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Thread: Songs you wished you could switch lead vocals

  1. #11
    Stuck on the Border
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    Default Re: Songs you wished you could switch lead vocals

    I would have loved to hear Glenn sing "Life In The Fast Lane". I think he did an incredible job on "Desperado" on Letterman when he sang it. I like it almost as much as Don's version.
    Glenn could rock a song - look at HT, AG and OOC. I never understood why Glenn never sang LITF and some of the other songs on HC & TLR. He certainly could easily have handled them.

    "The Henley Takeover" side is interesting. I think in the beginning Glenn thought it was better for Don to sing lead but later, based on some interviews he did back in the 80's, he indicated he had given up too much and would never do something like that again.

    IMHO - and just my opinion, I think the Eagles suffered when they went from multiple lead singers to just Don. I love his voice but, I think they missed something when it just became all about Don. Glenn, Randy, Joe and Tim all should have had more than one song on an album. I think this is one of the major reason why so many people think of Don as the only one who could sing and dismiss Glenn as the "least talented Eagle" to quote people on you tube.

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    Border Rebel Pippinwhite's Avatar
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    Default Re: Songs you wished you could switch lead vocals

    NKIT -- I think you have a point there. And some people think that a rock singer is supposed to sound like DH, and that's pretty much it. Guess they forget about Paul McCartney, who can sing rockers with the best of them, and then turn around and croon "And I Love Her". Glenn was much the same.

    I think having different voices on lead really helped contribute to the Eagles' unique sound. But then you hear over and over in HOTE that many of the decisions they made were made "for the good of the Eagles." Still (not bashing DH here), I wish Don had said, "Hey. Let's have Glenn sing on this one." And maybe he did, but maybe Glenn felt he wouldn't do as well on it and declined. As I said, it just goes to show we all have our insecurities.

    Yeah, the "All Don, all the time" thing wears on me a little. And I think it definitely contributes to the whole "Glenn Frey, talentless hack, lands on his feet in the best American band" mess. Sheesh.

    Fortunately, we know better.

  3. #13
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    Default Re: Songs you wished you could switch lead vocals

    I think Glenn sang a verse or so of LITFL during the "Party of Two" tour. Of course, I can't find where I put the download.

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    Default Re: Songs you wished you could switch lead vocals

    I think Don always has been about what was best for Don. Not that he shouldn't be, but it seems that way. With Glenn deferring to him, he kept getting much more of the Eagles lead duties, then look even at the resumption. Compare solo inclusion.
    HFO 4 to 2
    Farewell 1, 4 to 1
    LROoE 3 to 0
    Millenium 4 to 1

  5. #15
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    Default Re: Songs you wished you could switch lead vocals

    Quote Originally Posted by Pippinwhite View Post
    Hey YEF -- I think there is such a thread, because I think I've posted on it. LOL. I'm sure one of our diligent moderators can merge this thread with the current one if that's the case.

    Having said that, I love hearing Glenn sing "Desperado". There's a clip from 1984 when he was on the Letterman show where he sings it. It's on YouTube.

    If I could hear Glenn sing "One of These Nights," along with "You Never Cry Like a Lover," I'd be a happy camper, for sure.
    Didn't Glenn do "Desperado" on Live in Dublin?

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    Border Rebel Pippinwhite's Avatar
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    Default Re: Songs you wished you could switch lead vocals

    BB1976 -- Yep, he sings it on the Live in Dublin album, too. Forgot about that.

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    Default Re: Songs you wished you could switch lead vocals

    Quote Originally Posted by UndertheWire View Post
    I think Glenn sang a verse or so of LITFL during the "Party of Two" tour. Of course, I can't find where I put the download.
    I saw Glenn sing most of LITFL in 1993 during the Party of Two tour, but that was hardly the optimum opportunity because he had a nasty cold and Joe was pretty drunk and out of it. Joe started singing it and Glenn took over. That show was a strange experience, more like a party than a concert, but even so, much of it was surprisingly good.

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    Border Troubadour groupie2686's Avatar
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    Default Re: Songs you wished you could switch lead vocals

    Quote Originally Posted by New Kid In Town View Post
    I would have loved to hear Glenn sing "Life In The Fast Lane". I think he did an incredible job on "Desperado" on Letterman when he sang it. I like it almost as much as Don's version.
    Glenn could rock a song - look at HT, AG and OOC. I never understood why Glenn never sang LITF and some of the other songs on HC & TLR. He certainly could easily have handled them.

