The Eagles are often dubbed as the American version of The Beatles. While this is a statement up for debate, there is some truth to it in the sense that they weren’t just a successful band, but they were a band who redefined the way that people approached music, as they merged rock with country and created a new genre of music in the process.
It was never smooth sailing for the Eagles, as the band went through a few different iterations during their time. These didn’t just see other people produce the same song, but new members brought different directions for the band. It made for exciting changes in the music, and one of the biggest tonal shifts came when Joe Walsh joined the band after Bernie Leadon left.
In 1975, Leadon had had enough of playing in the band. Walsh was already a successful solo artist working under the same manager as the Eagles. He was working well as a solo artist, and it became clear that he was the perfect guitar player to step in and help the band out.
The result of bringing him on board wasn’t just him filling a slot; he took the band in a completely different direction. The first album that the Eagles made with Walsh on guitar duties was Hotel California, which saw them ditch their laid-back country approach to music and become more guitar-orientated. It was clear this was a new version of the band, and it was one the public loved as the record was one of their most commercially successful ever.
“When Bernie [Leadon] decided that he just wasn’t interested very much in continuing, Don [Henley] and Glenn [Frey] thought I would plug in really well with where the Eagles were eventually going to go,” Walsh said, “And at the time, I was going, ‘Aw fuck, it’s time to do another solo album. Oh, shit.
Anybody got any ideas?’ You know? So, it all just kind of came together. I joined the Eagles – and the result, of course, was Hotel California.”
Walsh had a natural musical ability that he was able to inject into the band. He helped elevate the band, showing fans around the world that they had more than just the country rock style that had initially propelled them to fame. Glenn Frey immediately recognised how musically talented Walsh was, as his talent didn’t just lie in playing the guitar. Frey admitted that he was surprised by the fact that Walsh seemed capable of playing almost everything.
“Walsh is like an almanack,” he said, “I could sit down at a piano at any given moment and play every song the Drifters ever recorded. But Joe can do the same thing with Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton. I mean, every single blues lick.”
This line-up also didn’t last, as the band ended up splitting in the ‘80s for an extended period. However, the Eagles with Joe Walsh playing guitar is commonly referred to as one of the greatest periods for the band.