When The Beatles stormed America, they didn’t just bring their music—they changed the entire industry. The British Invasion reshaped how artists looked, sounded, and marketed themselves. It’s often said that no band has ever altered music the way The Beatles did, but if anyone came close, it was The Eagles.
Rather than introducing an established sound to a new audience, The Eagles created something entirely fresh. They blended rock and country in a way no one else had mastered, crafting a style that instantly resonated with listeners. By the time they released their self-titled debut in 1972, their years of hard work on the road had refined their sound to perfection.
Though some called them an “overnight success,” drummer and vocalist Don Henley disagreed. “Well, it might seem that way,” he said, “if you don’t count the six years of driving around Texas in an Econoline.”
The album was packed with songs that would become timeless, including ‘Take It Easy,’ a track that captured their signature fusion of rock energy and country twang. But while their debut took off, their follow-up, Desperado, didn’t quite meet expectations.
Henley later admitted the band intentionally steered away from making another album full of hits. “As The Eagles, we did have success right off the bat,” he said. “And then we followed it up with this artsy-fartsy concept album—It was almost as if our reaction to success was, ‘We don’t want to have another LP with hit singles on it!’”
The album explored themes of outlaws and the Old West, a sharp contrast to their debut. While Desperado has since gained appreciation from fans, the music industry was baffled by it. “The people at the label let us do it, but they hated it,” Henley recalled. “I remember the head of Atlantic Records, Jerry Greenberg, who was our distributor then, he listened to it and said, ‘Oh God, they’ve gone and made a fuckin’ cowboy album!’”
The title track, ‘Desperado,’ wasn’t even a hit for the band—it only became widely recognized after Linda Ronstadt covered it.
Despite its initial commercial struggles, Desperado became a defining piece of The Eagles’ legacy. But at the time, it was simply the album Don Henley and the band wanted to make—hit singles be damned.
