How On the Border Encapsulated the Magic of the Eagles
Looking back on the superstar band’s underrated third album
By the time On the Border was released on March 22, 1974, the Eagles had already established themselves as the new standard-bearers of the ‘70s roots rock regimen.
Not that they were the first; Poco, the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had already planted the seeds for what would become popularly known as Americana in the decades to come. Nevertheless, the Eagles brought that California country-rock approach to the masses and with it, soared with a sound that quickly secured them their mainstream appeal.
The band’s first two albums — their eponymous debut and its follow-up, Desperado — established that easy, accessible sound early on, courtesy of such radio-ready offerings as “Take It Easy,” “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” “Desperado,” and “Tequila Sunrise,” songs that combined an outlaw sensibility with a seemingly effortless allure. They conjured up an eternal idyllic image of California’ dream-like environs, albeit from a rugged and oftentimes rowdy perspective.
That said, On the Border was the album that brought all those disparate elements together and encapsulated the magic and mystique ingrained within their outlaw ethos. It spawned three successful stand-out songs — a pair of reliable rockers in the form of “Already Gone” and “James Dean,” and the soft, supple ballad, “Best of My Love,” the latter of which eventually went to Number One. It also marked a change in its personnel ranks, adding future member Don Felder on guitar for two of the tracks, “Already Gone” and “Good Day In Hell,” even as guitarist/vocalist Glenn Frey, singer/drummer Don Henley, electric guitarist/banjo picker/steel guitarist Bernie Leadon, and bassist Randy Meisner remained the essential standbys. In addition, pedal steel player and veteran of the Southern California music scene, Al Perkins, made a cameo appearance as well.
Notably, too, there was also a shift in the production seat. Veteran British producer Glyn Johns, who had overseen the first two Eagles albums, ceded his spot to Bill Szymczyk after the album’s initial sessions, due to the band’s desire for a more rock-steady sound. Symczyk had proven in his prowess in that regard courtesy of productions for The Who, Joe Walsh, Elvin Bishop and the James Gang. The early recordings in London with Johns at the helm were fraught with tension, due not only to direction but Johns’ insistence on a drug-free regimen. Eventually the group relocated to Miami’s Criteria Studios and later, the Record Plant in L.A., allowing the album to come to final fruition.
Those rowdier results were manifest in the aforementioned “James Dean,” “Already Gone,” “On the Border” and “Good Day In Hell.” The latter meant as a tribute to a pair of contemporaries — Crazy Horse’s Danny Whitten and Americana icon Gram Parsons, whose deaths due to drugs put a dark cloud over the roots rock horizons. The title track had its own deeper meaning as well. It referenced the Watergate Scandal and finds Frey intoning at the end, ”Say Goodnight, Dick” as a not-so-fine farewell to Richard Nixon insight of his resignation. Leadon shared his sentiments as well, courtesy of his song “My Man,” written in memory of Parsons with whom he played prior to joining the Eagles as part of the Flying Burrito Brothers. He references Parson’s “Hickory Wind” with the line “like a flower he bloomed till that old hickory wind called him home.”
Not that the band had abandoned their more tender tendencies entirely. A take on Tom Waits’ beautiful ballad “Ol 55” shares a sense of nostalgia that comes when one is enamored by their first car and compelled to embrace that special bond between man and machine.
On its release, On the Border did respectably well, reaching the top 20 on the Billboard album chart while selling some two million copies, easily outpacing its predecessors. Reviews were mainly mixed, but overall, the critics seemed pleased with the Eagles’ new direction. In many regards, it was a transitory effort, one that set the stage for its follow-up One of These Nights and, more specifically, their greatest hits LP, which remains one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Clearly then, On the Border breached the boundary between past and future. True to its title, it literally pierced the parameters.
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