The 1960s had been a whirlwind for every faction of the music industry. Peaks and troughs with evolution is the name of the game, and it was dominated by British bands. As the 1970s began, the Eagles were just starting to come into their own.
Forming out of the ashes of Linda Ronstadt's backing band, Don Henley and Glenn Frey decided to create a band that was the epitome of California, bridging the gap between rock, country, and soul music into one epic sound across their career. They would defy the British edge of the '60s and create music that felt like it was crafted in the American sun: brutish like its highways, golden as its sunsets and as dangerous as its strips.
Pulling together a band out of a backing band is one thing, but it does require a few wild cards to step out of the shadows and create a spark to set the thing on fire. They didn't have the last piece of the puzzle, that match to strike. Soon enough, Joe Walsh would arrive with a Zippo lighter and a can of kerosene.
Granted, Walsh had already been a glorified guitar god in rock circles for some time before the Eagles asked him to join. Having been a member of the James Gang out of Detroit and then working as a solo artist, Walsh became a musical force to be reckoned with, scoring major hits with 'Rocky Mountain Way'. As the Eagles started to fall out of love with guitarist Bernie Leadon, Frey started to think about getting Walsh as a replacement.
Bringing Walsh out as their opening act, the Eagles would bring out the guitarist to do their encores, jamming on 'Rocky Mountain Way' before asking him to join the band. Joining before Hotel California, Walsh gave them the edge that they needed, especially when it came to tearing things up on the road.
Throughout every tour, Walsh was notorious for trashing rooms, having been best friends with the infamous rock and roll madman, Keith Moon. According to their manager Irving Azoff, Henley and Frey turned a blind eye to the moral hangups that came with room trashing, telling History of the Eagles, "I don't think Don and Glenn ever approved of the room trashing, but they understood it. They wanted respect as rock and rollers, and Joe gave them that respect".
Once they hit the studio, Walsh turned in a performance for the ages with guitar-slinging partner Don Felder on the song 'Hotel California'. As Walsh remembered, "There was always a competition between me and Felder. And that's really healthy in a band. One guy would be playing something and you'd say, 'Oh yeah, listen to this'".
Competition is one of the vital aspects of making music that feels uncomfortable to talk about. But think about it. Would The Beatles have made Sgt Pepper without The Beach Boys making Pet Sounds? Would Metallica have dominated metal without the other three icons of the genre vying for the spotlight? The truth is, in art, competition can be a necessary evil.
Even though the band has performed the song at every concert since its release, Walsh still says that he finds it difficult to play now and again. Talking to Interview magazine, Walsh explained, "That song is really hard to play the right way. Some of the other songs are automatic, and it's not as exciting to play them as it used to be. But with 'Hotel California,' I really have to sit up straight and pay attention to play it right. That's one of the songs I look forward to because it's still a challenge".
Walsh would also contribute original material to an Eagles project for the first time, writing the sentimental 'Pretty Maids All in a Row' and coming up with the lick that inspired Frey and Henley to write 'Life in the Fast Lane'. For all the hard work that went into the record, the title track would be the turning point, becoming the band's longest single and receiving regular airplay on the radio.
As the band took to the road, Walsh would still be riffing during the song, throwing different elements into the mix while keeping the iconic bits everyone expected that night. Although the song might give him trouble from time to time, some songs are worth going the extra mile to play right.