I remember sitting on the floor in my dad's living room finding this album and being mesmerized by this song. Years later as he was dying I had it on repeat by his bedside as I held him. It holds so many beautiful memories for me about my dad.
Every member of the Eagles just had next level talent. Felder and Walsh obviously but Henley’s grasp of concept on this song and keeping focus on that concept is what makes it. What a writer. You know he has a vault of unheard stuff.
I was a senior in high school when the album came out. What a senior year. Starting with Frampton Comes Alive, then Rumors, Hotel California, Bob Seger's Night Moves, Boston, and Queen's A Day At The Races, just to name a few. What a time for R&R music.
@@ProfessorofRock Back then, this quality of music was the standard. We thought it would go on forever. Sad to think that R&R has become history - kind of like the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern periods of classical music, pretty much dead. Wonder if R&R will ever come back? Maybe it is history - it had a good run from the late 1950s to the early 2000s.
This song brings back some great memories. One of my favorites is the time I was walking along the beach in Nha Trang, Vietnam and suddenly was surrounded by a large group of university students. This was back in 1995, and the ban on American travel to Vietnam had just been lifted after 20 years. The students had very little access to the rest of the world at that time so they were curious about the American walking alone on the beach. I was surprised by one of their first questions. They wanted to know the meaning of "Hotel California." I had that discussion with friends in California a few times, but I never imagined that I would have that same discussion with students in Vietnam. It's definitely an international hit. A true classic!
I have a similar story from 1995. I was visiting Russia that summer when it was opening to the West. This part of Russia was a little dangerous for tourists, and the owner of the hotel we stayed at also served as guide and would drive us to the places that we wanted to see. One particular memory was the occasional black Mercedes racing past us at break-neck speed and the guide casually saying "Mafia". Russia was a wild place in 1995. One day we were driving along and Hotel California came on the radio. It was a Russian all-music station that played a mix of Russian and international pop music, some hits, some classics, and played quietly in the background as we drove. My guide turned it up and said "Now that's a great song!". Still exciting when I hear it on the radio.
There is nothing like listening to Walsh/Felder on "Hotel California", The best performance I heard it on, was when they played it being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Just incredibly awesome song.
I am so lucky to have grown up during this time, the 70's and lived through all these songs. What a time?, What a era?, What talent?, What genius? wouldn't trade those years, months, days and hours for any of the so called music of today. Thanks prof, your vignettes on music truly brings a tear to my eye.
I remember the first time I ever heard this song... It was spring of 1977, it was on a little AM radio while burning a fatty while walking down some railroad tracks behind my High School. My best friend and I had decided to skip school that day...and we were gonna live forever. Every time I hear Hotel California, I'm back walking those tracks...
Hotel California is a masterpiece. I can't not listen to it when it comes on...it's a magical, haunting work of art. Part of why the Eagles are one of my all-time favorite bands
This is the best fking channel on RUclips for music. I just turned 51 yesterday and I am going through binges of various bands from back in my era (our era). I just went through a Fleetwood Mac binge after watching Professor talk about what an absolute cluster fuck they were during the recording of Rumours, and I have to admit, I had never listened to a single Fleetwood Mac song unless it was just on the radio. I am a composer/musician myself so watching these breakdowns of various artists is so interesting to me and opening up new avenues for me as far as reminding me that there are great bands and great music that I am being REintroduced to, I am grateful as fk for this channel.
My church volunteers to do a church service at The Rush City prison in Minnesota once a month. At the end of the year the prisoners put on a nice banquet for us volunteers. At one of the banquets two of the inmates played guitar and did hotel California. You could tell they had practiced that song a lot because they were excellent. It gave the song a whole new meaning to me because some of the men in that room can never leave.
So many things just came so write with this tune. The lyrics, laid-back yet uncomforting groove, and of course the iconic duel guitar solo. What an absolutely paramount song of rock
It takes a brave man to cover the Eagles, since everyone who has covered it have gotten problems with their label and the band itself. All the best to you, Prof. Im glad you covered this song, so timely as was just playing it just now.
Well... if it draws enough traffic his way, perhaps a single strike would be worth it. Honestly... between this channel and Rick Beato, The Eagles have shown to be really nasty individuals.
Definitely one of the greatest songs ever written! For me it invokes some woeful feelings... Dread, despair, etc. It's definitely a haunting song about being trapped either mentally or emotionally. Thank you Adam for all your hard work in keeping our music alive. JJ -South Alabama
Agreed; on my "Play at my Memorial" list some day...with American Pie and a host of others that are enigmatic and amazing. This song, though...it's haunted me since High School, and I love it beyond measure.
Saw them Live in 2019. Absolutely amazing concert and they performed so many of their hits. Deacon Fry did his father proud. Thanks P.O.R for this video
Back when I first started learning to play guitar, around 1992, I spent many an hour dissecting this song trying to figure out as much as I could. It has always been one of those "holy grail" guitar songs for aspiring players. There is a reason that it is so revered. They really tapped into some magic during its creation.
Don Felder and Joe Walsh are argubly the best guitar dual in rock music. Joe Walsh is one of those rare musicians that can fit into any musical style. Walsh and Felder together are unstoppable just as Duane Allman and Dicky Betts together as a dual. These 4 guitarists each have their own playing style. But when combined with their playing partner and fellow band mate become a musical force that can not be copied and is hard to top. Bravo to Don Felder and Joe Walsh for creating such wonderful and beautiful music together in the Eagles.😊😊😊 Peace!!
Not Rock Music however the incomparable Jerry Reed did blazing Dual work with Chet Atkins and Glen Campbell. And Campbell himself was part of the L.A. based "Wrecking Crew" the renowned Session Greats who backed an insane amount of top Talent!🤔🎤🎼🎵🎶🎸🎹🎷🎻🎺🥁B.W.
I’ve never intellectualized the Felder/Walsh solo to figure out if it’s the best. All I know is to this day, no matter what I’m doing everything stops when that song comes on, the solo in particular. It can’t be background music to me. I don’t do this consciously, I just can’t concentrate on anything else - even pulled over while driving to listen. I’ve never done this with another song.
