Hell Freezes Over Trivia Quiz

Answer: New Song

One of four new songs written for the album, this one was written by Don Henley in collaboration with Glenn Frey and it represented the first song that they'd written together since the band's break-up, some fourteen years prior. The lyrics take a shot at the numerous people appearing on daytime chat shows, moaning about how unfair life is treating them and levelling the blame at others rather than themselves.

The song would be released as a single and peak at number thirty one on Billboard's Hot 100.

Answer: The Long Run

"The Long Run" (1979) was the follow up album to the band's mega-selling "Hotel California" (1976) and what an act it was to follow. The LP had been slated to be a double album, however, the group struggled to find or create sufficient suitable material to generate two disc's worth. "I Can't Tell You Why", written by Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Timothy B. Schmit, was released in February the following year and it found its way to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

It would be the final time the band appeared in Billboard's (Hot 100) Top Ten.

Answer: Hotel California

The remarkable "The Last Resort" is another Don Henley/Glenn Frey creation that is the closing track on the amazing "Hotel California" (1976) album. Clocking in at nearly seven and a half minutes in length, this track is an epic that deals with how man cannot help but destroy those things that he finds beautiful.

Henley would reveal in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that it rated as one of his favourite songs. Glenn Frey was more open stating that it was "Henley's opus", that he "tried to go 'Michener' with it" - a reference to the epic novels written by US author James Michener.

Answer: New Song

The second single to be released from "Hell Freezes Over", it is one of two that are sung by bass player Timothy Schmit. Schmit, formerly of Poco, was the replacement for Randy Meisner in the band. This is also the only track on the album that doesn't have an Eagles' member amidst the writing credits, with the song being a collaboration between Pete Vale, Jim Capaldi and Paul Carrack. Carrack would, later, record the song for his 1996 album "Blue Views".

The song would receive a nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 38th Grammy Awards.

Answer: Desperado

"Desperado", built upon Wild West themes, was the band's second album and was released in 1973. The title track would become one of the Eagles' signature songs. "Tequila Sunrise" is another Don Henley/Glenn Frey collaboration that looks at comparing the lives of cowboys and musicians and how the paths they each follow ARE transient.

In this number, the musician falls for a woman and takes "another shot of courage" to gather up the nerve to talk to her, only to find that her interest in him is equally as transient as his own occupation.

Answer: Hotel California

The writing credits for this song are listed as Joe Walsh and Joe Vitale. Vitale and Walsh were classmates at Kent State and forged a lifelong friendship. He would join Walsh in the band Barnstorm, which would break-up in 1974. Walsh then moved to the Eagles and Vitale also began an association with the band. "Pretty Maids..." was Walsh's reflections of his own life to that point (BBC interview, 1981).

Whilst the song was different to anything the Eagles had done to that point both (Don) Henley and (Glenn) Frey saw it as growth for the band and a valid statement to be included on the album. Consequently, they each provided valuable assistance to Walsh toward its completion.

Answer: The End of the Innocence

You may be thinking that you cannot remember an Eagles' album called "The End of the Innocence" and you'd be correct. This isn't one the Eagles' albums, instead, it was Don Henley's third solo album and it was released in 1989. The theme of most of the numbers on this disc revolve around troubled adults going through traumatic transitions. "New York Minute", whilst it received strong critical reviews, did not flatter the upper reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 charts, staggering to a high of forty eight.

It would be one of a number of Don Henley's songs that the Eagles would utilise during their "Hell Freezes Over" tour. The others were "Dirty Laundry", "All She Wants to Do Is Dance", "The Boys of Summer", "The Heart of the Matter" and "Sunset Grill".

Answer: The Long Run

Written by Joe Walsh in partnership with Barry De Vorzon, this was not originally written for the Eagles but used for the soundtrack for the 1979 film "The Warriors". The Eagles heard it, loved it, felt it fitted within the theme of their writing at the time and used it for their album, "The Long Run" (1979). For inspiration, Walsh drew on his own upbringing and the times that he ran with a gang in his youth, living in Queens, New York. "But I wasn't that tough" he said "I had to be home by 7:30 pm to practice the clarinet".

Answer: Hotel California

It seems like so long ago, but I purchased a vinyl copy of "Hotel California" when it first came out in 1976. "Wasted Time", which was written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, was the closing track on side one of the LP and, when you flipped the record over, there was an instrumental reprise to open the second side before the album kicked in again with the song "Victim of Love". Producer, Jim Ed Norman, receives a writing credit for that instrumental. Frey would explain, in the liner notes to "The Very Best of The Eagles" (1994), that this was his attempt at writing a song influenced by the Philadelphia sound, or "Philly Soul".

The advantage that they had that allowed them to do this, he claimed, was the voice of Don Henley; "Don's singing abilities stretched so many of our boundaries.

He could sing the phone book".

Answer: Eagles

This song, written by Glenn Frey and the inimitable Jackson Browne, holds a special place in the Eagles pantheon of songs. One of their signature tracks, this was the band's first single release (1972) and the opening track to their eponymous debut album.

It may also have been the song that brought the band back together again. Gayle Thompson reported in her article, "25 Years Ago: The Eagles Reunite for Hell Freezes Over Tour" for The Boot magazine (27 May, 2019), that a group of country musicians, including Trisha Yearwood, Diamond Rio and Tanya Tucker, amongst others, decided to put together a tribute to the Eagles by recording their interpretations of a number of the band's hits. One of those was Travis Tritt, who'd covered "Take It Easy" and asked the band members if they would appear in a video for the song.

The members agreed and it was to be the first time they had gathered together as a group in over thirteen years. The meeting proved to be such a positive experience for all concerned and, as such, provided the impetus for what would become the "Hell Freezes Over" tour of 1994.