Glenn Frey

[rass]

yup

[brian]

I will not be putting on any Eagles any time soon in remembrance, but damn, 67 is too young.

[P.D.X.]

At least we'll always have the music.

[sancarlos]

Frey (and Henley) gets slagged and rightly so for what the Eagles became over time. But, their first three albums were great in my book, and really important as far as establishing country rock as a genre. Downhill after that. But, in their youth, they took Gram Parson's lead and broke it to the big time.

[DaveInSeattle]

Frey (and Henley) gets slagged and rightly so for what the Eagles became over time. But, their first three albums were great in my book, and really important as far as establishing country rock as a genre. Downhill after that. But, in their youth, they took Gram Parson's lead and broke it to the big time.

Still pretty amazing that "Eagles: Their Greatest Hits, 1971–1975" is one of the best selling albums of all time, and it came out before "Hotel California".

[howard]

I will not be putting on any Eagles any time soon in remembrance…

Such coldness to a fellow Detroit boy. When he was a kid he played on a Bob Seger record (Ramblin Gamblin Man.)

[DC47]

Frey (and Henley) gets slagged and rightly so for what the Eagles became over time. But, their first three albums were great in my book, and really important as far as establishing country rock as a genre. Downhill after that. But, in their youth, they took Gram Parson's lead and broke it to the big time.

I agree. There are many artists I am sure that I wouldn't have liked if I knew them. But I thrilled to at least one era of their creative work. Frey was one, and the first three albums was the era.

I imagine I'm especially sensitive to Frey's death. My first rock concert was going to Brooklyn to see see the Eagles open for Dan Fogelberg (who died a few years back).

I had been big into the popular music scene for several years. I was into a lot of big names like Stevie, Smokey, Marvin, Temps, Beatles, Byrds, Beach Boys, the Allmans, and the like. I bought the records -- 45s even! -- and wore them out.

But they were well-established when I became a fan. The Eagles were the first band that I 'discovered' close to the start, when they were nobodies (at least in the NYC market) who had just put out their first album.

When the figures in your iconic memories start dying, especially when it's not an overdose or accident, you can hear the clock ticking just a little bit louder. Later tonight I will be listening to those early Eagles songs, before the paradigmatic fall from grace that so often follows success, tipping one back to the memory of Glen Frey.

[Shirley]

Obviously Frey had a lesser contribution to the music of The Eagles than David Bowie had to his own music, but I have certainly enjoyed a lot more of what The Eagles made than Bowie. I'm not claiming The Eagles were more influential or more important, but they made better music.

[mister d]

It's not just you, Shirley ...

[howard]

And Ben is Already Gone.

[Pruitt]

It's not just you, Shirley ...

I'm sure this tweet is a great comfort to Frey's survivors.

[sancarlos]

[DC47]

Nice. Is that truck set up for a photographic shoot, or set there permanently as a tribute?

In the mid-70s I was hitch-hiking from LA to Chicago, then to NYC. Or so I thought. I got stuck in the dessert for a day and a night near Victorville. Towards the beginning of that marathon a car stopped to drop a fellow migrant. He told me he had just escaped from a mental hospital. His wrist band supported the claim. So did what he had to say as the early winter sun climbed in the sky and then set into darkness.

In those 20 hours on the side of the highway only one car stopped. The driver was going to Las Vegas; I told my new friend to take the ride as I was headed east towards St. Louis. I was lonelier but safer. I was used to lonely.

As it turns out, there was no girl in a flat-bed Ford. Nor any vehicle at all slowing down to take a look at me. I ended up walking back down the road and catching a bus.

We passed through Winslow soon into the trip. I had planned to sing the second verse of the song as I rolled through town with my pack in the back of whatever vehicle had given me a lift. But not when I had been defeated by the road, and now forced to see the southwest through the window of a Greyhound and trying not to smell the toilet a few rows back.

[Gunpowder]

I don't understand why so many people dislike the Eagles so intensely. Did the first cool underground band come out around that time?

