Take It Easy

A Reason To Smile

The Eagles and Jackson Browne pay tribute to the late Glenn Frey at the 2016 Grammys (credit: Getty Images).

Sometimes the best thing to brighten your day is simply listening to and singing along with a toe-tapper. The Eagles’ “Take It Easy” is that kind of song for me — and it’s this week’s reason to smile.

“Take It Easy,” which became one of the band’s signature songs, was the debut single on their eponymous debut album. “The Eagles” was released 52 years ago today.

The song was almost never finished. Singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, not a member of the Eagles, started writing the song but couldn’t finish it. Browne’s friend and neighbor, Eagles lead singer Glenn Frey, heard Browne’s initial effort, loved the song, and encouraged him to finish it. When Browne kept procrastinating, Frey offered to do it himself.

“I finally thought, ‘This is ridiculous. Go ahead and finish it. Do it.’ And he finished it in spectacular fashion. And, what’s more, arranged it in a way that was far superior to what I had written,” Browne once explained.

The song was a critical and commercial success. Rolling Stone magazine called it “simply the best sounding rock single to come out so far this year. The first time through, you could tell it had everything: danceable rhythm, catchy, winding melody, intelligent, affirmative lyrics, a progressively powerful arrangement mixing electric guitar and banjo, and a crisp vocal, with vibrant four-part harmony at just the right moments for maximum dramatic effect.”

I hope you listen and smile.

If you want to enjoy all the songs chosen for A Reason To Smile, you can listen to this Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly.

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Stay steady,

Dan