Asylum 508
Producer: Bill Szymczyk
Track listing: The Long Run / I Can’t Tell You Why / In The City / The Disco Strangler / King of Hollywood / Heartache Tonight / Those Shoes / Teenage Jail / The Greeks Don’t Want Freaks / The Sad Café
November 3, 1979
9 weeks
Before the Eagles entered the Bayshore Recording Studio in Coconut Grove, Florida, to record their sixth studio album, there was yet another personnel change in the band. Following the success of Hotel California, bassist Randy Meisner left the group. He was replaced by Timothy B Schmit, who had also replaced Meisner in Poco.
“We kept striving to have more harmony in the band, and I don’t mean musical harmony — I mean personal harmony,” says drummer/vocalist Don Henley. “Things were a little easier with Timothy in the band. It lowered the drama quotient a great deal.”
Yet even the new blood couldn’t save the Eagles. “We were just tired,” Henley says. “Spiritually, mentally, and physically.” The band attempted to break up the monotony of the sessions by recording a cover of Charles Brown’s “Please Come Home for Christmas” as holiday single, with the original “Funky New Year” on the flip side. The band went on a short tour in July 1978, but that only made things worse. “There was a lot of pressure to top Hotel California, and the touring was relentless,” says Henley. “We should have taken out a 12- or 18-month vacation at that point, but record companies don’t really allow you to do that. They want more and more product. They have to keep the big wheels turning at all costs.”
Despite the strain of near-constant touring and the pressure of attempting to live up to their previous effort, The Long Run was another success. Though not up to par with Hotel California, the album did have its moments. “I think it’s kind of innovative and it’s actually kind of a quirky album,” says Henley.
“Heartache Tonight,” the first single released from the album, was written by Henley, J.D. Souther, Frey, and his old pal from Detroit, Bob Seger.
Although it wasn’t released as a single, the album closer “The Sad Cafe” holds a special place in Henley’s heart. “It was kind of our farewell,” he says. “Los Angeles and music were beginning to change at that point. Disco was still around and the punk movement had begun. ‘The Sad Cafe’ was an ode to the Troubadour and Dan Tanna’s restaurant, which was next door. It was kind of a farewell to our old stomping grounds.”
By 1979, however, while making The Long Run, the Eagles were no longer having fun. “It became a very arduous, tedious process making that album,” he says. Longtime collaborators Henley and Frey began to fight. “Even though things got easier in some ways with Timothy’s arrival, there were other problems in other areas,” Henley says. “There was still some factionalism. I have some very dark memories of making that album. There were a few moments of fun, but basically it was very difficult.”
After two years and a reported $1 million in studio time, The Long Run was completed. In its third week on the chart, it became the Eagles’ fourth consecutive Number One album in just over four years. It would take more than three times that long and a reunion before the Eagles returned to the summit.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of November 3, 1979
- The Long Run, Eagles
- Through the the Out Door , Led Zeppelin
- Midnight Magic, Commodores
- Cornerstone, Styx
- Head Games, Foreigner