Peaceful Easy Feeling - A Tribute to Glenn Frey

It was the summer of 1995, the worst summer of my life.  I was 16 and I had just been thrown out of the only home I had ever known by a step-father who was divorcing my mother, and after a few choice words from her son, he wanted no more to do with me.

After completing my freshman year of high school, I was bouncing around from house to house with my mother.  I was lost, hurt, and scared of the possibilities of never finding stability again.  Yet somehow in that time of darkness I found peace in the music of the Eagles.

Before 1995, I only had a slimmer of of knowledge of who the Eagles were.  I had heard some of their songs most notably "Desperado" and "Take It Easy" but only because they had been covered by Country Music singers Clint Black and Travis Tritt respectively.  I barely remembered "Hotel California".  However, when my mother's boyfriend (ugh) purchased a VHS copy of "The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over" tour and played it on his VCR, I sat there in front of that TV and found some peace.  I became hooked, and the Eagles easily became my favorite all-time band.

I hate to admit it, but even with all my years surrounded by church music since the fall of 1995, the music of the Eagles has been more spiritual of an experience to me than any so-called Christian music.  The lyrics speak to me, the rhythm and music strummed by the strings of the guitars are glorious to my ears.  Whenever an Eagles song comes on the radio, time for me stops and everyone and everything around me disappears.  Just ask my wife.  Short of streaking across my field of vision nude for all the world to see, there is nothing that can shake me out of the trance I am in when the Eagles start playing.

They mean that much to me.  Their songs like "Desperado" speak to the wandering soul within me, "Peaceful, Easy Feeling" reminds me of a God who won't let me down, and "Hole In The World" reminds me of the damage that blind hatred can do to one another.  Their song "The Last Resort" reminds me of paradise lost and how we have truly hurt this world.  I can't say enough about their music.

I dreamed of seeing the Eagles live in concert but timing and finances prevented me from it.  Now I realize I may never get to.

As I was washing the dishes earlier this evening, my wife texted me informing me of the passing of co-founder Glenn Frey.  When it comes to The Eagles, Don Henley and Glenn Frey are the heart, soul, and mind of the group.  Losing one is like ripping a wing off of an eagle permanently grounding it for life.  

I know many argue about the egos of Henley and Frey, but no one can argue the music these two made together.  Many of the songs that became Eagles hits were written by these two.  Yes there are others in the Eagles like Joe Walsh, Timothy Schmidt, and at one time Don Felder; however, without Henley and Frey the Eagles would never have soared.

Glenn Frey brought a hard edge to the soft, melodic tonality of Don Henley.  Frey could belt out that Detroit steel, street sound only to head down South and give us some country.  Frey was a singer, guitar player, keyboardist, and song writer.  Don Henley called Frey an encyclopedia of modern music.  Frey, along with many of the other members of the Eagles, represent a true renaissance of a musical artist that is rare to find in today's synthetic, pop, sing-by-the-numbers formula being forced through the radio.  Frey was talent, and I dare say other than Henley and Walsh, few could dare touch Frey's level of genius.  I even enjoyed some of his solo work particularly "You Belong to the City".  There was just something primal and rough about that song that reverbrated within me. 

I popped in my DVD of "The Eagles" Farewell Tour I" this evening and watched the whole concert with my wife and 2-year-old son Liam.  I cried as the Eagles belted out "Hole In The World" because there truly is a hole in that group, and in my life that can never be filled.  However, like Frey sung, there is a peaceful, easy feeling.  Frey was suffering from multiple medical conditions but he no longer does.  The Desperado has ridden his last horse, he's seen his last Tequilla Sunrise.  

I can go on and on with every song title he has helped to write to send Glenn Frey off, but I think I have said enough.  Music can truly speak to the soul, and Glenn Frey's music did exactly that.

Soar high Eagle, go and rest in music; direct that great symphony in the sky.