Glenn Frey, Lead Singer of The Eagles has passed away at 67, he was my musical idol I loved his solo records just as much as his heavy contribution to The Eagles. He was the foundation and creative core, along with Don Henley, of America's Greatest Rock Band; he was able to sing lead, perform expressive, concise guitar solos, write and arrange. In fact all Eagles tunes feature a strong imprint of his work usually instrumentally if he is not the singer or songwriter, such as in the case of Randy Meisner's tunes like Try and Love Again, Is It True and Certain Kind of Fool where he played all the guitar solos. He began in music learning piano as a child and contributed the classic saloon bar piano progression of Desperado; possibly his most timeless composition.
But it was his flawless vocals that set a high standard for his fellow band members from the start with their first single, Take It Easy, onward through all the reunion tours to the end of the very last tour date in July. He particularly shone on his duets with Henley, possibly to show off his smooth and sultry, wide ranged tenor voice against Henley's bluesy rasp; his cool demeanour always nicely contrasted Henley's raw passion. He used every facet of his voice; creating a spectrum of characters and characteristics including the growly outlaw, the sensitive troubadour and the cool cocksure party rocker. He conveyed the dark complexity of male emotions but also nailed the glowing, easygoing feeling with the simple power of his laid back delivery. It was his vocal arrangements that were key to cracking the commercial breakthrough for the Country Rock genre to a mass audience. His phrasing particularly on the first lines of his Eagles songs were pitch perfect and original, which is why I have chosen my personal favourite Glenn Frey vocal which is on the album cut, After The Thrill is Gone.
From an album where he memorably began to decrease his vocals, Lyin Eyes being his only full solo lead on One of These Nights album. Here he exchanges verses with Henley as he would many times on some of my favourite songs like Ol 55, Doolin Dalton, Teenage Jail and What Do I Do With My Heart. The track begins with synchronized acoustic strums waltzing in a off kilter rhythm, when Frey's wearied yet youthful vocals come in they express a general malaise and discontent with all time great lyrics such as 'Half the Distance takes You Twice as Long' , 'Some Habits That You Just Can't Lose' and 'No Tellin What a Man Might Use, After the Thrill Is Gone'. Echoing the solemn intonation of his lines in Doolin Dalton he captures the creeping disillusionment and detachment of the 70s Post-Watergate generation with a subtle country inflection. The thick Don Felder guitar and Henley's more soulful bridge sections give the song a Stax quality leaving you not sure whether this is country rock, arena rock or soul. This chamelionic quality particularly by Frey's middle of the road vocals, that had a general North American twang to them and no affiliation to any one genre of music, is what Frey should be celebrated for most today.
Last night we lost a giant in 70's music and I lost my idol but as the song says 'Time Passes and You Must Move On..'
Thank you for the music, Glenn
Tuhin
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