Desperado (Eagles song)

"Desperado" is a song by the American rock band Eagles. The track was written by Glenn Frey and Don Henley and appeared on the 1973 album Desperado as well as numerous compilation albums. It ranked No. 494 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[2]

"Desperado"
Song by Eagles
from the album Desperado
Released	April 17, 1973
Recorded	Early 1973
Genre	Soft rock[1]
Length	3:33
Label	Asylum
Songwriter(s)	Glenn Frey, Don Henley
Producer(s)	Glyn Johns
Audio sample
Vocal and piano intro file help

Composition

According to Henley, Desperado was based on a song he started in 1968, written in the style of old songs by Stephen Foster.[3] The song was originally about a friend named Leo and began with "Leo, my God, why don't you come to your senses..."[4] In 1972, after they had recorded their first album Eagles in London, Glenn Frey and Henley decided that they should write songs together.[5] In their first songwriting session after returning from London, Henley played Frey the unfinished version of the song, and said: "When I play it and sing it, I think of Ray Charles and Stephen Foster. It's really a Southern Gothic thing, but we can easily make it more Western."[4] According to Henley, Frey "leapt right on it – filled in the blanks and brought structure", and the song became "Desperado". Henley added: "And that was the beginning of our songwriting partnership ... that's when we became a team."[4]

Recording

The song was recorded at Island Studios in London, with musicians from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra was conducted by Jim Ed Norman, Henley's friend from his former band Shiloh, who also wrote and arranged the strings for the song.[6][7] According to Henley, he was given only four or five takes to record the song by the producer Glyn Johns who wanted to record the album quickly and economically.[3] Henley felt intimidated by the large orchestra, and would later express regret that he did not sing as well as he could.[8] He said: "I didn't sing my best ... I wish I could have done that song again."[9]

Reception

"Desperado" is one of Eagles' most famous songs, and it was ranked No. 494 on the Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004.[2] It was voted the No. 2 favorite Eagles song in a poll of Rolling Stone readers.[10] In 2000 the song was listed in MOJO magazine's list of greatest songs compiled with songs nominated by songwriters such as Paul McCartney, Hal David, and Brian Wilson.[11] Members of the Western Writers of America included it in their list of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[12]

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic considered it one of Eagles' major compositions.[13][14] Paul Gambaccini of Rolling Stone felt it was Henley's rough voice that made the song memorable.[15] Their recording never charted on Billboard until the death of Glenn Frey, when it reached No. 20 on the Rock Digital Songs chart.[16] After the antagonist of the film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 claimed that "Brandy" by the Looking Glass was "Earth's finest composition", the lead singer of the Looking Glass countered that Desperado should have that title.[17]

Personnel

• Don Henley – lead vocals, drums
• Glenn Frey – piano, backing vocals
• Bernie Leadon – electric guitar, backing vocals
• Randy Meisner – bass, backing vocals
• Jim Ed Norman – string arrangement

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[18]	Silver	200,000
sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Cover versions

Charted versions

• Johnny Rodriguez's version on his 1976 album Reflecting was released as a single, and reached No. 5 on both the Country Singles charts of Billboard in the United States and RPM in Canada.[19][20]
• Carpenters' version on their 1975 album Horizon, choosing not to release it as a single.
• Clint Black on Eagles' tribute album Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles. His rendition peaked at No. 54 on Hot Country Songs in 1993 in the US,[21] and No. 52 on the Country chart in Canada.[22]
• Diana Krall covered the song on her 2015 album Wallflower and released as a single in September 2014.[23] The song debuted on Billboard's Jazz Digital Songs chart at No. 3.[24]
• Alisan Porter performed the song as a competitor in the tenth season of The Voice TV series. Her version of the song charted on Bubbling Under Hot 100 at No. 9,[25] and No. 24 on Digital Songs.[26]

