Glenn Frey’s death is sad, but the Eagles were a horrific band

[Miles Archer]

308. Neil Young's "ditch" reference from the liner notes to the "Decade" album

One of the most famous and frequently repeated quotes from Neil. He said that "Heart of Gold" represented his journey to the middle of the road but soon after he headed for the ditch because things were more interesting there.

There was no one like Joe back in the day. If you want to take a REALLY broad stroke of the brush, he was cut from similar cloth as Neil in that he could rip your face off with an extended electric assault and the turn around and play something sweet and reflective. That went back to the James Gang days, that's who he was.

"Rocky Mountain Way," of course, but also "County Fair" from "So What." He lost his way for a little bit, injecting too much comedy for my tastes, starting to sound a little more like Jimmy Buffet and less like himself. So what happened when he released "The Confessor," his best album in years, one that was built on the same template as "The Smoker" and "So What?" Critics slammed him for trying to sound like himself. He expressed his frustration at the time, saying that if he didn't sound like his old albums, people slammed him, and if he sounded like his old records, people slammed him.

So Joe pulled a Neil, headed for the middle of the road, made a shitload of money, and the Eagles never really gave a shit about their critics because they knew they were multi-millionaires.

One writer said that the Eagles "de-fanged" Joe. Supposedly they had a rule stating that he could have a maximum of two drinks before a show. Did you ever hear Ringo's "Old Wave" album, produced by Joe? It was originally released on vinyl as an import only. Dear God, I think they had a minimum of ten drinks between tracks.

Henley and Frey were cold and calculating...they knew Joe's fans would follow him to the band and buy Eagles records, and we did. Even when he frigging played "Rocky Mountain Way" on stage with them, it never had the same blunt force trauma as when he did it on his own.

One of my favorite performances is Joe doing "RMW" at Clapton's Crossroads Festival. He jokes "If I knew I had to play this song the rest of my life I probably woulda written something else. But it's too late!"