![\"Don](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Don-Henley-The-Eagles-2019-Musician-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Derek Russell)<\/p>\n
Fri 16 May 2025 20:00, UK <\/p>\n
It takes much more than a couple of good tunes for musicians to want to make songwriting their full-time job. Many people can appreciate the songs they hear on the radio every now and again, but when someone hears a piece of themselves in someone else\u2019s work, it\u2019s enough to make them want to take some of their kiddie guitars out of storage and actually start learning how to play them. Although Don Henley<\/a> was always more comfortable behind the drum kit when working with Eagles, he still had that hunger to play a twangy version of rock and roll before he even hit Los Angeles.<\/p>\n But when Henley first started, he was already becoming a loyal follower of all things rock and roll. Some pieces appealed to him when listening to artists like Elvis Presley, but Henley knew that there was something special about hearing The Beatles play on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. He suddenly felt like music was possible, but he started off far from the traditional rock and roll clubs.<\/p>\n He had only adopted the drums after driving his classmates crazy by banging on his schoolbooks every day, but when he found a bunch of friends to play with, they were immersed in intricate stuff. Where Henley came from catered to genres like Dixieland jazz, which meant that the Eagle, known to have one of the greatest voices of his generation, was often silent behind his kit as everyone played their hearts out.<\/p>\n A few states away, though, something had started to change. The Byrds had already been giving the British invasion a run for their money for yars, but listening to the way that the psychedelic movement started to form, people had started embracing pieces of old Americana music, including the odd flirtation with country music you\u2019d hear out of bands like Crosby, Stills, and Nash.<\/p>\n That was a start, but the minute that Henley heard bands like Poco and The Flying Burrito Brothers, he found something familiar. These were artists who weren\u2019t afraid to wear influences like Hank Williams on their sleeve, and since Gram Parsons<\/a> had already been a member of The Byrds, it felt like this was the next logical step for where American rock and roll was supposed to go.<\/p>\n