- Don Felder (The Eagles)
- “Hotel California” Hotel California (1976)
“I had just leased this house out on the beach at Malibu -- I guess it was around 1974 or ‘75.
I remember sitting in the living room on a spectacular July day with the doors wide open. I had a bathing suit on and was sitting on this couch, soaking wet, thinking the world is a wonderful place to be.
I had this acoustic 12-string and started tinkling around with it, and those ‘Hotel California’ chords just kind of oozed out. I had a TEAC four-track set up in one of the back bedrooms and I ran back there to put this idea down before I forgot it.
I also had one of those Rhythm Ace [a Sixties-era drum machine made by Acetone] things, and I remember it was set to play this cha-chat beat. I play the 12 string on top of that.
A few days later I came up with bass line and mixed the whole thing to mono. Flenn had this idea [for the lyrics] -- the fantasy of California. It’s supposed to be microcosm of the world."
Find out what Felder is up to these days at www.donfelder.com
