Eagles (1972)

Eagles is the debut studio album by American rock band the Eagles. The album was recorded at London's Olympic Studios with producer Glyn Johns and released on June 1, 1972, by Asylum Records. It was an immediate success for the then-new band, reaching No. 22 on the Billboard 200 and achieving a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Three singles were released from the album, each reaching the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100: "Take It Easy" (number 12), "Witchy Woman" (number 9), and "Peaceful Easy Feeling" (number 22). The band, starting with this album, played a major role in popularizing the country rock sound.

The album was ranked number 368 in the 2012 edition of Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and at number 207 in the 2020 reboot of the list. The single "Take It Easy" is part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".

Background

In 1971, the band had just been formed and signed by David Geffen, who then sent them to Aspen, Colorado, to develop as a band. For their first album, Glenn Frey wanted Glyn Johns to be the producer as they liked several rock albums engineered by Johns, including albums by the Rolling Stones, the Who, and Led Zeppelin. Geffen invited Johns to see the band perform at a club called Tulagi in Boulder, Colorado, in December 1971. Johns, however, was not impressed by the band's live performance, thinking that it sounded confused and lacking in cohesion – Frey wanted it to be a rock & roll band while Bernie Leadon wanted a country feel – so Johns declined to produce the album.

Johns was persuaded by Geffen to have a second listen in a rehearsal setting in Los Angeles, but Johns did not change his opinion of the band until all four started singing harmonies with acoustic guitar on a ballad written by bassist Randy Meisner, "Take the Devil". Johns was impressed by their harmony singing, and later said: "There it was, the sound. Extraordinary blend of voices, wonderful harmony sound, just stunning." In the albums he produced for the Eagles, Johns emphasized the vocal blend of the band, and he has been credited with shaping the band into "the country-rock band with those high-flyin' harmonies."

Recording

The band went to London, where they spent two weeks recording the album at the Olympic Studios. The album cost $125,000 to produce. Johns tried to introduce a more acoustic sound in the recording and concentrated on the vocal blend and arrangements. There were, however, frequent disagreements over the sound of the band between the producer and Frey and Don Henley during the making of the album. Frey and Henley wanted a rougher rock and roll sound, while Johns was interested in using Bernie Leadon's banjo and Randy Meisner's bass to create a more country sound. Frey later admitted, "[Johns] was the key to our success in a lot of ways", but added: "We just didn't want to make another limp-wristed L.A. country-rock record." Johns also instituted a no-drug and no-alcohol rule that Frey, but not Henley, was unhappy about.

Three of the songs recorded in London feature Frey on lead vocals, another three with Meisner and two with Leadon. The chirping sound at the start of the song by Leadon and Meisner, "Earlybird", was taken from a sound effect library. On "Take It Easy", Johns convinced Leadon to play double-time banjo on the song, a touch that Johns felt made the song different.