Remember When a Member of Eagles Played on Richard Marx’s First Single in 1987?

By the time Richard Marx released “Don’t Mean Nothing”, his debut single in 1987, he had already been trying, albeit largely unsuccessfully, for a few years to find success as an artist. Written by Marx and Bruce Gaitsch,  “Don’t Mean Nothing” is on Marx’s eponymous freshman record.

“Don’t Mean Nothing” alludes to Marx’s frustration with not becoming an artist as quickly as he hoped. The song says, “Welcome to the big time, you’re bound to be a star / Even if you don’t go all the way, I know that you’ll go far / This race is for rats, it can turn you upside down / Ain’t no one you can count on in this sleazy little town, oh no / Lots of promises in the dark / Don’t you open your heart / ‘Cause it don’t mean nothing / The words that they say /No, it don’t mean nothing / These games that people play.”

“I got a lot of people saying, ‘Dude, you’re 22. How can you be so cynical?’” Marx tells Songfacts. “I think cynicism and gratitude can co-exist. And I was very grateful. I moved to L.A. when I was 18, and I definitely spent a lot of time sitting around doing nothing, trying to get something going, and nothing was happening. I got rejected by every label multiple times, and I got a lot of doors slammed in my face and more than my share of rejection and all that stuff.”

How Richard Marx Managed to Get a Member of Eagles to Join Him on “Don’t Mean Nothing”

Not only did Marx have a hit single with “Don’t Mean Nothing”, but he managed to get a member of Eagles to join him on the song. It’s Joe Walsh who plays the memorable guitar part on “Don’t Mean Nothing”.

“He only came in the studio because he heard a demo of the song and really loved the song,” Marx remembers. “So I didn’t know him. It was all for the right reasons. It was all just music. He heard the song, went, ‘Yeah, I really like the song, and I don’t care that it’s his first record.’ He was so gracious, and he spent the whole afternoon in there with me. We cut a couple of different solos. But I think that was the first one he played. And it was like, duh, there’s nothing wrong with this at all.”

Fortunately for Marx, Walsh added his magic to more than just his guitar solo.

“And then he played some other little fills and parts in the song,” Marx shares. “It was a full-on afternoon session where we really collaborated together. Usually I sing the guitar solos almost note for note to the guitar player, whoever I’m having play on a particular record. But in that case, you don’t tell Joe Walsh what note to play.”

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