The Eagles "Ol 55"

Let's face it.  People have strong feelings about The Eagles.

Really strong feelings.

That makes them a bit of a quandary for MVY.  And I had to do some thinking on the subject, due to a recent note from a listener.

He wanted to know why we played The Eagles version of "Ol 55."  He pointed out that the songwriter, Tom Waits, has said he doesn't like that version himself.

Sometimes I think that when people write the station, they really just want a one word response, like "Okay."

But sometimes, I feel the urge to explain myself, in probably too much details.

So, The Eagles . . .

On the one hand, The Eagles fit pretty sonically well with MVY.  Polished acoustics, well-crafted songwriting, the occasional blazing guitar lead, harmonies that directly descend from CSNY.  All that works.

On the other hand, The Eagles represent the antithesis of an MVY artist, in the sense that if it's a hit somewhere else, we're likely to leave it alone.  We'd rather play the road less traveled.  The critically-acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful.  We'll play the deep album cut, over the mass appeal hit.

This distinction is not really something the audience ever thinks about.

So the folks who live On The One Hand, request The Eagles, with some frequency.

Trying to skate the line, we do something with The Eagles, that we don't do with too many other artists.  We only play part of their catalogue.

Normally, a band is either IN with us, or they are OUT with us.  If we've decided to play them, like The Allman Brothers, we play most everything, even the hits.  If we've decided that they are already well-covered by Classic Rock, like The Doors, we don't play anything, even the obscurities.

With The Eagles, there is no sense of MVY playing "Hotel California" or "Heartache Tonight" or "Tequila Sunrise."  Because you can hear those songs right now, by just spinning the dial.  They're burnt out, and unnecessary for us.

But we do want to represent The Eagles, so we play songs like "The Last Resort."  That's one you are less likely to hear on a Classic Rock station.

For the same reason, we played "Ol 55."  It's a pretty deep cut.

But I have to admit, the listener who wrote in is right.

The cover tune doesn't do much for me, either.  The Tom Waits original is much better.

So yes, I pulled The Eagles version of "Ol 55" from the playlist.  And I kept the Tom Waits version in (we've been rotating the two, for years).

Someday, I'll probably grow a pair, and decided to weed out the last few Eagles cuts from the entire playlist.

But until then, I'll just enjoy waiting to receive the wrath of Eagles Haters, in the Inbox.

Read the article:  "Woman Allegedly Attacked Roommate For Listening To The Eagles"


Hear the song on Youtube.

Paul Carrack "Love Will Keep Us Alive"

I wrote about Squeeze earlier this week, and it prompted me to write about Paul Carrack yesterday.

I'd had no idea that his resume was so extensive.

One of the most interesting stories, is that he did some sessions for a record with former Eagles Don Felder and Timothy B Schmidt.

However, the album was never completed, because "Hell Freezes Over," The Eagles surprising and/or inevitable reunion album happened.

But one of the songs from the Carrack/Felder/Schmidt session made it to The Eagles record.

"Love Will Keep Us Alive," co-written by Carrack, was the most-played song in America in 1995.

He was tapped again, when The Eagles put out "Long Road Out Of Eden" in 2007. Carrack's song "I Don't Want To Hear Anymore" was part of that hugely successful double album.

That's good mailbox money!

Here's Carrack, singing the song that The Eagles scored big with.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Ace "How Long"

I wrote about Squeeze earlier this week, and as I was writing the post, I was listening to "Tempted" over and over, for the billionth time in my life.

And in watching the video, I was reminded that the bulk of the song is actually sung not by Chris Difford or Glenn Tilbrook, the main songwriters of the band. "Tempted" was sung by Paul Carrack, who was only briefly part of Squeeze.

I was really enjoying his vocal performance, how soulful and warm it is, and I starting thinking, "Why didn't this guy do more?"

I mean, I remember the band Mike & The Mechanics. "The Living Years" was sincere, but kinda sappy. And I knew he had a few solo hits.

But I didn't realize that "this guy" couldn't possibly have done more.

He was a member of Roxy Music for their late 70s/early 80s albums.

He was part of Noise To Go, which was a band put together by Nick Lowe, to back Lowe on his solo records, as well as Lowe's wife-at-the-time Carlene Carter. And they back Carrack on his solo projects.

Noise To Go changed it's name to Nick Lowe's Cowboy Outfit, and that band backed John Hiatt on his "Riding With The King" record.

He was a sessions musician for The Smiths and The Pretenders.

And Roger Waters recruited him as a player and singer for both an early solo record, and the massive "The Wall Live In Berlin" show.

Then there was the aborted album he was making with Timothy B Schmidt and Don Felder of The Eagles, which I'll write about tomorrow.

But it all started with this tune, which I'm sure you remember.

I'd forgotten that Carrack was the singer in the band Ace, who had this hit.

Nice resume!


See the video on Youtube.