Courtesy of AXS TV/Joy Factory
Courtesy of AXS TV/Joy FactoryEx-Eagles guitarist Don Felder stars on the latest episode of the AXS TV series Mixtape, airing tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT.
In a preview clip from the show, Felder shares his recollections about writing the music for the Eagles smash “Hotel California,” as well as his memories of recording the song’s classic dueling guitar solos with Joe Walsh.
“For what was going to become the ‘Hotel California’ record, I was just sitting in a beach house in Malibu, out comes that progression,” he recalls. “I had to go record it.”
Felder then explains that when it came time to record the solo, he figured that he and Walsh would work it out in the studio, but band mate Don Henley had other ideas, wanting them to recreate the dual solo Felder had laid down on his demo.
Don reveals that it wound up taking him and Walsh three days to complete the solo section at the end of “Hotel California,” while noting that “the labor that it took to get that to that level has been worth it.”
Reflecting on the Eagles lineup at that time, which also included Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner, Felder maintains that “having five people in the band that could write, sing and play, to have that much talents in such a huge abundance was like having the Super Bowl of band talent.”
As previously reported, Mixtape features various well-known artists talking about their favorite songs of all time, and sharing their personal playlists of the tunes that shaped their lives and impacted their careers.
Felder’s mixtape includes several Eagles songs, three of his solo tunes, and songs by Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Tom Petty, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Aretha Franklin.
Here’s Don’s full mixtape:
“Sing, Sing Sing” — Benny Goodman
“I Could Write a Book” — Miles Davis Quintet
“Hound Dog” — Elvis Presley
“Tutti Frutti” — Little Richard
“Tutti Frutti” — Pat Boone
“Windy and Warm” — Chet Atkins with the Boston Pops Orchestra
“Free Fallin'” — Tom Petty
“Don’t Keep Me Wonderin'” (Live at the Fillmore East, 1971) — The Allman Brothers Band
“For What It’s Worth” — Buffalo Springfield
“Lazy Days” — The Flying Burrito Brothers
“Free Bird” –Lynyrd Skynyrd
“Emergency” — Tony Williams
“Speak No Evil” — Wayne Shorter
“So What” — Miles Davis
“Too Many Hands” — The Eagles
“Visions” — The Eagles
“How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)” — Jr. Walker & the All Stars
“Hotel California” — The Eagles
“Victim of Love” — The Eagles
“Paradise” — Bee Gees
“The Sad Café” — The Eagles
“Stairway to Heaven” — Led Zeppelin
“Eaten Alive” — Diana Ross
“You’re a Step in the Right Direction” — Barbra Streisand
“Rock Steady” — Aretha Franklin
“You Don’t Know My Name” — Alicia Keys
“According to You” — Orianthi
“Bright Lights” — Gary Clark Jr.
“Rock You” — Don Felder
“American Rock ‘n’ Roll” — Don Felder
“The Way Things Have to Be” — Don Felder
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