Hi Adam and thanks for covering my (joint) number one favourite song….the other one being Desperado. Been an Eagles fan since about 1977, when my best friend ‘introduced’ me to the via a cassette tape! I first saw the Eagles live in London in March 2008, just after my son was born! Then again in 2019 at the NEC in Birmingham, England! He grew up listening to them regularly! As a ‘live introduction’ to the Eagles music, I took him to see a tribute band…The Illegal Eagles…absolutely brilliant! When we got home, he said that he wished he could play the Eagles music on guitar. It just so happened that many months before, a customer of mine was having a tidy out of her son’s toys…and an acoustic guitar was amongst them! I took it home and put it under the bed, hoping that one day, my son might take an interest in playing. Two minutes after he expressed an interest in guitar playing, I presented him with it! The very next day, he’s straight on RUclips and learning how to play Take it Easy! Mastered it amazingly quickly and then learnt many more Eagles songs! Then had guitar lessons and took an exam! Was knocked back with the Covid scamdemic then broke his wrist in a car accident! Lost interest for a while…discovered the opposite sex😮, usual teenage stuff, etc! Now he’s nearly 16, he’s picked up the guitar again….actually MY acoustic guitar ( even though I can’t play anything except a few bars of Take it easy!) and hopefully will stick at it! So the line of the song IS true…You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave! Finally, in July? 2019, I told him that I would pick him up from school as I had a surprise for him. The surprise was The Eagles concert in Leeds, England! All he kept saying at the concert was …’Joe Walsh…I can’t believe that I’m seeing Joe Walsh’ ….! The amazement on his face was worth the extortionate cost of the tickets…but, hey, ho, you can’t take it with you! I suppose that a moral of my story could be that if you give someone an opportunity to do, learn or play something, you are creating endless possibilities for their future!
I remember when this song and album came out, I immediately ran out and got it and listened to Hotel California over and over. I was mesmerized and still am, the music and the lyrics are fantastic, maybe the perfect song still to this day never tire of hearing it. Fantastic episode professor!
This is an amazing song for its time. It still gives me goosebumps when I really listen to it word for word. I had the opportunity to see the band reformed in 2016 all together live in concert while holidaying from Australia in California. Joe Walsh's solo was amazing. Vocals from Henley, Frey, and all the rest of the band will forever be engraved in my soul. Thank you, Adam, for another fantastic episode of "Professor of Rock" 💪💪
My oldest son, now a whole 22 years old, has had the good fortune to have seen this band live twice. He is absolutely enamored with a band that I've been listening to since I was way younger than he is now. So cool to share them with the next generation.
They may have been thinking about the Beverly Hills Hotel but the picture on the album is the Mission Inn in Riverside, California. Which honestly fits the lyrics better. Riverside is closer to the high desert, the Inn is old, labyrinthine, and supposedly haunted. I visited Riverside in 2004 and was told several times that it was the "real" Hotel California! Great episode!
I was equally mesmerized by this song when it first became popular. The tall tale about this song that circulated around my family was that one of the Eagles had to spend time in a California desert jail, and that this song tells that story in a poetic and obtuse manner. My parents, my sister and her then-boyfriend, and my wife and I saw the band on its Hell Freezes Over tour. My wife had just revealed that she was pregnant with our daughter. It was magical.
I guessed the song as you started talking about it. One of my all time favorites. I used to play this album over and over when I was like 13. I was actually 4 years old when the song came out in 1977.
Soundtrack of my youth, was a huge fan of the Eagles and recall listening to the record late in the evening through the headphones the Christmas it was released, best gift ever…
I remember we were parked in the shade in my old Cadillac the first time I heard it and we all were amazed at the difference of all the previous Eagles music was happy it was a hit and they played it enough on the radio that I recorded it the first week.
In spite of "The Dude's" odd aversion, the Eagles, and especially Hotel California and Desperado, are genius quality songs that just don't age or fade.
Hotel California is iconic! It's one of the best rock songs of ALL TIME - PERIOD! It never gets old. It's been played by radio stations for nearly 50 years and will probably be played for the next 50 years.
The Single Never Made te top 50 here in Australia peaking at 60 in Winter of 1977 June; Album on the other hand spent nearly all Summer of 1977 at number 1 from January to March total 12 weeks ; no Bad tracks on the Album . takes me back to riding bike over the border towns of Robinvale//Euston that Summer
I stopped there on my bike and snuck in on a 43°C day into a vineyard and ate about 3 kg of sultana grapes at Robinvale. Till boss cocky hunted me off.
The thing that really made this album special, the Eagles had built a fan base that went from teenagers all the way up to people in their 50s. It wasn't just a band that appealed to the kids or very young adults. I saw the tour in 1977 and it was the first time I had ever seen a rock audience with all age groups. My grandmother was actually a fan of this band at that time. She liked the Desperado album and the song lying eyes
We saw the Eagles' Hell Freezes Over concert in Tempe, AZ. Just before they opened, a monsoon storm started to kick up with wind and distant lightning. It never rained, but Hotel California was the opener, and the weather just perfectly set the mood for the song. What a phenomenal night that was!
I met Don Felder at a private corporate event a few years ago. Nice guy. He gave a long detailed story about how that song came together. I just remember being a kid with insomnia in the late'70s and that was one of the long songs DJs would play at night when they had to go to the bathroom. I got to know it well. along with others like Paradise by the Dashboard Light, Life's Been Good, Blinded by the Light, etc.
Epic only scratches the surface when it comes to "Hotel California". I like you have been mesmerized by this song since it came out. In college I even wrote a paper on it. Don Felder's greatest contribution as an Eagle was matched by Don Henley's amazing lyrics. The setting, the tone, the talent, the time it was a perfect storm for the Eagles greatest song.
Not only that song, but the whole album was fantastic! I was in high school when it came out, and I must have played it a few hundred times. It's still as fresh today as it was then.
❤ Love the Eagles Soap Opera! 🤣 Such talent. Such voices. Such problems. But this is one of the greatest songs of all time. Oh, and I checked out a long time ago! 🤣🤣 Thanks for this, Professor. Have a great Friday. I'll toast you when the movers leave later today.
I took my oldest son to the Anniversary Concert for this album. I was a senior when this album came out, but being a Huge Eagles fan, my children grew up listening to them as well. We both Loved the Show! 🤘🎶🎸
I am normally in metal/hard rock bands. One show, we decided we were going to play this at our next show. It took us a couple of weeks to get it to where ee were happy, but along tunes from Aerosmith/KISS/Priest/etc, we tossed this in with no introduction. Once the audience got their mind out of the hard stuff and recognized what we were playing, and I thought the roof was going to cave in. This is one of those songs that, regardless of your genre (rock, metal, country, pop, anything) you're goint to enjoy
@@travismiles5885 Absolutely proving my point, thank you. Ours wasn't quite that heavy, though lol Figure, ours would have been a Foo Fighter/Buckcherry/Nickleback style
Growing up, "Hotel California" was definitely an Eagles song I enjoyed and didn't care too much about what inspired it. I certainly wouldn't have gotten an image of "To Serve Man" (a specific Twilight Zone episode) before today. It became a kind of bittersweet bane for me after I began learning to play music myself. One guy I played with in the mid-90s briefly wanted to play it in a lower key but dropped it. Some of our peers played it in their faster Green Day-meets-Rusted Root style. When I was 29, I was living in Indianapolis and trying to play with a saxophonist whose brother-in-law, our singer, had been tricked into believing "Hotel California" was about "life in Hell". Afterward, playing it in the busking acts I've babbled about before was both fun and frustrating; it was weighed down by the back-and-forth of the nonchalant players who couldn't care less how good it was and the chauvinists who couldn't stand any instance when what we played deviated from what Eagles recorded in '76. I just wanted to enjoy playing it, but I was in the minority.
