Eagles is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California during the early 1970s. The group chose the name Eagles as a nod to The Byrds (as founding member Bernie Leadon had been in Dillard & Clark with former Byrds singer Gene Clark and in The Flying Burrito Brothers with former Byrds Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke). Comedian Steve Martin records in his autobiography, Born Standing Up, that Frey was very particular that the name was Eagles and not The Eagles. The band played initially as Linda Ronstadt’s backing group.
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When I was in high school during the ‘70s, I couldn't stand the Eagles, as they did not meet my hard-rock standard.
I was into bands like Aerosmith, Zeppelin, The Stones, The Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd ...okay, Kansas. The Eagles were far too middle of the road and radio was far too in love with cringe-worthy songs like "New Kid in Town" and even "Life in the Fast Lane."
Somewhere along the line, though, maybe after my heavy punk phase, I embraced the take-it-easy country-rock style of the Eagles, just as I did with the jazzy Steely Dan...
