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(Credits: Far Out \/ Derek Russell)<\/p>\n
Tue 20 May 2025 19:30, UK <\/p>\n
No one likes the idea of seeing their favourite band replace members of the group. Any band should feel like brothers in arms whenever they\u2019re playing their instruments, so having to let one of them go feels like losing a core piece of their musical DNA. But as far as Don Henley<\/a> was concerned, he knew how the music business worked, and he figured that it was better to let go of someone if they weren\u2019t pulling their weight in the Eagles.<\/p>\n When the California rockers first started, though, they already had a specific standard to live up to. Everyone needed to look, sing, and play at the top of their game, and it\u2019s not like Henley and Glenn Frey were simple journeymen, either. They had started playing in Linda Ronstadt\u2019s band, and after graciously leaving the group, Ronstadt was the one who first suggested that they start looking for some new blood in bands like The Flying Burrito Brothers.<\/p>\n Although Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner were already big names in the rock and roll scene, there was some innate chemistry that happened whenever they started singing together. It wasn\u2019t exactly Crosby, Stills, and Nash, but when producer Glyn Johns took them aside and heard them in a rehearsal situation, hearing them sing harmonies a cappella was the sound that convinced him to work with them.<\/p>\n And each of them also seemed to bring their own spice to the instrumental side. Leadon was one of the most accomplished country players in the rock scene, and Meisner\u2019s soaring voice was always a great foil to Henley\u2019s rusty edge whenever he sang tracks like \u2018Witchy Woman\u2019. All the ingredients were there, but there were moments when their creative direction wasn\u2019t right. <\/p>\n \u201cSome people were replaceable, and life would go on and the band would go on.\u201d<\/p>\n Don Henley<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Despite their status as a country rock outfit, Frey wanted to explore new territory, and that wasn\u2019t going to work with Leadon in the group. He lived and breathed country music every time he played, and if the change in direction wasn\u2019t a big enough cue for him to leave, the decision to pour a beer over Frey\u2019s head before a gig<\/a> probably wouldn\u2019t put him in anyone\u2019s good graces.<\/p>\n\n