The one Eagles song that Glenn Frey never gets tired of
(Source: Far Out / TIDAL)
No artist can claim to love their songs as much as they did in their heyday. Despite all the blood, sweat and tears that go into creating a piece from scratch, it’s always a challenge to find the same enthusiasm when playing it for the millionth time in a middle-of-nowhere town on a bridge between tour dates. Glenn Frey admitted he could have easily disowned a song like “Take it Easy,” but “Peaceful Easy Feeling” has never really lost its shine over the years.
On the other hand, it helps that Frey didn’t write the melody himself. While the lion’s share of all Eagles projects were the brainchild of Frey and Don Henley, “Peaceful Easy Feeling” was written by their collaborator Jack Tempchin, who had worked as an unsuccessful songwriter in the Los Angeles rock scene.
In fact, there are a lot more rough edges on the Eagles’ debut that don’t really fit with the basic sound they were known for. Although “Take It Easy” and “Witchy Woman” are good forerunners for their later sound, it’s clear they haven’t yet fixed the mistakes that came with being part of Linda Ronstadt’s backing band, right down to using one of her frequent cover songs, “Nightingale,” to complete the track list.
But something about “Peaceful Easy Feeling” captures the mood of the group in a way that Frey and Henley haven’t quite grasped yet. From the moment the song begins, it’s like you can feel the wind in your hair as the car rolls down a deserted highway. The road ahead may be unfamiliar, but that doesn’t matter as long as someone is by your side.
Although the song dates back to the band’s early days, Frey knew it couldn’t be topped live. He told Cameron Crowe, “It’s evolved so much from the original recording through the live performances that it’s a whole different caliber now. ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’ had a happy country-rock quality, but also a bittersweet irony that I really liked. I still love that song. I love singing it so much.”
It’s one thing to enjoy singing a few songs that are close to your heart, but not every band member was at that level of vocalist. In fact, the only reason Randy Meisner eventually quit was his refusal to sing the song “Take It to the Limit.” He usually shied away from singing the song because he was afraid of not being able to hit the insane high notes at the end of the song.
Even Henley said that it would be some challenges for him to get into a certain mood when singing, History of the Eagles, “It’s so natural that you just do it, but at the same time you have to put a lot more emotion into it.” It’s not like he’s wrong. I mean, if a fan was going to see the Eagles, would they really want to see a bunch of musicians with expressionless faces singing “One of These Nights”?
While “Peaceful Easy Feeling” is far from the most upbeat live song the Eagles have ever done, it’s still compelling because of the mood it creates during its four minutes. Regardless of how much California has changed, this is still most outsiders’ optimal view of the Sunshine State.
Related topics
Serra Club is witness to the candidacy
Meet the new Rotary Club President, Molly Paxton
Michigan State Athletics has announced the Hall of Fame class of 2024
About The Author
