The Eagles have influenced countless artists and bands, with their flawless vocals and seamless harmonies. The group is mostly known for their rock songs, although many of their songs sound like they could easily be hits at country radio as well. We picked four of our favorite songs by the Eagles that sound like they belong at country radio.
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1. "Take It Easy"
"Take It Easy" was released by the Eagles in 1972, as the group's debut single. The song, written by the Eagles' own Glenn Frey and Jackson Browne, both lyrically and melodically seem a perfect fit for country radio. Fortunately, Travis Tritt agreed. He recorded his own version of the song for Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles, an Eagles tribute album. Tritt released his version to radio, which became a Top 20 hit for him.
Ironically, it's Tritt's version of the song that the Eagles credit with helping them get back together, when they reunited to film the video with Tritt.
2. "Love Will Keep Us Alive"
Country music loves a feel-good love song, which is exactly what "Love Will Keep Us Alive" is. The song, out in 1994 from their Hell Freezes Over record, has lines that include "Now I've found you / There's no more emptiness inside / When we're hungry / Love will keep us alive." With its slow tempo and sweet lyrics, "Love Will Keep Us Alive" could have just as easily been sung by any of the big '90s artists instead.
3. "New Kid In Town"
"New Kid In Town," from their Hotel California record, was written by Eagles' members Frey and Don Henley, along with J.D. Souther. Released in 1976, the song is a tongue-in-cheek reference to their own rising fame.
"It's about the fleeting, fickle nature of love and romance," Henley later explains (via American Songwriter). "It's also about the fleeting nature of fame, especially in the music business. We were basically saying, 'Look, we know we're red hot right now but we also know that somebody's going to come along and replace us—both in music and in love."
4. "Tequila Sunrise"
"Tequila Sunrise" came out in 1972. The song is about as country-sounding as any of the country hits in released in that decade, or any decade after that, for that matter. Henley and Frey wrote the song, which Alan Jackson covers on Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles. It remains one of Frey's favorite songs.
"I love the song," he tells Far Out. "I think the goal of any songwriter is to make a song appear seamless, to never show the struggle. Nothing should sound forced. 'Tequila Sunrise' was written fairly quickly, and I don't think there's a single chord out of place."
