I've been thinking for about some of my favourite Eagles musical snippets and I've come up with twenty-five personal favourites across five distinct categories, with five for each:
Guitar solos
- The end of Hotel California where Don and Joe are soloing together after playing their separate parts.
- The second guitar solo of Take The Devil, I love the moment where it really takes off, I don't understand enough to describe this accurately musically unfortunately.
- The intro solo for James Dean, it bursts out of the blocks and is just a great guitar sound.
- The short but perfectly formed solo on PMAIAR, exactly what the song needed. I wouldn't change anything about it (although if playing on my iPod I often repeat it).
- The beginning of the final ICTYW solo, I love the licks that Glenn plays there.
Musical (not guitar solos)
- The opening guitar chords of Take It Easy. When I first heard this I knew a great song was about to start.
- Randy's bass playing during the middle section of Too Many Hands after the second chorus.
- The keyboard part that appears on the third verse of Good Day In Hell, I have never seen this discussed but I think it adds a lot to the song and adds to its raucousness.
- The rhythm section in the intro to Those Shoes, both the bass and drums are essential to that song and they are highlighted at the start.
- The electric guitar part in The Sad Café during the 'glory train' verse - I notice that Joe has a writing credit for this song, was it for this? If so, please thank him, it's great and captures the nostalgic feel of the song.
Lead vocals
- Don Henley's singing of 'He had a nasty reputation as a cruel dude' in LITFL, especially the way he sings the word cruel which is one of my favourite inflections in any song.
- Glenn singing 'You bought it sight unseen' for the second time in James Dean, I really like it when sings in that style and that one stands out to me.
- The entire coda of Take It To The Limit, Randy's vocal performance is incredible there.
- Don's singing on the intro to the Doolin-Dalton/Desperado (Reprise), it really sets the scene for the Desperado album closer.
- Bernie's lead vocal on the choruses of My Man - he has help from the others, but his voice stands out as it should given that it is his personal tribute (I believe it's to Gram Parsons but am aware that it could be someone else).
Harmony or backing vocals
- Randy singing the Winslow Arizona line in Take It Easy (technically that's a co-lead... oh well, it
had to make my list).
- The harmony vocals on Earlybird, especially prior to where the bridge starts. The vocals remind me of The Beach Boys although I prefer the song to much of the Beach Boys' output.
- During the final verse of The Last Resort when all of the band members come in on harmony.
- The chorus of Ol' 55, which really highlights the superb harmonies of the original four members.
- The moment in Seven Bridges Road where they sing the song's title for the first time. The vocals are great throughout but the way the sing that part is wonderful.
Lyrics
- 'Well the towns lay out across the dusty plains, like graveyards filled with tombstones waiting for the names' from Doolin-Dalton, a very evocative description of the Old West.
- The 'I've been searching for the daughter of the devil himself' verse of OOTN.
- The 'You can leave it all behind and sail to Lahaina' part of The Last Resort. I love all of the lyrics to this song and could honestly pick any lyrics from it but this section is a favourite.
- 'They will never forget you 'til somebody new comes along' from NKIT, summing up the song's main point while holding extremely true in many walks of life.
- 'You think time is just a magazine' from BBF, I really must use or adapt that one when the chance arises.
These aren't the only ones I could have come up with but I do really like all of the moments (or longer) that I've mentioned. I notice that The Last Resort and Doolin-Dalton and the Reprise have come up more than once, I absolutely love these songs and they come from my two favourite Eagles albums so maybe this isn't surprising.