To Serve Man was the first episode of The Twilight Zone I watched as a kid..... instant fan. Night Gallery still scares the tar out of me as as adult.... honestly just the theme music and intro to the show... only watched a few episodes.
Hi Adam. From 1969 to 1975, I worked as a very young radio announcer. At the time, I wish we had the Internet to help with our research. Often times, when I watch your videos, I'm on the verge of tears because some of the stories you're telling are related to some of my favorite songs. Good job man! Looking forward to each of your stories.
As a former Radio DJ I can truthfully say that we loved long songs. It might come off as being, well disrespectful, but we called them bathroom songs. Meaning that we didn't have to rush to and back when nature called. My favorite bathroom song is the 17 minute Innagaddadevida by Iron Butterfly (there was a 30+ version and they did an hour long version in concert).
Without doubt this is their signature song, which gives it HUGE chops when you look at their catalog, maybe second only to the Beatles. Funny that you're wearing a Desperado shirt (one of my faves although my favorite version is by Clint Black), I am also a huge fan of their later stuff (The Long Run and Heartache Tonight). That intro is sublime, instantly recognizable and so brilliant. There was a point in my life I would turn the Eagles instantly, they were so overplayed. Thankfully I put that disdain aside for the Hell Freezes Over Tour in '94 (?) and later even rediscovered my appreciation for this great band. Thanks for the story behind Hotel California, an absolute imperative to include on any list of rocks greatest songs.
I don't remember the first time I heard this song but I do remember, as a boy, my dad always turning up the volume when it came on the radio. He loved The Eagles and he loved this song. My boys are now all teenagers and they have grown up with this song. They all say it is one of their favorites. Truly a timeless classic. Personally I always thought it was a story about the darkness of drug addiction and never being able to get off, which made a huge impact on me as a child and a teen. It scared me straight! Great memories and, what I thought, a great message.
I recall going over sheet music for this song. Thinking "Damn! There's a lot of typos here" After all these years and listening to the song countless times, I sure did learn a lot. Great job! Always dug the "Hell freezes over ". Verizon.
I have watched the Eagles live concert from 1977 so many times I recognized the Double neck Gibson and the silhouette of Don Felder. My choice for the greatest guitar solo. Now I have thoughts of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts and Lynyrd Skynyrd Freebird, but this one is my favorite
Good Job Adam! THIS Ol' Gal Thanks You!! The Eagles tunes were an amazing part of my history over time that I will never forget whenever I hear them!! I even taught myself ( wrongly I'm sure lol!) how to play the chords on guitar.. What FUN!! :-) Cheers from Iowa!
I’m 73. Saw the Eagles in Charlotte, NC in ‘77! Best concert EVER and Hotel California is still the most iconic of their songs to me. The guitar solo is unmatched in my book! Pure genius. ❤
The acoustic version of Hotel California actually gave me an appreciation for the original. I never disliked the song, but I was kind of iffy on it prior to that. The acoustic version blew me away and made me start appreciating the original a whole lot more.
This song is greatness from the opening riff through the closing note. And apparently, it was a true joint work of the band, Felder writing the intro and set the tone of the music, Frey and Henley writing the lyrics, Felder and Walsh doing the guitar “solo”…Henley adding his drums, and Meisner adding bass.
Hotel California is in the category of songs with a significant instrumental moment. Zombie by the Cranberries, The Dance by Garth Brooks, and We’re In This Together by Nine Inch Nails are my favorite examples of songs with a significant instrumental moment.
@@idizo2963 I think on the original that was one guitarist? But Wynonna Judd's cover has a guitar duel at the end very reminiscent of Hotel California.
The Allman Brothers were masters of the instrumental movements. Jessica just blows you away. Dickie Betts guitar solo on that song would be in major contention to Hotel California. I have heard other guitar players mimic the Hotel California solo but not sure I've ever seen any tackle Jessica.
I am 69 in 2023from Hong Kong. I’m 2017 when I retired, I had a solo backpacking in Europe. During that time, in Madrid train station, bus station in Seville, and restaurant in a small town in France, I kept hearing the board ast of the song Hotel California
I was 15 in 77 and remember when it came out, I'm now 61 and still I will never turn off or change the station when it come on, almost 50 yrs and it's still top of the list.
Hey Adam! I'm a rabid Eagles fan, I was about 15 when this came out. Over the years I've digested everthing I could about the band, and you got most of it right! Thanks for memories!
I remember having this playing on the radio during basketball practice my senior year in high school the winter of 85-86. One of the sophomore cheerleaders came into the gym and a look of absolute horror and disgust crossed her face as she heard the music. She adamantly proclaimed that we needed to turn that Satanic music off because it has a line that says "the beast". The PMRC sure got their money's worth with her family, apparently. She turned out to be a pretty great gal once she got over all of that.
Love this song. I think this is one of the most stylish solos of the era, but with Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix performing in the 70's, I cannot call this the best overall solo of the era.
@@ProfessorofRock I wish I remembered that, however; it was a summer jam concert - Pure Prairie League, Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles. What I remember most was that Joe Walsh wasn't on stage for the first couple of songs. Then when they introduced him and he came on stage, they played Rocky Mountain Way...that Denver crowd went crazy!
Interesting....and I have always been under the impression that this entire song was based on addiction, and going to a rehab facility, aka the Hotel California. If one listens to the lyrics, and thinks of them in these terms, it does actually make a lot of sense.
I think Hotel California is about the Playboy Mansion. When you go through the lyrics, it all makes a lot of sense. Even The Captain, as Hef used to wear a captains hat a lot of times.
From the "dark desert highway" and the mysterious "she" who "stood in the doorway" to the "voices down the corridor" and the death trap "you can never leave", the song is the perfect mix of horror and ear candy.
I went to the Hotel California tour last year. 2022, traveled to Dallas all alone, to see them. Deacon Frey was with them and Vince Gill. They were great! Guitarist Steuart Smith and Joe Walsh were perfect! So good that i went to see the same concert in Houston this year. Love all Eagles music!
