Music

My favorite groups

1. The Eagles (1980, 2008)
2. Fleetwood Mac
3. Beatles
4. Rolling Stones (2005)
5. The Police (2007)
6. Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1974)
7. Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
8. Led Zeppelin
9. Kansas (1979) (also see Kerry Livgren)
10. U2

(Years in parentheses denote concerts I have seen, with blog links for concerts in recent years.) I play several songs from each of the above groups on guitar.

The Eagles:
America's greatest rock group

Top Ten Eagles songs

1. Hotel California
2. Take It Easy
3. Tequila Sunrise
4. Already Gone
5. Peaceful, Easy Feeling
6. Desperado
7. Long Road Out of Eden
8. Lyin' Eyes
9. Certain Kind of Fool
10. Life In The Fast Lane

OFFICIAL WEB SITE: www.eaglesband.com

It all started in the early 1970s when Glenn Frey, a native of Detroit "Rock City," Michigan, and Don Henley, from Gilmer, a small town in eastern Texas, met in Los Angeles. Jackson Brown, John David Souther, and others collaborated on several of their early hits, as Henley and Frey formed one of the greastest creative musical matches since Lennon and McCartney. The group achieved commercial success and critical acclaim in creating a fusion of country and rock music, defining the "California sound," along with Fleetwood Mac. Their spectacular success in the late 1970s, culminating in "Hotel California," offered hope for humanity in the face of the soulless onslaught of disco music. Tragically, the group broke up in 1981 .

Drummer Don Henley (www.donhenley.com) was always the more serious conscientious one, a characteristic that became more pronounced after the Eagles split up. He went on to have a prolific solo career, and his song "The Boys Of Summer" was one of the biggest hit singles of the 1980s. He went on to release other studio albums, including The End of the Innocence (1989) and Inside Job (2000).

Guitarist Glenn Frey (see his blog) was the more fun-loving half of the duo. He also had success as a post-Eagles solist, most notably "You Belong to the City." He also appeared in a couple episodes of "Miami Vice."

Bernie Leadon played guitar, banjo, and dobro on the Eagles' early albums, giving the group an authentic country "flavor." Ultimately, the group decided they wanted to go more in the direction of rock, and he was the first band member to leave.

Randy Meisner, from Scotts Bluff, Nebraska, was the original bassist with the group. He too was strongly on the country side of rock, and his unique vocal style stood out on "Certain Kind of Fool" (one of my favorites), "Take It to the Limit" and "Too Many Hands." He left the group in 1977, shortly after Hotel California was released.

Don Felder, a true guitar virtuoso, arrived during the recording of On the Border in 1974, and had a big impact on "Already Gone." He played with the Eagles on their "Hell Freezes Over" reunion tour (1994), but not after that.

The addition of Joe Walsh (www.joewalsh.com) in 1976 made the Eagles a true "super group." He came from the Cleveland-based hard-rock trio The James Gang, replacing Bernie Leadon. His exhuberant attitude added a lot to the group, which played his anthem "Life's Been Good" and other hits.

Timothy B. Schmit (www.timothybschmit.com) came from the mellow country-rock group Poco to replace Randy Meisner, whom he had also replaced in Poco. His soft voice added even greater depth to the Eagles' renowned vocal harmonies.

Year	Album	Drums	Guitar	Bass	Guitar	Guitar
1972	The Eagles	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Randy Meisner	Bernie Leadon	.
1973	Desperado	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Randy Meisner	Bernie Leadon	.
1974	On the Border	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Randy Meisner	Bernie Leadon	Don Felder
1975	One of These Nights	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Randy Meisner	Bernie Leadon	Don Felder
1976	(Their Greatest Hits, 1971-1975)	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Randy Meisner	Bernie Leadon	Don Felder
1976	Hotel California	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Randy Meisner	Joe Walsh	Don Felder
1979	The Long Run	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Timothy B. Schmit	Joe Walsh	Don Felder
1980	Eagles Live	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Timothy B. Schmit	Joe Walsh	Don Felder
1982	(Greatest Hits, Volume 2)	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Timothy B. Schmit	Joe Walsh	Don Felder
1994	Hell Freezes Over (mostly live) : 1 CD	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Timothy B. Schmit	Joe Walsh	Don Felder
2000	(Selected Works, 1972-1999) : 2 CD	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Timothy B. Schmit	Joe Walsh	.
2003	(The Very Best Of) : 2 CD	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Timothy B. Schmit	Joe Walsh	.
2007	Long Road Out of Eden : 2 CD	Don Henley	Glenn Frey	Timothy B. Schmit	Joe Walsh	.

NOTES: All band members do vocals, but Henley or Frey usually sing lead. All band members play multiple instruments. Album titles in parentheses are compilations of previously released songs recorded in studios. Albums prior to 1990s were (analog) vinyl LPs.

Latin American folk music

This table of charango chords is based on a pamphlet that came with the charango I bought in Cuzco, Peru in March 2004. A charango is a very small ten-stringed instrument with a rounded body, roughly comparable to a ukelele but with a much richer, almost haunting tone. The numbers correspond to, respectively,
the index finger (1),
the middle finger (2),
the ring finger (3), and
the little finger (4).

Also see: Introduction to Latin American culture

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