A Good Day In Hell - The Official ILM Track-By-Track EAGLES Listening Thread

AVC: It’s a little ridiculous that this song has electric drums on it when Don Henley is a famous drummer.

Don Henley may be a famous drummer, but he is not, nor should he be, famous for his drumming.

plodding drum-kit owner

The last two days have been grim.

Usually I like pedal steel, but somehow it increases the suckage here ... the Waits version is by no means top-grade Waits, but it sure sounds good compared to the vacuum-sealed Eagles version. Waits' 55 is rusted out and barely rolling, the Eagles' was rented for a photo shoot.

this song is just zzzzzzzzz to me and it kinda just makes me wish i was listening to johnny rivers slow dancin' and swayin' to the music.

yeah, pretty ghastly. Hate the way Frey sings "freeway CARS and TRUCKS" and then Henley comes in as if he's been wheeled over to the microphone. Seems to go on for like 10 minutes, too. It probably was Waits' biggest source of royalties until Rod Stewart came along, though

lots of people covered his songs back then. he must have been doing okay. i know this isn't the only cover of this song from the 70's.

or at least i THINK i've head other covers of it? i might be wrong. seem to recall some folkies that did it.

best information i've ever read on the internet:

"Big in Japan," from the Tom Waits album "Mule Variations" , was covered on the Alphaville album "Forever Young."

wiki says tim buckley was the first person to cover a waits song. in 1973.

oh man the pumpkins. at least fester doesn't sing it. though the guitar dude is horrible enough. this is good motivation for people who can't sing to get up on stage anyway.

http://youtu.be/Sfk5qhWmnr0

"Ol' 55" is horrendous. Even worse than the filliest filler on Desperfiller.

Desperfiller! hahaha!

iain matthews does a good cover of ol'55, released just a month before the eagles

"Ol' 55" is like "Hallelujah." There are very few people, especially singer/songwriter types, who haven't covered it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRLAkIicG84

"iain matthews does a good cover of ol'55"

right! duh, that's the one i was thinking of.

I heard about 10 seconds of "life in the fast lane" on the radio before changing the station in disgust.

This morning, that is.

so hard-headed.

http://www.postandcourier.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130917/PC16/130919390/1177/north-charleston-woman-accused-of-stabbing-roommate-in-dispute-over-rock-music

this song is just zzzzzzzzz to me and it kinda just makes me wish i was listening to johnny rivers slow dancin' and swayin' to the music.

― scott seward, Tuesday, September 17, 2013 10:19 AM (35 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Is the Funky Kings album (which includes that Jack Tempchin-penned song) any good? Jules Shear, who i really like, was in that band too.

i never really got into the funky kings record. i guess i was hoping that it was funky when i first played it.

wiki says tim buckley was the first person to cover a waits song. in 1973.

This is '73

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSx2H10WJec

a no-embedded-videos thread has been requested, folks. that's why scott is using youtu.be just a few posts up.

Oops

Police said Bader admitted that she stabbed her roommate, but alleged that she did so out of self-defense because he was choking her making her listen to the Eagles

the Waits version is by no means top-grade Waits, but it sure sounds good compared to the vacuum-sealed Eagles version. Waits' 55 is rusted out and barely rolling, the Eagles' was rented for a photo shoot.

Brad C. pretty much otm. I actually heard the Waits version first ('cause that's how I roll) and pretty much every thing that's great about it is missing from the Eagles' cover. What once was lived-in and kinda sad is now air-brushed & bushy-tailed. And again with the lame coda that feels longer than it is!

BTW, has Waits ever said what make was the '55 in the song? Taking a hint from his next album, I'd guess it was an Oldsmobile

http://www.adclassix.com/images55olds98sedan.jpg

From the Crowe...

