Celebration of "Desperado"

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Sorry I missed it. I was listening to Zelda's Sabres beat my Penguins. Shoulda put in Desperado and joined y'all.

[thelastresort]

Sorry for the bump, but I want to wade in with my love for this wonderful album (best they ever did, and probably my second favourite album ever by anyone):

Doolin-Dalton - The harmonica is absolutely spine tingling. It's got just the right balance of it I think - it gives the perfect impression of the lone, vast plains they rode without being too dominating. Great to see TBS play it so well on HOTE but I just wish it carried on throughout the song as per the album version.

Twenty-One - Not my favourite but I've only just realised the significance of this song - the only one of the Dalton brothers to survive the disastrous double bank robbery was Emmet. His age? 21. Absolute genius songwriting right there, amazingly subtle.

Out of Control - One of their best ever songs. Tells the social life of an outlaw rather well! Probably the closest the Eagles ever came to heavy metal too

Tequila Sunrise - Once again a brilliant bit of songwriting - it took me quite a while to realise the reason this and OOC were next to each other! Mandolin is brilliant too. Probably their most underrated mainstream song I'd say.

Desperado - Love it, but a bit slow. Amazing how many non-Eagles fans are aware of this song because of its ballad-like status. Apparently also a favourite of a Mr. Simon Cowell. I just wish the Eagles didn't end concerts with it, quite a depressing note to leave on!

Certain Kind of Fool - Again, not my favourite, but any Randy song is automatically a decent one in my books Also a great example of just how identical in some ways outlaws were to rock musicians.

Doolin-Dalton Instrumental/Outlaw Man - Incredible intro, very country, and a lovely electric guitar piece. Love the roughly-sung opening lines and to be honest most of the lyrics. The bass on the outro is probably up there with Midnight Flyer as Randy's best on an Eagles record.

Saturday Night - One of my favourite songs ever. Shows just how much times change and love the slow, country-like harmony and guitar playing on it. Love the fact that they're doing it again for HOTE. Once again, Bernie's mandolining is absolutely beautiful.

Bitter Creek - Never used to like this one but have grown to like it. Love the mystery of the lyrics and the overriding message of the song - warning of the fateful Dalton raid. Ties in well with the next song and the outro 'Ohh'-ing is excellent.

Doolin-Dalton/Desperado Reprise - Best piece of music the Eagles did pre-HC. Harmony is absolutely out of this world and the words themselves, even if partially recycled, are brilliant. The continual 'Desperado' at the end of this song is still one of my favourite pieces of music ever.

[SoaringRockyMountainWay]

I love Desperado!!!!!! I thought it was really cool that at the History of the Eagles concerts they show clips of them in their cowboy outfits during Doolin Dalton reprise. My favorite one is when they are riding horses. I have two horses so it was awesome to see my favorite band trail riding on horses.

[UndertheWire]

This always was and still is my favourite Eagles album. I keep wondering would have come next if this had been more commercially successful.

I really like Bitter Creek. It has a spareness that I love. That twanging guitar (or is it some other stringed instrument?).

We're going to hit the road for one last time.
We cab walk right in and steal them blind.
All that money.
No more running.
I can't wait to see the old man's face
When I win the race.

That long fade out with the hamonies.

[sodascouts]

Comments are always welcome, TLR! I've said before this is my favorite of their albums. I'm absolutely thrilled they are doing the DD-D Reprise this tour. It's magnificent!

[GlennLover]

Can't wait to hear the DD-D Reprise live! Love it!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I'm absolutely thrilled they are doing the DD-D Reprise this tour. It's magnificent!

Ditto!

And all I can say is for those who love the Desperado album, then this tour is a MUST SEE for you if at all possible. And for those who don't love the album, then, hopefully, you will gain a bigger appreciation for it if you see this tour.

[sad-cafe]

I love this "cowboy album"

I love Bitter Creek. It is fantastic.

[thelastresort]

I'll be totally honest, if I paid full price to go to an Eagles gig and they just played the full Desperado album and Hotel California I'd be a happy man. Can't wait to see them on this side of the Pond, hopefully sooner rather than later.

As an aside, Glenn mentioned during the 1973 BBC concert that they were two songs off completing the Desperado album, so Randy wrote CKOF. Does anyone know what the last song was? I'm presuming D-D/D Reprise, but in reality it could be most of them.

[UndertheWire]

As an aside, Glenn mentioned during the 1973 BBC concert that they were two songs off completing the Desperado album, so Randy wrote CKOF. Does anyone know what the last song was? I'm presuming D-D/D Reprise, but in reality it could be most of them.

My guess is that the D-D/D reprise was built up out of the leftovers. There are a few other examples of songs which had extra verses that didn't make the cut ("Tequila Sunrise" and it's Mexico verse and "Lyin' Eyes"). Glenn, Jackson Browne and JD had been playing around with the idea of outlaws even before the Eagles were formed, according to one of the stories in the book "Canyon of Dreams".

"Desperado" was an unfinished song that Don Henley had been working on for a few years that was rewritten to fit the outlaw theme.

I'm losing track of interviews, but I read somewhere about Glenn suggesting to Bernie that he write a song about "Bittercreek" who was a member of the Doolin-Dalton gang so that would be one of the later songs.