{"id":272300,"date":"2025-11-05T04:24:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T04:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/272300\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T04:24:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T04:24:11","slug":"the-one-member-don-henley-thought-wouldnt-fit-in-eagles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/272300\/","title":{"rendered":"The one member Don Henley thought wouldn’t “fit” in Eagles"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(Credit: Alamy)<\/p>\n

Tue 4 November 2025 18:00, UK <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a certain rhythm that makes Eagles<\/a> sound like one of the best bands in the world. <\/p>\n

As much as people like the idea of them making breezy, beautiful music whenever their songs come on the radio, Don Henley knew that it took a lot of work to make everything sound easy most of the time. So when it comes to getting a new person in the group, he was always a bit hesitant at who they were going to be taking on every single time they lost somebody.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not like certain members of the band weren\u2019t expendable. As much as every musician brought their best to whatever tune they worked on, it was understood that Henley and Glenn Frey were the masters of the operation, and any of the other artists they worked with were some of the greatest bandmates in the world. While that idea pissed off Don Felder to no end when he wanted to sing his own songs, it was always about knowing the role everyone played in the group.<\/p>\n

Sure, Felder could have helped keep the one-for-all mentality alive, but having him sing one of the band\u2019s tunes would have been a waste of potential. \u2018Visions\u2019 was already one of the most questionable tracks that had been released in a pre-Hotel California world, but by the time they got started writing their masterpiece, the idea of anyone substituting in a filler tune wasn\u2019t an option anymore. <\/p>\n

Everyone needed to play exactly right, so letting go of Bernie Leadon right beforehand wasn\u2019t doing them any favours. Leadon was clearly a great guitarist and could play circles around anyone, but after one too many arguments with Frey, the band actually found the perfect replacement once they got Joe Walsh to start opening up for them on tour, even having him join the band onstage for \u2018Rocky Mountain Way<\/a>\u2019. <\/p>\n

Walsh\u2019s rock and roll chops didn\u2019t really need any introduction, but Henley remembered being a bit sceptical about him joining the group, saying<\/a>, \u201cHe had a fine solo career going before our manager suggested bringing him into the Eagles. We in the band had some trepidation because, although we liked him personally and we liked his music, we weren\u2019t sure that he\u2019d be able to fit into an already established group. But somehow it worked, and Joe has always been able to live in both worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n

And considering the music he had to work with, it\u2019s not like he was giving them any of his lesser material to the group. \u2018Life in the Fast Lane\u2019 is one of the best riffs bearing the name \u2018Eagles\u2019 on it, and even if \u2018Pretty Maids All In a Row\u2019 was a million miles away from Walsh\u2019s usual wheelhouse, hearing him operate in their world with a touching ballad is a beautiful change of pace. <\/p>\n

Given that the band\u2019s morale was also getting a bit tense, having Walsh there to pass the time was a great way to balance everything. Not only could the guy sing, but he was also hilarious onstage, which came in handy since the rest of the band were known to be incredibly still. Now they were a bunch of instrument-wielding statues onstage with a certified musical clown up there with them.<\/p>\n

So while Walsh may not have been brought into the group in the best way, the sound of Hotel California would have never been the same without him. Everyone might be able to plug in and play the parts just right, but there\u2019s a unique touch and sense of fun that comes with Walsh playing that you\u2019re not going to find anywhere else. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credit: Alamy) Tue 4 November 2025 18:00, UK There\u2019s a certain rhythm that makes Eagles sound like one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,53387,6346,88,76726],"class_list":{"0":"post-272300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-don-henley","10":"tag-eagles","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-joe-walsh"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}