Other versions

• Linda Ronstadt on her 1973 album Don't Cry Now.[9] Henley credited Ronstadt for popularizing the song with this early cover of the song,[3] and described her version as "poignant, and beautiful".[27]
• Kenny Rogers on his 1977 album Daytime Friends.
• Chris LeDoux on his 1982 album Used to Want to Be a Cowboy.[28]
• Johnny Cash on his 2002 album American IV: The Man Comes Around. Henley sings backup on the track.
• Superfly (band) on their 2010 album Wildflower and Cover Songs: Complete Best.[29]
• Miranda Lambert performed the song at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors as a tribute to Eagles.[30]
• Kristin Chenoweth covered the song on her 2019 album For The Girls.[31]

In popular culture

The original song was featured in the Seinfeld episode "The Checks."[32] In the episode, the song's impact is poked fun at, as various characters have to pause whatever they are doing and listen to the song, often becoming somber and withdrawn when they do so.

The song inspired the title of the 1987 Western TV movie, Desperado, written by Elmore Leonard.[33] It also served as the theme music for the TV movie, and its four sequels.

References

1. Horn, David; Shepherd, John, eds. (2012). Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. 8 – Genres: North America. Continuum. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-4411-6078-2.
2. "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 17, 2006.
3. Browne, David (June 10, 2016). "Eagles' Complete Discography: Don Henley Looks Back". Rolling Stone.
4. Cameron Crowe (August 2003). "Conversations With Don Henley and Glenn Frey". The Uncool.
5. Travis Smiley. "Glenn Frey Tribute – Part 1". PBS.
6. Graeme Thomson (May 21, 2014). "The Eagles on Desperado: "We were quite taken with the idea of being outlaws..."". Uncut.
7. Paul Verna (July 10, 1993). "Eagles Songs Get Country Coverage". Billboard.
8. Bob Doeschuk (September 21, 2015). "10 Things We Learned From Billy Joel's Interview With Don Henley". Rolling Stone.
9. "Desperado by Eagles". Song Facts.
10. "Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Eagles Songs". Rolling Stone. July 29, 2015.
11. Colin Blackstock (July 13, 2000). "Beatles head list of greatest songs". The Guardian.
12. Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
13. William Ruhlmann. "Eagles: Desperado". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation.
14. William Ruhlmann. "Song Review - Eagles: Desperado". AllMusic.
15. Paul Gambaccini (May 10, 1973). "Desperado". Rolling Stone.
16. "Rock Digital Songs". Billboard. February 6, 2016.
17. Earth’s finest composition
18. "British single certifications – Eagles – Desperado". British Phonographic Industry.
19. "Johnny Rodriguez: Awards". AllMusic.
20. "Country Playlist: Volume 27, No. 1" (PDF). RPM. Library and Archives Canada. April 2, 1977.
21. "Hot Country Songs: November 27, 1993". Billboard.
22. "Country Tracks: Volume 58, No. 24" (PDF). RPM. Library and Archives Canada. December 25, 1993.
23. Brian Mansfield (September 22, 2014). "Premiere: Diana Krall covers 'Desperado'". USA TODAY.
24. "Jazz Digital Songs". Billboard. October 11, 2014.
25. Brian Cantor (May 24, 2016). "Chance The Rapper, Alisan Porter, J Balvin Score Debuts on Bubbling Under Hot 100". Headline Planet.
26. "Digital Songs". Billboard. June 4, 2016.
27. History of the Eagles. 2013. Event occurs at 54:15–54:45.
28. "Cover versions of Desperado by Chris LeDoux | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
29. "Superfly: Wildflower & Cover Songs: Complete Best". Discogs. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
30. Sophie Schillaci (December 30, 2015). "Miranda Lambert Covers The Eagles' 'Desperado' In Show-Stopping Kennedy Center Honors Performance". Entertainment Tonight.
31. www.amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VRHS25L/ref=pm_ws_tlw_trk12. Retrieved 2019-11-25. Missing or empty |title= (help)
32. Dave Tobener (December 23, 2014). "The Best One-Time Character in 'Seinfeld' History". The AP Party.
33. Walter Mirisch, I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History (2008), p. 372.