Why The Eagles Went a Little Disco For ‘One of These Nights’
The best classic rock has a cross-genre appeal. For example, The Eagles’ “One of These Nights” takes a few ideas from disco music. The Eagles weren’t the only band doing that at the time.
The Eagles’ ‘One of These Nights’ is connected to the Bee Gees
In the 1970s, disco was bigger than big. The genre was so popular that every other rock band on earth seemed to dabble in it. Some of the rock acts that got groovy were Kiss (“I Was Made for Lovin’ You”), Paul McCartney & Wings (“Silly Love Songs”), Rod Stewart (“Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?”), The Rolling Stones (“Miss You”), and Pink Floyd (“Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)”). Some of these songs were great and other left fans feeling betrayed. The Eagles tried the high-wore act of tracking influence from disco with the song “One of These Nights.”
During a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, The Eagles’ Don Henley discussed his approach to “One of These Nights.” “Glenn [Frey] and I had always been fans of the records that were produced in Memphis by Willie Mitchell, especially the Al Green records where the drummer, Al Jackson Jr., would hit the snare and the ride tom-tom at the same time on the backbeat,” he said. “So, that was a big influence on the title track, but there was also a little nod to disco (we had shared a studio in Miami with the Bee Gees) with the ‘four-on-the-floor’ bass-drum pattern.”
Henley seemingly took another idea from the Bee Gees: falsetto singing. “Singing the title track was a pretty big moment for me — particularly the falsetto parts,” the “The Boys of Summer” singer said. “But I’d been singing in basically the same way since I was 17 or 18. The fact that I was singing original material was the big difference.”
How The Beatles inspired The Eagles
Henley discussed why The Eagles were taking influence from so many genres back then. “Stylistically, the One of These Nights album is all over the map, but somehow it worked as a coherent whole. In those days, you could do things like that — you could mix different styles on the same album,” he said. “The Beatles had made it acceptable.”
While Henley didn’t elaborate on this claim, he may have been referring to The Beatles’ The White Album. That record includes folk, pop, rock ‘n’ roll, vaudeville, experimental music, ska, and a children’s song or two.
‘One of These Nights’ took over the world
“One of These Nights” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a week and stayed on the chart for 17 weeks. The tune appeared on the album of the same name. One of These Nights produced two other top 5 singles: “Lyin’ Eyes,” which reached No. 2, and “Take It to the Limit,” which reached No. 4.
One of These Nights peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for five weeks. The tune lasted on the chart for 56 weeks. It remains one of the band’s most popular records.
The Eagles were one of many rock bands that took a hit of disco in the 1970s and they did so while retaining their dignity.
