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Da band sconosciuta al debutto avvenuto agli inizi degli anni ’70, già alla fine della stessa decade gli Eagles si vedono tributati come autentica leggenda musicale americana. Un successo strabiliante frutto anche di una programmazione pensata e pianificata con David Geffen prima e Irvin Azoff dopo (non certo gli ultimi arrivati).
A sostegno, un team di veri e propri consulenti, la «Blue Jeans Machine», che ne curava l’immagine: quella del vecchio west, con tanto di simbologie indiane, canyon e cactus per intenderci, mentre particolare attenzione era dedicata, soprattutto, alle copertine dei loro dischi. Un clamore testimoniato dal più grande successo di vendite della storia discografica statunitense: il 'Their Greatest Hits, 1971-1975' (primo album della storia a ricevere il disco di platino, vale a dire 1 milione di copie vendute, nella prima settimana d’uscita) ha venduto negli Stati Uniti anche più di “Thriller” di Michael Jackson che ha il record assoluto di vendite in tutto il mondo (e pensare che manca molto del materiale contenuto in 'Hotel California' e 'The Long Run'). Ciò non deve, però, trarre in inganno, poichè quella degli Eagles è un’autentica band composta da talentuosi strumentisti e grandiosi cantanti che esprimono il meglio tanto in versione solista quanto in versione corale: con belle ragazze, tequila, wiskey, margaridas e quant’ altro, immancabilmente al loro fianco in party in cui il divertimento era, ovviamente, un dovere.
Glenn Frey (Detroit, Michigan, 1948), Don Henley (Gilmer, Texas, 1946), Bernie Leadon (Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1947) e Randy Meisner (Scottsbluff, Nebraska, 1946) s’ incontrano nella «città degli angeli» in occasione delle registrazioni dell’album omonimo di Linda Rondstadt e decidono di provarci seriamente ideando un progetto musicale che doveva esprimere un mix di country, southern e bluegrass, folk e rock. Nascono così le aquilotte californiane (la California e Los Angeles, in particolare, è la base operativa anche su tutti provengono da Stati diversi) ed ai nastri di partenza ritroviamo 4 artisti capaci di comporre, cantare e suonare i rispettivi strumenti: Frey e Leadon alle chitarre, Henley alla batteria e Meisner al basso. L’album d’ esordio, l’omonimo 'Eagles' (1972), registrato a Londra, è già un manifesto del West Coast, per la gioia della Asylum (la stessa casa discografica della Rondstandt, per l’appunto), nascente creatura discografica del già citato David Geffen, assolutamente convinto delle potenzialità del quartetto.
Il brano d’apertura è la celeberrima “Take It Easy”, frutto della collaborazione tra un mito del country-rock come Jackson Browne e Glenn Frey che firma con la sua voce (in tipico country-slang) il primo singolo della carriera del gruppo, balzato subito nelle zone alte della relativa classifica statunitense. E’ successivamente Don Henley ad esibire la sua caldissima ed inconfondibile voce, sullo sfondo di tramburi tribali, in “Witchy Woman”: brano che sembra estratto da una colonna sonora di un colossal western alla Sergio Leone, con un secco assolo in crescendo di Bernie Leadon. E’ di quest’ultimo, l’emozionante esecuzione vocale in un’ altra grande hit dal titolo “Peaceful Easy Feeling” (altro cavallo di battaglia) che mette in mostra il fondamentale contributo in falsetto di un Randy Meisner in veste corale (sarà uno dei tratti caratterizzanti di questa storica band), capace poi di stupire nella personalissima prestazione vocale nel brano “Take The Devil”. Altro brano in cui Meisner scrive e canta alla grande è “Tryin”: autentico rock’ n’ roll che fa il paio con “Chug All Night” in cui alla voce Frey è semplicemente mitico! Gli fa eco Henley in “Nightingale” scritto ancora da Jackson Browne.
Leadon si supera in un vero e proprio esempio di country-rock come “Early Bird” (con tanto di banjo) e canta nella tipica ballata del genere dal titolo “Train Leaves Here This Morning”. Scritta da Frey, “Most Of Us Are Sad”, infine, viene cantata da un Meisner impeccabile.
L’album ha un ottimo riscontro discografico ed entra nella Top 40 della classifica USA: niente male per una band solo all’esordio e destinata a divenire una leggenda, all’insegna del motto «Sex, Tequila & Rock’ n’ Roll». Da non perdere.
