Hotel California - 10 things you didn't know: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-eagles-hotel-california-10-things-you-didnt-know-111526
Not sure I would call it the best cover ever of this song, although I can't honestly say I've heard all that many covers It is indeed a lovely cover although I think the words the lyric are very important as well and this is an acoustic folk instrumental cover.
Wow, I was not aware of this link That Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) thought it was suspiciously like his work a song called "We used to know" and hell it really is similar but Anderson was gracious and stated this: "It was a piece of music that we were playing around the time... I believe it was late '71, maybe early '72 when we were on tour and we had a support band who had been signed up for the tour, and subsequently, before the tour began, had a hit single. The song, I believe, called "Take It Easy." And they were indeed the Eagles. We didn't interact with them very much because they were countrified laid back polite rock, and we were a bit wacky and English and doing weird stuff. And I don't think they liked us, and we didn't much like them. There was no communication, really, at all. Just a polite observance of each other's space when it came to sound checks and show time. But they probably heard us play the song, because that would have featured in the sets back then, and maybe it was just something they kind of picked up on subconsciously, and introduced that chord sequence into their famous song "Hotel California" sometime later. But, you know, it's not plagiarism. It's just the same chord sequence. It's in a different time signature, different key, different context. And it's a very, very fine song that they wrote, so I can't feel anything other than a sense of happiness for their sake. And I feel flattered that they came across that chord sequence. But it's difficult to find a chord sequence that hasn't been used, and hasn't been the focus of lots of pieces of music. It's harmonic progression is almost a mathematical certainty you're gonna crop up with the same thing sooner or later if you sit strumming a few chords on a guitar."
Yes, the lyrics of the song were, and still are, quite thought-provoking: On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim I had to stop for the night There she stood in the doorway I heard the mission bell And I was thinking to myself "This could be Heaven or this could be Hell" Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way There were voices down the corridor I thought I heard them say Welcome to the Hotel California Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place) Such a lovely face Plenty of room at the Hotel California Any time of year (Any time of year) You can find it here Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat Some dance to remember, some dance to forget So I called up the Captain "Please bring me my wine." He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine." And still those voices are calling from far away Wake you up in the middle of the night Just to hear them say Welcome to the Hotel California Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place) Such a lovely face They livin' it up at the Hotel California What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise) Bring your alibis Mirrors on the ceiling The pink champagne on ice And she said "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device" And in the master's chambers They gathered for the feast They stab it with their steely knives But they just can't kill the beast Last thing I remember I was running for the door I had to find the passage back to the place I was before "Relax," said the night man "We are programmed to receive You can check-out any time you like But you can never leave!" Don Henley: "It's our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles. It's basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about."
I went to see the Eagles in Stafford in about 1977. Fantastic concert. I used to enjoy Joe Walsh’s own stuff too. .
I was at that concert too, John It was at Bingley Hall (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingley_Hall,_Stafford) which was a huge shed where they sometimes sell cattle, if you remember? I saw Bob Marley and the Wailers there also.
It was a long time ago and I didn’t remember it as that type of venue but I recall it was pretty big. Great concert though.
Very stylish... our karaoke actually has a record function on it... perhaps I'll share my own (Friday night) version with you all one day BTW I hadn't heard the Jethro Tull song but I can see his point
I quite like that Jethro Tull song too and I had heard it before but had not made the mental connection.