That's the Beverley Hills Hotel on the album cover. But its the Hotel Coronado 🏨 thats where and what Hotel California truly is!🌈🌈🌈🌠 The More You Know!
I've loved this song since I was a teen, yet the last line "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave" always bothered me. The paradise was in reality a prison. Yikes.
I saw the Eagles headline The Concert For Artists Rights, 02-26-02, at the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood. They were at the top of their game for that concert. Sheryl Crow opened; John Fogerty was next; then was Stevie Nicks, who of course did her duet with Don Henley, Leather and Lace and later had special guest, Tom Petty, come out to do Stop Dragging My Heart Around ‼️ Billy Joel was next who made some commentary about the slavery of many record contracts for artists and finally The Eagles headlining ‼️ It was one long, awesome concert ‼️😁
If Mozart were writing music in the 70's, everyone would've been paying tribute to him as one of the greatest people to ever make music. Maybe beaten by for instance Beethoven(ode to joy). And ofc, Tschaikovsky is up there with those two... The saddest part about the eagles is how Felder probably wish he had never let the group listen to the song.
Joe Walsh is probably the best rock guitarist of all time. When you add Don Felder with him as a duo it actually magnifies their rock stardom. When this song was released I was serving in the U.S. Navy onboard a nuclear submarine which is like being incommunicado. When we docked it was what was playing on all the radio stations in California where we were stationed. I was blown away.
One of the greatest songs ever composed. Up there with Sound of Silence. The original album version is great but the acoustic version on Hell Freezes Over is just phenomenal!
Loved Don Henley's voice. Also...a funny thing about Joe Walsh and his solo hit Life's Been Good. In the studio version he sings a line that goes: My fans write me letters, and tell me I'm great. But I have a live version of that song with Joe singing it with the Eagles. He changed that line...lol...to: My fans write me letters to tell Glenn, that Don's great!
I was in HS and an undergrad in the 80s and the "satanic panic" was at its height. I can remember looking at the album cover looking for all the "hidden" symbols on it and well as guys talking about all the "hidden" messages in the song "Hotel California". There was supoosed to be a goat head on the album cover (I could never find it) and the guy in the balcony on the inside album cover was supposed to be Anton Lavey. Good to hear the real background behind the song. I think there may have been some "backmasking" on some of the music, but I can't remember. Backmasking was BS anyway, but people were convinced it could affect people. Conspiracies ain't new folks!
I saw Felder in concert this summer. He was still brining it at 75. Played 17 songs: 14 Eagles songs (including a rare performance of "Take It To The Limit"), a cover of Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Pride and Joy", and two of his own ("American Rock and Roll" and "Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride)"). Closed with "Hotel California." 😎
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Poll: STRAIGHT UP- What is your pick for the greatest guitar solo of the rock era?
Prince "Purple Rain"...
Sorrow off Momentary Lapse resonated with me most through my teen years. Although Comfortably Numb is probably the best candidate for Gilmour...
Brad Gillis/Jeff Watson - Don't Tell Me You Love Me
It would be hard not to pick this song. But "Fire on High" by ELO still amazes me
Tony Iommi "Paranoid"
I remember sitting on the floor in my dad's living room finding this album and being mesmerized by this song. Years later as he was dying I had it on repeat by his bedside as I held him. It holds so many beautiful memories for me about my dad.
Sympathies
Every member of the Eagles just had next level talent. Felder and Walsh obviously but Henley’s grasp of concept on this song and keeping focus on that concept is what makes it. What a writer. You know he has a vault of unheard stuff.
Love Henley, love all his work😊
I was a senior in high school when the album came out. What a senior year. Starting with Frampton Comes Alive, then Rumors, Hotel California, Bob Seger's Night Moves, Boston, and Queen's A Day At The Races, just to name a few. What a time for R&R music.
ONe of the greatest times in music history!
@@ProfessorofRock Back then, this quality of music was the standard. We thought it would go on forever. Sad to think that R&R has become history - kind of like the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern periods of classical music, pretty much dead. Wonder if R&R will ever come back? Maybe it is history - it had a good run from the late 1950s to the early 2000s.
1977 was a landmark year in music history.
Agree!
Same here, senior year. I was an Eagles fan since Desperado. I think I grew up in the perfect time for music.
This song brings back some great memories. One of my favorites is the time I was walking along the beach in Nha Trang, Vietnam and suddenly was surrounded by a large group of university students. This was back in 1995, and the ban on American travel to Vietnam had just been lifted after 20 years. The students had very little access to the rest of the world at that time so they were curious about the American walking alone on the beach. I was surprised by one of their first questions. They wanted to know the meaning of "Hotel California." I had that discussion with friends in California a few times, but I never imagined that I would have that same discussion with students in Vietnam. It's definitely an international hit. A true classic!
THanks!
Greetings Adam, more live chats please! Love & respect, from the UK bro.@@ProfessorofRock
What a great way to bond with your students!
I have a similar story from 1995. I was visiting Russia that summer when it was opening to the West. This part of Russia was a little dangerous for tourists, and the owner of the hotel we stayed at also served as guide and would drive us to the places that we wanted to see. One particular memory was the occasional black Mercedes racing past us at break-neck speed and the guide casually saying "Mafia". Russia was a wild place in 1995. One day we were driving along and Hotel California came on the radio. It was a Russian all-music station that played a mix of Russian and international pop music, some hits, some classics, and played quietly in the background as we drove. My guide turned it up and said "Now that's a great song!". Still exciting when I hear it on the radio.
So what did the students think was the meaning of Hotel California?
This was the Eagles at their creative peak. Felder and Walsh are one of the greatest guitar duos in rock history. This is classic rock at its best.
For sure.
So much so that Glenn didn't really even need to touch his guitar anymore. Which is why I guess he started migrating to the piano/keys.
One of the greatest bands ever.
There is nothing like listening to Walsh/Felder on "Hotel California", The best performance I heard it on, was when they played it being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Just incredibly awesome song.
RIP Glenn Frey, you are missed
So sad... Truly missed.
The same goes for Randy meisner r.i.p
R.I.P. 😢
One of the paradoxes of rock is that the best songs have an air of mystery about them. Don Felder and Joe Walsh created magic.
Randy's bass line is pretty badass too! May he and Glenn rest in peace
Never gets any recognition.Great bass line
Still not over his death.
Felder created the bass line as well as the guitar solo.
Henley’s best drum work also.
I am so lucky to have grown up during this time, the 70's and lived through all these songs. What a time?, What a era?, What talent?, What genius? wouldn't trade those years, months, days and hours for any of the so called music of today. Thanks prof, your vignettes on music truly brings a tear to my eye.