Filippo Guzzardi
Elenco tracce e testi
01 Take It Easy (03:33)
Well, I'm running down the road
tryin' to loosen my load
I've got seven women on
my mind,
Four that wanna own me,
Two that wanna stone me,
One says she's a friend of mine
Take It easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
don't even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
and take it easy
Well, I'm a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona
and such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed
Ford slowin' down to take a look at me
Come on, baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
gonna save me
We may lose and we may win though
we will never be here again
so open up, I'm climbin' in,
so take it easy
Well I'm running down the road trying to loosen
my load, got a world of trouble on my mind
lookin' for a lover who won't blow my
cover, she's so hard to find
Take it easy, take it easy
don't let the sound of your own
wheels make you crazy
come on baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
gonna save me, oh oh oh
Oh we got it easy
We oughta take it easy
02 Witchy Woman (04:12)
Raven hair and ruby lips
sparks fly from her finger tips
Echoed voices in the night
she's a restless spirit on an endless flight
wooo hooo witchy woman, see how
high she flies
woo hoo witchy woman she got
the moon in her eye
She held me spellbound in the night
dancing shadows and firelight
crazy laughter in another
room and she drove herself to madness
with a silver spoon
woo hoo witchy woman see how high she flies
woo hoo witchy woman she got the moon in her eye
Well I know you want a lover,
let me tell your brother, she's been sleeping
in the Devil's bed.
And there's some rumors going round
someone's underground
she can rock you in the nighttime
'til your skin turns red
woo hoo witchy woman
see how high she flies
woo hoo witchy woman
she got the moon in her eye
05 Nightingale (04:07)
I'm hanging on to my peace of mind
I just don't know
I'm hanging on to those good times, baby
Just want to let them roll
I'm gonna make it to the light and joy
I'll tell you why
I got a woman who can take me there
the apple of my eye
oh, I just don't know, no no, no, no
I love her so
Don't let me see that morning paper
cause I don't need those dues
it's just the same old murder movie
but they call it the news
I'll tell you what would be some story
and what would set me free
Is if the same thing happened to everybody
that just happened to me, oh,
I just don't know, no, no, no, no
I'll never let her go
Every time I hear somebody sneakin'
up behind whoa, I turn around
but I still hear that sound
and just when I'm about to lose my mind
Here comes my baby
singing like a nightingale
Coming my way down along that devastation
trail well tell the Lord above
she's got a brand of love
that cannot fail
I'm hanging on to my peace of mind
that's no lie
I'm hanging on to my special friend
the apple of my eye
my inspiration, too
she's got a lead on my heart and
my soul and she knows just what to do
oh, I just don't know, no ,no, no, no
No, I get so low, and my mind's about to go
but wait a minute, here comes my baby
singing like a nightingale
coming my way down along that devastation
trail
Well, let the fires burn, let the
floods return
we will prevail
Hanging on to my peace of mind
I just don't know
10 Tryin' (02:54)
I'm just arriving in the city
and there's music on my mind
lookin' for my destination and
my home is far behind
'Cause it's a long road ahead
and you can make it in the end
and I'm gonna make it with my friends
And I'm tryin'
It took me sometime to see it
now I'm looking through this world
and it's gonna take some time before
I get back, help me girl
'cause you can make it if you try
you gotta lay it on the line
and everything will be fine if you try
Sittin' smokin' just a thinkin'
is an easy thing to do
We gotta keep on trying for
the feelin' to come through
and it's a lonely way to live
you gotta take it, you gotta live
if you mistake it, just try again
and I'm trying, yeah!
Got to keep on trying
Ah, we got to keep on trying
Yeah I'm trying.... etc..
11 Doolin-Dalton (03:27)
They were duelin', Doolin-Dalton.
High or low, it was the same:
Easy money and faithless women,
Red-eye whiskey for the pain.
Go down, Bill Dalton, it must be God's will,
Two brothers lyin' dead in Coffeyville,
Two voices call to you from where they stood.
Lay down your law books now, They're no damn good.
Better keep on movin', Doolin-Dalton,
'Til your shadow sets you free.
If you're fast and if you're lucky,
You will never see that hangin' tree.
Well, the towns lay out across the dusty plains
Like graveyards filled with tombstones, waitin' for the names.
And a man could use his back or use his brains,
But some just went stir crazy, Lord, 'cause nothin' ever changed
'Til Bill Doolin met Bill Dalton.
He was workin' cheap, just bidin' time.
Then he laughed and said, "I'm goin'"
And so he left that peaceful life behind.
Mm...
