Highlights from My Vinyl Collection, Part 7

This is the seventh installment of "Highlights from My Vinyl Collection," an appreciation of great music, not necessarily rare finds or expensive imports. This is not about "deleted Smiths singles and original, not rereleased - underlined - Frank Zappa albums," as Rob Gordon so eloquently put it, though a small few select gems might appear every now and again.



Eagles - One of These Nights

One of These Nights is another record I picked up on the cheap, but continues to fill my life with riches. Eagles is one of the first bands I remember hearing as I grew up. That's how some music works. Some you discover on your own, some you gather through friends, and the earliest music you hear is gained through your parents. My dad used to play a whole mess of great stuff, including the Doobie Brothers, America, Little River Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Boston, and many more, some of which will come up later in this ongoing survey of my record collection. When I was between the ages of five and ten, I was constantly listening to the Eagles' first volume of greatest hits, including three tracks from this 1975 album. The title track, sung by Don Henley, "Lyin' Eyes," sung by Glenn Frey, and "Take it to the Limit" with vocals by Randy Meisner, were those tracks, showcasing the band's versatility, depth of talent, and songwriting prowess. I love these songs. Meisner's falsetto on two of these songs alone is worth hearing on the original vinyl. I remember talking to Blake Sennett in an interview at the Crocodile Cafe, in which he revealed to me his love of "One of These Nights," the song and the album. He said that a lot of The Elected's second album, Sun, Sun, Sun, was somewhat an attempt to capture that kind of California AM rock sound. I hope I can find the other albums in the band's catalog for the same prices, as I'd love to hear songs like "Take it Easy," "Witchy Woman," "Peaceful Easy Feeling," "Tequila Sunrise," "Desperado," "Already Gone," and "Best of My Love" on gloriously warm vinyl. Or, maybe I can just pick up one of the several million copies of the Greatest Hits, Vol.1 again.