Just like Christmas back in the 70's the best !!!
I remember the first time I ever heard this song... It was spring of 1977, it was on a little AM radio while burning a fatty while walking down some railroad tracks behind my High School. My best friend and I had decided to skip school that day...and we were gonna live forever.
Every time I hear Hotel California, I'm back walking those tracks...
It’s one of the few songs that defined a generation and one of the few that will be remembered forever
For sure!
💯
This is, in my opinion, one of the greatest guitar solos ever recorded. It's a true masterpiece.
Hotel California is a masterpiece. I can't not listen to it when it comes on...it's a magical, haunting work of art. Part of why the Eagles are one of my all-time favorite bands
This is the best fking channel on RUclips for music. I just turned 51 yesterday and I am going through binges of various bands from back in my era (our era). I just went through a Fleetwood Mac binge after watching Professor talk about what an absolute cluster fuck they were during the recording of Rumours, and I have to admit, I had never listened to a single Fleetwood Mac song unless it was just on the radio. I am a composer/musician myself so watching these breakdowns of various artists is so interesting to me and opening up new avenues for me as far as reminding me that there are great bands and great music that I am being REintroduced to,
I am grateful as fk for this channel.
Thanks!
Happy birthday! 🎊🎈🎂🎁🎉
There are many great lyrics in rock and other genres. “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave” is one of the greatest.
My church volunteers to do a church service at The Rush City prison in Minnesota once a month. At the end of the year the prisoners put on a nice banquet for us volunteers. At one of the banquets two of the inmates played guitar and did hotel California. You could tell they had practiced that song a lot because they were excellent. It gave the song a whole new meaning to me because some of the men in that room can never leave.
So many things just came so write with this tune. The lyrics, laid-back yet uncomforting groove, and of course the iconic duel guitar solo. What an absolutely paramount song of rock
Thanks RC32!
Cheers!@@ProfessorofRock
The haunting guitar riff.
It takes a brave man to cover the Eagles, since everyone who has covered it have gotten problems with their label and the band itself. All the best to you, Prof. Im glad you covered this song, so timely as was just playing it just now.
I expect he gets a strike within 48 hours
Well... if it draws enough traffic his way, perhaps a single strike would be worth it. Honestly... between this channel and Rick Beato, The Eagles have shown to be really nasty individuals.
RUclips seems to ignore that with bigger channels 🙄
@@monkeybarmonkeyman they really do seem to have a thing against Rick
Ya, but the Prof as interviewed the band, so they will cut him some slack. After all, he's saying nice stuff about them too
Definitely one of the greatest songs ever written!
For me it invokes some woeful feelings... Dread, despair, etc. It's definitely a haunting song about being trapped either mentally or emotionally.
Thank you Adam for all your hard work in keeping our music alive.
JJ -South Alabama
No joke!
Agreed; on my "Play at my Memorial" list some day...with American Pie and a host of others that are enigmatic and amazing. This song, though...it's haunted me since High School, and I love it beyond measure.
Once you enter, you can never leave. I’m experiencing something like that right now.
You'll find your way out one day, friend. No fear, just go forward@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980
Oh my. Hope you are okay. I feel trapped sometimes 🙁
Saw them Live in 2019. Absolutely amazing concert and they performed so many of their hits. Deacon Fry did his father proud. Thanks P.O.R for this video
Agreed!
Back when I first started learning to play guitar, around 1992, I spent many an hour dissecting this song trying to figure out as much as I could. It has always been one of those "holy grail" guitar songs for aspiring players. There is a reason that it is so revered. They really tapped into some magic during its creation.
Everybody wants to play it!
A true classic! One of the first SoCal rock songs I heard as a child.
Thanks!
Definitely a West Coast classic.
Don Felder and Joe Walsh are argubly the best guitar dual in rock music. Joe Walsh is one of those rare musicians that can fit into any musical style. Walsh and Felder together are unstoppable just as Duane Allman and Dicky Betts together as a dual. These 4 guitarists each have their own playing style. But when combined with their playing partner and fellow band mate become a musical force that can not be copied and is hard to top. Bravo to Don Felder and Joe Walsh for creating such wonderful and beautiful music together in the Eagles.😊😊😊 Peace!!
Clapton and allman on dominos not bad either
Not Rock Music however the incomparable Jerry Reed did blazing Dual work with Chet Atkins and Glen Campbell. And Campbell himself was part of the L.A. based "Wrecking Crew" the renowned Session Greats who backed an insane amount of top Talent!🤔🎤🎼🎵🎶🎸🎹🎷🎻🎺🥁B.W.
Absolutely the best duo of guitar ever
Don and Joe.
I’ve never intellectualized the Felder/Walsh solo to figure out if it’s the best. All I know is to this day, no matter what I’m doing everything stops when that song comes on, the solo in particular. It can’t be background music to me. I don’t do this consciously, I just can’t concentrate on anything else - even pulled over while driving to listen. I’ve never done this with another song.
Hi Adam and thanks for covering my (joint) number one favourite song….the other one being Desperado. Been an Eagles fan since about 1977, when my best friend ‘introduced’ me to the via a cassette tape! I first saw the Eagles live in London in March 2008, just after my son was born! Then again in 2019 at the NEC in Birmingham, England! He grew up listening to them regularly! As a ‘live introduction’ to the Eagles music, I took him to see a tribute band…The Illegal Eagles…absolutely brilliant! When we got home, he said that he wished he could play the Eagles music on guitar. It just so happened that many months before, a customer of mine was having a tidy out of her son’s toys…and an acoustic guitar was amongst them! I took it home and put it under the bed, hoping that one day, my son might take an interest in playing. Two minutes after he expressed an interest in guitar playing, I presented him with it! The very next day, he’s straight on RUclips and learning how to play Take it Easy! Mastered it amazingly quickly and then learnt many more Eagles songs! Then had guitar lessons and took an exam! Was knocked back with the Covid scamdemic then broke his wrist in a car accident! Lost interest for a while…discovered the opposite sex😮, usual teenage stuff, etc! Now he’s nearly 16, he’s picked up the guitar again….actually MY acoustic guitar ( even though I can’t play anything except a few bars of Take it easy!) and hopefully will stick at it! So the line of the song IS true…You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave! Finally, in July? 2019, I told him that I would pick him up from school as I had a surprise for him. The surprise was The Eagles concert in Leeds, England! All he kept saying at the concert was …’Joe Walsh…I can’t believe that I’m seeing Joe Walsh’ ….! The amazement on his face was worth the extortionate cost of the tickets…but, hey, ho, you can’t take it with you! I suppose that a moral of my story could be that if you give someone an opportunity to do, learn or play something, you are creating endless possibilities for their future!
