One musician Don Henley said he “never understood” rock

(Source: Alamy)

Tue Jul 30 2024 16:58, VK

No one makes it big in rock without having their credentials questioned. Selling out has always been a dirty word in rock ‘n’ roll, and no matter how many times bands have sunk their teeth into the biggest underground circles, it can all be washed away if they turn their backs on their audience for even a second. The Eagles were never the most adventurous of mainstream rock bands, but Don Henley has argued that Bernie Leadon never understood rock ‘n’ roll in the first place.

But Leadon never intended to join a full-fledged rock ‘n’ roll outfit in the first place. He had grown up in the world of bluegrass and country music, and the fact that one of his main instruments on record was the banjo made it clear that he did not see rock ‘n’ roll as his first major genre.

Still, he had a fleeting fondness for ’60s rock ‘n’ roll, and when he joined up with former Byrds stalwart Gram Parsons for The Flyin’ Burrito Brothers, his country-tinged guitar style seemed a perfect fit. Things were going smoothly, but as the group faltered, Leadon got a call from Henley and Glenn Frey, who wanted to put together a band with mixed country and rock influences.

And for a while it miraculously worked. The country inflections on “Peaceful Easy Feeling” are some of the song’s highlights, and its instrumental “Journey of the Sorcerer” from One of these nights is probably one of the greatest creative highlights he ever had with the Eagles.

But then again, it’s not hard to see where his heart was when you listen to his contributions to their records. ‘Bitter Creek’ by Desert rat was more of a dark bluegrass song in the rock ‘n’ roll style. You could say that ‘My Man’ sounds like an acoustic Rolling Stones song, but it’s much closer to George Jones than Mick Jagger.

So when the group decided to split, Henley argued that it was because he didn’t understand what they were doing, saying, “Bernie had bluegrass roots. He’d never really messed around with rock ‘n’ roll guitar and he never really understood how to get that dirty rock ‘n’ roll sound. He just wasn’t trained or programmed in that area. We also knew that Joe (Walsh) was so composed that he could play the ballads without any problem, and a lot of people doubted that.”

By the time they cut ties, Leadon wasn’t too devastated about leaving. He had done his best to add something to One of these nights, but when you consider that he threatened to break Glenn Frey’s arm if his song ‘I Wish You Peace’ didn’t make it onto the record, it’s not like they still had the Three Musketeers mentality.

No, the rest of the decade would be focused on acclimating Walsh into the fold alongside Don Felder, with Hotel California the closest they’d ever come to straight-ahead rock. Leadon certainly added magic to the Eagles’ early career, but his departure marked the moment they stopped being a country-rock act and began to branch out into whatever genre suited the song.