When Don Henley started The Eagles, he didn’t want to settle for being in another proper rock and roll band.<\/span> <\/p>\nHe wanted a chance to take their brand of rock ‘n’ roll to the top of the charts and keep it there for the rest of his life. And the Eagles’ greatest hits records still sell in huge numbers, so it’s not like he and Glenn Frey couldn’t accomplish everything they set out to do back then. They became one of the biggest bands in the world, but that didn’t mean they were respected in the same way as their contemporaries.<\/p>\n
So, first of all, the band’s songs didn’t exactly compete with hard rockers around the world. Bands like Led Zeppelin were treated like the outlaws of rock ‘n’ roll history, and although they weren’t big hits with critics, most rock ‘n’ roll followers would have happily accepted the riff on “Whole Lotta Love” rather than hanging out with a bunch of country rockers trying to do “desperado.”<\/p>\n
But what Henry was doing was much more heartland rock, years before the genre had a name. Although some stories of his life and stories of American folklore were emerging around the same time that people like Tom Petty were coming onto the scene, all music geeks seemed convinced that the future of rock ‘n’ roll lay with people like Bruce Springsteen, not California rockers.<\/p>\n
It’s not like they didn’t have good reason to think so. “The Boss” quickly became one of the biggest names in the world thanks to. Born to run <\/em>And while it took him years to break out of the “new Bob Dylan” mold, it turns out he was stuck in that mold for good reason. He was telling stories about people the audience likely knew personally, but compared to the Eagles, Henry felt that what he was doing was much closer to his roots than what his jersey counterpart was doing.<\/p>\nHenry knew that he and Frey were getting along well, but he wasn’t willing to admit that The Boss was better than them, saying: [Browne\u2019s] There are lyrics, but they don’t seem to be talking about us. It’s not that they don’t see us as good songwriters, but they seem to emphasize the songs that were hits more than the ones that weren’t. I think our songs have more to do with the streets than Bruce Springsteen’s songs. \u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, Henry is not without small points either. Much of the hate and indifference towards the Eagles usually came from their biggest hits, but even when they were at the height of their fame, those songs didn’t tell the whole story. “The Last Resort” is one of the best lyrics Henry wrote at the end of the movie. hotel california, <\/em>And as he embarked on a solo career, he remained interested in writing songs about ordinary people, even venturing into Springsteen territory with “New York Minutes.”<\/p>\nAnd it’s not like Frey couldn’t land a few jabs when he wanted to. Although there was never a specific feud between the Eagles and Springsteen, Frye couldn’t understand why Bob Seger wasn’t doing as well on the charts as Springsteen, given how popular “The Boss” was at the time, and Frye said it had more to do with what Americans were experiencing on a daily basis. <\/p>\n
It’s really up to the fans to decide whether the idea that Henry is better than Springsteen is correct, but it was never about competitiveness. All songwriters want to create the best songs they can. And it’s up to them to touch the hearts of their fans by telling the stories they lived and grew up with.<\/p>\n\n