No classic rock playlist is complete without an Eagles song. Whether it’s “Witchy Woman” from their debut album Eagles, “The Best of My Love” off On the Border, or the iconic title track “Hotel California,” the Eagles have made it evident that they can do just about any type of rock. However, despite the success of these songs, I’d argue that this doesn’t get any clearer than in their 1975 record One of These Nights, where they achieve the lofty, delicate balance that defines country-rock. This week, I decided to dive into One of These Nights to investigate how they were able to pull off this elusive genre.
Starting the album out with a bang is “One of These Nights,” which includes a funky intro and shiver-inducing harmonies during the chorus, topped off with percussive punctuation of the title. This song was actually intended to be a step away from the Eagles’s signature country-rock sound: “We like to be a nice little country-rock band from Los Angeles…about half the time,” Don Henley told Rolling Stone. “We wanted to get away from the ballad syndrome with ‘One of These Nights.’” Now you may be wondering — if this song was a purposeful shift away from country-rock, how could it possibly contribute to the country-rock sound of the album? It’s a valid point, but I posit that this shift was actually necessary to create this sound; by making a “nasty track with pretty vocals” infused with R&B, as Glenn Frey puts it, the Eagles really rounded out the rock component of the album, ultimately striking that ideal balance of rock to country.
“Too Many Hands” is thematically unique; in the words of its writer Randy Meisner, “it’s about destroying our Mother Earth and what I don’t like about destroying it.” While it is a true rock and roll track, the twangy “Too Many Hands” displays indisputable country influences. Likewise, “Hollywood Waltz” is a southern drawl turned into a song. Focused on a woman looking for love after years of failed relationships, this slower track epitomizes the country-rock sound, combining soft rock with country via Bernie Leadon’s mandolin and classic Eagles harmonies.
“Journey of the Sorcerer” is a six-and-a-half minute long instrumental track in which banjo meets orchestra. Although it’s definitely different from the other songs on the album, it shares a familiar sound while emphasizing these new instruments. “Journey of the Sorcerer” ebbs and flows, and sounds like several different songs merged together. Regardless of the lack of words, the instrumentals create a sense of continuity in terms of the narrative being spun with the lyrics of the other songs and serve as a break of sorts — a chance for the listener to catch their breath before moving on to “Lyin’ Eyes.” This track is about a young girl marrying an old man for money instead of love and eventually cheating on him. The chorus is her husband’s perspective upon his discovery of her infidelity: “You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes / And your smile is a thin disguise / I thought by now you’d realize / There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes,” Frey sings. Yet another example of the Eagles doing what the Eagles do best and harmonizing, this track also has that twang that gives their soft rock style its tinge of country.
Next is “Take It to the Limit,” one of my favorites from this album. Told from the point of view of someone who has spent their life on the move and is thinking about what could have been, this is one of the more lyrically rich songs on One of These Nights. Meisner is on lead vocals here, and this is one of his biggest moments as an Eagle; as he said, “I didn’t get to shine too often with the Eagles but One of These Nights turned out to be a big album for me,” and “Take It to the Limit” was his pièce de résistance.
The key to “Visions” is Don Felder, who came through both with lead vocals and lead guitar. It’s a more upbeat song than we’ve seen so far on this album and is another masterclass in bluesy, country-charged rock. Upon my first listen, it almost sounded like something from the Sanford Townsend Band (see: “Smoke from a Distant Fire”). “After the Thrill Is Gone,” influenced by B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone,” features some exceptional guitar and the combined vocal power of Frey and Henley. According to Henley, the goal of the song was to “explore the aftermath [of King’s “The Thrill Is Gone”]. We know that the thrill is gone — so, now what?”
One of These Nights comes to a conclusion with “I Wish You Peace” — the one place the album wavers. This serene track doesn’t quite seem to fit in with the rest of the album, but I do enjoy it nonetheless. Co-written by Leadon and his girlfriend at the time — Ronald Reagan’s daughter, Patti Davis — “I Wish You Peace” was later denounced by Henley, who called it “smarmy cocktail music and not something the Eagles are proud of,” but they included it in the album “as a gesture to keep the band together.” This deviation aside, as a whole, One of These Nights is a grand exhibition of country-rock excellence, made possible by the Eagles’s ability to harmonize like their lives depended on it and their creative use of their instruments.
Test Spins is a weekly throwback column reviewing and recommending classic and underrated albums from the past. It runs every Friday.
Sydney Levinton is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at [email protected].