Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles
Compilation album by
various artists
ReleasedOctober 12, 1993 (1993-10-12)
GenreCountry
Length56:46
LabelGiant
ProducerVarious

Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles is a tribute album to American rock band Eagles. It was released in 1993 on Giant Records to raise funds for the Walden Woods Project. The album features covers of various Eagles songs, as performed by country music acts. It was certified 3× Platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 27, 1994, honoring shipments of three million copies in the United States.[1] Several cuts from the album all charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts after the album's release, the most successful being Travis Tritt's rendition of "Take It Easy" at number 21. Common Thread won all of its performers a Country Music Association Award for Album of the Year at the 1994 ceremony.

Background

The album was initiated by Eagles co-founder Don Henley with help from the band's manager, Irving Azoff.[2] It was intended as a charity album to raise funds for the Walden Woods Project that Henley founded in 1990 to buy the land around Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts.[3][4] On the back cover of the album, it states:

A portion of the royalties from the sales of this collection will go to the Walden Woods Project, a non-profit organization founded in 1990. The purpose of the Walden Woods Project is to purchase, and thereby preserve, environmentally sensitive and historically significant forestland located near Henry David Thoreau's famed retreat at Walden Pond.

The idea for a charity album with country musicians came after a Walden Woods benefit concert in Los Angeles in May 1992 where several country artists also appeared. Later in the year at the 1992 Country Music Awards show, where Henley performed with Trisha Yearwood in a duet, a number of artists told Henley how the Eagles’ music had inspired them. Henley and Azoff then decided that the project may be feasible, and with the help of record producer James Stroud, a number of country musicians were chosen for the album.[4] The Eagles themselves were not involved as a band in this project, however, and none of its members played on the album,[2] although Timothy B. Schmit provided harmony vocals for Vince Gill's rendition of "I Can't Tell You Why".[5]

"Take It Easy"

The most notable track in the album was the cover of "Take It Easy" by Travis Tritt. In March 1994, the song reached No. 21 on the US Country chart,[6] and No. 12 on the Canadian RPM chart.[7] For the music video of his rendition of "Take It Easy", Tritt requested that Eagles join him for the filming, and the resulting video featured the full Long Run-era lineup of the Eagles (Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Don Felder, Joe Walsh, and Schmit).[8] It would be the first time since disbanding in 1980 that the five members of the band appeared together (Frey, Henley, Walsh and Schmit, however, had all united for a benefit concert in 1990).[9] Their appearance on the video subsequently led to the band being officially reformed. Both Frey and Henley met with their management over lunch two months later and agreed to a reunion. A new album, Hell Freezes Over, was released and a concert tour launched the following year.[10] Frey, who had previously been reluctant to reunite with the band, later said of the making of the video: "After years passed, you really sort of remember that you were friends first ... I just remembered how much we genuinely had liked each other and how much fun we'd had."[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic -[11]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[12]

An uncredited review from AllMusic rated the album 2 out of 5 stars, stating that "Ironically, all of the interpretations on Common Thread are more pop/rock-oriented than the original versions, making the album a well-intentioned but pointless exercise."[11] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly rated the album "B−". He criticized the album for lacking "harder songs, like 'Life in the Fast Lane'", as well as the arrangements of the artists' recordings. Although he described the latter as "slavishly devoted to the original recordings", Browne thought that the vocal performances of Tanya Tucker, Alan Jackson, and John Anderson were among the strongest.[12]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Take It Easy" (Travis Tritt)Jackson Browne, Glenn FreyJames Stroud3:32
2."Peaceful Easy Feeling" (Little Texas)Jack TempchinChristy DiNapoli, Doug Grau4:19
3."Desperado" (Clint Black)Don Henley, FreyJames Stroud3:51
4."Heartache Tonight" (John Anderson)Henley, Frey, Bob Seger, J. D. SoutherJames Stroud4:23
5."Tequila Sunrise" (Alan Jackson)Henley, FreyKeith Stegall2:56
6."Take It to the Limit" (Suzy Bogguss)Randy Meisner, Henley, FreySuzy Bogguss4:32
7."I Can't Tell You Why" (Vince Gill)Timothy B. Schmit, Henley, FreyTony Brown4:04
8."Lyin' Eyes" (Diamond Rio)Henley, FreyMonty Powell6:30
9."New Kid in Town" (Trisha Yearwood)Henley, Frey, SoutherGarth Fundis5:07
10."Saturday Night" (Billy Dean)Meisner, Henley, Frey, Bernie LeadonLynn Peterzell, Billy Dean3:25
11."Already Gone" (Tanya Tucker)Tempchin, Robb StradlundJerry Crutchfield5:00
12."Best of My Love" (Brooks & Dunn)Henley, Frey, SoutherDon Cook, Scott Hendricks4:38
13."The Sad Café" (Lorrie Morgan)Henley, Frey, Joe Walsh, SoutherRichard Landis4:45

Personnel

Compiled from liner notes.[13]

Musicians

"Take It Easy"
"Peaceful Easy Feeling"
"Desperado"
"Heartache Tonight"
"Tequila Sunrise"
"Take It to the Limit"
"I Can't Tell You Why"
"Lyin' Eyes"
"New Kid in Town"
"Saturday Night"
"Already Gone"
"Best of My Love"
"The Sad Café"

Technical

Production The 1994 Country Music Association (CMA) award for Album of the Year was awarded jointly to Suzy Bogguss, Tony Brown, Don Cook, Jerry Crutchfield, Billy Dean, Christy DiNapoli, Garth Fundis, Doug Grau, Scott Hendricks, Richard Landis, Lynn Peterzell, Monty Powell, Keith Stegall, and James Stroud for their contributions in producing the album.[14]

Charts and certification

References

  1. ^ a b "American album certifications – Various – Common Threads". Recording Industry Association of America.
  2. ^ a b c Andrew Leahey (December 17, 2014). "Flashback: See Feuding Eagles 'Take It Easy' With Travis Tritt". Rolling Stone.
  3. ^ "Home | Walden Woods". Walden.org. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  4. ^ a b Bob Cannon (October 15, 1993). "Don Henley's Walden Woods Project". Entertainment Weekly.
  5. ^ Whitaker, Sterling. "Remember When Vince Gill Covered the Eagles?". Taste of Country.
  6. ^ "Hot Country Songs: March 12, 1994". Billboard.
  7. ^ a b "RPM Country Track". RPM. March 14, 1994.
  8. ^ "Eagles biography". CMT. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
  9. ^ "Eagles biography". MTV. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014.
  10. ^ Gayle Thompson (May 27, 2015). "21 Years Ago: The Eagles Reunite for Hell Freezes Over Tour". The Boot.
  11. ^ a b "AllMusic review". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2012-06-20.
  12. ^ a b Browne, David (October 15, 1993). "Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  13. ^ Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles (CD insert). Various artists. Giant Records. 1993. 24531.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ "Past Cma Awards Winners" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-06-20.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "RPM Country Albums/CDs - Volume 59, No. 3" (PDF). RPM magazine. February 7, 1994.
  16. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2311". RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  17. ^ "Various Artists Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  18. ^ "Various Artists Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  19. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 1993". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  20. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1994". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  21. ^ "Top Country Albums – Year-End 1994". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  22. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  23. ^ "Country Tracks: Volume 58, No. 24" (PDF). RPM. Library and Archives Canada. December 25, 1993.
  24. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Various Artists – Common Thread". Music Canada.
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