Maps of Music

Eagles (1972)

Where the lyrics of Eagles take you, and where it was really made.

The producer first turned the band down after hearing them live, and it was only after a rehearsal that he agreed to make the album that launched their career.

Key places

Recorded at Olympic Studios in London (1972)

Recording site Olympic Studios — The band spent two weeks recording the album at Olympic Studios in London, with producer Glyn Johns. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Nightingale re-recorded at Wally Heider's Studio 3 (1972)

Recording site Hollywood Sound — After Geffen tried another production team, Johns re-recorded Nightingale with the band at Wally Heider's Studio 3 in Hollywood. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Eagles: debut studio album by the American rock band the Eagles
• Released 1 June 1972 by Asylum Records
• Recorded at London's Olympic Studios with producer Glyn Johns
• Reached No. 22 on the Billboard 200
• Platinum certification from the RIAA
• Three singles: “Take It Easy”, “Witchy Woman”, “Peaceful Easy Feeling”
• Helped popularize the country rock sound

Background

• In 1971 the band had just formed and was signed by David Geffen
• Geffen sent the band to Aspen, Colorado, to develop as a band
• Glenn Frey wanted Glyn Johns as producer because the band liked several rock albums Johns engineered
• Those albums included records by the Rolling Stones, the Who and Led Zeppelin
• Johns saw the band at the Tulagi club in Boulder, Colorado, in December 1971 and was not impressed
• He heard confusion and a lack of cohesion; Frey wanted rock & roll while Bernie Leadon wanted a country feel
• Johns declined to produce the album
• Geffen persuaded him to hear the band again in a Los Angeles rehearsal
• Johns changed his view when all four sang harmonies with acoustic guitar on Randy Meisner's ballad “Take the Devil”

Recording

• The band spent two weeks recording in London at Olympic Studios
• The album cost $125,000 to produce
• Johns pushed a more acoustic sound and focused on the vocal blend and arrangements
• Frequent disagreements over the band's sound arose between Johns and Frey and Don Henley
• Frey and Henley wanted a rougher rock and roll sound
• Johns used Leadon's banjo and Meisner's bass to build a more country sound
• Johns introduced a no-drug and no-alcohol rule that Frey, but not Henley, disliked
• “Nightingale” was re-recorded in Los Angeles at Wally Heider's Studio 3 in Hollywood
• A Quadraphonic release was planned and given a catalog number, but never issued

Cover

• Artwork by Gary Burden, photography by Henry Diltz
• Originally designed as a gatefold that would open into a poster
• Geffen glued it shut so that it would not open
• The gatefold band photo at Joshua Tree then ended up the wrong side up
• Frey revealed in the documentary History of the Eagles that the band was all on peyote during the Joshua Tree National Park shoot

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971.
• Founding members were Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner, all first recruited as musicians for Linda Ronstadt.
• They signed to David Geffen's Asylum Records in September 1971.
• The name was reportedly suggested by Leadon, though accounts vary.

Members

• Founding members: Glenn Frey (guitar, vocals), Don Henley (drums, vocals), Bernie Leadon (guitar, vocals), Randy Meisner (bass, vocals).
• Don Felder joined in 1974 as guitarist; Joe Walsh replaced Leadon in 1975; Timothy B. Schmit replaced Meisner in 1977.
• Frey died in January 2016; Meisner died in July 2023.

Career

• The band has five number-one singles and six number-one albums in the US, and six Grammy Awards.
• Estimated sales exceed 200 million records worldwide; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
• Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and Hotel California are among their best-selling albums.
• The band broke up in 1980, reunited in 1994 for Hell Freezes Over, and released Long Road Out of Eden in 2007.
• The band announced a farewell tour in 2023 and held a Sphere residency in Las Vegas from 2024.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Reviewing in 1972, Bud Scoppa of Rolling Stone believed the Eagles had distinguished country-rock backgrounds
• Scoppa said the album sat right behind Jackson Browne's record as the best first album of that year
• The album debuted on the US Billboard 200 at No. 102 in its first week
• It rose to No. 22 in its sixth week on the chart
• The three singles all reached the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's William Ruhlmann judged the album balanced in songwriting in his retrospective review
• Ruhlmann noted that the three hit singles were sung by Frey and Henley, who would later dominate the band
• Robert Christgau, in his 1981 guide, felt the band wrote good songs but doubted the authenticity of their country roots
• Christgau described the output as suave and synthetic-brilliant but false
• Rolling Stone ranked the album No. 368 in its 2012 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
• The magazine's comment said the album created a new template for laid-back L.A. country-rock style
• The album rose to No. 207 in the 2020 edition of the list
• It was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
• Ultimate Classic Rock critic Sterling Whitaker rated the non-single track “Most of Us Are Sad” among the Eagles' 10 most underrated songs

Records

• Three Top 40 Hot 100 singles: “Take It Easy” No. 12, “Witchy Woman” No. 9, “Peaceful Easy Feeling” No. 22
• RIAA platinum certification on 20 March 2001 for shipment of 1 million copies in the United States

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The chirping sound at the start of “Earlybird” was taken from a sound effect library.
• “Nightingale” was first meant to be the non-LP B-side of “Take It Easy”, but it was added to the album and “Get You in the Mood” was dropped to make way for it.
• Johns convinced Leadon to play double-time banjo on “Take It Easy”, a touch Johns felt made the song different.
• The album was slated for Quadraphonic release and given a Quadraphonic catalog number, but it was never released in that format.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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