[Johnny Carwash]

Yeah, I'm not a music historian but somewhere along the line Correct Music Opinions came to dictate that you are supposed to hate the Eagles. Also, like 70% of the time someone says they hate the Eagles they are just doing it as an excuse to make a Big Lebowski reference. I don't like them very much, but I don't see what it is about them that inspires virulent hatred, other than that they were making safe, popular tunes when other, cooler people were doing "edgy" things. If I had it my way, Fleetwood Mac would have their reputation.

[mister d]

I legitimately couldn't name a song other than "Hotel California". There's a bunch of groups from that era (them, Steely Dan, Steve Miller, probably a half dozen others I think are one of the previous ones listed) that I just lump in the same "not good" bucket.

[A_B]

I think they are really good and wrongly pilloried. Yes, they made some songs later on that were more poppy than their hardcore fans liked. There are definitely songs in their catalog I skip over. But there's probably more that I really like.

Their version of "Seven Bridges Road" is great.

[mister d]

So they're Chicago?

[A_B]

So they're Chicago?

I don't think that's even close to a fair comparison. Chicago was always poppy, or at least the songs that you'd remember chicago for were always that way. Eagles have some great rock and roll earlier in their catalog.

[rass]

Or The Doobie Brothers.

[Ryan]

So to leave the Eagles, you either have to be a racist taskmaster or die.



(I hate most "70s music" - the bands Delaware mentioned chief among them. I like a LOT of Eagles songs.)

[duff]

I have always enjoyed the Eagles. I found a cassette of their greatest hits album in the junior high locker room. That album became my favorite for the next three years or so. And I agree with AB on Seven Bridges Road. Just amazing.

[The Sybian]

I bought the records -- 45s even! -- and wore them out.

Serious question, but what is the difference between a 45 and other records? I know (or think I know) a 45 means the record plays at 45 rpms. I have vague memories of record players, and know they also have a 33 rpm setting. Was the 33 for smaller records, like the little one song on each side records? What is the deal with LP (long play?) and EP (extended play?)?

[P.D.X.]

I bought the records -- 45s even! -- and wore them out.

Serious question, but what is the difference between a 45 and other records? I know (or think I know) a 45 means the record plays at 45 rpms. I have vague memories of record players, and know they also have a 33 rpm setting. Was the 33 for smaller records, like the little one song on each side records? What is the deal with LP (long play?) and EP (extended play?)?

45 rpm records are "higher res". Since they spin faster, you get more groove length per song, which is roughly analogous to giving the needle more data to work with. The obvious drawback is that you need more physical space for 45 rpm albums, so they usually need to be double LP's. Whereas with a 33 rpm album, you can fit half on one side, with 45 you can only fit 2-3 standard songs. Also you have to flip/change the record more often with 45's. The higher speed pressings are more desirable, of course, but the 33 rpm's are more economical and convenient.

I've never seen a 7" record that isn't 45 rpm, but 10" and 12" records can be either speed.

There's also 78 rpm records, but as far as I know they're not pressed anymore.

LP typically refers to a full-length album, EP is usually just a few songs (same as in CD era). (One of these old-timers can correct me if I have that wrong.)

[howard]

Up until the early 60s, mass market popular music was issued only in 45rpm, 7inch format. One song per side, approx 3 minutes. Long play records, 33 and a 1/3 rpm/12 inch, were 'albums' of multiple songs, for more serious music, and only a few stars like Sinatra, because an LP was priced much higher than a 45. Grownups could afford 33s; kids music was on 45s.

With the affluence of a booming economy, cheap record players made in Japan and the creation of 'youth culture' by Hollywood, Madison Ave and the record companies, the 1960s saw a slow, gradual shift in rock and roll music from the 45 to the LP. Most notably with The Beatles. Before them, a band could have significant success with very high 45 sales, and minimal LP album sales. James Brown comes to mind; he sold millions and millions of 45s and was a huge star, but I'll bet his LP album sales were tiny prior to '64 or so. (Sorry I can't find stats with a quick search.)

