JDIZZY's 365 # 357: Doolin-Dalton

Doolin-Dalton - The Eagles (1973)

The Eagles have become such an institution of American music that it is easy to overlook what made them so in the first place: Incredible Songcraft.

Taken from their second album Desperado, today's tracks is a fairytale love letter to the old west. In more ways than any other piece in their catalog, it shows how easy the transition from "Peaceful, Easy Feeling" to "Hotel California" was. The Eagles rode into the country's ears on the Laurel Canyon/California Singer Songwriter vibe, but even from this track's birth, their was an underpinning of darkness that permeated their sound. This album respects the outlaws much more than the lawmen, as Hotel's tracks revel in the underside of late 70's LA. The Eagles were a pessimistic bunch. All one has to do is listen to this stunning song, then do yourself a favor and pick up this landmark disc. I promise you'll never look at "Desperado" as the same love song after hearing it combined with "Dalton"'s melody in the album's closing reprise.

Tombstone and "Doolin-Dalton"? Can't beat it!



JD Souther helped co-write this song with the boys. His acoustic version gives me chills.