Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 15

Thread: Who wrote the guitar riff for LITFL?

  1. #1
    Stuck on the Border VAisForEagleLovers's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Ridin' with Lady Luck in Kentucky
    Posts
    11,013

    Default Who wrote the guitar riff for LITFL?

    Obviously, I'm losing my mind, because in the documentary and in several interviews, including the Songwriters Session I went to in NYC where Glenn spoke, it has been said that Joe wrote the opening riff. Did Felder write any of the other riffs that appear in this song, that we know of? A DJ on SiriusXM, Classic Rewind, said yesterday that he did. I posted on Facebook that it was Joe, not Felder. Two people contradicted me. One said it was in the documentary that it was Felder and suggested I watch it (good grief!). Another said I was totally wrong, that Felder did a guest DJ session on SiriusXM 7 (70's on 7) where he said he wrote it. Did I really miss something, perhaps because I didn't want to hear it, or are these two people very confused?
    VK

    You can't change the world but you can change yourself.

  2. #2
    Stuck on the Border
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    24,191

    Default Re: Who wrote the guitar riff for LITFL?

    Joe wrote it. Felder does not have a songwriting credit on it, though it would not surprise me at all if he claimed he wrote it. At no point in HOTE is it claimed that Felder had anything to do with it.

  3. #3
    Stuck on the Border shunlvswx's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Jackson, MS
    Posts
    5,767

    Default Re: Who wrote the guitar riff for LITFL?

    Hmm. Interesting. That's new. The documentary, Glenn (in several interview. Even the Australia 60 minutes interview) and Joe talked about how LITFL came about. We know that Joe wrote the opening riff. Heck Don F wasn't even part of that segment when they talked about LITFL.

    Maybe he wrote the other solos in the song. He could had wrote the guitar solo before they go into the 3rd verse. That famous riff is play throughout the song when Don sings the chorus. Maybe they need to go back and watch the documentary. Maybe they are getting Victim of Love mixed up with that riff.

    Like FP said. He's not listed as one of the songwriters. You're not losing it, Va. They are.

  4. #4
    Border Rebel Midnight Visitor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Bandon, OR
    Posts
    813

    Default Re: Who wrote the guitar riff for LITFL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Freypower View Post
    Joe wrote it. Felder does not have a songwriting credit on it, though it would not surprise me at all if he claimed he wrote it. At no point in HOTE is it claimed that Felder had anything to do with it.
    When I read the initial post I was going to post a reply so similar to Freypower's here.... I'll just leave an EXACTLY instead. I wouldn't put it past Felder. No songwriting credit. Sounds like Joe's sound, etc......

    Wintertime is a razor blade that the devil made
    It's the price we pay for the summertime - J.W. '69

  5. #5
    Stuck on the Border Witchy Woman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    New Jersey
    Posts
    8,258

    Default Re: Who wrote the guitar riff for LITFL?

    IIRC, Joe said the riff was something he had used as a warm up for his fingers, kind of like a rubbing your belly and patting your head at the same time kind of thing. Don and Glenn heard it and it all went from there. Felder had nothing to do with it.

  6. #6
    Stuck on the Border VAisForEagleLovers's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Ridin' with Lady Luck in Kentucky
    Posts
    11,013

    Default Re: Who wrote the guitar riff for LITFL?

    Yes, that's what Glenn said at the Songwriter's thing as well. I'm glad to hear I'm not crazy. Totally, anyway.
    VK

    You can't change the world but you can change yourself.

  7. #7
    Stuck on the Border GlennLover's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    New Brunswick, Canada
    Posts
    5,912

    Default Re: Who wrote the guitar riff for LITFL?

    I've heard Glenn tell the story of hearing Joe play that riff & saying immediately, "that's 'Life In The Fast Lane'" many times. Of course he also tells about getting the title from a drug dealer he was driving with to a poker game.

  8. #8
    Border Rebel SilverMoon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Posts
    741

    Default Re: Who wrote the guitar riff for LITFL?

    Joe Walsh came up with the opening riff for LITFL, and he and Don Felder did the guitar work for the song. Here’s a 2012 interview with Joe by Guitar World in which he talks about LITFL:

    http://www.guitarworld.com/interview...g-man?page=0,4
    A landmark album, and arguably the Eagles’ greatest ever, Hotel California offered an eloquent depiction of the decadence and ennui of L.A. culture in the late Seventies. Walsh’s hard-edged rock sensibility was integral to the album’s aesthetic and appeal. Among his songwriting contributions was the signature guitar riff for the hit “Life in the Fast Lane.”

    “That was actually a coordination drill that I’d come up with on guitar to warm up to play live,” he says. “I was just playing it one time and Don Henley goes, ‘What the hell is that!’ Well, it was just an idea floating around. With the Eagles, we would all bring in bits and pieces of music, throw them in a big pile and sort through them.

    “Don and Glenn got a hold of that ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ riff. Glenn kinda arranged it, and we did a demo of it. Then Don had the idea of ‘life in the fast lane.’ He put the words together, and we recorded it for real. And then Don Felder and I figured out the guitar work. Once we knew it was an Eagles song, they turned me loose a little bit.”

  9. #9
    Stuck on the Border
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    24,191

    Default Re: Who wrote the guitar riff for LITFL?

    It's fair enough to say that Felder would have been involved in working out what was going to be played, but that is not the same as who actually wrote it. He didn't get a songwriting credit so it has to be assumed that the guitar work was written by Joe (and Glenn, perhaps) & then Felder helped put it together.

  10. #10
    Stuck on the Border
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    1,948

    Default Re: Who wrote the guitar riff for LITFL?

    Joe wrote the main riff. But I think Don F wrote the ZZ Topish riff that starts when the drum beat starts - at 0:18 mark in this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfbxP_PAL30

    I don't have Don's book with me at the moment, but I think he makes it clear in the book that Joe wrote the main riff, but Don wrote that "additional riff". I think Don has always played that second riff alone anyway. I don't think Joe has ever played it.
    Last edited by chaim; 08-19-2014 at 05:24 AM.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •