Who plays the solos?

[MortSahlFan]

A band with many guitar players, it's hard to remember who played what solos, and I don't have the albums...

[NightMistBlue]

Need to get those albums, Mort! But they still won't tell you who played the solo, IIRC. Any song in particular you're wondering about?

Glenn: Witch-ay Woman, Try and Love Again, I Can't Tell You Why

Bernie: Take It Easy, Outlaw Man

[travlnman2]

We all know a certain song so I would be surprised if you were an Eagles fan and did not know who played said solo.


Can you guess which one I am talking about

[Jonny Come Lately]

I've had a go at cataloguing who plays all of the guitar solos on the Eagles albums and have made this list for the 1972-79 albums which should hopefully prove a reasonably helpful guide to who plays what.

I've had a look at the liner notes and listened to some of these solos just to check and try to identify information about who played what It was easier to get info for some albums than others, as the descriptions vary in detail (the liner notes for The Long Run, for instance, King Of Hollywood gives the exact order the guitarists play their solos, whereas there is nothing about the guitars on The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks). I have left out any songs that I would say definitely do not feature a guitar solo (e.g. The Best Of My Love, Take It To The Limit).

EAGLES
(This is a bit more difficult than some of the others due to a lack of specific liner note credits. If it uses a B-bender then it will be Bernie, so I focus on who I think was playing lead guitar, as pretty much all of these songs feature a solo of some description except MOUAS).
Bernie – Lead guitar on Take It Easy, Most Of Us Are Sad, Nightingale, Train Leaves Here This Morning and Peaceful Easy Feeling.
Glenn – Lead guitar on Witchy Woman, Chug All Night, Take The Devil and Tryin’. Also, the slide solo on Earlybird. If I had a guess I’d say he was probably playing the solo(s) on Get You In The Mood too.

DESPERADO
(This is a different from the other albums as there are a lot of solos played on instruments other than guitar, so I’ve included all solos here)
Doolin–Dalton – Harmonica solo is by Glenn (later played by Tim on the HOTE tour)
Twenty One – Both the banjo and dobro are by Bernie
Out Of Control – Guitar solo by Glenn
Tequila Sunrise – Lead guitar and mandolin by Bernie
Desperado – The piano intro/outro is Glenn – not sure whether this would count as a solo, but probably worthy of mention anyway.
Certain Kind Of Fool – Guitar solo by Glenn
Outlaw Man – Guitar solo by Bernie. Randy also has a great bass solo here.
Saturday Night – Mandolin by Bernie
Bitter Creek – All acoustic guitar solos by Bernie
Doolin–Dalton / Desperado (Reprise) – Dobro by Bernie

ON THE BORDER
(Gets a bit easier with the rest of the 1970s albums – unlike the Eagles LP there are full credits and unlike Desperado guitar solos are predominant)
Already Gone – Guitar solos are credited to Don F and Glenn. I tend to agree with the view that Glenn plays the main solo and Don F plays the sustained notes (so I think the California Jam performance is basically how the studio guitars would sound without Don F’s part with Glenn playing his original solo)
You Never Cry Like A Lover – No liner note credit, but highly likely to be Bernie – I think it’s a Telecaster and Glenn is almost certain to be playing piano
Midnight Flyer – Slide solo is by Glenn
My Man – Pedal steel by Bernie, including the solo before the final chorus.
On The Border – The outro is by Glenn, I think.
James Dean – Bernie is credited for solo guitars. I’d say this song has three solo parts. Bernie is certainly playing the middle part, probably the final solo, but from reading other Borderers’ comments I think the fast licks just before the first verse might be Glenn.
Is It True? – Slide solo by Glenn
Good Day In Hell – Don F
(On the Hotel California tour Joe played a non-slide guitar solo after the final chorus, but on record it’s Don F with both the middle and final solos)

ONE OF THESE NIGHTS
(This was the easiest album to do, as with the exception of TMH it is always either Don F or Bernie playing lead, and the contrast between their styles is marked.)
One Of These Nights – Don F
Too Many Hands – All the solos are played by Don F and Glenn. The middle solo sounds like it’s0 played on a Les Paul as with the title track, so I think that’s Don F, and then it goes back and forth between him and Glenn (almost certainly playing Old Black) in the outro
Hollywood Waltz – The pedal steel and mandolin are both by Bernie.
Lyin’ Eyes – Not sure if this song has a solo per se, but the lead guitar parts are Bernie.
Visions – Don F is credited as playing lead guitar, and there are no other specific solo credits
After The Thrill Is Gone – Don F
I Wish You Peace – Bernie

HOTEL CALIFORNIA
Hotel California – Don F and Joe. Don plays his solo first, followed by Joe, with both guitarists harmonising in the outro.
New Kid In Town – Don F
Life In The Fast Lane – Solo-wise I’m not sure here. Joe is credited for lead guitar but it would not surprise me at all if Don played at least some of the solo parts here. Only thing I’m reasonably confident of is that Joe does play the solo after the second chorus, just sounds so much like him.
Victim Of Love – Don F is credited for ‘lead guitar’ and plays the intro, while Joe plays the slide solo
Pretty Maids All In A Row – No credit, but it sounds like Joe to me. Joe and Glenn are credited for piano/synth parts, which would point towards it being Don F, but it doesn’t sound like it is.
Try And Love Again – Glenn

THE LONG RUN
The Long Run – Not completely sure, but I’m guessing Joe given that he’s credited for the slide guitar
I Can’t Tell You Why – I’ll let the liner notes speak for themselves here: Guitar solos by Glenn Frey
Seriously, I can understand why people think it is Don F given that he plays it in the music video and on Eagles Live and HFO, but the original studio solos are by Glenn, and this is not disputed.
In The City – Joe
King Of Hollywood – The three solos are played in order by Glenn, Don F and Joe. To the casual listener it may appear that there are only two guitar solos. I strongly agree with the thinking that Glenn’s solo that starts around 3:35 into the song and Don F plays the solo immediately afterwards. (Check out the KOH thread for more info). Joe plays the outro solo.
Heartache Tonight – No specific solo credit, but Joe is credited for slide guitar so it will be him.
Those Shoes – Joe. Although both Joe and Don F are playing talk boxes, the liner notes credit the solo just to Joe.
Teenage Jail – Don F. Synth solo is by Glenn.
The Sad Café – Don F (I’m pretty sure the solo refers to the harmonised acoustic guitar parts)

Also from this era, Don F plays the guitar solo on Please Come Home For Christmas.

I'd be happy to edit/update this if new info is presented which contradicts any of this. My ears are not perfect and it's possible that what I think might have been one guitarist with a particular guitar could someone else with a completely different axe.

[Scarlet Sun]

Train Leaves Here This Morning

HOTE implied that the first solo was Glenn

[NightMistBlue]

Great job, Jonny.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I agree - that took a lot of time and effort for Jonny to do all that. I'm sure it was a labor of love though.

[Jonny Come Lately]

HOTE implied that the first solo was Glenn

I've gone back and listened to the middle section of TLHTM again. I've always tended to think of it as a song with one guitar solo, but on closer inspection I think there seem to be two distinct solo parts, with different guitar sounds, and therefore I think two different players (Glenn for the first part, Bernie for the last part). I'd honestly never noticed that before, so thanks for pointing that out.

I agree - that took a lot of time and effort for Jonny to do all that. I'm sure it was a labor of love though.

It sure was! I carry a fair bit of this information around in my head but there were quite a few things that I needed to re-listen to, or check the liner notes. But the effort is well worth it, when I was first discovering the Eagles I loved how the liner notes gave some info as to who was playing what but hopefully this guide will fill a few gaps, so to speak.

While I'm at it I might as well post a couple of things about the new songs from Hell Freezes Over. Most of my attention here was on GOI, as it has several solos played by all three guitarists who were in the band at the time:

HELL FREEZES OVER
Get Over It – Joe, Don F and Glenn all have solo parts in this song. I don’t think there are specific credits, but I think Glenn plays the intro solo and the short solo after the first chorus. Joe plays the solo after the second chorus and the final solo is Don. Live performances seem to match the studio solos in their guitar sounds.
Love Will Keep Us Alive – Originally by Don F, although Steuart has made it his own in concerts (as the only
Learn To Be Still – Don F

[Scarlet Sun]

I've gone back and listened to the middle section of TLHTM again. I've always tended to think of it as a song with one guitar solo, but on closer inspection I think there seem to be two distinct solo parts, with different guitar sounds, and therefore I think two different players (Glenn for the first part, Bernie for the last part). I'd honestly never noticed that before, so thanks for pointing that out.

Yes, one is electric, the other acoustic. I was blown away when I saw the HOTE videos because that first solo is so country. A few years ago someone on this board said that last bent note came from a B-bender. Glenn doesn't play it in the HOTE videos, but he plays the rest of it so perfectly. So who knows . . .

[Funk 50]

Great work JCL, Thanks a lot!

I'm sure I've seen some HOTE tour footage, in which Bernie gives a heads up to Glenn's guitar solo before Train Leaves Here This Morning.

Joe plays the slide solo on Pretty Maids All In A Row. It was constantly played during the HFO tour. He even added a few slide lines that are not on the studio version. Joe also plays all the lead guitar in Life In The Fast Lane except the instrumental bridge where he switches to rhythm as the bass and lead guitars play the melody over the top of it.

The Girl From Yesterday is Joe too. Glenn sometimes introduced Joe, at the start of the solo, in concert.

There is surprisingly little evidence of the much heralded Walsh/Felder team work that people hold up as an Eagles trademark.

From Long Road Out Of Eden I've got Joe down as the soloist for the title track,(there's a bit of Steuart too) Somebody, Guilty Of The Crime and Last Good Time In Town.. I'm guessing at Business As Usual and Center Of The Universe too. Although there isn't a solo, I reckon Joe's the lead guitarist on Fast Company but it's an educated guess at best.