Quote Originally Posted by MindGoneHaywire
someone decided to make the claim that the Eagles drew heavily...aw, hell, ripped him off...and it followed from there.
since this has become a sorta country-rock thread, this won't be too much a wild tangent, but...

I never understood the Eagles haters. Sure, you don't have to like the Eagles. Sure, they kinda turned into a bunch of self-important dicks, and they proceeded to rip off fans by putting on a decade long farewell tour, and they still have a handful of songs that have been played to death as of two decades ago (and going). And yeah, I did come to the realization a few years ago that they prolly get way too much credit for the country-rock phenomina.

They were a great band at one time, though. They were decent enough writers (and were good friends with better writers), and they were decent enough musicians (and were good friends with better musicians); they made the best of their circumstances, talent and resources, using all three to good effect. They became crazy popular, super rich, and yes, self-important. A friend of mine saw them twice, at the beginning and end of their '70s run. He said they were OK in the beginning, and disinterested toward the end.

But during their heyday, they never put out a bad album IMO. Considering the clash of egos that took place in that band, its amazing that they put out six great albums in a short span (ok, Long Run had some filler). Does it matter that they cherry picked from the artists/sounds that surrounded them? Is it because they got so popular when the 'originators' didn't? If the Eagles are such obvious, overrated copycats, are other acts who infuse country and rock a bunch of hacks?

I'd rather see more artists co-opt Gram Parsons than see one more fvcking black hat act come outta C&W.