I remember when this song and album came out, I immediately ran out and got it and listened to Hotel California over and over. I was mesmerized and still am, the music and the lyrics are fantastic, maybe the perfect song still to this day never tire of hearing it. Fantastic episode professor!
Thanks My Name!
It’s one of the finest tunes in rock.
I went out and bought a Gibson EDS-1275 so the band I was in could cover it appropriately. Love it to this day. The song and the instrument.
This is an amazing song for its time. It still gives me goosebumps when I really listen to it word for word. I had the opportunity to see the band reformed in 2016 all together live in concert while holidaying from Australia in California. Joe Walsh's solo was amazing. Vocals from Henley, Frey, and all the rest of the band will forever be engraved in my soul. Thank you, Adam, for another fantastic episode of "Professor of Rock" 💪💪
My oldest son, now a whole 22 years old, has had the good fortune to have seen this band live twice. He is absolutely enamored with a band that I've been listening to since I was way younger than he is now. So cool to share them with the next generation.
They may have been thinking about the Beverly Hills Hotel but the picture on the album is the Mission Inn in Riverside, California. Which honestly fits the lyrics better. Riverside is closer to the high desert, the Inn is old, labyrinthine, and supposedly haunted. I visited Riverside in 2004 and was told several times that it was the "real" Hotel California! Great episode!
You sure? I could've sworn it was a picture from the old Camarillo State Hospital (insane asylum).
I lived in Riverside for 25 years and I was sure the hotel was the Mission Inn as well - thanks for the confirmation.
The perfect hotel to base an album on!
The front cover is the Beverly Hills Hotel just Google it . Rear and gatefold images shot at the Lido Hotel L.A.
It resembles furnace creek oasis hotel in deathvalley
I was equally mesmerized by this song when it first became popular.
The tall tale about this song that circulated around my family was that one of the Eagles had to spend time in a California desert jail, and that this song tells that story in a poetic and obtuse manner.
My parents, my sister and her then-boyfriend, and my wife and I saw the band on its Hell Freezes Over tour. My wife had just revealed that she was pregnant with our daughter. It was magical.
Absolutely love this band and song!! So many great songs! Thank you for sharing the lyrics imagery!🤘🔥
Thanks Brent!
I guessed the song as you started talking about it. One of my all time favorites. I used to play this album over and over when I was like 13. I was actually 4 years old when the song came out in 1977.
Thanks for sharing!
I saw the Gibson EDS-1275 and the Fender headstock and knew it was Hotel California. XD
Cool.
Soundtrack of my youth, was a huge fan of the Eagles and recall listening to the record late in the evening through the headphones the Christmas it was released, best gift ever…
Very cool! Thanks for sharing!
Nothing better for Christmas than America’s band.
Le solo de DonFelder etJoe Walsh est d'une sophistication. Une quasi perfection.Je suis même étonné qu'ils n'aient mis que 3 jours pour l'écrire
I remember we were parked in the shade in my old Cadillac the first time I heard it and we all were amazed at the difference of all the previous Eagles music was happy it was a hit and they played it enough on the radio that I recorded it the first week.
In spite of "The Dude's" odd aversion, the Eagles, and especially Hotel California and Desperado, are genius quality songs that just don't age or fade.
Hotel California is iconic! It's one of the best rock songs of ALL TIME - PERIOD! It never gets old. It's been played by radio stations for nearly 50 years and will probably be played for the next 50 years.
The Single Never Made te top 50 here in Australia peaking at 60 in Winter of 1977 June; Album on the other hand spent nearly all Summer of 1977 at number 1 from January to March total 12 weeks ; no Bad tracks on the Album . takes me back to riding bike over the border towns of Robinvale//Euston that Summer
Thanks Peter!
I stopped there on my bike and snuck in on a 43°C day into a vineyard and ate about 3 kg of sultana grapes at Robinvale. Till boss cocky hunted me off.
Interesting.
I listened to this when going and coming back from the beach every weekend in 1977. Great memories.
The thing that really made this album special, the Eagles had built a fan base that went from teenagers all the way up to people in their 50s. It wasn't just a band that appealed to the kids or very young adults. I saw the tour in 1977 and it was the first time I had ever seen a rock audience with all age groups. My grandmother was actually a fan of this band at that time. She liked the Desperado album and the song lying eyes
We saw the Eagles' Hell Freezes Over concert in Tempe, AZ. Just before they opened, a monsoon storm started to kick up with wind and distant lightning. It never rained, but Hotel California was the opener, and the weather just perfectly set the mood for the song. What a phenomenal night that was!
I met Don Felder at a private corporate event a few years ago. Nice guy. He gave a long detailed story about how that song came together. I just remember being a kid with insomnia in the late'70s and that was one of the long songs DJs would play at night when they had to go to the bathroom. I got to know it well. along with others like Paradise by the Dashboard Light, Life's Been Good, Blinded by the Light, etc.
All great songs of the late 70s.
I used to have it too and it really sucks not being able to sleep peacefully.
Same with Nights in White Satin.
You just said Felder’s story puts people to sleep.
Epic only scratches the surface when it comes to "Hotel California". I like you have been mesmerized by this song since it came out. In college I even wrote a paper on it. Don Felder's greatest contribution as an Eagle was matched by Don Henley's amazing lyrics. The setting, the tone, the talent, the time it was a perfect storm for the Eagles greatest song.
Hotel California always gave me visions in my mind"s eye of Vincent Price in some Poe inspired Hammer movie.
Not only that song, but the whole album was fantastic! I was in high school when it came out, and I must have played it a few hundred times. It's still as fresh today as it was then.
❤
Love the Eagles Soap Opera! 🤣
Such talent. Such voices. Such problems. But this is one of the greatest songs of all time.
Oh, and I checked out a long time ago! 🤣🤣
Thanks for this, Professor. Have a great Friday. I'll toast you when the movers leave later today.
Moving on?
@@Ganja-jh6iy
No. Just moving houses. And it gets harder the older you get.
@@rogerdeahl9629 tell me about it
I took my oldest son to the Anniversary Concert for this album. I was a senior when this album came out, but being a Huge Eagles fan, my children grew up listening to them as well. We both Loved the Show! 🤘🎶🎸
I am normally in metal/hard rock bands. One show, we decided we were going to play this at our next show. It took us a couple of weeks to get it to where ee were happy, but along tunes from Aerosmith/KISS/Priest/etc, we tossed this in with no introduction.
