Songs you wished you could switch lead vocals

[YoungEaglesFan]

I've been looking through old threads at discussions about underrated songs and ranking your favorite albums but something I haven't seen is a thread dedicated to Eagles songs you wish someone else had sang lead on. Hearing Glenn sing TITTL made me think about this more. Me personally I'd like to hear Glenn sing some of dons songs like best of my love or wasted time. I'd like to hear his smoother voice on that stuff. What about you guys?

[Pippinwhite]

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.

[thelastresort]

Though my favoruite Glenn lead vocals are amongst his softer ones (New Kid in Town and Tequila Sunrise), I think he had a brilliant rocking voice (see Out of Control and the superb Somebody) and I don't think he ever got to properly unleash the latter after the Henley takeover began. On that basis, I would have loved to hear Glenn have a go at something like Life in the Fast Lane or Victim of Love.

(I do love Joe's version of Take It to the Limit though, he has a wonderfully delicate voice when he wants it.)

[BillBailey1976]

"The Henley takeover" I like that phrase.
I have always wondered about that. I know in "History" Glenn plays it off like he wanted to sing less...but I just don't know that I believe that.
The thing that didn't make sense was the way he talks about his vocal participation getting less...and then makes the comment "We had Don Henley". That would have made sense if Henley were a recent addition. But he'd been there since the beginning. They'd always had Don Henley.
Was there Label pressure, band pressure, management pressure?

[scottside]

I think Don Henley became a better singer as time went on with each successive album. The other thing is that he has a natural "grit" to his voice that Glenn doesn't have and maybe Glenn thought it best to have Don sing those songs that benefited by that edge. It's really hard to say for sure, but I think Glenn would've done a great job on a number of those more rocking songs. Maybe they wouldn't have been quite the same, but they would've worked out fine.

[UndertheWire]

I don't think it's a coincidence that the "Henley Takeover" followed their first #1 which was sung by Henley. This followed on four singles which didn't chart highly (Tequila Sunrise, Outlaw Man, Already Gone, James Dean) and were all sung by Glenn.

[buffyfan145]

I've wondered this too and agree with a lot already posted and how Glenn sang less lead vocals in the late 70s and Don sang most. I always liked Glenn's version of TITTL and now Joe singing it works too. I loved that vid too of Glenn singing "Desperado" and how Timothy sang "Peaceful Easy Feeling" in his recent solo shows in honor of Glenn. I always thought Glenn could've sang "I Can't Tell You Why" as well since there's a similarity to his 80s solo songs.

[Delilah]

I got the impression Glenn wasn't very confident about his voice, esp. being in a band with Henley. Felder wrote that Glenn would not want anyone around in the control room when he was singing. Randy said he admired how Glenn kept working on his vocals till he got it right.

I love Glenn's voice but I don't think he could have pulled off "One of These Nights" and sing those R-n-B falsettos the way Henley did. He just didn't have Henley's range. I suspect this is why he handed off "Most of Us Are Sad" to Randy b/c again, he didn't have the range to hit those low notes. Of course, Glenn did improve over time.

I think Henley singing "Tequila Sunrise" or Glenn singing "Victim of Love" would be interesting.

[BillBailey1976]

I got the impression Glenn wasn't very confident about his voice, esp. being in a band with Henley. Felder wrote that Glenn would not want anyone around in the control room when he was singing. Randy said he admired how Glenn kept working on his vocals till he got it right.

I love Glenn's voice but I don't think he could have pulled off "One of These Nights" and sing those R-n-B falsettos the way Henley did. He just didn't have Henley's range. I suspect this is why he handed off "Most of Us Are Sad" to Randy b/c again, he didn't have the range to hit those low notes. Of course, Glenn did improve over time.

I think Henley singing "Tequila Sunrise" or Glenn singing "Victim of Love" would be interesting.

I remember reading, I think in Don Felder's book, about how long Glenn worked on "City Girls" at the beginning of Lyin Eyes. It talked about cutting the tape and splicing so much that the room would be covered in pieces of cut audio tape.

[Pippinwhite]

I guess it just goes to show everyone has their insecurities. I can't imagine Glenn feeling he couldn't sing as well as DH. He's a different singer, yes, but not inferior. Also, I think it just took a couple more years for his voice to develop in the upper and lower ranges, which is not uncommon. On his solo stuff ("Somebody" comes to mind), he's more than able to handle songs in the higher ranges.
DH has that great, growling rocker voice and I love hearing him sing, but Glenn's tenor -- well, it just sends me and it has since I was about seven and heard "Lyin' Eyes" for the first time on the radio. My dad liked that song, but I remember telling him I loved that song so much! LOL. Glenn's voice is so pure and expressive. Sigh. Yeah, fangirl moment here. Excuse me.