Both the much higher cost of an LP album compared to a 45 single, and a shift in buying habits prolonged the changeover. And even in the early 70s, by which time LP sales had outpaced 45 sales, kids like me with limited money would buy only the 45 hit from a band, or buy a 45 as a sample, and if you liked it, save up and buy the album later.

78 rpm records, usually 10 in, were an older format, with a capacity of roughly 3 minutes per side. Thus establishing the length of the popular song. This was the dominant format for the first half of the 20th century. They would package three or four 78s as an 'album' of six or eight songs. With the development of the 33 1/3 rpm 12 inch LP in 1948, along side the 45s, the 78s rapidly faded from mass production. Also, 78s were made from shellac and were brittle, easily shattered; the newer formats were vinyl, which did not break when dropped.

[Shirley]

I legitimately couldn't name a song other than "Hotel California". There's a bunch of groups from that era (them, Steely Dan, Steve Miller, probably a half dozen others I think are one of the previous ones listed) that I just lump in the same "not good" bucket.

Honestly, if you can only name one Eagles song and you weren't born after the year 2000, you really shouldn't be commenting in music threads.

[Ryan]

Seconded.

[Rush2112]

I legitimately couldn't name a song other than "Hotel California". There's a bunch of groups from that era (them, Steely Dan, Steve Miller, probably a half dozen others I think are one of the previous ones listed) that I just lump in the same "not good" bucket.

Honestly, if you can only name one Eagles song and you weren't born after the year 2000, you really shouldn't be commenting in music threads.

Plus calling Steely Dan not good and lumping them with Steve Miller?

I am of the school that I enjoy their early stuff, but will generally state that I do not enjoy the Eagles as the Eagles that people will play is either dreck or incredibly overplayed.

[mister d]

Honestly, if you can only name one Eagles song and you weren't born after the year 2000, you really shouldn't be commenting in music threads.

I'm not saying I've only ever been exposed to one, just that I only know the name of one. What other one should have been an automatic "of course this hit is from the Eagles" before yesterday?

[P.D.X.]

[Shirley]

Honestly, if you can only name one Eagles song and you weren't born after the year 2000, you really shouldn't be commenting in music threads.

I'm not saying I've only ever been exposed to one, just that I only know the name of one. What other one should have been an automatic "of course this hit is from the Eagles" before yesterday?

I don't know what you learned yesterday, but ...

Life in the Fast Lane
Lyin' Eyes
Take it Easy
Tequila Sunrise
Peaceful Easy Feeling
Take it to the Limit

... and probably quite a few more. They had a lot of hits, most of which you can still hear on a lot of stations today.

[brian]

I stand with Mr. D on Steely Dan.

[mister d]

I don't know what you learned yesterday, but ...

Life in the Fast Lane - Yes
Lyin' Eyes - Was going to be yes but I realized I was singing it to "Private Eyes" so maybe
Take it Easy - Yes
Tequila Sunrise - No idea
Peaceful Easy Feeling - Yes
Take it to the Limit - Yes

... and probably quite a few more. They had a lot of hits, most of which you can still hear on a lot of stations today.

So I'm atleast 4 of 6 in recognizing the song. What I'm not getting is why I should know "THIS IS THE EAGLES" if I've never been a classic rock station guy. There aren't all that many artists I consider so ubiquitous that everyone should know its them just because its them.

[A_B]

I also don't care much for Steely Dan.

[howard]

I also don't care much for Steely Dan.

Paging Ed Zipper!

[rass]

I stand with Mr. D on Steely Dan.

Caught up in the action, I've been looking out for you.

[rass]

I also don't care much for Steely Dan.

Paging Ed Zipper!

The heat is on!

[howard]

[Shirley]

There aren't all that many artists I consider so ubiquitous that everyone should know its them just because its them.

There probably aren't that many. The Eagles are one of them though. I'm guessing they are the most popular/successful American rock band of all time. Seems like that should count for something.

[The Sybian]

I also don't care much for Steely Dan.

Paging Ed Zipper!

The heat is on!

I don't feel it.