‘Victim of Love:’ the song that broke up the Eagles
By the time the Eagles reached the mid-1970s, they were on top of the world. They had been sorting their way through every rock trope they could think of, and the album One of These Nights spawned three different singles. With success also comes pressure though, and the band had their backs against the wall when it came time to make Hotel California.
When talking about making the concept for the album, Don Henley mentioned wanting to say something about the state of Hollywood, saying, “there’s a fine line between the American dream and the American nightmare.” The rest of the band were more than willing to comply, with Joe Walsh coming up with the original lick for ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ on a whim.
Walsh had claimed to use the lick as a warm-up exercise, but it turned into its own piece once Glenn Frey got the title for the song. While guitarist Don Felder came up with the main chord progression for the title track, he had his sights on another song that he wrote for the album.
Midway through recording, Felder said that he wanted to sing the track ‘Victim of Love’, which he claimed to have written by himself. As Henley remembers, what Felder presented the band with was just a collection of riffs, which was then turned into a song by Frey and JD Souther.
After one butchered take after the next, the band told Felder that it would be better if he didn’t sing the song, only for Felder to put his foot down. The band acquiesced and let Felder do his own take on the song, but they were also keeping a close eye on their manager as well.
As the sessions were winding down, the band gave manager Irving Azoff a job: take Felder out to dinner while they re-recorded the entire track. When Felder found out that he was being erased from the song, he mentioned feeling betrayed (via Songfacts): “it was like Don was taking that song from me. I had been promised a song on the next record.”
While Henley to this day disputes that there were no promises made to Felder, this started the dividing line between the band. As the touring got bigger and bigger, Felder started to get more resentful towards Frey and Henley for getting all of the songwriting royalties.
By the time the band pulled into Long Beach for a benefit concert, Felder took it one step too far after making an off-handed remark to Senator Alan Cranston about the free show. Compared to the petty squabbling behind the scenes, there was audio taken of the infamous gig, which led to Frey and Felder threatening to kill each other onstage. When the house lights went out that night, Felder took his guitar, smashed it, and drove off, never to be heard from again.
Once bassist Timothy B. Schmidt called Frey about the next rehearsals, he confirmed the worst: the band was history. The Eagles’ music may have reeked of California sunshine, but their final days ended with plotting, resentment, and some of the worst drama a band could ask for.