How come America is not nearly recognized in the same conversation as The Eagles?

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

A lot of younger people won't recognise this guy who played the expert gunsmith from the movie, "Shooter". His name is / was Levon Helm. He died in 2012. He was the drummer for a group back in the 60's and 70's called appropriate enough, "The Band".

They had a big hit single back then called, "Up On Cripple Creek", and he also wrote the song, "The Weight". He wasn't a half bad actor either.

wow. I own eveything Bob Dylan's ex backing band "The Band" released. Always watching The Band - The Last Waltz. I would not have know that was Levon clean shaven. He did turn up several times in bit parts in some films.
J.D. Souther (they called him the "other Eagle") was the same way. He would show up in small acting parts from time to time. J.D. Souther was offered a spot in the Eagles right about the time they hired Don Felder since J.D. and Glen Frey wrote many of the original Eagles songs together. His answer to joining was "well actually , you guys do not need me. there is no place/room on that stage for me now!" Yet he kept writing songs for the Eagles while trying to carve out a solo career for himself.

 

[pbm]

The Eagles had more talent than any band in music history.

Scott

I'm an Eagles fan and saw them twice in concert but I'd put these guys up there with them (individual) talentwise.
Unfortunately most of them passed away before they could make more good music. (George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty...RIP)

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

I love both bands(America & Eagles). ATMOF, I love all of the bands mentioned in this thread and what they meant to me during that time.

I remember when most of those bands got their start on the radio and where I was when I first heard the bands on the radio. I remember the people who I was with, where we were, the car I was driving, the girl I was dating etc.

Speaking of the EAGLES, I think their longevity has to do more with their comeback(Hell Freezes Over) in '94 than their history prior to that comeback. Yes, the Eagles have a great history but the fact that they're still touring in such a strong way, keeps their memory alive in an overpowering but good way. America the band, is still touring but their shows are less intense. However they too still sound great live after 50+ years. Just not as well produced as the Eagles.

Im the music world just like Hollywood it has always been about two things. Talent #1 and that gets you almost no place at all without #2 Promotion. The Eagles were no bodies and struggling. Jackson Browne (long time friend to Henley + Frey) was signed to Geffen records. David Geffen trusted him. Jackson provided David Geffen with several Eagles demo tapes before they were even known as The Eagles. The next giant leap for the Eagles was when they made their deal with "the devil," Irving Azoff who managed many big names and owned the super talented Joe Walsh. The simple act of Azoff putting Joe Walsh into the Eagles changed the whole game. Instantly doubled the fan base and brought them hard rock credentials. No longer looked at as some weak country rock act, Henley and Frey both said they were automatically treated differently , even by the music media with Walsh on board. The Eagles careers sky rocketed the moment they started making music and performing with Don Felder & Joe Walsh on stage with them. Promotion never stopped for the Eagles. From the end of making The Long Run album & breaking up, their manager never stopped managing them and preparing for the return you mention. Hell Feezes Over was years in the making! Their manger even managed to keep it a complete secret for two years after The Long Run that they were no longer an active band. Managing Walsh & The Eagles has made Irving Azoff one of the most wealthy and powerful people in music and eventually even in Hollywood.

Irving Azoff (/ˈeɪzɒf/; born December 12, 1947) is an American entertainment executive and chairman of Full Stop Management, which represents recording artists. In the mid-1980s, he brought success to MCA Records.
Since September 2013, he has been chairman and CEO of Azoff MSG Entertainment, a venture with The Madison Square Garden Company. Prior to this he served as chairman and CEO of Ticketmaster Entertainment and was executive chairman of Live Nation Entertainment and CEO of Front Line Management. He is also on the board of Starz Inc. and IMG.[1]
In 2012, he topped Billboard's Power 100 and was named the most powerful person in the music industry.
In January 2020, Azoff was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an Ahmet Ertegun Award winner.[20]

 

[pbm]

Here's a good one from my youth....Eric Burdon had a lot of soul for a white guy.



He reinvented himself a few years later.

 

[DwightFrye]

The Eagles had better lyricists. Some of America's lyrics are rather stupefying, like "alligator lizards in the air" or "there were plants and birds and rocks and things".

However America had some great vocals and arrangements and while they didn't have the same level of guitarists as the Eagles, their songs were certainly well crafted. And not as annoying as some of the Eagles songs like Dirty Laundry, Life in the Fast Lane or Witch-ay Woman.

 

[AZjeff]

When I play an America song in my head all I get are the lyrics, no memorable licks. Eagles songs I get the whole song. Must mean something. America felt like pop music BITD, not in our playlist.

 

[PF52]

And not as annoying as some of the Eagles songs like Dirty Laundry....

That's a Henley solo song, but the Eagles are likely to play it in concert. And that's what bugs me about most recent Eagles shows I've seen clips of - they spend a third of the show doing a Henley song or two, a couple from Walsh, maybe something from Frey..... I'd rather hear that many more actual Eagles songs! Give us the deep cuts.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Always liked America. They were just in a type of music that really never took off big. There were way too many of the stadium filling loud and heavily marketed bands by the major labels to compete with for them. They did get radio play.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

That's a Henley solo song, but the Eagles are likely to play it in concert. And that's what bugs me about most recent Eagles shows I've seen clips of - they spend a third of the show doing a Henley song or two, a couple from Walsh, maybe something from Frey..... I'd rather hear that many more actual Eagles songs! Give us the deep cuts.

