It was a typical afternoon early in 1976 in Miami’s Criteria Studios. The Eagles had recorded two versions of “Hotel California” in L.A. But the first was in the wrong key and the second was in the wrong tempo, too fast.
“The actual track used was born in Miami at about 4 p.m. in Criteria’s Studio C. When we got all the sounds right, tempo right, key right, it was magic,” recalls producer Bill Szymczyk, who coached the band from “On the Border” through “Eagles Live.”
Henley, an English literature major and voracious reader, was the band’s “Vice President in Charge of Lyrics.” He and Frey were still wrestling with the words to “Hotel California” after most of the music had been recorded.
The two locked themselves in what they called the “Hollywood Room” of their rented 1934 art deco mansion at 5242 N. Bay Road in Miami Beach to try to finish the song.
“They stayed in there for three days to work on that song,” says Cindy Johnson-O’Dare, a co-founder with Jeri Jenkins of Home At Last, a company that provided room and board for rock bands. “Jeri and I brought tray upon tray of coffee and sandwiches to them.”
About 2 p.m. on the third or fourth day, Henley and Frey, (who Szymczyk dubbed “The Lone Arranger,”) came downstairs to the kitchen.
“They asked us to listen to the lyrics,” says Jenkins. “I remember the line, `She’s got the Mercedes Benz,’ spelled b-e-n-d-s. We thought that was great.”
“There was an excitement and electricity between them,” adds Johnson-O’Dare. “It was important that the words all meant something. They didn’t just write to make it rhyme.”
Ed Mashal, who served as Szymczyk’s engineer, said Henley and Frey “labored over lyrics.
“I don’t think anybody had a sense of what that tune and that album were going to do,” says Mashal, “but I think they knew it was some of their best work.”
Guitarist Felder hatched the music to “Hotel California.” The now-classic extended guitar jam between Felder and Walsh at the end of the song also happened in Criteria’s Studio C. It was recorded a month after the rest of the song and involved about eight hours of jamming over a period of several days.
“We wanted to have individual statements turning into a double lead,” Walsh says. “We knew it was something special, but we didn’t know if it was any good or not. We had lost perspective.”
Szymczyk recalled the session as “an eight-hour joy ride. Walsh was on my right and Felder on my left, jamming their brains out. It was like being in the middle of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.”
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