The great "Hotel California" debate.

[Redcloud]

Yes it has been claimed for years that the Eagles HC ripped off Jethro Tulls "We used to know". The Eagles did tour with Tull and the first clip is the Tull song. The second is Ian Anderson from Tull talking about it but accepting it is a great song that the Eagles did albeit based on his music. Have a listen, it is very similar I have to say.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xny0Uj4--tk[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMh0FS3rcnA&feature=related[/ame]

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Well - I've seen those clips before, and I'm glad that Ian Anderson acknowledges that Hotel California isn't plagiarized. I honestly don't hear that much similarity, but I know nothing about guitar chords. If there is any similarity in the chord sequence, I would think it is purely coincidental. Don Felder, who wrote the music to Hotel California, wasn't even a part of the band during the time that the Eagles opened for Jethro Tull.

[WalshFan88]

Gotta agree with Dreamer... They have some slight similarity but in no was is it copying that song at all. I've gotten into some pretty heated arguments about it on YouTube (several people attacking my view) but I fully believe that it is in no way a copy and is just similar. As Dreamer said, Felder wasn't in the band when they toured with Tull.

[sodascouts]

I can hear the similarity. Maybe it was an unconscious thing - Felder heard it on the radio or something, and so something like it popped into his brain when he was fiddling around on the guitar.

[Topkat]

I really don't see them as that similar. I think this has been exaggerated. If Anderson isn't bothered by this, why is anyone else??

[Mrs Frey]

Well, to be honest, I haven't even heard Jethro Tull's song until now, and was completely unaware about this debate.

As Ian Anderson states, the similarity is in the chord sequence, but as far as I'm concerned the similarity stops there. With all due respect, Jethro Tull's song goes on and on with the same structure, whereas "Hotel California" has verses and a chorus, and the chord sequence changes in the latter.

I actually got bored listening to this song - it isn't in the same league as "Hotel California", in my opinion.

[Musicfan]

Well - I've seen those clips before, and I'm glad that Ian Anderson acknowledges that Hotel California isn't plagiarized. I honestly don't hear that much similarity, but I know nothing about guitar chords. If there is any similarity in the chord sequence, I would think it is purely coincidental. Don Felder, who wrote the music to Hotel California, wasn't even a part of the band during the time that the Eagles opened for Jethro Tull.

I have watched and listened to many interviews that Don Felder has given about his time before, during, and after the Eagles. He describes how before he joined the band he was good friends with Bernie Leadon and he would be invited to their concerts, and "hang out" with them. He says he saw them several times and during one interview he describes seeing them open for Yes in 1971 in Boston, but they were also opening up for Jethro Tull in 1972. So there is no doubt in my mind that Don Felder heard "We Used To Know" before he joined the Eagles and before he wrote Hotel California. However Ian Anderson is such a class act and describes the situation perfectly. The Eagles wrote a great song with some inspiration from We Used to Know.

[thelastresort]

He may have heard it, however I've also no doubt that Felder also heard several hundred if not thousands of songs in the Seventies, so unless it really stuck in his mind I can't see why he'd keep that one close in particular. Further, if he'd heard it back in 1972/73, why did it take him three or four years to record it as a demo (when by the sounds of it he pulled off tape after tape of them) to pass onto Don H. and Glenn, if he was so inspired why didn't he bring it to the table sooner or record it earlier for himself? I'd also be willing to bet that the plethora of demos, jamming, noodling and whatever else he did on guitar meant that inevitably he was going to come up with something that sounded like something already recorded - there are only so many chords, progressions, keys, tempos and tunings in the world.

[UndertheWire]

You know how it usually takes a few hearings before a piece of music takes hold in your brain? Perhaps part of the appeal of "Mexican Reggae" was its familiarity for Don H and Glenn without them realising why it was familiar.

[Musicfan]

He may have heard it, however I've also no doubt that Felder also heard several hundred if not thousands of songs in the Seventies, so unless it really stuck in his mind I can't see why he'd keep that one close in particular. Further, if he'd heard it back in 1972/73, why did it take him three or four years to record it as a demo (when by the sounds of it he pulled off tape after tape of them) to pass onto Don H. and Glenn, if he was so inspired why didn't he bring it to the table sooner or record it earlier for himself? I'd also be willing to bet that the plethora of demos, jamming, noodling and whatever else he did on guitar meant that inevitably he was going to come up with something that sounded like something already recorded - there are only so many chords, progressions, keys, tempos and tunings in the world.

Of course Felder, other members of the Eagles and every other musician in the world hear many many songs, and some of that music influences them either consciously or subconsciously. The influences can manifest themselves at anytime during the creative process which includes "jamming, noodling and whatever on a guitar." It happens all the time. Even Felder talks about this in his many interviews, when he discusses inspiration, and influences on creative ideas. People say that because Felder was not with the Eagles when they opened for Jethro Tull he could not possibly be influenced by the song "We Used to Know". This is simply not the case.