The Eagles brought the melodic seductiveness of Willie Mitchell's Memphis soul to Country Rock with the Hi Records' strong, sparse beat in Henley's drums. Glenn Frey bringing the shimmering, layered sound, brisk pace and tender drifter vocals of Al Green and other HI Record's artists to their brand of Country, particularly in this song where his character's heartache is expressed gorgeously in his delicate vocals. It begins with a strong mix of Don Felder's fluid guitar lines merged with Joe Walsh's organ along with Randy Meisner playing a Guittaron to give a slight Latin feel to this universal tale of being replaced.
The 'Tears on your Shoulder' bridge and refrains of "Everybody's talkin, People started walkin" are some of the highlights of what is lyrically their greatest composition with a narrative about love with a strong message; it's all a cycle just like the circular harmonies declaring at the song's emotive coda ''There's a New Kid in Town'. It was primarily JD Southers' song but it as always was Glenn Frey's arranging that made it work with the 'Oh My My' exclamation sung with an genuine tenderness or the calls of 'I Don't Want to Hear It', a phrase I thought of when I heard of Glenn's recent passing. Arranging was his natural born talent (go back to his Longbranch Pennywhistle album from the 60s to hear his folk rock arrangement of James Taylor' Don't Talk Now) and was key to the Eagles success from the layered acoustic strum to the two part and four part harmony arrangements adding a bouncy, doo wop influenced energy to what could have been overly mellow ballads.
This would also be their very last semi acoustic ballad and though it was a No 1 billboard hit and first chart topper with Frey, the band decided to abandon totally their successful country rock aesthetic at it's peak and with Hotel California and Joe Walsh head towards a more college arena rock sound. In the long run the new rock direction wouldnt last, it was these Frey sung Country Rock ballads that would forever define the Eagles for many; deceptively easy going Frey always carried a weary, resignation and cynicism that was always strongly felt in their work.
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