OL’ 55
GLENN: David Geffen played me a tape of Tom Waits in his office. “Ol’ 55″ was the first song on a demo that had maybe three songs on it. I loved the song, got Tom Waits’ version, and took it to the band. I played it for Don and said, “I think we should do this. We can split the vocals, it could be really cool, and we could do oooohs in this section here.” I really liked the song. Still do. It’s such a car thing. Your first car is like your first apartment. You had a mobile studio apartment! “Ol’ 55″ was so Southern California, and yet there was some Detroit in it as well. It was that car thing, and I loved the idea of driving home at sunrise, thinking about what had happened the night before.

BTW, has Waits ever said what make was the '55 in the song? Taking a hint from his next album, I'd guess it was an Oldsmobile

Caddy: http://youtu.be/Z6CDa-z1MUY

Thanks!

http://www.adclassix.com/images/55cadillaccoupedeville.jpg

"Your first car is like your first apartment. You had a mobile studio apartment!" you can just imagine the epiphanic tone in Frey's voice here

To be fair, the guy was from Detroit.

"I really liked the song. Still do. It’s such a car thing. Your first car is like your first apartment. You had a mobile studio apartment! “Ol’ 55″ was so Southern California, and yet there was some Detroit in it as well. It was that car thing, and I loved the idea of driving home at sunrise, thinking about what had happened the night before."

http://www.founditemclothing.com/halloween/slater-dazed-and-confused-pot-leaf-costume-2.jpg

xpost...and the interior of a '55 GM product is as big as a small studio apartment.

I like to think of the '55 as being some long-gone marque, like this:

http://www.adclassix.com/images/55packard400fourhundredcoup.jpg

“Ol’ 55″ was so Southern California, and yet there was some Detroit in it as well. It was that car thing

In other words, any part of the United States where people drive cars on a regular basis.

FACT: Don Henley's dad ran an auto parts store.

This is boring. I like steel pedal but this is the first time I've thought the guitars sound bad.

xp I love that the band think they're providing subtext, but there's no subtext. They're all surface.

I just want you all to know I was not involved.
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/drunk_woman_attacks_roommate_with_knife_for_listening_to_the_eagles

When police talked to the victim, he said he had been listening to The Eagles when Bader told him that she did not want to hear the classic rock band's songs. So the man told her to shut up, the report states.

Bader responded by allegedly getting a 14-inch serrated bread knife and swung it at the man repeatedly, the report states. The victim wrestled the knife away from Bader, but she came back with another knife before the victim could run and lock himself in the bathroom.

The victim said he and Bader used to date, but said while the relationship had ended they still lived together, the report states.

According to Bader, the victim was choking her which led to her getting a knife. However, officers did not see any hand prints on Bader and the neighbor corroborated the victim's story. Officers noted in the report that everyone was intoxicated at the time of the assault.

The report did not details which Eagles songs were being played.

It was "Chug All Night".

everyone was intoxicated at the time of the assault

YOU DON'T SAY

Wait a minute ...

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/190gqnxor5wyfjpg/original.jpg

http://www.glidemagazine.com/glide/wp-content/uploads/legacy/joe%20walsh%20pub%20pic%202012%2002b.jpg

if it was "James Dean," automatic acquittal

You guys'll be begging for "James Dean" once we roll around to "Get Over It" (pending the thread or any of us make it that far).

come on, don't remind us of that. it's like knowing you've gotta have a colonoscopy in a few months

FIELD REPORT: heard "hotel california" two times today on two different stations (one classic rock, the other one of those "all the hits you love from the 70s, 80s, and 90s" stations)
both times i recognized it within 3 seconds

omg I have a FIELD REPORT too: heard 'Desperado', courtesy of a busker at the local farmer's market

There's a guy in the River Market with a big Casio keyboard and some PA speakers. He does a full-on version of "Hotel California" except instead of a dueling guitar solo, he just lets the chk-bk-bok-ka beat roll for about four minutes before leaning into the mic to sing "On a dark, desert highway...." again. It's like some Andy Kaufman routine.

When you hear this dude's version, you can definitely get the sense of what "Mexican Reggae" sounds like.

I have not heard a single eagles track in the wild since we started this thread tbh