The Eagles, Hotel California (Album)
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Hotel California
Recorded/Produced by Bill Szymczyk (Simzik) between March and October, 1976
The Eagles (for this album)
Don Felder
Glenn Frey
Don Henley
Randy Meisner (last album)
Joe Walsh (first album, replaced founding member Bernie Leadon)
Released: December 8th, 1976
No budget info.
Did find that the writes of the song, Hotel California, Don Felder is reportedly worth over $60M in 2021. Don Henley is reportedly worth $250M, Glenn Frey (who passed in 2016) was worth a reported $120M.
Ratings: RYM (Rate Your Music) 3.31/5; Google Users 93%
At the 20th Grammy Awards in 1978, the Eagles won a Grammy Award for the single "Hotel California", which won Record of the Year, and for "New Kid in Town," for best arrangement for voices. The album was nominated for Album of the Year but lost to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. Three singles were released from the album, with two topping the Billboard Hot 100, "New Kid in Town" and "Hotel California", while "Life in the Fast Lane" reached No. 11.
Hotel California is the 7th best-selling albums of all time. It has been certified 26× Platinum in the US, and has sold over 32 million copies worldwide, making it the band's best-selling album after Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975). It has been ranked as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2003 and 2012, it was ranked number 37 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". A 40th anniversary special edition of Hotel California was released in November 2017.
The first song written for the album was "Hotel California", which became the theme for the album. Henley said the themes of the songs on the album:
"They're the same themes that run through all of our work: loss of innocence, the cost of naiveté, the perils of fame, of excess; exploration of the dark underbelly of the American dream, idealism realized and idealism thwarted, illusion versus reality, the difficulties of balancing loving relationships and work, trying to square the conflicting relationship between business and art; the corruption in politics, the fading away of the Sixties dream of "peace, love and understanding."
On the title "Hotel California", Henley said that "the word, 'California,' carries with it all kinds of connotations, powerful imagery, mystique, etc., that fires the imaginations of people in all corners of the globe. There's a built-in mythology that comes with that word, an American cultural mythology that has been created by both the film and the music industry." In an interview with the Dutch magazine ZigZag shortly before the album's release, Don Henley said:
"This is a concept album, there's no way to hide it, but it's not set in the old West, the cowboy thing, you know. It's more urban this time (…) It's our bicentennial year, you know, the country is 200 years old, so we figured since we are the Eagles and the Eagle is our national symbol, that we were obliged to make some kind of a little bicentennial statement using California as a microcosm of the whole United States, or the whole world, if you will, and to try to wake people up and say 'We've been okay so far, for 200 years, but we're gonna have to change if we're gonna continue to be around.'"
First time you heard the album?
Album:
Original Lineup (which was changed with the 40th anniversary bonus disc, Live at the LA Forum recording)
"Hotel California" Written by: Don Felder Don Henley Glenn Frey. Vocals: Don Henley Length: 6:30 (Second single, Feb 22, 77)
-Possibly the most iconic music intro of all time. So good, and so classic.
-Love the story it tells; it always reminded me of The Shining. As stated, its supposed to feel like an episode of The Twilight Zone.
-It's such a journey through the whole song, obviously of over indulgence and learning
-the Eagles themselves describing the song as their "interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles". In the 2013 documentary History of the Eagles, Henley said that the song was about "a journey from innocence to experience ... that's all".
-Henley reiterated:
On just about every album we made, there was some kind of commentary on the music business, and on American culture in general. The hotel itself could be taken as a metaphor not only for the myth-making of Southern California, but for the myth-making that is the American Dream, because it is a fine line between the American Dream, and the American nightmare.
"New Kid in Town" Written by: Henley, Frey, J.D. Souther, Vocals: Glenn ,Frey, Length: 5:04 (First single released, Dec 7, 76)
-I always thought this had a Jimmy Buffet vibe, seems to be about love, loss, and moving on.
-Souther said, “It’s about the fleeting, fickle nature of love and romance,” he said. “It’s also about the fleeting nature of fame, especially in the music business. We were basically saying, ‘Look, we know we’re red hot right now but we also know that somebody’s going to come along and replace us—both in music and in love.”
"Life in the Fast Lane" Written by: Henley, Frey, Joe Walsh, Vocals: Henley, Length: 4:46 (3rd single, May 3, 77)
-Epic intro riff. Such a damn fun song. Obviously about, well, life in the fast lane, and its consequences.
-Surprised they dropped a 'GD' in '76
-Frey said, “I was riding shotgun in a Corvette with a drug dealer on the way to a poker game. The next thing I know we’re doing 90. Holding! Big-Time! I say ‘Hey man!’ He grins and goes ‘Life in the fast lane!’ I thought, ‘Now there’s a song title,’” Frey explained in the 2013 documentary, History of the Eagles.
Guitarist Joe Walsh once said, “Life in the Fast Lane” embodies the stereotypical Los Angeles spirit and the “‘’run around in your Porsche’ 24-hour boogie mode that unfortunately is too true for a lot of people,”
"Wasted Time" Written by: Henley, Frey, Vocals: Henley, Length: 4:55
-Intro kinda sounds like desperado. Seems to be about starting over, moving on, new relationships; after a long one, or just being older.