    "The Henley Takeover" side is interesting. I think in the beginning Glenn thought it was better for Don to sing lead but later, based on some interviews he did back in the 80's, he indicated he had given up too much and would never do something like that again.

    IMHO - and just my opinion, I think the Eagles suffered when they went from multiple lead singers to just Don. I love his voice but, I think they missed something when it just became all about Don. Glenn, Randy, Joe and Tim all should have had more than one song on an album. I think this is one of the major reason why so many people think of Don as the only one who could sing and dismiss Glenn as the "least talented Eagle" to quote people on you tube.
    Do you have a link to the interview where Glenn said he had given up too much? I'd like to read that.

    I agree, I think the Eagles were best when they all shared lead vocals. I think Glenn stepped back too much, to the point where not only do people dismiss Glenn as the "least talented Eagle," but some don't even know who he was, but they all know Don Henley. Glenn had a very versatile voice - he could do rockers or sing very softly when he wanted to. He had a very strong voice, perhaps stronger than Henley's; you can almost always hear him in their harmonies. I'm thinking of Seven Bridges Road or their "my daddy was a handsome devil" early on; Glenn's voice almost drowns the others out. I think Glenn sold himself and his talent short.

    It's hard to imagine Life in the Fast Lane or One of These Nights sung by anyone other than Henley, but I would have said that about Desperado, and I think Glenn did a great job with it. Same for Take It to the Limit. This is more recently, but I think Glenn could have done Busy Being Fabulous.

    And BillBailey, yes, he did Desperado on Live in Dublin.

  9. #19
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    Default Re: Songs you wished you could switch lead vocals

    Frey sold himself short in terms of both his voice and guitar abilities, certainly as the Eagles progressed through the 70s. That said however, I also believe that if at any point Glenn had thought 'I will sing lead on this song', or 'I will play that solo' then it would have happened. I do not doubt for a second though that Glenn was interested in anything other than what was best for the band, be that that Henley sang the leads, or Joe and Felder stayed on guitar when a piano needed to be played: I would have loved Glenn to have played guitar live on I Can't Tell You Why (with the fiddle of Joe onto piano and Felder onto organ, which he could play), but instead he took his duty as the best pianist in the band and let Felder / Smith get most of the glory for his finest lead guitar contribution he ever made to the band.

    The mugs on YouTube who call Glenn a fraud or the least talented Eagle or whatever only say that because, to his immeasurable detriment, he allowed that to happen for the good of everything else. What he lacked for onstage however he more than compensated for behind the scenes: arrangement, production, the ability to write songs like there's no tomorrow, the ability to play just about any instrument (probably only bettered by Joe in that regard) and above all his tenacious, all guns blazing defence and leadership of the band. No other Eagle could contribute those in their entirety.

  10. #20
    Stuck on the Border Delilah's Avatar
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    Default Re: Songs you wished you could switch lead vocals

    Quote Originally Posted by BillBailey1976 View Post
    I think Don always has been about what was best for Don. Not that he shouldn't be, but it seems that way. With Glenn deferring to him, he kept getting much more of the Eagles lead duties, then look even at the resumption. Compare solo inclusion.
    HFO 4 to 2
    Farewell 1, 4 to 1
    LROoE 3 to 0
    Millenium 4 to 1
    I'm guessing without looking at all of the set lists that those Don solo songs were Boys of Summer, Dirty Laundry, All She Wants to Do Is Dance and Heart of the Matter. These were very big hits for Don, not only in terms of chart success but also sales. I believe DL went gold, as did his first solo album; his other albums went platinum and were top 10 albums. He won Grammy awards for his solo work and also scored top 10 hits with his duets with Stevie Nicks and Patty Smythe. He has also won critical acclaim, being listed as one of the 100 Best Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. His Building the Perfect Beast was ranked among the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time by RS.

    His solo work was quite high-profile so it does seem the Eagles would want to capitalize on that. I enjoy Glenn's solo material, I own some of it and I just bought his Live in Dublin cd. But I am not surprised that Henley's solo songs outnumbered Glenn's.

    I haven't read through Soda's Pebble Beach thread entirely; it's something I'd like to do when I can do so uninterrupted. But I have read parts of it. Something that stuck out in my mind was when someone asks Glenn if he plans to add some solo songs to the Eagles setlist. His reaction indicated he didn't seem warm to the idea (it would be interesting to know why). So I'm not sure that Henley was singing more of his own stuff b/c he was doing what was best for Don, or that's just the way it worked out. Besides, he was getting paid more than the others so he should have sang more leads.

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