YUP. Henely went from saying "The Eagles were Glen Frey, Glen's band and they are over and done." To now using what he is calling the Eagles as his own back up band. Part of what led to the original break up which has always been blamed on Don Felder, was really the break and bad feelings between Henley and Frey that their manager was able to keep a secret. They were so close and wrote so well together yet a time came when all the other members felt they were just employees of Don Henley by the time they made The Long Run lp. All that stuff has been written about and is out there in books and internet. When Frey and Henely made the History of The Eagles it is clear watching it that they felt they were the only real Eagles in the way it was made. They opened the special with a lifetime story about each of them and completely ignored the other founding members like they were just hired hands. They had to be forced by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to include all the other original members in the induction ceremony. Wow. Really nice guys ?!? Henley and his manager must have more money that most small countries by now.

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

The Eagles had better lyricists. Some of America's lyrics are rather stupefying, like "alligator lizards in the air" or "there were plants and birds and rocks and things".

However America had some great vocals and arrangements and while they didn't have the same level of guitarists as the Eagles, their songs were certainly well crafted. And not as annoying as some of the Eagles songs like Dirty Laundry, Life in the Fast Lane or Witch-ay Woman.

When I play an America song in my head all I get are the lyrics, no memorable licks. Eagles songs I get the whole song. Must mean something. America felt like pop music BITD, not in our playlist.

From a listener's perspective, these comments nail it for me. I always considered America to be something of a "novelty" act because of the two lines Dwight quoted above. As an angry metalhead, I would have insulted America as "easy listening," but "soft rock" probably describes them more objectively.

In my late teens (late 1980s), when I started feeling like I had been born twenty years too late, I somehow ended up with an America's Greatest Hits tape. I can't remember if I actually bought it or if my parents got it from one of those music subscription services around 1980 or so. I only played it a few times, where I was listening to The Doors, CSNY, and the Dead's Long Strange Trip compilation almost constantly.

 

[PF52]

I'd heard of America, of course, from hearing the same two-three songs played on the radio all these years. So I had to look them up to see what else they had done and I was surprised to see they had 18 studio albums, if I counted right. Typical narrow radio viewpoint - play the same two hits and nothing else. They even do it to more well-known bands.... Kansas, for example, or Blue Oyster Cult. Besides the two obvious BOC hits, and "Godzilla" as the go-to "deep cut", what else ever gets played on the radio? They're an extremely talented and diverse band; would it kill them to play something else once in awhile? "Dominance and Submission"? "Golden Age of Leather"? "Flaming Telepaths"? "Unknown Tongue"? Etc, etc.

 

[AZjeff]

Need to add The Who and New Riders of the Purple Sage to my late teen Playlist. We had weird musical taste. The Who's Live at Leeds album was epic.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Need to add The Who and New Riders of the Purple Sage to my late teen Playlist. We had weird musical taste. The Who's Live at Leeds album was epic.

One of my first. Anyone recall this: Columbia records and tapes club? Wife and I started buying thru them in high school. Once about every
12 to 14 months they would make an offer. You could pick like 10-12 selections for free if you agreed to take one each month for a certain
period of time. We joined that and in no time had a mountain of albums. Some of the very first were stuff like : Who Live at Leeds / James
Gang Live / Moody Blues Days of Futures Past / Mountain Live Twin Peaks / Allman Bros Live at Fillmore / Wishbone Ash Live Dates / Yes
Fragile / Humble Pie Smokin / Elvin Bishop Let it Flow / Deep Purple In Rock / Foghat Rock & Roll Outlaws / ARS Red Tape / Uriah Heep Live.

 

[Leo99]

One of my first. Anyone recall this: Columbia records and tapes club? Wife and I started buying thru them in high school. Once about every
12 to 14 months they would make an offer. You could pick like 10-12 selections for free if you agreed to take one each month for a certain
period of time. We joined that and in no time had a mountain of albums. Some of the very first were stuff like : Who Live at Leeds / James
Gang Live / Moody Blues Days of Futures Past / Mountain Live Twin Peaks / Allman Bros Live at Fillmore / Wishbone Ash Live Dates / Yes
Fragile / Humble Pie Smokin / Elvin Bishop Let it Flow / Deep Purple In Rock / Foghat Rock & Roll Outlaws / ARS Red Tape / Uriah Heep Live.

It was like 12 for a dollar. Cancel anytime. LOL. I acquired my Mili Vanilli CD from them and received a check for $1 as part of the class action lawsuit that purported singers were not really singing.

 

[dishdude]

One of my first. Anyone recall this: Columbia records and tapes club? Wife and I started buying thru them in high school. Once about every
12 to 14 months they would make an offer. You could pick like 10-12 selections for free if you agreed to take one each month for a certain
period of time. We joined that and in no time had a mountain of albums. Some of the very first were stuff like : Who Live at Leeds / James
Gang Live / Moody Blues Days of Futures Past / Mountain Live Twin Peaks / Allman Bros Live at Fillmore / Wishbone Ash Live Dates / Yes
Fragile / Humble Pie Smokin / Elvin Bishop Let it Flow / Deep Purple In Rock / Foghat Rock & Roll Outlaws / ARS Red Tape / Uriah Heep Live.

I think it was a penny, you taped the penny to the order form.

 

[gman2304]

I would have insulted America as "easy listening," but "soft rock" probably describes them more objectively.

I Agree. I was also thinking “Bubblegum music” like the Archie’s, 1910 Fruitgum company etc but couldn’t go there!

 

[PF52]

I acquired my Mili Vanilli CD from them and received a check for $1 as part of the class action lawsuit that purported singers were not really singing.

I actually have that one on cassette. I think I paid $1 for it..... Not my taste in music; I bought it more as a conversation piece, Ironically, I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever mentioned having it. So much for the "conversation piece"!

 

[odie]

1st song I heard from EAGLES was " Outlaw Man " from this . Was 15 or 16 at that time . All other songs were also a first . On occasion still listen to the 2 L.P.s on the TECHNICS turntable .

 

[odie]

Have been listening to AMERICAS' Greatest Hits : History since 15 or 16 and never tire of it .