Once the audience got their mind out of the hard stuff and recognized what we were playing, and I thought the roof was going to cave in.
This is one of those songs that, regardless of your genre (rock, metal, country, pop, anything) you're goint to enjoy
Check out Blatant Disarray's thrash metal version of this song.
@@travismiles5885 Absolutely proving my point, thank you.
Ours wasn't quite that heavy, though
lol
Figure, ours would have been a Foo Fighter/Buckcherry/Nickleback style
Definitely one that unites all music fans.
You really helped refresh this song for me. 👍😎 Good job. 👏💜✌️
Growing up, "Hotel California" was definitely an Eagles song I enjoyed and didn't care too much about what inspired it. I certainly wouldn't have gotten an image of "To Serve Man" (a specific Twilight Zone episode) before today.
It became a kind of bittersweet bane for me after I began learning to play music myself. One guy I played with in the mid-90s briefly wanted to play it in a lower key but dropped it. Some of our peers played it in their faster Green Day-meets-Rusted Root style. When I was 29, I was living in Indianapolis and trying to play with a saxophonist whose brother-in-law, our singer, had been tricked into believing "Hotel California" was about "life in Hell". Afterward, playing it in the busking acts I've babbled about before was both fun and frustrating; it was weighed down by the back-and-forth of the nonchalant players who couldn't care less how good it was and the chauvinists who couldn't stand any instance when what we played deviated from what Eagles recorded in '76. I just wanted to enjoy playing it, but I was in the minority.
Thanks Eric!
To Serve Man was the first episode of The Twilight Zone I watched as a kid..... instant fan. Night Gallery still scares the tar out of me as as adult.... honestly just the theme music and intro to the show... only watched a few episodes.
They just couldn’t get behind the Eagles as much as you could!
Hi Adam. From 1969 to 1975, I worked as a very young radio announcer. At the time, I wish we had the Internet to help with our research. Often times, when I watch your videos, I'm on the verge of tears because some of the stories you're telling are related to some of my favorite songs. Good job man! Looking forward to each of your stories.
As a former Radio DJ I can truthfully say that we loved long songs. It might come off as being, well disrespectful, but we called them bathroom songs. Meaning that we didn't have to rush to and back when nature called. My favorite bathroom song is the 17 minute Innagaddadevida by Iron Butterfly (there was a 30+ version and they did an hour long version in concert).
Love it!
That one is the KING. Absolutely awesome.
Haha, that’s a great one Susan!
My senior year of high school. Brings back memories with the the great music of 1977. Masterpiece!
Without doubt this is their signature song, which gives it HUGE chops when you look at their catalog, maybe second only to the Beatles. Funny that you're wearing a Desperado shirt (one of my faves although my favorite version is by Clint Black), I am also a huge fan of their later stuff (The Long Run and Heartache Tonight). That intro is sublime, instantly recognizable and so brilliant. There was a point in my life I would turn the Eagles instantly, they were so overplayed. Thankfully I put that disdain aside for the Hell Freezes Over Tour in '94 (?) and later even rediscovered my appreciation for this great band. Thanks for the story behind Hotel California, an absolute imperative to include on any list of rocks greatest songs.
No kidding.
Come on? Second to the Beatles? Not even close. Great band, but not on that level.
The Eagles actually had some musical talent and variety as compared to most artists today.
@@whodidit99 I love The Eagles. And I like the Beatles.
I don't remember the first time I heard this song but I do remember, as a boy, my dad always turning up the volume when it came on the radio. He loved The Eagles and he loved this song. My boys are now all teenagers and they have grown up with this song. They all say it is one of their favorites. Truly a timeless classic. Personally I always thought it was a story about the darkness of drug addiction and never being able to get off, which made a huge impact on me as a child and a teen. It scared me straight! Great memories and, what I thought, a great message.
I recall going over sheet music for this song. Thinking "Damn! There's a lot of typos here" After all these years and listening to the song countless times, I sure did learn a lot. Great job! Always dug the "Hell freezes over ". Verizon.
THanks!
Great song but it was cryptic to me for many years.
Your explanation clears up many things.
I have watched the Eagles live concert from 1977 so many times I recognized the Double neck Gibson and the silhouette of Don Felder. My choice for the greatest guitar solo. Now I have thoughts of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts and Lynyrd Skynyrd Freebird, but this one is my favorite
One of the most memorable solos, easily.
Good Job Adam! THIS Ol' Gal Thanks You!! The Eagles tunes were an amazing part of my history over time that I will never forget whenever I hear them!! I even taught myself ( wrongly I'm sure lol!) how to play the chords on guitar.. What FUN!! :-) Cheers from Iowa!
I’m 73. Saw the Eagles in Charlotte, NC in ‘77! Best concert EVER and Hotel California is still the most iconic of their songs to me. The guitar solo is unmatched in my book! Pure genius. ❤
The acoustic version of Hotel California actually gave me an appreciation for the original. I never disliked the song, but I was kind of iffy on it prior to that. The acoustic version blew me away and made me start appreciating the original a whole lot more.
Ditto. The live extended acoustic intro, with its Latin feel, is just magical ❤
This song is greatness from the opening riff through the closing note.
And apparently, it was a true joint work of the band, Felder writing the intro and set the tone of the music, Frey and Henley writing the lyrics, Felder and Walsh doing the guitar “solo”…Henley adding his drums, and Meisner adding bass.
What do you mean with set the tone?
Hotel California is in the category of songs with a significant instrumental moment. Zombie by the Cranberries, The Dance by Garth Brooks, and We’re In This Together by Nine Inch Nails are my favorite examples of songs with a significant instrumental moment.
The Dance... Tony Arata is an underrated songwriter
In-a-Gadda-da-Vida…
Freebird
@@idizo2963 I think on the original that was one guitarist? But Wynonna Judd's cover has a guitar duel at the end very reminiscent of Hotel California.
The Allman Brothers were masters of the instrumental movements. Jessica just blows you away. Dickie Betts guitar solo on that song would be in major contention to Hotel California. I have heard other guitar players mimic the Hotel California solo but not sure I've ever seen any tackle Jessica.
One of the greatest bands and songs ever in the history of music.
Hotel California is still a great song. One of the best guitar solo endings, although Freebird is still my favorite solo ending.
THanks!
Yep, hard to beat that Freebird solo.
I am 69 in 2023from Hong Kong. I’m 2017 when I retired, I had a solo backpacking in Europe. During that time, in Madrid train station, bus station in Seville, and restaurant in a small town in France, I kept hearing the board ast of the song Hotel California
Back in the Saddle Again Naturally
I was 15 in 77 and remember when it came out, I'm now 61 and still I will never turn off or change the station when it come on, almost 50 yrs and it's still top of the list.
