Solo Eagles songs have often had an intriguing way of sounding nothing like an Eagles song.
Whether it was Glenn Frey‘s penchant for a wailing sax or Don Henley‘s surprising flirtations with synthesizers, these tracks could end up a world away from the main band’s acoustic-picking country-rock roots. Our list of Top 20 Eagles solo songs sorts through the very best of these often distinctly un-Eagles-sounding moments.
Some of their solo musical dalliances aged better than others, particularly for anyone who preferred their Eagles duded up in Old West outfits. But they also offered fans a new way to approach these familiar voices, while attracting new legions of fans who might not have considered an extended stay amid the dark paneling and ’70s shag of the Hotel California.
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The following countdown of Top 20 Eagles solo songs also highlights those infrequent times when the former members of the group returned to more familiar settings. Sometimes, but only on the rarest of occasions, they sounded like their old selves again – and that tended to nicely balance their period-specific experimentalism.
No. 20. “The Heat Is On”
Glenn Frey, Beverly Hills Cop Soundtrack (1984)
Frey began separating himself from his country-rock past with 1982’s Top 20 hit “The One You Love,” featuring a rather unlikely sax. So why not try again? But the horn part in “The Heat Is On” wasn’t actually his doing. Frey was approached with a largely completed demo to be used in 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop. All he did was add vocals and guitar to this No. 2 hit. Frey was handed a $15,000 check, then stood by as “The Heat Is On” became the highest-charting solo Eagles single.
No. 19. “Don’t Give Up”
Timothy B. Schmit, Timothy B (1987)
Timothy B. Schmit tended to get lost amid the all-star cast of his 1984 solo debut, which featured members of Toto, the Beach Boys and and his main band. So he stripped everything down to a baseline of keyboards and programming. Unfortunately, this ended up overwhelming Schmit’s reliably sweet romanticism, too. “Don’t Give Up” was a Top 30 hit on the adult-contemporary charts in the late ’80s – and it sounds like every word in that phrase.
No. 18. “All Night Long”
Joe Walsh, Urban Cowboy Soundtrack (1980)
The New Jersey-reared Joe Walsh‘s appearance on the boot-scootin’ Urban Cowboy soundtrack made as much sense as the New Jersey-born John Travolta playing the lead role. That didn’t keep record buyers away. “All Night Long” peaked at No. 19 a month after the film premiered in the summer of 1980, becoming the third of Walsh’s four Top 40 solo singles. Eagles promptly placed the anthemic song on their set lists, joining a long line of pilfered Walsh solo tracks that included “Rocky Mountain Way” and “In the City.”
No. 17. “Not Enough Love in the World”
Don Henley, Building the Perfect Beast (1984)
The Henley of the ’80s sometimes had no trouble recalling the Henley from the ’70s. “Not Enough Love in the World,” with a beseeching vocal that can’t quite disguise his subtle digs, is a perfect example. Take away the Henley’s pleated pants in the accompanying video, and this could have been the much stronger (much, much stronger) song that 1979’s The Long Run needed instead of “The Disco Strangler” or “Teenage Jail.”
No. 16. “Sunset Grill”
Don Henley, Building the Perfect Beast (1984)
Henley places his typically aimless and discontent characters into a distinctly modern context, but finds far more success than Timothy B. Schmit’s contemporary experiments with synths. Credit a rather surprising programming assist from Randy Newman, who helped create a swirling orchestral feel, and the able playing of a huge cast of keyboardists that included co-arrangers Michael Boddicker and Benmont Tench. It’s an assumed element now, but guitarist Danny Kortchmar’s subsequent synthesizer solo was once one of the most surprising things that’s ever happened on an Eagles record.
No. 15. “You Belong to the City”
Glenn Frey, Miami Vice Soundtrack (1985)
Unlike Frey’s most recent soundtrack smash, he was deeply involved with the creation of this song. Frey co-wrote, sang and played all the instruments on “You Belong to the City” during late-1984 sessions held at New York City’s Fool on the Hill Studios, except for drums (handled by long-time Frey sideman Michael Huey) and – yes – saxophone (studio musician Bill Bergman). Written specifically for the TV show Miami Vice, “You Belong to the City” would again take Frey to the No. 2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
No. 14. “All She Wants to Do Is Dance”
Don Henley, Building the Perfect Beast (1984)
Principal Henley collaborator Danny Kortchmar was a guitarist by trade. But “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” actually grew out of Kortchmar’s early attempts at mastering one of the first Yamaha DX7s, a synthesizer that would dominate the next few years in pop music. His resulting groove served as a funky counterweight to some of Henley’s most biting political criticisms, this time over the U.S. involvement in Central America’s ’80s-era Contra War.
No. 13. “Hearts on Fire”
Randy Meisner, One More Song (1980)
Meisner left the lineup after struggling with the pressure to build on the successes of 1975’s “Take It to the Limit,” a No. 4 Eagles smash that he co-wrote and sang. He ended up largely disappearing from the music scene, but not before scoring one more Top 20 hit. “Hearts on Fire” ratified Meisner’s often-overlooked contributions to his former band while providing a rare ’80s-era call back to the early Eagles’ groundbreaking country-rock sound.
No. 12. “Smuggler’s Blues”
Glenn Frey, The Allnighter (1985)
“You Belong to the City” wasn’t Glenn Frey’s first intersection with the breakout ’80s television series Miami Vice. Thanks go to the accompanying video for “Smuggler’s Blues,” which fleshed out its illicit themes. Executive producer Michael Mann saw the clip and had an entire first-season episode of Miami Vice built around Frey’s song, even including some lyrics in the dialog. Frey appeared as a guitar-playing pilot in the adaptation, then wrote “You Belong to the City” for the second season’s opener.
