The Eagles: Desperado
Author: David Rensin
Publication: Phonograph Record
Date: June 1973
The back cover photo may depict the Eagles as dead losers, but with DESPERADO it is clear that nothing is further from the truth.
DESPERADO is a non-concept concept album tracing the trials and tribulations of the classic "outlaw" figure from the scene setting album opener, ‘Doolin-Dalton’, to the title track, a moody paean symbolozing the outlaw's lonely and seemingly endless struggle.
The amazing thing about DESPERADO is that it was not planned thematically. The realization that the album was holding together came upon the Eagles and producer Glyn Johns while the L.A. cowboys were recording in England. The fact that DESPERADO managed to retain its direction without becoming overbearing after the midpoint awakening is to the Eagles' eternal credit. (Although thematically sound, the album does not lack for single material, for the tunes have the ability to stand very well on their own merits. One of the many obvious choices is David Blue's ‘Outlaw Man’. Blue has been an enigmatic figure in the music scene for years, fading in and out of record contracts and recording styles. Here he had come up with a strong piece effectively suggestive of the reality it portrays. "I am an outlaw, I was born an outlaw's son/The highway is my legacy, on the highway I will run/In one hand I've got a Bible in the other I've got a gun/Don't you know me, I'm the wanted one..." Although the Eagles alter Blue's lyric slightly towards the end of the song, it still holds up well.
‘Certain Kind of Fool’, the side two opener, is especially interesting in terms of the double entendre. It exposes the alternate and underlying statement of DESPERADO and gives a look between the lines. Listening to Randy Meisner wail, you are never sure if he's singing about a guitar or a gun, and then you realize it's probably both. Naturally, the song attempts to draw out the parallels between the life of an outlaw and the life of a rock musician. Fortunately, it never becomes pretentious or forced and makes a striking point. The song segues into ‘Outlaw Man’ after a brief banjo/guitar rendition of ‘Doolin-Dalton’ by Bernie Leadon and Glenn Frey.
‘Doolin-Dalton’ centers around the activities of the infamous Dalton gang and the tune's hard, choppy acoustic guitar backed by a piercing harmonica lends appealing qualities to it. Most memorable in terms of hummability is ‘Tequila Sunrise’, an empathetic look at the love-starved life of the hired hand. Frey's country twang and lonely guitar strumming make it the perfect sorrowfully plaintive addition to the album. The helpless/hopeless mood is also at its devastating best on the title cut. Here it is finely augmented by subtle string arrangements and mellow piano.
The album's only sore spot is the production. While not
unsuccessful, it falls short of John's earlier Eagles work. The undermixed vocals, especially on the more raucous tunes, gives it that old Rolling Stones quality. It didn't seem an effective way of presenting the Eagles' vocal, melodic lines which are so important to the overall presence.Nonetheless, DESPERADO is a fine and better-than-expected second step for the Eagles, who with this album, I'm sure, are reaffirming the faith I placed in them from the beginning.