Desperado (album)
Encyclopedia
Desperado is the second studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by the American rock band Eagles. It was recorded at Island Studios in London, United Kingdom and released in 1973. Desperado is a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

, based on the Dalton gang
Dalton Gang
The Dalton Gang, also known as The Dalton Brothers, was a family of both lawmen and outlaws in the American Old West during 1890-1892. They specialized in bank and train robberies. They were related to the Younger brothers, who rode with Jesse James, though they acted later and independently of...

 and the Old West.

Although the title track is one of the Eagles' signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...

s, it was never released as a single. The song "Desperado" was ranked #494 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

2004 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....

". The album did yield two singles, though: "Tequila Sunrise" and "Outlaw Man". Those two singles reached #64 and #59 respectively. Although the album wasn't a commercial hit at the time, over the years it has come to recognition of being a creative and artistic masterpiece. It also serves as a perfect example of the Eagles early country sound with songs like "Twenty One" showcasing guitarist Bernie Leadon's abilities on the banjo. The album reached #41 on the charts and sold 2 million copies. It is considered by many to be one of the greatest country rock albums of all time.

Desperado was the last Asylum Records
Asylum Records
Asylum Records is an American record label founded in 1971 by David Geffen, and partner Elliot Roberts, who had previously worked as agents at the William Morris Agency. Founded specifically to provide a record contract for Jackson Browne, the label signed Tom Waits, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell...

 album to be distributed in North America by Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 (catalog no. SD 5068), prior to Asylum's mid-1973 merger with Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....

 by Asylum's, Elektra's and Atlantic's parent company, Warner Communications
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...

.

Track listing

Side one
  1. "Doolin-Dalton" (Glenn Frey
    Glenn Frey
    Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...

    , J. D. Souther
    J. D. Souther
    John David Souther is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and actor. He has written and co-written numerous hits songs recorded by artists such as Linda Ronstadt and Glenn Frey of the Eagles.-Singing career:...

    , Don Henley
    Don Henley
    Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...

    , Jackson Browne
    Jackson Browne
    Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....

    ) – 3:26
    • Lead vocals by Don Henley and Glenn Frey , Harmonica by Glenn Frey
  2. "Twenty-One" (Bernie Leadon
    Bernie Leadon
    Bernard Mathew "Bernie" Leadon, III is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member of two pioneering and highly influential country rock bands, Dillard & Clark and the Flying Burrito Brothers...

    ) – 2:11
    • Lead vocals, Dobro and Banjo by Bernie Leadon
  3. "Out of Control" (Henley, Frey, Tom Nexon) – 3:04
    • Lead vocals and Lead Guitar by Glenn Frey
  4. "Tequila Sunrise
    Tequila Sunrise (song)
    "Tequila Sunrise" is a song written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, and recorded by the Eagles. It was the first single from the band's second album Desperado...

    " (Henley, Frey) – 2:52
    • Lead vocals and Acoustic Guitar by Glenn Frey, Lead Guitar and Mandolin by Bernie Leadon
  5. "Desperado
    Desperado (song)
    "Desperado" is a soft rock song by the Eagles, an American rock band, written by group members Glenn Frey and Don Henley. It first appeared on the 1973 album Desperado, and has later appeared on numerous compilation albums although it was not a single....

    " (Henley, Frey) – 3:36
    • Lead vocals by Don Henley, Piano by Glenn Frey


Side two
  1. "Certain Kind of Fool
    Certain Kind of Fool
    "Certain Kind of Fool" is a song by the American rock band the Eagles featuring bassist Randy Meisner on lead vocals, with Don Henley performing the main harmony vocal and Glenn Frey providing backing vocals. Frey also plays the electric guitar part and solo; Bernie Leadon plays the acoustic guitar...

    " (Randy Meisner
    Randy Meisner
    Randy Herman Meisner is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles...

    , Henley, Frey) – 3:02
    • Lead vocals by Randy Meisner, Acoustic guitar and Mandolin by Bernie Leadon, Lead guitar by Glenn Frey
  2. "Doolin-Dalton (Instrumental)" (Frey, Souther, Henley, Browne) – 0:48
  3. "Outlaw Man
    Outlaw Man
    "Outlaw Man" is a song written by David Blue and recorded by the American rock band Eagles. It was the second single from the band's second album Desperado....

    " (David Blue) – 3:34
    • Lead vocals, Acoustic guitar, and piano by Glenn Frey, Lead Guitar by Bernie Leadon
  4. "Saturday Night" (Meisner, Henley, Frey, Leadon) – 3:20
    • Lead vocals and acoustic guitar by Don Henley, second lead vocal by Randy Meisner, Mandolin by Bernie Leadon
  5. "Bitter Creek" (Leadon) – 5:00
    • Lead vocals by Bernie Leadon
  6. "Doolin-Dalton / Desperado (Reprise)" (Frey, Souther, Henley, Browne) – 4:50
    • Lead vocals by Don Henley, Banjo and Dobro
      Dobro
      Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...

       by Bernie Leadon

Personnel

  • Don Henley
    Don Henley
    Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...

     – drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

    , percussion
    Percussion instrument
    A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...

    , vocals
  • Randy Meisner
    Randy Meisner
    Randy Herman Meisner is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles...

     – bass guitar
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

    , acoustic guitar
    Acoustic guitar
    An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...

    , vocals
  • Glenn Frey
    Glenn Frey
    Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...

     – guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

    s, keyboards
    Keyboard instrument
    A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

    , piano
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

    , harmonica
    Harmonica
    The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

    , vocals
  • Bernie Leadon
    Bernie Leadon
    Bernard Mathew "Bernie" Leadon, III is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member of two pioneering and highly influential country rock bands, Dillard & Clark and the Flying Burrito Brothers...

     – guitars, mandolin
    Mandolin
    A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

    , banjo
    Banjo
    In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

    , vocals


Production
  • Glyn Johns
    Glyn Johns
    Glyn Johns is a musician, recording engineer and record producer.-Career:He has worked with such artists as Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Easybeats, The Band, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Eagles, Eric Clapton, The Clash, The Steve Miller Band, Small Faces, Spooky Tooth, The Ozark...

     – producer
    Record producer
    A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

    , engineer
    Audio engineering
    An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...

  • Howard Kilgour – assistant engineer
  • Barry Diament – mastering
    Audio mastering
    Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...

  • Ted Jensen
    Ted Jensen
    Ted Jensen is an American recording engineer. Jensen is the chief mastering engineer at Sterling Sound. He started his career as a mastering engineer in 1976 and is currently the most active Mastering Engineer in the industry...

     – remastering
  • Jim Ed Norman – string arrangements
  • Gary Burden – art direction, design
  • Henry Diltz
    Henry Diltz
    Henry Stanford Diltz is a folk musician and photographer, who has been active since the 1960s....

     – lettering, photography

Charts

Album
Chart (1973) Peak
position
US Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

41
Canada RPM
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...

100 Albums
35
UK (The Official Charts Company
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

)
39
New Zealand (Top 50 Albums) 40


Singles
  • "Tequila Sunrise"/"Twenty-One" - released April 17, 1973
  • "Outlaw Man"/"Certain Kind of Fool" - released August 6, 1973

Year Single Chart Position
1973 "Outlaw Man" Billboard Pop Singles 59
1973 "Tequila Sunrise" Billboard Pop Singles 64
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