18 January 2016

Glenn Frey



I guess we're just going to write music obituaries for a couple weeks. Glenn Frey died over the weekend. He lived a full and rich life and, if the official Eagles documentary is any guide, he was also an egomaniac/asshole. Can we appreciate the art even if we don't much care for the artist? Hell yeah. 

Glenn Frey hadn't made any music worth a listen in 30 years but the work he did in his golden age has stood (and will stand) the test of time. I'm not a fan of the Eagles deep cuts (because they're shit) and Frey's solo work has NOT held up but: credit where credit is due - the hits are HITS, creating album sales and cultural impact the likes of which Justin Bieber or T. Swift would kill for. The Eagles at their peak were as good as any band has ever been. Yeah I said it.

Put it this way: I know all the words to several of their songs and I have never bought an Eagles record, an Eagles single, or any soundtrack or whatever that had an Eagles song on it, nor downloaded any of their music for free from napster when that was a thing. It just soaked into my brain because I was born in the 70's and my mom liked to listen to the radio. Thank christ she didn't like disco.

Too many classics to list here. My favorite Eagles song isn't even sung by Frey (though he does share writing credit), so I posted the first one I ever learned the words to, by listening to AM radio in my mom's 1974 VW Beetle. See you on the flip side, Glenn.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

video is impressive
I did not realize they had any talent at all.
the studio track is trite and adored by rednecks