Hotel California – The Eagles
"Hotel California" is the Eagles best-known song and the title track from their fifth album of the same name (released in 1977). The song features drummer, Don Henley, singing lead vocals as well as two highly acclaimed solos by guitarists Don Felder and Joe Walsh. Hotel California won the Grammy for 'Record of the Year' in 1978.
This excerpt is taken from the third and fourth measures of the second chorus (beginning 3:08). Don Henley played a pair of wooden timbales in the last 3 notes of the fill, borrowing flavour from Latin and reggae music styles. The song’s working title was in fact “Mexican Reggae”.
As Don sings while playing the drums, his fills tend to be placed in between vocal phrases. A number of his fills, particularly during the guitar solos, span a wide pitch range – from the high-tuned timbales to an 18″ floor tom.
Here is Don pictured with his wooden timbales.
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Author
Steve Ley is a professional drummer, teacher, writer and Sheet Music Team Director for Online Drummer. He studied at the Australian National University, graduating with a Diploma of Music specializing in jazz performance.