No. 11. “Dirty Laundry”
Don Henley, I Can’t Stand Still (1982)
Credit Henley for taking swipes at sensationalism in news long before the advent of 24-hour cable news, the internet or social media. Debit Henley for never quite figuring out how to end “Dirty Laundry,” a gold-selling No. 3 hit that starts with a truly nasty groove before devolving into a bunch of shouting. Reports that the album’s cover image was an actual photograph of Henley mulling things over remain unconfirmed.
No. 10. “Rocky Mountain Way”
Joe Walsh, The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get (1973)
Walsh moved around a lot as a kid before finishing high school in New Jersey, then heading to Kent State University and forming the James Gang in Cleveland. His debut solo single “Rocky Mountain Way” was sparked by a move to Colorado after the James Gang split. Walsh has said he was out mowing his grass during that first summer in Boulder County when he was stuck by snow-capped mountains in the distance. He realized, “the Rocky Mountain way is better than the way I had” – and a song was born.
No. 9. “The Heart of the Matter”
Don Henley, The End of the Innocence (1989)
Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers outlined the song itself. Henley and co-lyricist J.D. Souther had both just split with their fiancees, and Henley was in the mood to talk about forgiveness. It all came together on “The Heart of the Matter.” Of course, in keeping with tradition, Henley once again finds a way to express the deepest of heartbreaks with a subtle putdown or two. But he asks some very big questions along the way. As on all his best songs, those grace notes end up overshadowing the rest.
No. 8. “True Love”
Glenn Frey, Soul Searchin’ (1988)
Despite being introduced to the wider public through the overtly rootsy “Take It Easy,” Glenn Frey always had the deepest of affections for the kind of soul-lifting R&B that’s associated with his hometown of Detroit. “True Love,” a Top 15 hit co-written with stalwart collaborator Jack Tempchin, provides the perfect vehicle for Frey to inhabit that musical space while still making his unique presence very much felt.
No. 7. “The Last Worthless Evening”
Don Henley, Building the Perfect Beast (1984)
This single, co-written by John Corey and Mike Campbell’s Heartbreakers bandmate Stan Lynch, just missed the Top 20 – but that’s no reflection on its lasting emotional power. Henley avoids the usual verbal jabs, instead allowing himself to open his whole heart to someone. The results are a wonder. Whether or not it all was inspired by a withering putdown from the then-recently divorced actress Michelle Pfeiffer becomes utterly beside the point.
No. 6. “A Life of Illusion”
Joe Walsh, There Goes the Neighborhood (1981)
By the early ’80s, Joe Walsh was slipping into addiction and then off the charts. So it was smart to return to the outline of a song dating back to sessions for 1973’s The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get in his pre-Eagles heyday. A bouncy Top 40 hit, “Life of Illusion” finds co-writer Kenny Passarelli playing both guitarron and mariachi-style trumpet – reportedly in a drunken stupor. It’s all very fun, but still begs a question that’s entirely in keeping with this song’s larger theme: Who knows why?
No. 5. “The One You Love”
Glenn Frey, No Fun Aloud (1982)
Frey had a way of making solo songs that sounded nothing like his old Eagles stuff – but “The One You Love” wasn’t one of them. That’s probably because this early No. 15 hit came together with his old friend Jack Tempchin, co-writer of “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” “Already Gone” and others. On the other hand, Frey also establishes what will become a stubborn penchant for the sax. So “The One You Love” deftly accomplishes what every introductory solo hit should, with Frey’s feet firmly planted on each of his two musical worlds.
No. 4. “New York Minute”
Don Henley, The End of the Innocence (1989)
Henley likely heard “New York minute” while growing up in northeast Texas, and it stuck with him. He returned to the old Southern idiom – referencing how things seem to happen at a much faster pace among the city’s hustle and bustle – when Danny Kortchmar provided him with a particularly autumnal set of chord changes during sessions for The End of the Innocence. Henley’s gift for creating lost and searching characters, this time placed in resonant settings like Wall Street and Central Park, did the rest.
No. 3. “Life’s Been Good”
Joe Walsh, But Seriously Folks … (1978)
The winkingly debauched No. 12 hit “Life’s Been Good” follows the curious excesses and often wrong decisions of a guy who’s just lovable enough that people will put up with his bullshit. Meaning this song basically writes itself when you’re Joe Walsh in the late ’70s. Over the next few years, however, life wouldn’t be all that good. Walsh thankfully lived long enough (or more particularly, got sober enough) that these lyrical misadventures could be recalled with a happy sense of irony.
No. 2. “The End of the Innocence”
Don Henley, The End of the Innocence (1989)
Having already had such success finding lyrical inspiration in the finished musical ideas of others, Henley decided to cold call Bruce Hornsby. This was a few years after Hornsby rose to wider notice with his piano-driven “The Way It Is,” and he dug out a similarly constructed track from the discard pile before Henley arrived for a visit. It worked: Hornsby said Henley was only a few blocks away after leaving his house when he excitedly called back to discuss this future Top 10 hit’s new direction.
No. 1. “Boys of Summer”
Don Henley, Building the Perfect Beast (1984)
Henley’s signature No. 5 single began as a moody programmed track that Mike Campbell created with a drum machine – but his boss Tom Petty didn’t feel like its modern feel fit Southern Accents, the rootsier project the Heartbreakers were then working on. Campbell pitched the demo to Henley on the advice of producer Jimmy Iovine. When Henley popped it in his car’s cassette player, his thoughts turned to the way aging can impact us. Special thanks to the local Cadillac drive who affixed that Grateful Dead bumper sticker.
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Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
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