There’s an old saying in the music business:
You’re only as good as your last record …
Well, for artists like The Eagles and Steely Dan, their entire body of work produced in the ‘70’s and early ‘80’s has sustained them ever since. They don’t even HAVE to record new music … the old stuff holds up so well … and it’s really what the fans want to hear anyway.
The two bands burst on the scene at approximately the same time and immediately captured our attention. They continued to grow in stature with each new release sounding better than the one that preceded it. 1972 - 1980 may have been their glory days ... but that affection has never really waned ... both bands exemplify the very essence of Classic Rock as two of its finest examples. Each new generation to come along since has been captivated by their music, just as we were when we were hearing it for the very first time.
Other than the two “Dons” … Henley and Fagen … the only remaining original, founding members of, respectively, The Eagles and Steely Dan, the groups we listened to back then (and ever since) have gone through a series of changes … not the least of which were affected by the loss of Glenn Frey, founding member and counterpart to Don Henley in the songwriting and leadership department of The Eagles in 2016, and Walter Becker, the “ying’ to Donald Fagen’s “yang” of Steely Dan, who passed away a year later in 2017.
The music of these two bands … their collective output and legacy … lives on and looms large in the world of Classic Rock. Between them, they have 55 songs that made our list of The Top 3333 Most Essential Classic Rock Songs Of All Time … bump that total up by another 20 when you add in the solo tracks by Frey, Henley, Fagen, Joe Walsh and a track by Randy Meisner that also made the list … pretty remarkable statistics.
Friday night, Frannie and I stepped into The Way Back Machine, fought standstill traffic and a torrential downpour, and caught both bands as part of The Eagles’ Long Goodbye farewell tour (which will likely run for at least the next two YEARS!) at The United Center here in Chicago. (Frannie took the photos you see posted here today)
Now we have seen both bands before, but this pairing was especially enjoyable. (Fagen had to miss several shows at the beginning of the trek due to illness … but he sounded fine as he made his way through his 60-minute set Friday Night.)
Steely Dan opened their portion of the show with a bouncy jazz instrumental that allowed Fagen to take the stage mid-song to join his bandmates … making a total of thirteen musicians on stage when you counted the three female back-up singers who added magic to every number … before launching into the one-two punch of “Josie” and “Hey Nineteen” to start the show.
Both were performed to perfection … one thing you can say about both Steely Dan and The Eagles is that they are able to reproduce the sound of their recordings PERFECTLY in a live environment … they are certainly two of the best in the business in this regard. “Aja” and “Kid Charlemagne” followed before the girls took over to perform “Dirty Work,” a Steely Dan favorite.
Next came “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” a rousing version of “Bodhisattva” and “Peg” before the band launched into what, for me, was their musical highlight of the evening, “My Old School.”
As expected, “Reeling In The Years” closed their set and at the one hour mark exactly, Steely Dan were gone … no encore … just another jazz instrumental to play them off stage.
A
brief intermission followed and then The Eagles took the stage, opening
their set with a stirring performance of “Seven Bridges Road.” Now
this song has never been one of my favorites … but I will say that with
this new line-up, the six blended voices of Vince Gill, Timothy B.
Schmit, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Deacon Frey and Steuart Smith (left to
right on stage) created pure perfection … this performance blew away the
live one issued in 1980.
In fact, there were absolutely NO flaws in this new version of The Eagles … vocal responsibilities were shared throughout the night with Glenn Frey’s son Deacon assuming the lead vocals on his dad’s hits “Take It Easy,” “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” “New Kid In Town” and “Already Gone” and Vince Gill taking over those responsibilities on songs like “Lying Eyes,” “Tequila Sunrise” and Randy Meisner’s “Take It To The Limit,” another highlight of Friday Night’s show.
One surprise was a reworking of their early hit “Witchy Woman” … The Eagles aren’t known to stray from their original arrangements. Don Henley also performed his solo hit “The Boys Of Summer” and dedicated it to their long-time pal, Jimmy Buffett, who passed away last year. (The first time Frannie ever saw The Eagles, back in the late ‘70’s, Buffett was their opening act.)
