What's An Eagles Song?

[Freypower]

I am also of the opinion that the song primarily belongs to the songwriter until it is recorded, so therefore it is a Henley/Frey song until it's recorded, when it would have become an Eagles song. I have never heard it, though I know of it.

A distinction is that Somebody is a Jack Tempchin song, but because the Eagles recorded it , it is also an Eagles song.

[eaglesvet]

Hmmm, is this like if a tree falls in the woods and there's no one there to hear it does it make a sound...?

Just kidding. I agree with Dreamer. For example, if Lennon/ McCartney wrote a song for The Stones but never recorded it as The Beatles, then it's not a Beatles song.

The first thing I thought of was the tree falling in the empty woods, too!
I think the song really can 'belong' to both the songwriter and the recording artist. For many many years, I only knew the song Jersey Girl as a Bruce Springsteen song--he recorded it, and I assumed he wrote it. It's listed on his website under his "Songs", and it's exactly the type of song he would write. It was only within the last few months, and from being on this board, that I learned it was written by Tom Waits! I think it was from a thread about Tom and Ol' '55, where I then watched a You Tube video, which then led to another one of Tom performing Jersey Girl...and I did a double take! So, I looked into it a bit further, and found out that Bruce had only covered Tom's song--it was then I heard the sound of breaking all over New Jersey...

However, now I realize that given how much I like Ol' '55 and Jersey Girl, there are probably other Tom Waits' songs I would like as well. So, some time soon, I have to check him out!