Eagles bring 1970s nostalgia to ’Dome
Five fun facts about the California rockers, who roll into Calgary to play the Saddledome
They’ve sold more than 150 million records, defined the laid-back, country-rock sounds of 1970s Southern California and had more catty drama within their ranks than the eight seasons combined of Desperate Housewives.
A new version of the Eagles are coming to Calgary on Monday.
When Glenn Frey died in 2016, bandmate Don Henley was adamant the Eagles were finished: “I don’t see how we could go out and play without the guy who started the band,” Henley told The Washington Post.
Thankfully, he changed his mind, in no small part because the reborn Eagles now includes Frey’s gifted son Deacon as part of the lineup.
“The only way it felt justified to me was to have family blood in the band,” Henley told Rolling Stone Magazine in 2017.
Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmidt have been joined by Deacon Frey and country star Vince Gill for a tour that hits the Saddledome on Monday.
Here are five fun facts about the Eagles:
THE KENNY ROGERS/ BOB SEGER CONNECTION
The Eagles may define California sound, but neither of its leaders came from the Golden State.
Frey was from Detroit, a city that birthed raucous, hard-rocking bands that seemed in many ways to be the polar opposite of the Eagles’ peaceful, easy feelings. He even sang backup on Bob Seger’s 1969 garage rocker Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man.
Henley is from Texas and was brought to Los Angeles by gravelly voiced country-pop superstar Kenny Rogers of all people. At the time, Henley was playing in the band Shiloh. Rogers was a fan and helped get the act a recording contract and relocate to Los Angeles in 1970. Shiloh broke up one year later, paving the way for the Eagles.
WHAT EXACTLY IS HOTEL CALIFORNIA ABOUT?
Arguably the Eagles’ most popular song, Hotel California’s cryptic lyrics have been the topic of discussion and debates for decades. Is it an astute comment on California excess and the hedonism in the 1970s, or just bad poetry? Is it about Satan? Heroin addiction? What exactly does colitas smell like?
The lyrics were written by Frey and Henley, while Don Felder reportedly wrote the lion’s share of the music. In 2005, Henley told Rolling Stone: “We were all middle-class kids from the Midwest. Hotel California was our interpretation of the high life in L.A.”
Frey, however, was often more ambiguous about the epic ballad’s true meaning. At around the same time, he told the BBC News: “Everybody wants to know what that song was about, and we don’t know.”
THE BIG LEBOWSKI
Among the many memorable characteristics of The Dude (Jeff Bridges) in the Coen brothers’ 1998 stoner-noir classic was his devotion to CCR and deep hatred of the Eagles.
The soundtrack contains a Spanish cover of Hotel California by the Gypsy Kings. It also contains Townes Van Zandt’s cover of the Rolling Stones’ Dead Flowers. According to T Bone Burnett, who oversaw the soundtrack, the rights of that song were owned at the time by the Stones’ former manager, Allen Klein. He wanted an astronomical amount of money for its usage and wouldn’t budge until Burnett showed him a rough cut of the film.
Klein apparently softened thanks to the Dude’s musical tastes. According to Rolling Stone, right after watching the Dude famously say “I hate the f--king Eagles, man!” Klein stood up and told Burnett he could have the song.
BUT THE DUDE LOVES THE EAGLES IN REAL LIFE
Glenn Frey apparently did not find the Lebowski slight even slightly amusing and reportedly scolded actor Jeff Bridges, who played The Dude but didn’t write his dialogue. The irony is Bridges is a big fan of the Eagles.
His daughter, singer-songwriter Jessie Bridges, confirmed this to former Herald music critic Mike Bell in a 2015 profile.
“Oh no, I love the Eagles,” she said. “And my dad loves the Eagles — yup, yup, yup.”
EAGLES GET LAST LAUGH ON THE BASEBALL FIELD
In his book Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine, Joe Hagan dedicates a full five pages to the epic baseball battle between the Eagles and staff of Rolling Stone in 1978.
At the time, the Eagles were wildly successful but had become the whipping boys of snooty music critics. Frey, who was very competitive, was the one who challenged the magazine staff.
“Anytime you pencil-pushing desk jockeys want to put on your spikes, we’ll kick your ass, too,” he reportedly said. The Eagles clobbered Rolling Stone 15-8. This also won the Eagles a full page in the magazine to “crow about their win,” Hagan writes. The magazine also had to donate $5,000 to UNICEF.
The Eagles play the Saddledome on Monday, May 14.