Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
100 Greatest Men: The Complete List
You can count their country hits on one hand, and still have fingers to spare. But the Eagles did more to shape the sound of country music than any rock band before or since.
It was another country rocker, the legendary Linda Ronstadt, that nudged the band into existence. Looking for musicians to back her on record and on stage, the founding members – Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner – performed on her 1971 eponymous album. With her encouragement, they decided to form a band of their own.
From the time they released their debut album in 1972 until they ended their initial run with 1979′s The Long Run, the Eagles produced rock music that was heavily laced with country instrumentation. The sound was most prevalent in their earlier work, and while they’d only score one top ten hit at country radio, “Lyin’ Eyes”, they still managed to score a Vocal Group nomination at the CMA Awards.
The country connection to their work was forgotten until the nineties, when a tribute album called Common Thread brought together the nineties country superstars who were most influenced by the band’s work. Anyone who wondered why so many middle-aged rock fans suddenly embraced country music in the early nineties can have their questions answered by that tribute album. Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Trisha Yearwood, Travis Tritt, and Vince Gill covered Eagles classics faithfully, and the end result was a collection of performances that reflected just how similar their own work was to that of the Eagles.
The tribute album won the CMA for Album of the Year, and its commercial success inspired the Eagles to reunite for their Hell Freezes Over tour and subsequent album. When they decided to make their first studio album in almost three decades, they targeted the country market directly. Long Road Out of Eden topped the country albums chart and produced a Grammy-winning country hit with “How Long.” When they hit the road to support the album, they did so with the Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban.
Essential Singles:
- Take it Easy, 1972
- Lyin’ Eyes, 1975
- Take it to the Limit, 1975
- Hotel California, 1976
- Heartache Tonight, 1979
Essential Albums:
- Desperado, 1973
- One Of These Nights, 1975
- Hotel California, 1976
- The Long Run, 1979
- Long Road Out of Eden, 2007
Next: #80. The Everly Brothers
Previous: #82. Fiddlin’ John Carson
100 Greatest Men: The Complete List
8 Comments
Category 100 Greatest Men
Tags: Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Dixie Chicks, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Keith Urban, Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, Travis Tritt, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill
Sunday, July 11th, 2010
A few should’ve been hits are mixed in with genuine smashes as the countdown continues.
400 Greatest Singles of the Nineties: #350-#326
#350
How Do I Live
Trisha Yearwood
1997 | Peak: #2
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When Yearwood and LeAnn Rimes released dueling versions of this song in 1997, it was apparently a wake up call to country listeners: “Hey, wait a minute. Trisha Yearwood is an amazing singer!” She elevates “How Do I Live” beyond its movie theme nature by adding layers of subtlety and nuance to the typical Diane Warren template. – Kevin Coyne
#349
Boot Scootin’ Boogie
Brooks & Dunn
1992 | Peak: #1
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I don’t claim to have any real knowledge of what it’s like to spend a night at the liveliest of honky-tonks, but I’ll be darned if this song doesn’t make me feel like I do. Because “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” isn’t really about a specific place where people go, and it isn’t even about the boogie itself; it’s about the universal thrill of busting out of the work week, kicking back and dancing your troubles away. From start to finish, Brooks & Dunn’s performance is a twangy blast of exhilaration, and that’s a feeling we can all relate to – outlaws, in-laws, crooks and straights alike. - Tara Seetharam
#348
Don’t Take Her She’s All I Got
Tracy Byrd
1997 | Peak: #4
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Just a damn catchy trad country sing-a-long. It was good fun when Johnny Paycheck had the original hit with it, and lost none of its steam when Tracy Byrd resurrected it for a new audience twenty-six years later. – Dan Milliken (more…)
24 Comments
Category Back to the Nineties
Tags: Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, Brooks & Dunn, Confederate Railroad, Delbert McClinton, Don Henley, Garth Brooks, George Strait, John Michael Montgomery, LeAnn Rimes, Lisa Brokop, Lorrie Morgan, Marty Stuart, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Pam Tillis, Randy Scruggs, Randy Travis, Restless Heart, Shelby Lynne, Tanya Tucker, Toby Keith, Tracy Byrd, Travis Tritt, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill
Thursday, January 15th, 2009
The following is a guest contribution from Country Universe reader Cory DeStein.
Throughout my life I have attempted to share my taste in music with those around me. More often than not friends and family will show a interest then kindly move onto the next subject. Only one person in my life has shown me that genuine interest in everything I have ever done. I will never know if we really had that much in common, or if she was just that good at making me happy. That’s a secret I never want to know. Though we shared many interests in music, food, television and in life, there was one topic we both we both enjoyed: the music of Trisha Yearwood.
Throughout the years, I had chances to meet Trisha backstage and at a book signing. Each time she kindly agreed to personalize a photo for my grandmother. During a 2006 meet and greet, I told Trisha what a fan my grandmother was of “XXX’s and OOO’s.” Just less than 2 years later, Trisha personalized a cookbook “To Thelma, XXXs and OOOs Love, Trisha Yearwood.” I didn’t think she’d remember that. The woman’s personality is as impressive as her voice.
This past August, my healthy grandmother began to go downhill after complications from minor surgery. I mentioned on Yearwood’s fan site that my absence may be related to that. Sadly my grandmother passed away shortly after that message. It was a sudden and shocking loss that affected me in ways I will never be able to explain. I felt as if I was robbed of any future memories to be made with her, similar to the ones of the past I cherished so much.
A few weeks after her passing, I received a card in the mail. It was a “get well” card from Trisha Yearwood. She had signed “Thelma, Get Well Soon. Best Wishes, Trisha Yearwood” Just when I thought the doors had closed on us, Trisha gave me one last memory to share with my grandma. Country Universe has given me the chance to write my 25 favorite Trisha Yearwood songs, and I would like to dedicate it to all the years we both shared together enjoying the wonderful entertainer and amazing person’s music.
#25
“Georgia Rain”
Jasper County, 2005
In 2005, after a 4 year hiatus, Yearwood returned with her version of “Strawberry Wine”….in a truck. She sets the scene perfectly for us. Dark storm clouds looming over the Georgia sky. An old truck parked down on a red dirt road. With lightning illuminating the rusted hood, rain drops begin to penetrate the dried clay. Inside two young lovers embrace in their loss of innocence.
#24
“Dreaming Fields”
Heaven, Heartache, and the Power of Love, 2007
I am a city boy; I was raised right outside of Pittsburgh, PA. I can’t exactly understand farming life because I never experienced it. Yearwood narrates this Matraca Berg ballad in a way that places me right on those farmlands, watching modern America taking over the land that families had survived on for generations. Any of us can relate to a song like this, watching the places where we have grown up begin to vanish.
#23
“Down on My Knees”
Hearts in Armor, 1992
Linda Ronstadt once sang, “Love Has No Pride.” Yearwood proves her idol right as she contemplates the possibility of her beau ever leaving her. She declares to him, “No one matters more in my life. Oh, makes me feel like you make me feel inside. And I’ve come far enough to know love’s worth never letting go of, and love is not a matter of pride.”
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