Don Henley’s first solo album (I Can’t Stand Still from 1982) felt like a tentative transition out of his Eagles era. Building The Perfect Beast, released in 1984, established him as one of the top solo artists of the era.
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The album still stands as one of the finest of that time period, one that matched stellar songwriting with the sounds of the time. You know the music, but you might not know the stories behind the tracks.
Who Were the Boys?
Mike Campbell wrote the music for “The Boys Of Summer” with the intent of his Heartbreakers’ bandleader, Tom Petty, recording it. But Petty couldn’t get into the synth-based concoction. Don Henley jumped on it, and the rest is pop music history. Henley wrote incisive lyrics about lost love and lost ideals, two themes pervasive in his work. As for the song title, Henley borrowed it from, all things, a non-fiction book about baseball. Roger Kahn wrote The Boys Of Summer about the Brooklyn Dodgers’ teams of the 50s.
A Kootch Classic
Even when he went solo, Henley leaned heavily on collaborators to help bring his musical ideas to fruition. And perhaps no collaborator was as heavily involved as Danny Kortchmar. “Kootch”, as he’s affectionately known, made his bones as a top session man on the West Coast in the 70s. He co-produced Henley’s first three solo albums. And he also made an impact as a writer, penning two tracks on Building The Perfect Beast all by himself. That included “All She Wants To Do Is Dance”, which hit the Top 10 on the pop charts as a single.
Country Covers
Speaking of Danny Kortchmar, he also penned “You’re Not Drinking Enough”, an old-fashioned weeper that separated itself from the more modern-sounding tracks on the album. In Henley’s version, Sam Moore of the legendary R&B duo Sam & Dave sings backup. The song certainly contained a bit of twang in its DNA. That explains why it did pretty well on the country charts a few years later. Earl Thomas Conley, who renamed it “You Must Not Be Drinking Enough”, took it to No. 26 in 1989.
Immortalizing a Burger Joint
Henley combined the forward-thinking music on Building The Perfect Beast with lyrics that often lamented the infringement of modern life on beloved traditions. “Sunset Grill” epitomizes that contrast. On the one hand, a wall of synthesizers takes charge when it comes to the music. But the lyrics talk about the way community hangouts often fall by the wayside in the face of big business. To make his point, Henley refers to the “Sunset Grill”, an LA restaurant which survived the songwriter’s concerns and still exists today.
The Missing Song
Folks who have recently gotten into the vinyl-collecting game might be a little surprised if they’re familiar with Building The Perfect Beast and pick up the LP. “A Month Of Sundays”, a somber ballad about the plight of farmers, precedes “Sunset Grill” on the CD and cassette versions of the album. But space concerns prevented Henley from originally including it on the vinyl release. A 2024 double-album reissue rectified this scenario, putting this brilliant track back in the running order.
Photo by Clive Dix/Shutterstock
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