Formed in Los Angeles in 1971, the Eagles leaned more into a soft country-rock sound on their first two albums, 1972’s eponymous debut and 1973’s Desperado. Searching for a more rock-oriented vibe, the band brought guitarist Don Felder aboard in 1974. On this day (March 22) in 1974, the Eagles released their first album with Felder, On the Border. The album, which has sold 2 million copies, put the band squarely in the rock realm and gave them their first-ever chart-topper with “Best Of My Love.”
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Why Glenn Frey Called This the Eagles’ Best Work
Initially, the Eagles began recording On the Border at London’s Olympic Studios, with Glyn Johns as the producer. However, tensions sprang up between Johns and members of the band, who wanted to distance themselves from the country-rock sound of their first two records.
“At that point, I think [Johns] just wanted mellow people and mellow music, and we weren’t really at the same stage in life,” vocalist Don Henley said in the 2013 documentary History of the Eagles.
Johns reportedly told them, “You are not a rock-and-roll band, The Who is a rock-and-roll band, and you’re not that.”
After frequent arguments between Johns and vocalist-guitarist Glenn Frey, the band returned to California and hired producer Bill Szymczyk, who had produced Joe Walsh’s second solo album The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get. Recording in both Los Angeles and Miami, the Eagles enjoyed much more creative freedom with Szymczyk.
“On the Border was the best-sounding record we ever made, but that’s also experience,” Frey said. “We’re just starting to learn how to become a recording artist, which is a little different from learning how to be a member of a band.” It’s been reported that the hidden message “He who hesitates is lunch” was carved into the run out groove of a select handful of the vinyl LPs.
Their First No. 1 Hit
Reaching No. 17 on the Billboard albums chart, On the Border‘s first two singles—”Already Gone” and “James Dean”—peaked at No. 32 and No. 77 on the Hot 100, respectively. The album’s third single, “Best Of My Love”, gave the Eagles their first-ever No. 1 hit in March 1975. Ironically, the song was actually a holdover from Glyn Johns’ time as producer.
The Eagles owe much of that success to Jim Higgs, a radio DJ from Kalamazoo, Michigan, who promoted the song heavily.
Higgs died in 2024. Ten years earlier, the Eagles invited him to their September 2014 show in Grand Rapids, where they personally thanked him backstage.
“We had more or less given up hope for the success of the On the Border album, and we’d begun work on the next album,” Henley told Rolling Stone in 2016. “So, when ‘The Best of My Love’ took off, it was like a resurrection, a miracle. Totally unexpected.”
Featured image by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns
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