Henley got a bit choked up when addressing the audience and thanking them for their loyalty and support for the past 52 years. The response from the crowd was overwhelming, especially when Don said “Just in case we don’t see you again.” It drove the point home that this was likely OUR last chance to see The Eagles live … which was the whole reason we were there.
Joe Walsh got to do his thing on the songs “In The City,” “Life’s Been Good,” “Funk 49” and, as part of the encore, “Rocky Mountain Way,” while Don Henley proved that he could still sound EXACTLY like he did 50+ years ago on tracks like “One Of These Nights” (another highlight), “Life In The Fast Lane,” “Desperado” and, of course, “Hotel California.” (Timothy B. Schmit was held to just one song, “I Can’t Tell You Why,” from their album “The Long Run.”) Walsh also gave the Chicago crowd an update on his old radio buddy Steve Dahl, apparently doing well and now retired and living in Florida. (Walsh was a semi-regular on Dahl's program back in the '80's. His "How ya doin'" became a familiar chant here in Chi-Town at the time.)
We were surprised to see that Henley spent most of the night behind his drum kit ... it truly was a tribute to the way The Eagles created all this great music in the first place.
The Eagles have left their permanent mark on the history of rock and roll. Their impeccable harmonies really shone on stage Friday Night … and their love for this music and their fans was clearly evident.
(Sure, we’ll joke about their two-year “money grab” … but look what you’re getting for the price of that ticket …
Two of the most PREMIER bands of the Classic Rock Era … both STILL able to perform their catalog of work in the most IDEAL live setting.)
Was it worth it???
You betcha! (kk)
FROM OUR TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK SONGS OF ALL TIME LIST, compiled with the help of nearly one million of your votes, THESE tracks made The Top 500 (number shown in parentheses is the song’s peak on the national charts):
|
2 |
Hotel California |
Eagles |
1977 (#1) |
|
42 |
Life In The Fast Lane |
Eagles |
1977 (#11) |
|
47 |
Take It Easy |
Eagles |
1972 (#6) |
|
53 |
Already Gone |
Eagles |
1974 (#17) |
|
100 |
One Of These Nights |
Eagles |
1975 (#1) |
|
112 |
The Boys Of Summer |
Don Henley |
1985 (#5) |
|
114 |
Lyin' Eyes |
Eagles |
1975 (#2) |
|
134 |
Life's Been Good |
Joe Walsh |
1978 (#6) |
|
156 |
Rocky Mountain Way |
Joe Walsh |
1973 (#13) |
|
165 |
Hey Nineteen |
Steely Dan |
1981 (#10) |
|
217 |
Do It Again |
Steely Dan |
1973 (#6) |
|
253 |
Dirty Laundry |
Don Henley |
1982 (#3) |
|
258 |
Peaceful Easy Feeling |
Eagles |
1972 (#18) |
|
298 |
Reelin' In The Years |
Steely Dan |
1973 (#6) |
|
325 |
New Kid In Town |
Eagles |
1977 (#1) |
|
330 |
All She Wants To Do Is Dance |
Don Henley |
1985 (#9) |
|
369 |
Heartache Tonight |
Eagles |
1979 (#1) |
|
399 |
Walk Away |
James Gang |
1971 (#29) |
|
402 |
Funk #49 |
James Gang |
1970 (#54) |
|
411 |
Best Of My Love |
Eagles |
1974 (#1) |
|
445 |
The End Of The Innocence |
Don Henley |
1989 (#5) |
|
453 |
Witchy Woman |
Eagles |
1972 (#8) |
|
473 |
Take It To The Limit |
Eagles |
1975 (#4) |
You can catch the whole list here:
https://classicrockessentials.blogspot.com/
(NOTE: Site will be going under construction soon to clean up and “fine tune” our listings)
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
3/11/64 – The 21st Golden Globe Awards are held – big winners include Sidney Poitier and Leslie Caron
Also on 3/11, The Beatles film the "I Should Have Known Better" segment for "A Hard Day's Night" behind a cage in the baggage area of the train.
