Joe Walsh’s opinion on Glenn Frey

During his career, Joe Walsh had the chance to play with some of the greatest musicians in the world and for most of the past few decades he shared the stage with his bandmates in the Eagles. The late singer, songwriter and guitarist Glenn Frey was one of them and Joe Walsh has already given his opinion on him as a musician.

What is Joe Walsh’s opinion on Glenn Frey

Joe Walsh always praised Glenn as an incredible songwriter and said he was in awe of both him and Don Henley. “I was always insecure and afraid. So I hid behind all of my hang-ups with humour. I was totally in awe of Don and Glenn. I was intimidated by Don and Glenn because they sang so good, and they were writing stuff I could never come close to writing. (…) I’ve watched the creative process with lots of people, but I’ve never seen it the way it fell in place with them.”

“I remember watching ‘Lyin’ Eyes’ written. Glenn just had a way of coming up with a phrase, you know? He had written some kind of a tune, and they were sitting in Tana’s one night and looking at some young girl with an older guy at the bar, and Glenn said, ‘Look at those lyin’ eyes.’ And just… just like that, wow, there’s the song,” Joe Walsh said in the first episode of “The History of The Eagles” (2013).

Although Joe Walsh was already a great songwriter before joining the Eagles in 1975, having demonstrated that with the James Gang and on his first solo albums, he said that he became a much better songwriter after being around Glenn and Don.

He said:

“Don is a great songwriter, Glenn is a great songwriter. Being around them has made me much better at the craft of songwriting. It’s opened up a whole new department of the big picture, the way I look at things. I’m really grateful.”

“I think what I did for them was to Rock ‘n Roll a little bit. They didn’t really know how, but they wanted to. So I came in and did what I do, and it took The Eagles up a notch. They were nervous about painting themselves into a country-rock corner. It mutated into what The Eagles is now, and that’s what we all wanted,” he told WTOP in 2015.

Joe Walsh said that Glenn was one of the people who saved his life

In the early ’90s, Joe Walsh was in terrible shape due to his addiction and as he later recalled, he had no good reason to get sober until Glenn and Don said they wanted to reunite the band. In 1993, Walsh and Frey toured together on the “Party of Two Tour” across the United States, mixing songs from their solo careers, the James Gang and the Eagles. But the following year, when the Eagles were getting back together, both Glenn and Don told Walsh that they could only do it if he got sober. This eventually saved his life and he has been sober ever since.

On the anniversary of Glenn Frey’s death in 2017, at a show, Joe recalled that. “I’m so grateful that he decided to take me on his journey with him. I’m grateful for this too. At the end of 1993, you probably know this, I was a mess. I (had) turned into this thing and he didn’t like me either. I only got drunk once for 30 years (laughs). Ok, so in 1993 I was at the end and I knew I didn’t have long. My doctor told and I didn’t have any friends and blah, blah, blah. But Glenn and Don came to me and said: ‘We are thinking about starting up again and we can’t do it without you.”

He continued:

“We can’t do it unless you’re sober. Do you think you can get sober?’ (I said) ‘Let’s find out!’ (laughs). I am grateful to Glenn for my life and today (I’ve been sober for 23 years). One time Glenn called and said ‘Hey, what are you doing? I said ‘Nothing’. He said: ‘Well, I’m going on Amtrak, I’m going from New Orleans to L.A. But I just saw on our schedule that the train stops in Las Vegas.”

“So, go to Las Vegas, I’ll meet you and we will raise some hell’. And I did! The problem was, Glenn got off the train and the train disappeared into the horizon and Glenn was in Las Vegas, New Mexico (laughs). Population about… well, there were more dogs there than there were people (laughs),” he said during a show in 2017 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).

Joe Walsh once said that the Eagles was “democracy with two dictators”

Walsh has always been highly respected by his bandmates, with one of the biggest proofs being the inclusion of several solo and James Gang songs in their setlists. But he joined the group after they were already successful and had released four albums, which made him less pushy about decisions within the group. Funny enough, he once said that the Eagles were a “democracy with two dictators”: Glenn Frey and Don Henley.

When Rolling Stone asked Joe about his description of the band as a “democracy with two dictators” and whether he had ever had a problem with ego because of that, he said: “Well, I joined their band. I would say it was a democratic dictatorship. How’s that? That means, we all got to vote and then they did whatever they wanted,” he said in 2017. The musician had already talked about they way it worked, saying that he added some input and “kick-ass guitar” in the songs.

Joe Walsh said:

“It truly is Don and Glenn’s band. I knew that when I joined, and it hasn’t changed. They call the shots and decide policies. I think the world of them as a team. So that’s OK with me. Don usually has an overview of a concept or a complete statement. Glenn helps him turn that from abstract to a real thing. My job is to feed that input and put some kick-ass guitar on it. And try to keep them sane and focused,” he said in an interview with Star Tribune in 2008.

Although Glenn and Don controlled the band, they couldn’t control Walsh’s behavior off stage in the ’70s. He also became known for trashing hotel rooms, something he learned from his late friend Keith Moon. As he recalled, once he found a way to get into Glenn’s room because he wouldn’t open the door. “I hated being alone. You get in front of 20.000 people and you’re in your hotel room and it’s like ‘Where did everybody go? (Once) Glenn was next door, (I thought) well, I will go see what Glenn’s doing and he wouldn’t open the door! So I had to get in another way,” he said in an interview with 60 minutes Australia.

After Glenn’s death Walsh said there were no words to describe the loss

To communicate the news of Glenn Frey’s death in 2016 at the age of 67, the Eagles released a statement, saying: “Glenn fought a courageous battle for the past several weeks but, sadly, succumbed to complications from Rheumatoid Arthritis, Acute Ulcerative Colitis and Pneumonia. The Frey family would like to thank everyone who joined Glenn to fight this fight and hoped and prayed for his recovery. Words can neither describe our sorrow, nor our love and respect for all that he has given to us, his family, the music community & millions of fans worldwide.”

One week later, Joe Walsh gave his first public statement in an e-mail to Bob Lefsetz, thanking him for an article he wrote and also the fans. He said that he couldn’t find words to talk about Glenn’s death. “First, thanks to everyone who has posted on your Glenn thread. Very comforting in a very awkward and sad time. I haven’t done any media, period. It’s not that I can’t find the words, it’s that there are no words.”

“I’ve tried and all I have is a blank page. That’s how I feel. That’s how we all feel, maybe later, I’ll have something, but not right now. So, thank you for your kind and intelligent overview, and thanks to everybody who also checked in. I keep coming back to one of Glenn’s favorite ways to sum things up: ‘Ladies and Gentlemen… Elvis has left the building,'” Joe Walsh said.