Baldknobbers Could Do Glenn Frey Tribute

RE-CREATING THE EAGLES’ DESPERADO SOUNDTRACK ON STAGE

Suppose a Baldknobbers show, the original show on the Branson strip, were to open with an Ozark Mountain twist.

A mock free-for-all betwixt lawmen and old west outlaws, complete with smoking guns firing blanks, groans, shouts and the sounds of breaking glass, spills off the stage and into the audience.

Not onto the laps of paying customers, of course, but strategically planted members of the Baldknobbers themselves, living up to their Taney County, Mo., heritage and namesakes, as vigilantes, leaving their seats, rushing to the aid of the lawmen.

One by one the outlaws fall until they are all lying still at the front of the stage.

Behind all this chaos, a band plays onstage. When the madness has reached a crescendo, the guns suddenly fall silent, groans cease, there is no more breaking glass and shouts fade away.

The voice of a vocalist booms throughout the arena.

“Well the stage was set, the sun was sinkin’ low down, as they came to town to face another showdown, the lawmen cleared the people from the street, all you blood thirsty bystanders, will you try to find your seat…”

Music lovers will recognize the tune as the classic rock Doolin’-Dalton Reprise from the Eagles’ Desperado album.

A quick curtain call later, the Baldknobbers could perform some of their own material, then alternate between their acts and scenes associated with the late Eagles’ co-founder, guitarist and vocalist Glenn Frey, who passed at 67 on Jan. 18, 2016. Frey felt the Eagles were unduly criticized for making “a cowboy album” when Desperado was unveiled to record company executives. Over the years sales have helped vindicate the recording. The Baldknobbers’ tradition offers a perfected contrast to the scenario contrived by the Eagles’ outlaw ballads in recording their Desperado album.

The Baldknobbers could likely pull off a musical tribute to Frey by pitting their vigilante heritage against the Eagles’ outlaw image, if they were so inclined. The Baldknobbers may never do such a show. Yet, their vigilante heritage from whence comes the name “Baldknobbers,” is derived from vigilante groups meeting in Branson, Mo., area glades that locals referred to as “balds” among the Ozark Mountains, which stretch all the way down to Northwest Arkansas and into Oklahoma.

The next scene reverts back to the outlaws lying motionless on the front of the stage with a group of lawmen and vigilantes standing over them as featured in the photo on the back of the Eagles’ Desperado album.

At this juncture, a select group of audience members are invited to come forward and take photos of the conquered outlaws while the band plays “Take It To The Limit” to end the scene.

When the curtain opens, the Baldknobbers come out and do their thing. By now, the audience is intrigued. They have figured out this is not your typical Baldknobbers’ show and are starting to wonder, “What’s going to happen next?”

Again, the scene goes back to the outlaws lying on the front of the stage. Cimarron Rose mourns their demise, but as she begins to sing, “Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses? You’ve been out riding fences too long…,” the outlaws begin to resurrect one by one.

Once they are all back on their feet, the outlaws trade their guns for guitars. One musician exchanges a double-barrel shotgun for a double-necked guitar in the style of Don Felder, who wrote the soundtrack for Hotel California.

The band then plays “Get Over It,” symbolic of the Eagles coming together again as a band in 1994, after what Frey described as “a 14-year vacation.” The show must conclude, of course, with the Eagles’ hit, “Take It Easy,” in which Frey sang the lead vocal.

MARK HUMPHREY IS A FORMER DISC-JOCKEY. THE COWBOY GENERATION STOPPED WITH HIS DAD, WHO LEFT OFF RANCHING FOR A MINISTRY. YET, HUMPHREY LEARNED TO APPRECIATE HIS WESTERN HERITAGE. THE EAGLES WERE A MAJOR INFLUENCE ON DEVELOPING HIS DESIRE TO CREATE COWBOY POETRY. HUMPHREY IS A WRITER FOR THE ENTERPRISE-LEADER.