple of people jumped on that!  So … I’ve decided to finish out the week (through Sunday) with more of … the Eagles!  

I’ve picked one of my favourites for this morning’s post, but if you have a favourite that I haven’t already played, let me know and I’ll squeeze it in this weekend!

Don Henley, Randy Meisner and Glenn Frey wrote this song. Meisner sang lead, making this one of only three US Top 40 Eagles songs not sung by Don Henley or Glenn Frey, the others being I Can’t Tell You Why and In the City.

Meisner, who is from rural Nebraska, was the most subdued member of the band, describing himself to Rolling Stone as “Shy and nervous about putting myself on the line.” He was a founding member of the Eagles, but left in 1977 as tensions rose and the lifestyle became too much for him. Leaving the band may well have been a good mental health decision. Don Felder, who joined the band in 1974, said:

“Really the only thing you can do when you’re in the Eagles is eat, breathe, and sleep Eagles. I mean, you’re either on the road, writing in the studio, or doing press – it’s just all consuming.”

The high note at the end of this song was not easy for Randy Meisner to hit. He could pull it off in the studio, but not always in concert, since he would get nervous. At one point, he asked to take the song out of the set, which became a source of contention and a factor in him leaving the band.

In the 2013 History of the Eagles documentary, Glenn Frey and Don Henley recall a show where Take It To The Limit was planned as the encore, but Meisner refused to do it. Frey says that he got in a fight with Meisner backstage, and that Henley made sure security at the venue stayed out of it so they could settle it. Meisner left the band soon after and was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit, who was in the band Poco.

The song reached #4 in the U.S., #16 in Canada, and #12 in the UK

Take It to the Limit
Eagles


All alone at the end of the evening
And the bright lights have faded to blue
I was thinking ’bout a woman who might have loved me
I never knew
You know I’ve always been a dreamer
Spent my life runnin’ ’round


And it’s so hard to change
Can’t seem to settle down
But the dreams I’ve seen lately keep on turning out
And burning out and turning out the same
So put me on a highway and show me a sign
And take it to the limit one more time
You can spend all your time making money
You can spend all your love making time
If it all fell to pieces tomorrow
Would you still be mine?
And when you’re looking for your freedom
Nobody seems to care
And you can’t find the door
Can’t find it anywhere
When there’s nothing to believe in still you’re coming back
You’re running back, you’re coming back for more
So put me on a highway and show me a sign
And take it to the limit one more time


Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time


Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time


Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time


Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time


Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time


Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time


Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time


Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Glenn Frey / Don Henley / Randy Meisner
Take It to the Limit lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ One Of These Nights ♫

Posted on by under music

I haven’t played anything by the Eagles here recently.  I was planning to play my favourite, Desperado, but since I’ve already played that once, and since the Eagles have so many good ones to choose from, I decided to go with this one.

Released in 1975, this song was written by Glenn Frey and Don Henley, and was inspired by the soul music Frey was listening to when he started writing it on the piano. Artists like B.B. King and Al Green were a big influence on many songs on the album.

According to Frey …

“It’s like, puttin’ things off … Everybody I’m sure has said, ‘One of these nights I’m gonna…’ Gonna drive back to that restaurant an’ take that waitress in my arms, whatever. Find that girl, make that money, buy that house. Move to that country. Any of that stuff. Everyone’s got his ultimate dream, savin’ it for ‘someday.’ And ‘someday’ is up to you.”

Frey used this as an example of how he and Don Henley ‘clicked’ when writing a song together …

“I’d go over to the piano and say, ‘Hey, what do you think of this?’  I’d play something, and he’d go, ‘Yeah, I like that, I like that.’ Maybe just get up and start singing. That’s the way we wrote ‘One of These Nights.’ I just went over to the piano and I started playing this little minor descending progression, and he comes over and goes, ‘One of these nights.’ I go, yeah, yeah.”

The song was a conscious attempt by the band to write something different from a country-rock and ballad-type song. Don Henley said …

“We like to be a nice little country-rock band from Los Angeles … about half the time. We wanted to get away from the ballad syndrome with One of These Nights. With Don Felder in the band now, we can really rock.”

And here’s another bit of trivia for you … do you know how the Eagles got their name?  Accounts of the origin of the name vary; Don Felder credited Leadon with originating the name when he recalled reading about the Hopis’ reverence for the eagle, while J.D. Souther suggested that the idea came when Frey shouted out, “Eagles!” when they saw eagles flying above. Steve Martin, a friend of the band from their early days at The Troubadour, recounts in his autobiography that he suggested that they should be referred to as “The Eagles”, but Frey insists that the group’s name is simply “Eagles”.

One of These Nights
Eagles

One of these nights, one of these crazy old nights
We’re gonna find out, pretty mama, what turns on your lights
The full moon is calling, the fever is high
And the wicked wind whispers and moans
You got your demons, you got your desires
Well, I got a few of my own

Oh, someone to be kind to in between the dark and the light
Oh, coming right behind you, swear I’m gonna find you, one of these nights

One of these dreams, one of these lost and lonely dreams, now
We’re gonna find one, mm, one that really screams
I’ve been searching for the daughter of the devil himself
I’ve been searching for an angel in white
I’ve been waiting for a woman who’s a little of both
And I can feel her but she’s nowhere in sight

Oh, loneliness will blind you in between the wrong and the right
Oh, coming right behind you, swear I’m gonna find you, one of these nights

One of these nights oh, in between the dark and the light
Coming right behind you, swear I’m gonna find you
Get you, baby, one of these nights
One of these nights (oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh-oh)
One of these nights (I can feel it, I can feel it)
One of these nights (coming right behind you, swear I’m gonna find you now)
One of these nights (and gets so dark, it’s so dark and cold)
One of these nights (one of these crazy crazy crazy nights)
One of these nights (swear I’m gonna find you coming right behind you)
One of these nights (oh)
One of these nights (and I want to say ah)
One of these nights (one of these, one of these)
One of these nights (coming right behind you, swear I’m gonna find you)
One of these nights (One of these nights, one of these crazy nights)

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Glenn Frey / Don Henley
One of These Nights lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ Hotel California ♫

Posted on by under music, Social commentary

Recorded by The Eagles in 1973, this was the first single from the band’s second album Desperado.

Written by Don Felder, Glenn Frey and Don Henley, this song is about materialism and excess. California is used as the setting, but it could relate to anywhere in America. Don Henley in the London Daily Mail November 9, 2007 said: “Some of the wilder interpretations of that song have been amazing. It was really about the excesses of American culture and certain girls we knew. But it was also about the uneasy balance between art and commerce.”

Hotel California
Eagles

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night.

There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself
‘This could be heaven or this could be Hell’
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face.
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (any time of year) you can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the Captain,
‘Please bring me my wine’
He said, ‘we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty-nine’
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say”

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face.
They livin’ it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise), bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said, ‘we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’
And in the master’s chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can’t kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
‘Relax’ said the night man,
‘We are programmed to receive.
You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!’

Songwriters: Glenn Lewis Frey / Don Felder / Donald Hugh Henley
Hotel California lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group