Why 1 of The Eagles Said His Band Was the American Beatles
The Beatles defined classic rock in the 1960s, and The Eagles helped define classic rock in the 1970s. One of The Eagles felt his band included America’s equivalent of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership. Here’s why he’s wrong on multiple levels.
1 of The Eagles said his band wrote songs just as well as The Beatles
During a 2013 interview with SongFacts, The Eagles’ Don Felder discussed the magic of The Eagles’ songwriting. “Everybody brought their particular talent to each recording,” he recalled. “And it was really an unusual circumstance to have five people in a band that every one of us wrote, sang, and played. And any one of us could have and had previously fronted their own band.”
Felder compared The Eagles to another famous group. “It was an unusual amount of talent that we had five singers, five songwriters, and five musicians,” he said. “And so what a novel idea to have everybody be able to write, sing, and play in the same band. So we had an abundance of talent, and we used everyone’s strong suit. Joe [Walsh] and I were the primary guitar arrangers, and wrote a lot of the music. But [Don] Henley was obviously the strongest lead vocalist, was a great lyricist. The team of Henley and [Glenn] Frey have written some amazing songs. I think they’re the American version of Lennon and McCartney as far as songwriting goes.”
The main difference between the 2 bands
Felder is allowed to think what he wants about The Eagles. However, The Eagles were very different from The Beatles. For example, The Eagles largely stayed in their (fast) lane: the world of soft-rock and country-rock.
On the other hand, The Beatles did all that and more. The Fab Four were one of the most versatile groups in the history of music. On The White Album alone, the band dabbled in folk, pop, rock ‘n’ roll, experimental music, vaudeville, ska, and children’s music. The Eagles barely figured out how to write disco when that genre was inescapable on the radio.
How The Beatles and The Eagles performed on the charts
The Beatles were far more popular in the United States than The Eagles. 20 Beatles songs topped the Billboard Hot 100. The songs in question were “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “I Feel Fine,” “Eight Days a Week,” “Get Back,” “Yesterday,” “Let It Be,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Help!,” “Hello Goodbye,” “Hey Jude,” “Love Me Do,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “All You Need Is Love,” “She Loves You,” “Paperback Writer,” “Penny Lane,” “Ticket to Ride,” “We Can Work It Out,” “Come Together”/”Something,” and “The Long and Winding Road”/” For You Blue.” Even today, this achievement is completely mind-boggling.
The Eagles had five No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Those singles were “Hotel California,” “Best of My Love,” “One of These Nights,” “Heartache Tonight,” and “New Kid in Town.” Of course, it’s impressive for a band to give the world five No. 1 singles. However, this achievement inevitably seems small compared to The Beatles’ singular popularity.
Whether you think The Eagles were as good as The Beatles or not, The Eagles definitely didn’t live up to the Fab Four’s popularity.
