The Eagles would never set a record that they deemed to be just “good.” Nobody enters a band with that caliber of vocal harmony intending to wing it in the recording studio. But occasionally, you do need some time to relax in between takes. Glenn Frey recalled the recording sessions for the song “On the Border” as being utterly wild.
However, the group faced a challenging task when it came to recording their third album. People were not going to accept another record that consisted solely of cowboy songs and tales about forgotten outlaws. Especially after their attempt to gain attention on Desperado virtually failed.
The band replaced songs like “James Dean,” leftovers from their previous album, with some of their strongest tracks in a long time. Among them are the fantastic “Already Gone” and the underappreciated “My Man.” The band needed to put on a little more vigor to finish the backing vocals on the title track.
This song felt more fitting for a soul record, as the band typically played bright, country-tinged rock. Even though they made every effort to sound like the Temptations in the vocal booth, Frey acknowledged that. They needed a little liquid courage to finish the song.
Frey told Classic Rock Stories that the band was having a great time recording it. They got pretty wild when drinking gin and tonics so they could perform a little Temptations song during the break. We needed to be loose, behaving more like drunken, stoned punks than like we were going to sing the blues or something. We simply planned to go out and enjoy ourselves.
This might have been a bit of a celebration, though, considering how much they despised working with producer Glyn Johns on the album’s first pressing. While Johns did manage to get one hit out of the deal when the song “Best of My Love” ended up on the finished record, they enjoyed the freedom that came with working independently with Bill Szymczyk.
The band recorded some of their best songs without Johns, even though they accomplished great things behind the scenes. They released One of These Nights immediately following this album, followed by Hotel California. Though Henley and Frey eventually guided the band towards iconic territory, even if it meant stepping on people’s toes along the way, none of those records could have been as uninhibited as this one.
Nevertheless, “On the Border” is among the last instances in the band’s discography where they felt like they were having fun in the studio, even with all of Henley’s messages throughout his discography. It has some rough edges, but that’s what makes the entire thing unique.
