Longbranch Pennywhistle was a band established in 1966 by Glenn Frey and J.D. Souther, when Frey was just 18 years old. The duo played more than a handful of gigs at Doug Weston's Troubadour in Los Angeles, beating even The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield to the punch. Frey and Souther had met earlier that year at an L.A. coffeehouse, introduced by their girlfriends, who were sisters. Before year's end, Longbranch Pennywhistle played McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, and, feeling confident and invincible, approached Jimmy Bowen, who had just started Amos Records. Bowen said their sound reminded him of early Everly Brothers, and wanted them so badly he offered a West Hollywood apartment and a piece of Amos' publishing rights to sign with the fledgling label.
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Frey and Souther |
Souther would begin a successful solo career, signing
with Elektra in 1972, but continued his relationship with Frey (and ultimately
with The Eagles), co-writing several Eagles' standards (most notably, "Best of
My Love," "New Kid in Town" and "Victim of Love") and joining the band for the
1980 tour (which would be their last until the reunion in 1994).
In 1970, Don Henley moved to L.A. with his band
Shiloh and also signed with the Amos label (with Kenny Rogers as producer).
Along with Frey, Randy Meisner (of Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band) and Bernie
Leadon (from The Flying Burrito Brothers) were recruited by Linda Ronstadt as
her back-up band for the Silk Purse tour. The foursome backing Ronstadt played
only one gig (at Disneyland), but were featured on all tracks for her forthcoming
eponymous studio LP.
In 1971, the newly created Eagles signed with David
Geffin’s upstart label, Asylum. The band's first album, Eagles, released in '72,
had three monster hits, "Take It Easy" (co-written by Jackson
Browne), "Witchy Woman," and "Peaceful, Easy Feeling." Before the end of the
decade, [The] Eagles would become one of the best-selling artists in the world,
with Hotel California selling more than 20 million units (their greatest hits
compilation ranks as the 6th biggest selling LP with over 32 million copies sold).