Eagles: Before the Band

By Rik Forgo

The Eagles were the breakthrough act for Country Rock, the template for countless bands that followed. After their meteoric rise to the top of the charts, fusing electric guitars, pop sensibilities, and country and bluegrass music, the genre was never the same.

The Eagles showed everyone how it should be done – creating a new blueprint for the Californian sound.

This blow-by-blow account of the Eagles' epic journey to the limelight begins with their inspirations—the shoulders of the rock and roll giants on which they stood: The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and many others.

The band scored gold records for every album release in the first nine years together. They won scores of Grammy awards. They delivered songs that changed the musical landscape. Their thought-provoking, intimate lyrics joined with precision instrumentation that sounded as good live as in the studio—and legions of fans followed them.

But where did they come from?
Eagles: Before the Band maps their individual histories before they became the best-selling rock and roll band in American history. Their journey is as legendary as their music.