There are plenty of musicians who have indirectly and unknowingly influenced younger generations of artists to form the bands that came after them. But far fewer musicians can boast that they were the ones who put these future bandmates in a room and said, “Here. You have something special. Take it, use it, and turn it into something bigger than yourselves.”
Videos by American Songwriter
Linda Ronstadt is a rare and notable exception.
Linda Ronstadt Reflects on How the Eagles Came To Be
In an unearthed interview from 1970, a fresh-faced and incredibly humble Linda Ronstadt discussed her career and the important players who became a part of it after she made the move from Tucson, Arizona, to Los Angeles, California. She name-dropped her bandmates more than she actually talked about herself, describing the ways that she met Bernie Leadon, Glenn Frey, and Don Henley at the historic Troubadour club in West Hollywood. All three musicians began playing with Ronstadt as her backing band, along with Randy Meisner, whom Ronstadt met around the same time.
If those names sound familiar, that would be because all four backing musicians became the founding members of The Eagles. The idea to form this band came while the musicians were on the road with Ronstadt, who had always encouraged the players to keep finding ways to hone their craft. She was refreshingly supportive of each musician, telling them they were talented enough to do their own thing, but in the meantime, they could play with her to earn some money to keep themselves fed and housed.
The Eagles would go on to become an arguably more mainstream act than Ronstadt herself, which was not lost on the singer. “It’s funny,” she said during her 1970 interview. “I seem to get people in a sort of critical stage in their development, and they sort of build their chops. I mean, there’s nothing that gets your chops up better as a guitar player than playing every single night, you know, twice a night. There were a lot of guitar players around LA, and I met them all at the Troubadour bar, you know?”
The “Secret Weapons” That Helped Form This New Band
Despite how modestly she presented her role in the development of The Eagles during that 1970 interview, the fact that Linda Ronstadt helped foster so many rock ‘n’ roll greats’ careers is a testament to a talent that people often underappreciate in the entertainment industry: seeing potential in someone before they even realize it themselves. Ronstadt’s tours allowed ample time for that potential to be realized in the future members of The Eagles. As roommates on Ronstadt’s lengthy tours, Don Henley and Glenn Frey began collaborating musically on and off the stage.
“Glenn found out that [Don] could sing,” Ronstadt said, smiling. “It was like a secret. They called him the secret weapon. No one had heard him sing. He was very shy. Don’s incredibly shy. He was so cute.” Frey, meanwhile, was “very dynamic,” Ronstadt said. “He has a great sense of the groove, you know? He’s a real groove guitar player. He can sit and make great music just by clapping his hands and singing. He’s one of those kinds of people.”
For as much as Linda Ronstadt and Don Henley’s surprisingly good singing voice were “secret weapons” in The Eagles’ development, we’d be remiss if we didn’t categorize The Troubadour in West Hollywood the same way. The Troubadour was the breeding ground for all of it. It’s where Ronstadt heard the musicians she would later hire as her backing band, it’s where she met her future manager, Herb Cohen, and it’s where the future Eagles first became acquainted with playing and singing with one another.
If even one of those musicians had opted to frequent a different club on the other side of town, rock ‘n’ roll might have never sounded the same.
Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.