13 Out of Control (03:04)
Oh, my, don't the sky look spacious
With the stars all shinin' down
Well, I can hear the night wind howlin'
It's a high and lonesome sound
And I ain't had a woman in so long
I can't feed my starvin soul
Come on, saddle up, boys, we're gonna ride into town
We're gonna get a little out of control
There's a card game in the corner
And the barmaid smiled at me
Well, I tipped her a sliver dollar and
she brought me a drink for free
All the town-folk call her the cheap one
And the gamblers call her Flo
Come on, set 'em up again
I got me a friend and I think I'm gettin' out of control
Oh,oh,oh
She's cool water, her momma taught her
I got news, she's mine and mine alone
And if anybody's lookin' for trouble
You know I'm the one you want to try
Well, I'll fight any man who wants to
And I don't care who or why
You got to gamble on your story
You got no guts, you get no glory
And I'm bettin' my money on an ace in the hole
Think I'm gettin' out of control
14 Tequila Sunrise (02:53)
Tequila Sunrise
It's another tequila sunrise,
stirrin slowly across the sky,
I said goodbye,
he was just a hired hand,
workin on the dreams he planned to try,
the days go by.
Every night when the sun goes down,
Just another lonely boy in town,
And she's out runnin round.
She wasn't just another woman,
And I couldn't keep from comin on,
It's been so long.
Oh and it's a hollow feelin,
When it comes down to dealin friends,
It never ends.
Take another shot of courage,
Wonder why the right words never come,
You just get numb.
It's another tequila sunrise,
And this old world still looks the same,
Another frame.
15 Desperado (03:33)
Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
You been out ridin' fences for so long now
Oh, you're a hard one
But I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin' you
Can hurt you somehow
Don't you draw the queen of diamonds boy
She'll beat you if she's able
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet
Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can't get
Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger
Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home
And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin'
Your prison is walking through this world all alone
Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine
It's hard to tell the night time from the day
You're losin' all your highs and lows
Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away?
Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate
It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you
(Let somebody love you)
You better let somebody love you
Before it's too late
16 Certain Kind of Fool (03:01)
He was a poor boy, raised in a small family
He kinda had a craving for somethin' no one else could see
They say that he was crazy,
The kind that no lady should meet
He ran out to the city and wandered around in the street
He wants to dance, oh yeah,
He wants to sing, oh yeah,
He wants to see the lights a flashin' and listen
to the thunder ring
He saw it in a window
The mark of a new kind of man
He kinda liked the feeling, so shiny and smooth in his hand
He took it to the country and practiced for days without rest
And then one day he felt if,
He knew he could stand with the best
They got respect, oh yeah,
He wants the same, oh yeah,
And it's a certain kind of fool who
Like to hear the sound of his own name
Oo...
A poster on a storefront, the picture of a wanted man
He had a reputation spreading like fire throught the land
It wasn't for the money, at least it didn't start that way
It wasn't for the runnin' , but now he's runnin' everyday
18 Outlaw Man (03:33)
I am an outlaw, I was born an outlaw's son
The highway is my legacy
On the highway I will run
In one hand I've a Bible
In the other I've got a gun
Well, don' you know me
I'm the man who won
Woman don't try to love me
Don't try to understand
A life upon the road is the life of an outlaw man
First left my woman, it was down in Santa Fe
Headed for Oklahoma, I was ridin' night and day
All of my friends are strangers,
They quickly come and go
And all my love's in danger,
'Cause I steal hearts and souls
Woman, don't try to love me
Don't try to understand A life upon the road is the life of an outlaw man
oo....
Woman, don't try to love me
Don't try to understand
A life upon the road is the life of an outlaw man
Some me call me Abel,
Some men call me Cain,
Some men call me sinner, Lord
Some men call me saint
Some say there's a Jesus
Some men say there ain't
When you got no life to lose
Then there's nothin' left to gain
Outlaw man
Outlaw man
20 Bitter Creek (05:00)
Once I was young and so unsure
I'd try any ill to find the cure
An old man told me
Tryin' to scold me
"Oh, son, don't wade to deep in Bitter Creek,"
(Bitter Creek)
Out where the desert meets the sky
Is where I go when I wanna hide
Oh, peyote (oh,peyote,mm)
She tried to show me
(tried to show me)
You know there ain't no cause to weep
at Bitter Creek
(Bitter Creek)
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
We're gonna hit the road for one last time
We can walk right in and steal 'em blind
All that money (All that money,ooh..)
No more runnin' (No more runnin')
I can't wait to see the old man's face
When I win the race
(Bitter Creek)
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo,
Doo doo doo doo doo
Doo..........
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