Hey Adam! I'm a rabid Eagles fan, I was about 15 when this came out. Over the years I've digested everthing I could about the band, and you got most of it right! Thanks for memories!
I remember having this playing on the radio during basketball practice my senior year in high school the winter of 85-86. One of the sophomore cheerleaders came into the gym and a look of absolute horror and disgust crossed her face as she heard the music. She adamantly proclaimed that we needed to turn that Satanic music off because it has a line that says "the beast". The PMRC sure got their money's worth with her family, apparently. She turned out to be a pretty great gal once she got over all of that.
Thanks for sharing!
The most common explanation I remember hearing is that it's about a guy who checks into a hotel and finds out he can never leave. (Duh. *lol*)
Definitely one of my all time favs! I also loved The Last Resort on that album! Thanks!❤️
Don Felder. Most underrated guitar player of all time.
Love this song but also love the last song on side A along with the reprise on side B "Last Resort"
Love this song. I think this is one of the most stylish solos of the era, but with Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix performing in the 70's, I cannot call this the best overall solo of the era.
Probably because it’s a duet, not a solo.
I saw the Eagles at Mile High stadium in Denver in 1976, just a year after Joe Walsh had joined the band...what a great concert!
Wow! What did they open with?
@@ProfessorofRock I wish I remembered that, however; it was a summer jam concert - Pure Prairie League, Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles. What I remember most was that Joe Walsh wasn't on stage for the first couple of songs.
Then when they introduced him and he came on stage, they played Rocky Mountain Way...that Denver crowd went crazy!
What did they play?
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 Most of their hits prior to Hotel California; it didn't come out until late 1976.
That coda sounds like it's meant to go on forever, once Felder and Walsh start harmonizing.
Right!
Still,and always will,be a masterpiece! Tyvm. ❤❤❤❤
Interesting....and I have always been under the impression that this entire song was based on addiction, and going to a rehab facility, aka the Hotel California. If one listens to the lyrics, and thinks of them in these terms, it does actually make a lot of sense.
So did I and I'm 66!😮😮😮
Perfect because that’s what Henley wanted for the song to mean whatever it means to each listener🎉
Ritchie's solo on Stargazer from Rising is beyond fire!
And, yes, this is definitely a great Eagle's song!
I think Hotel California is about the Playboy Mansion. When you go through the lyrics, it all makes a lot of sense. Even The Captain, as Hef used to wear a captains hat a lot of times.
That’s how I always imagined it. 👍🏻🥃
Wow.
Yep.
The Eagles were the first Band I ever saw live. 1976 @ PDX. Awesome concert.
From the "dark desert highway" and the mysterious "she" who "stood in the doorway" to the "voices down the corridor" and the death trap "you can never leave", the song is the perfect mix of horror and ear candy.
I went to the Hotel California tour last year. 2022, traveled
to Dallas all alone, to see them. Deacon Frey was with them and Vince Gill. They were great! Guitarist Steuart Smith and Joe Walsh were perfect! So good that i went to see the same concert in Houston this year. Love all Eagles music!
That's the Beverley Hills Hotel on the album cover. But its the Hotel Coronado 🏨 thats where and what Hotel California truly is!🌈🌈🌈🌠 The More You Know!
The more you know indeed.
@@ProfessorofRock Winonas Big Brown Beaver!
@@ProfessorofRock I think that you should interview JT leadsinger from Kool and the Gang !
I did know that.
Classic tune, we studied it as part of grade 12 English composition in 1980. Thanks Prof!
I've loved this song since I was a teen, yet the last line "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave" always bothered me. The paradise was in reality a prison. Yikes.
That's the great pay off!
I saw the Eagles headline The Concert For Artists Rights, 02-26-02, at the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood. They were at the top of their game for that concert. Sheryl Crow opened; John Fogerty was next; then was Stevie Nicks, who of course did her duet with Don Henley, Leather and Lace and later had special guest, Tom Petty, come out to do Stop Dragging My Heart Around ‼️ Billy Joel was next who made some commentary about the slavery of many record contracts for artists and finally The Eagles headlining ‼️ It was one long, awesome concert ‼️😁
As an Adult, I now know the true meaning of the song, but as a kid, my imagination went wild with this tune.
No kidding!
I always took it as a sense of loneliness.
Radio stations sure loved this song.
I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard it..
If Mozart was writing music in California in the 70s, he would have been challenged to create a better call and response than Felder and Walsh did.
Exactly!
Mozart would be proud.
If Mozart were writing music in the 70's, everyone would've been paying tribute to him as one of the greatest people to ever make music. Maybe beaten by for instance Beethoven(ode to joy). And ofc, Tschaikovsky is up there with those two... The saddest part about the eagles is how Felder probably wish he had never let the group listen to the song.
An absolutely brilliant tribute to the song. Very well thought out. Thanks for the video.
Joe Walsh is probably the best rock guitarist of all time. When you add Don Felder with him as a duo it actually magnifies their rock stardom.
When this song was released I was serving in the U.S. Navy onboard a nuclear submarine which is like being incommunicado. When we docked it was what was playing on all the radio stations in California where we were stationed. I was blown away.
One of the greatest songs ever composed. Up there with Sound of Silence. The original album version is great but the acoustic version on Hell Freezes Over is just phenomenal!
I hate The Eagles... but I can sing every word and solo of every fucking song in their catalog!
Ha ha! Really?
Me too!!!
AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!
Loved Don Henley's voice. Also...a funny thing about Joe Walsh and his solo hit Life's Been Good. In the studio version he sings a line that goes:
My fans write me letters, and tell me I'm great.
But I have a live version of that song with Joe singing it with the Eagles. He changed that line...lol...to:
My fans write me letters to tell Glenn, that Don's great!
I was in HS and an undergrad in the 80s and the "satanic panic" was at its height. I can remember looking at the album cover looking for all the "hidden" symbols on it and well as guys talking about all the "hidden" messages in the song "Hotel California". There was supoosed to be a goat head on the album cover (I could never find it) and the guy in the balcony on the inside album cover was supposed to be Anton Lavey. Good to hear the real background behind the song. I think there may have been some "backmasking" on some of the music, but I can't remember. Backmasking was BS anyway, but people were convinced it could affect people. Conspiracies ain't new folks!
Thanks Greg!
Interesting theories.
I saw Felder in concert this summer. He was still brining it at 75. Played 17 songs: 14 Eagles songs (including a rare performance of "Take It To The Limit"), a cover of Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Pride and Joy", and two of his own ("American Rock and Roll" and "Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride)"). Closed with "Hotel California." 😎