The Eagles’ mythical album, “Hotel California” celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year.
Released on 8 December 1976, the album was certified platinum in its first week. It went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart where it stayed for eight weeks.
Album Sales Tally – Globally the iconic album, one of the best-selling albums in history, has sold over 42 million units. In the US, it is certified 28X Platinum by the RIAA.
The rock star Bob Seger was once asked, “Why do you think the Eagles broke up?” Seger succinctly replied, “Hotel California”.
The subsequent fame and fortune from the astronomically successful album inflated the band members’ drugged-out egos and the band promptly imploded.
Fun Fact Room 1: There are more official Eagles Greatest Hits compilation albums (13) than individual albums (7).
The song’s working title is “Mexican Reggae”. The tune suddenly popped into Don Felder as he was strumming it on his beach front property. He quickly recorded the rough tune onto his cassette.
Fun Fact Room 2: To draw inspiration, Henley and Frey went to see Neil Simon’s play, “California Suite” in Los Angeles. At least we can guess where the “California” song title came from (?).
My Hotel California Paraphanalia (above image).
Cocaine, fame and fortune (to buy more cocaine) fractured the creative band dynamics. The luxury Hotel quickly became a stifling Prison (studio and concert environment). Even Henley and Frey stopped talking to each other by then and communicated only through others.
In fact, the Eagles’ road crew nicknamed the subsequent 10-month, 72-date world tour as “The Prison California”.
I liken the projectory of the Eagles journey to be like travelling on Route 66. Starting from the East Coast, Glenn Frey is from Detroit, Michigan. The band travelled westwards towards Texas. Don Henley is from Gilmer, Texas. When the trajectory reached Laurel Canyon and Beverly Hills Hotel, they peaked with Hotel California. Then amidst the band battles, they eked out “The Long Run” (band’s album nickname “The Long One”) and overshot Santa Monica beach and plunged into the cold Pacific Ocean.
After 14 years, the Eagles dried themselves from the wet and icy cold ocean and got together for the “Hell Freeze$ Over” (1994) concert and album. When the Eagles are flying in close formation, their Musicianship (with a capital M) is par-excellent.
The band started out as a country band but aspired to have a edgier rock sound. When they added Joe Walsh of the James Gang band, they were rocking. Having rock-inclined producer Bill Szymczyk on the recording boards completed the rock album jigsaw.
Country albums – “Eagles”, “Desperado”, “On The Border”
Lite-Rock album – “One Of These Nights”
Rock albums – “Hotel California”, “The Long Run” and “Long Road Out Of Eden”.
Fun Fact Room 3: The cover artwork of “Hotel California” was designed by John Kosh who also designed the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” and “Let It Be” , the Who’s “Who’s Next”, the Eagles’ “The Long Run”, Electric Light Orchestra’s “A New World Record” and “Out Of The Blue” amongst many other iconic album cover artworks.
Fun Fact Room 4: The cover photo featured the Beverly Hills Hotel taken at dusk, shot from a cherry picker 60 feet above Sunset Boulevard. A month after the album came out, the hotel threatened to sue the Eagles for using the hotel image without permission. BUT the hotel dropped the lawsuit when they found out that the hotel bookings had tripled because of the album’s phenomenal success.
Against industry practice, the band loaded their three strongest songs upfront – “Hotel California”, “New Kid In Town” and “Life In The Lane”, instead spreading them around the nine-track album playlist. A bold move that paid dividend$. The band could attempt this feat because there were no “fillers” in the album. Like all self-respecting concept albums, there was even a song reprise (ooh!), “Wasted Time”, armed with an orchestra. I’ve always regarded “Wasted Time” and “The Last Resort” as album twins; great poignant songs.
Fun Fact Room 5: On the initial pressings of the album , “Is it six o’clock yet?” was etched into the runout groove of Side A. The producer had imposed strict studio behaviour – no beer, no drugs, no nothing etc. before 6pm.
My Hotel Keychain Collection (above image).
When I drive my 20 year-old SUV, there are a few personal must-haves to make the journey more pleasant – a full tank of gas, great music (mine) and a cool car keychain. I change car keychains every few months.
Fun Fact Room 6: Once when my buddy Steve Wozniak (Apple Computers co-founder) was contemplating whether to take a ride with the event organiser or in my car, I simply said, “I got better music”. Guess who he went with.
Fun Fact Room 7: Once after dinner with May Pang in New York City, she mentioned that we had to go check out her “friend” who’s performing at The Bitter End that night. Her friend, as it turned out, was Timothy B. Schmit.
In my humble opinion, “Hotel California” is a mythical album, there’s Mojo Magic in the Air; there’s Something in the Water.
Other mythical albums include George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” and “The Concert for Bangladesh”, Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “White Album“, “Rolling Stones’ “Exile On Main Street”, Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited” and “Blonde on Blonde”, John Lennon’s “Imagine”, Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life’, “Woodstock” festival album, the Allman Brothers Band “At Fillmore East”, Led Zeppelin’s “4” and “Physical Graffiti”, “Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk”, Neil Young’s “Harvest”, Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”, Elton John’s “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy”, Crosby, Stills, Nash &Young’s “Deja Vu”, Jackson Browne’s “Running On Empty”, Supertramp’s “Breakfast In America”, Joe Cocker’s “Mad Dogs and Englishmen”, Prince’s “Around The World In A Day”, Joni Mitchell’s “Blue”, and Jethro Tull’s “Aqualung”, etc.
I regard the brilliant “Sad Cafe” from the “The Long Run” album and “No More Cloudy Days” from the “Long Road Out Of Eden” album as essential postludes to the “Hotel California” album saga. All being sad tales about who gets to be famous (fame chooses you) despite all being talented, perils of fame, broken love and family relationships, chasing the American dream and the its subsequent betrayal, the harmful and fatal effects of drugs and more drugs. “No More Cloudy Days”, however, offers a glimmer of hope in spite of the hurt.
Happy 50th Anniversary, “Hotel California” (above image). “Such A Lovely Place (Album)”.
For the record, I never left, in fact, I just requested for “late checkout”.
