Ticket 2 Ride

Believe it or not, Don Henley had a solo career when the Eagles weren’t on a farewell tour. Henley has released only five solo albums in 43 years, with most of those released in the 1980s, while the Eagles were on hiatus.

I Can’t Stand Still (1982) is not a dud by any measure, but overall is his weakest album. The early 1980s was not kind to huge selling rockers of the 1970s; radio was looking for other sounds. There are several standouts, the title track, “Dirty Laundry”, “Talking to the Moon” and Danny Kortchmar’s “You Better Hang Up.”

Henley and Kortchmar co-wrote most of the songs, and also co-produced the album with engineer Greg Ladanyi. Henley got a lot of help with friends including J.D. Souther, Timothy B. Schmidt, Joe Walsh, members of Toto, Waddy Wachtel, Benmont Tench, Bob Glaub, Lee Sklar and Andrew Gold.

Cass County (2015) was praised for Henley’s return to the smooth country-rock of the early Eagles. An “album for adults” as some fans said. Henley recorded the album mostly in Nashville, and it began as a covers and duets album, until he changed directed and did some writing with his pals to focus more on his own ideas.

Forty years earlier, Henley changed the direction of the Eagles to lose the country sound in favor of harder rock and orchestrated anthems. Don Felder had been recruited the year before for guitar muscle, and Bernie Leadon, who liked country and bluegrass, left the band, to be replaced by Joe Walsh. Henley and Frey had mostly jettisoned the country-rock flavor from the band’s sound.

Ironically, many aging rockers have turned to country music to prolong their careers and widen their audience base. Cass County, named for where Henley grew up, gave Henley a foothold with the more conservative country base, one that would find themselves sitting in seats for the Eagles endless farewell tour.

Don’t get me wrong, Cass County is a fine album of laidback country and gentle duets. It’s flawlessly produced and strong in melodies. Unfortunately, none of the songs stayed with me after a couple of listens. I don’t dislike it, I’m just not sure what to like.

Inside Job (2000), Henley sounds like Peter Gabriel, pounding, industrial percussion, synth bass, drum machines, harsh guitar. Lush production. Reviewers note how this album sounds more in keeping with recordings made a decade earlier by the studio techniques used. Rumor was that Henley did not record new music, as he waited for his record contract to run out, so he could shop this recording around for a better deal.

Henley is in good voice here. This was his first solo in 11 years. Written and produced with Stan Lynch (formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), and performed with a bevy of top studio musicians including Danny Kortchmar, David Paich, Benmont Tench, Mike Campbell, Jai Winding and Randy Jackson.

“On My Wedding Day”, “Taking You Home”, “Everything is Different” is bluesy in a 1980s way, given the studio processing on Campbell’s guitar sound. “Inside Job” is a decent rocker. I like the acoustic sound of “Damn It, Rose”, it sounds close to an Eagles song. I like “The Genie” in spite of the production. The mechanical sounding drum beat and the U2 type guitar sounds very passé today. “Annabel” sounds remotely like “Desperado”, I guess it’s okay to steal from yourself.

This is a well-produced album, even if the songs are starting to sound familiar.

Building the Perfect Beast (1984) is vast improvement over his debut. “The Boys of Summer” is his best solo song ever. Mike Campbell wrote the music and Henley the words. Tom Petty rejected the song, so Campbell offered it to Henley who snapped it up. The success of this song pissed off Petty, even though he passed on it.

The album was produced by Don Henley, Danny Kortchmar, Greg Ladanyi and Mike Campbell.

“Not Enough Love in the World”, “All She Wants to Do is Dance”, “Sunset Grill” and “Driving With Your Eyes Closed” are also among Henley’s best. Very solid, strong melodies and lyrics that paint vivid pictures. “A Month of Sundays” is the required slow, poignant ballad. It’s a nice one.

Henley made the album in partnership with Danny Kortchmar, who wrote or co-wrote most of the songs. It’s primarily his guitar that powers most of these songs, but most of the Heartbreakers, and top players contribute to this album.

The album won a Grammy and sold over three million copies in the U.S.

The End of the Innocence (1989) was produced by Don Henley, Mike Campbell, John Corey, Bruce Hornsby, Danny Kortchmar and Stan Lynch. In addition to Henley, Kortchmar, Campbell, Corey and Lynch, others working on the album Bruce Hornsby, Jai Winding, David Paich, Waddy Watchel, Bob Glaub, Nino Palladino, Larry Klein, Steve Jordan, Jim Keltner and Wayne Shorter.

This is a more diverse album than Henley’s others. The title track, written by Henley and Bruce Hornsby, was nominated for three Grammy Awards and won for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male.

“The Last Worthless Evening” is sublime. It starts off in a familiar Henley style but it doesn’t fall in the same groove. It’s fresh and shimmering. “New York Minute” is the same; quite original and still has a familiar thread that pulls us in. “The Heart of the Matter” is another home run, its smooth, jangly guitars and warm feel.

There’s not a bad song in the bunch, not every one is a classic, but the effort is there. The 1980s production sound is a downer, but it was popular at the time. It’s too bad that some of that sheen can’t be peeled off. The guitar sound is raw, but very slick. It would be a few years until grunge, so in the meantime these guitars have that Genesis feel: tough, but not scary.

I like this album a lot despite the dated production sound. Henley really branched out and broadened his sound. From the opening chords of the title song, you know something is different. The Hornsby piano and chord changes immediately grab you.

The album sold more than six million copies in the U.S. and earned Henley a Grammy Award.

Final thoughts…

None of these five are bad albums, each of them served as a musical outlet while the Eagles were inactive. Henley has teamed with several main songwriters outside of Glenn Frey, with Stan Lynch, Danny Kortchmar and Mike Campbell the most frequent collaborators. Henley has the means and connections to work with the best musicians, recording professionals and songwriters, that’s been a constant across his recording career. What I have noticed is that he’s uses the best, but he relies on a core group for most of his collaborations.

From the early 1980s to the 2000s, Henley has made concessions to contemporary sounds and studio technology, but his core sound and musical ideas have been consistent. As a writer, Henley has always been a deep thinker, the idea man in the Eagles. Most of his songs are not the depth of “Desperado” or “Hotel California”, but who is writing those kinds of songs? If it’s a love song or dealing with loss, Henley writes intelligent lyrics, phrased with a different flavor. Age has changed his writing, new reflections on life, lessons, failures, experiences.

My own ranking of his albums from good to best are:

• I Can’t Stand Still
• Cass County
• Inside Job
• Building the Perfect Beast
• The End of the Innocence