-Seems like an early version of a power ballad (like 80's rock bands did)
-Frey said, “I loved all the records coming out of Philadelphia at that time. I sent for some sheet music so I could learn some of those songs, and I started creating my own musical ideas with that Philly influence. Don was our Teddy Pendergrass (a soul singer). He could stand out there all alone and just wail. We did a big Philly-type production with strings — definitely not country-rock. You’re not going to find that track on a Crosby, Stills & Nash record or Beach Boys record. Don’s singing abilities stretched so many of our boundaries. He could sing the phone book. It didn’t matter.”
Side two
"Wasted Time" (Reprise) Written by: Henley, Frey, Jim Ed Norman, No Vocals: instrumental, Length: 1:22
-A purely musical piece continuing the mood and feeling of the previous track.
"Victim of Love" Written by: Felder, Henley, Frey, Souther, Vocals: Henley, Length: 4:11
-Back to that rock/country sound/tone hard on this one.
-Seems to be pretty surface level theme; someone was wronged by a ex-love and possibly revenge motive
-Don Felder, explained: "We were trying to move in a heavier direction, away from country rock. And so I wrote 16 or 17 song ideas, kind of in a more rock and roll direction, and 'Victim of Love' was one of those songs. I remember we went in the studio and we recorded it live with five guys playing. The only thing that wasn't played in a live session was the lead vocal and harmony on the choruses. Everything else was recorded live."
"Pretty Maids All in a Row" Written by: Walsh, Joe Vitale, Vocals: Joe Walsh, Length: 4:05
-Another piano intro like New Kid In Town. Definitely a reminiscent song... Growing up, moving on, and looking back.
-It's a quick song, very etherical.
-Who are the “pretty maids” the singer talks about? Some analysts believe that the reunited friends in question are actually former lovers (actually a married couple who are now divorced). Now, the couple, having met each other again after a long time, find themselves swimming through memories from their wedding day. Hence the row of beautiful maids.
Some Eagles fans also believe the maids in question are actually the girls The Eagles normally saw lingering outside their hotel rooms whenever they finished performing a show. So the band members are basically reminiscing about those interesting days.
"Try and Love Again" Written by: Randy Meisner, Vocals: Randy Meisner, Length: 5:10
-Its more light than the others. It's about fond memories, and looking ahead. Loving again after heartbreak. Having a positive outlook after sadness. (Mattox)
-Its definitely a different sound than the other songs, but in a good way.
-The lyrics are earnest. The lyrics express a man trying to overcome feeling of doubt concerning getting back out there after a breakup. Will I be able to love again? Is it even worth it? Will I end up hurting more?
"The Last Resort" Written by: Henley, Frey, Vocals: Henley, Length: 5:16
-It's definitely a heartfelt song about destruction.
-It is a huge statement about development and environmentalism.
-Henley said: "The Last Resort, on Hotel California, is still one of my favorite songs... That's because I care more about the environment than about writing songs about drugs or love affairs or excesses of any kind. The gist of the song was that when we find something good, we destroy it by our presence - by the very fact that man is the only animal on earth that is capable of destroying his environment. The environment is the reason I got into politics: to try to do something about what I saw as the complete destruction of most of the resources that we have left. We have mortgaged our future for gain and greed."
**BONUS**: Seven Bridges Road: Written by Steve Young (1969):
-Never really listened to the lyrics, but this song takes you on a journey. It's incredible.
-Inspired by a rural thoroughfare in Alabama that leads from Georgiana to the Oakwood Annex Cemetery in Montgomery (final resting place of Hank Williams), the song weds an unforgettable melody with lyrics that are hauntingly specific:
“There are stars in the southern sky/Southward as you go.”
Top Five Trivia of the movie (From Ultimate Classic Rock https://ultimateclassicrock.com/eagles-hotel-california-facts/):
5: Don Felder did not expect Hotel California to be a hit because of the length, and it's composition
4: The working title was “Mexican Reggae," given by Don Henley
3: When it came time to record the song, Don Felder had forgotten what he’d written. he had to have his maid at home play the song over the phone and put it back together, since it had been a year since he composed it and they recorded.
2: There are countless theories as to the architectural inspiration behind "Hotel California," Eagles maintained the song was always an overarching metaphor for the fleeting materialism and wealth of California, but fans began to wonder if a real-life hotel had inspired the song, ranging from local psychiatric hospitals to Aleister Crowley's mansion in Scotland to the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.
1: The photo on the album cover nearly got the band sued. According to Henley, "We were enamored with hotels...Hotels were a big part of our lives. The Beverly Hills Hotel had become something of a focal point — literally and symbolically. I’ve always been interested in architecture and the language of architecture, and, at that time, I was particularly keen on the mission style of early California. I thought there was a certain mystery and romance about it." When word finally got out which hotel it was, and as the album soared on the charts, the Beverly Hotel threatened with a cease-and-desist, but then backed off after they noticed their bookings had tripled.
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Chris:
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Trey:
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Tucker:
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3. Gross Pointe Blank
4. Mail order brides
5. Escape rooms
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