THE EAGLES - TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT

TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT

THE EAGLES

SONGWRITERS: DON HENLEY; GLENN FREY & RANDY MEISNER

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: ONE OF THIS NIGHTS

LABEL: ASYLUM RECORDS

GENRE: SOFT ROCK

YEAR: 1975

 

          The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards, and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s in North America. Founding members Glenn Frey (guitars, vocals), Don Henley (drums, vocals), Bernie Leadon (guitars, vocals) and Randy Meisner (bass guitar, vocals), were recruited by Linda Ronstadt as band members, some touring with her, and all playing on her third solo album, before venturing out on their own on David Geffen's new Asylum Records label.

       Their debut Eagles in 1972 spawned two Top 20 singles in the US and Canada: "Take It Easy" and "Witchy Woman". The next year's follow up, Desperado, only peaked at number 41 in the US, although "Desperado" and "Tequila Sunrise" became two of the band's most popular tracks. In 1974, guitarist Don Felder joined, and On the Border produced the top-40 hit "Already Gone" and the Eagles' first number-one song in the US and Canada, "Best of My Love". In 1975, guitarist and vocalista Joe Walsh replaced Leadon, and the album One of These Nights became their first Top 10 album in many countries. It included the number-one US hit "One of These Nights", which was their first Top Ten hit outside of North America, and US top-five songs "Lyin' Eyes", and "Take It to the Limit". Their 1976 compilation Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is still the best-selling album in the United States, with 38 million sold, and primed the public for the release in late 1976 of Hotel California, which would sell more than 26 million copies in the U.S. alone, (still ranking 3rd all time for US sales), and more than 42 million copies worldwide. The album yielded two number-one singles in the US and Canada, "New Kid in Town" and "Hotel California", the latter of which became their only Top Ten hit in the United Kingdom, while also reaching the Top Ten in New Zealand and many European countries, including rising to number two in France.

       Meisner left the band in 1977, replaced by Timothy B. Schmit, and the Eagles released their last studio album for nearly 28 years in 1979 with The Long Run, which spawned the North American number-one song "Heartache Tonight", which also became their biggest hit in Australia (number 13), and the North American top-ten hits "The Long Run" and "I Can't Tell You Why". The Eagles broke up in July 1980 but reunited in 1994 for the álbum Hell Freezes Over, a mix of live and new studio tracks. They toured consistently and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2007, the Eagles released Long Road Out of Eden, their sixth number-one album in the US, and launched the Long Road Out of Eden Tour in 2008 to support it. In 2013, they began the extended History of the Eagles Tour in conjunction with the band's documentary release, History of the Eagles. Following Frey's death in January 2016 and a one-year hiatus, the Eagles re-formed in 2017, with Glenn's son Deacon Frey and Vince Gill sharing lead vocals for Frey's songs.

      The Eagles are one of the world's best-selling bands, having sold more than 200 million records, including 100 million sold in U.S alone. They were ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

        "Take It to the Limit" is a song by the Eagles from their fourth album One of These Nights from which it was issued as the third single on November 15, 1975. It reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was also the Eagles' greatest success to that point in the UK, going to No. 12 on the charts. Billboard ranked it as the Nº. 25 song for 1976.

           The song was written by Eagles' members Randy Meisner, Don Henley and Glenn Frey. Meisner, who sang lead on it, says the song began as his solo composition. As it remained unfinished when time came for the One of These Nights album to be recorded, Henley and Frey assisted Meisner in completing it. Meisner's performance of the song was popular with the audience in Eagles' concerts, but disputes over his reluctance to perform it would also directly lead to Meisner's departure from the band.

All alone at the end of the of the evening

And the bright lights have faded to blue

I was thinking 'bout a woman who might have

Loved me and I never knew

You know I've always been a dreamer

(spent my life running 'round)

And it's so hard to change

(Can't seem to settle down)

But the dreams I've seen lately

Keep on turning out and burning out

And turning out the same

So put me on a highway

And show me a sign

And take it to the limit one more time

You can spend all your time making money

You can spend all your love making time

If it all fell to pieces tomorrow

Would you still be mine?

And when you're looking for your freedom

(Nobody seems to care)

And you can't find the door

(Can't find it anywhere)

When there's nothing to believe in

Still you're coming back, you're running back

for more

So put me on a highway

And show me a sign

And take it to the limit one more time

Take it to the limit

Take it to the limit

Take it to the limit one more time.