Top Ten 1973 Songs: Desperado (#1)

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Tomorrow starts a new month and a new year: 1983! Meanwhile, today closes out the year 1973 and my favorite songs from that year. No shock that this is on the list, or that it’s on top of the list. It might only surprise you that it’s 50 years old now. The obvious song to top my list. #1: Desperado - Eagles Remember what I said yesterday about turmoil giving us great music? The Eagles recorded this in England, with Who producer Glyn Johns at the helm. It wasn’t the greatest experience. One of my favorite remarks from any Eagles interview was Don Henley saying the string session on this song had chess sets set up on chairs and seemed bored out of their skulls, saying (Texan Henley impersonating a British violinist), “I don’t feel much like a ‘desperado’.” They weren’t happy in England, but MAN did they turn out a classic album. The analogy of a rock band being outlaws, themed with the notorious “wild bunch” Doolin-Dalton gang that formed after Bill Dalton’s brothers were killed while foolishly trying to rob two banks simultaneously, has a lot of historical accuracy in the lyrics and a lot of incredible music that has stood up very well for half a century. You can keep Hotel California (even though my favorite Eagles song [“The Last Resort”] is on that album). I’m taking this album to a deserted island with me. Thanks for reading. Desperado Written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey Recorded by the Eagles From Desperado, 1973 Don’t your feet get cold in the wintertime: