"Best of My Love" is a

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

written by Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and JD Souther. It was originally recorded by the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

(with Henley singing lead vocals), and included on their 1974 album '' On the Border''. The song was released as the third single from the album, and it became the band's first ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 1 single in March 1975. The song also topped the

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

(adult contemporary) chart for one week a month earlier. ''Billboard'' ranked it as the number 12 song for 1975.

Background

Composition

In 2009, JD Souther said of the writing of "Best of My Love": "Glenn found the tune; the tune I think came from a Fred Neil record... We were working on that album (''On the Border'') and came to London. The three of us were writing it and were on deadline to get it finished. I don't know where we got the inspiration." Glenn Frey recalled: "I was playing acoustic guitar one afternoon in Laurel Canyon, and I was trying to figure out a tuning that

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

had shown me a couple of days earlier. I got lost and ended up with the guitar tuning for what would later turn out to be 'The Best of My Love.'" According to Henley, most of the lyrics were written while in a booth in Dan Tana's Restaurant close to the Troubadour. The maître d' of Dan Tana, Guido, was thanked in the liner notes of the album. The lyrics were inspired in part by Henley's break up with his then girlfriend Suzannah Martin.

Recording

"Best of My Love" was recorded at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The Eagles had begun working on ''On the Border'' with producer Glyn Johns who had helmed their ''

'' debut album and the follow-up '' Desperado'' album. Despite the success of their debut album the Eagles (Frey specifically) were unhappy over Johns' preference for

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

and toning down their own rock aspirations, and their dissatisfaction with Johns was reinforced by the similarly honed ''Desperado'' album which was a comparative failure and Johns' no-drug policy during the recording. After six weeks in London—which yielded "Best of My Love" and one other usable track, "You Never Cry Like a Lover"—the Eagles discontinued working with Johns, then spending eight weeks touring in Europe and the US, before completing the recording of ''On the Border'' at the Record Plant in their hometown of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with Bill Szymczyk producing. "Best of My Love" was remixed by Szymczyk.

Single release

Frey was reluctant to release "Best of My Love" as a single and held off its release for some time. The release of the Eagles' "Best of My Love" as a single has been attributed to the track's airplay at WKMI-AM in Kalamazoo MI, where radio dj Jim Higgs - also station music & program director - began playing the track off its parent album ''On the Border'' soon after that album's release in the spring of 1974, favoring "Best of My Love" over the official single releases " Already Gone" and " James Dean". Advised by Higgs of the strong positive response of WKMI's listeners to "Best of My Love", Asylum Records gave the track a limited single release of 1000 copies available only in the Kalamazoo area, with reaction to this test-release securing the full release of "Best of My Love" as a single on November 5, 1974. When the single was finally released, Asylum Records had truncated the song so that it would be more radio-friendly, but had done so without the band's knowledge or approval. It caused considerable anger in the band, and Henley demanded that the single be pulled from stores. The song however would become the most successful of their singles released so far, giving the band their first number 1 single. When the song was judged to have sold a million copies, the Eagles' manager,

Irving Azoff Irving Azoff (; born December 12, 1947) is an American businessman, who is chairman of Full Stop Management, a company that represents recording artists. During the course of his career, he has worked as an agent, personal manager, concert pr ...

, sent to Asylum Records a gold record with a piece cut out, mounted on a plaque with a caption that said "The Golden Hacksaw Award". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "a very pretty country flavored ballad" and said "the harmonies are of the usual Eagle excellence and the instrumentation is mild and acoustic." '' Record World'' called it a "folksy ballad" which "has the easy-goin' beauty to be one of he Eaglesbiggest and best" and said that "soaring production takes their harmonies sky high."

Personnel

* Don Henley – lead vocals, brushed drums * Glenn Frey – double-tracked 12-string acoustic guitar, background vocals * Bernie Leadon – pedal steel guitar, background vocals * Randy Meisner – bass, background vocals

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Cover versions

Prior to the release of the Eagles version as a single, John Lees released his version of "Best of My Love" as a single in 1974. The 5th Dimension sang a cover on their 1974 ''Soul and Inspiration'' album. The song was also covered by Yvonne Elliman on her 1975 album, ''Rising Sun''. South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela covered the song on his 1976 album ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

''. In 1993, country duo Brooks & Dunn recorded their version for the Eagles tribute album '' Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles''.

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

included the song on his 2006 covers album '' Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Of My Love (Eagles song) 1970s ballads 1974 songs 1974 singles Country ballads Rock ballads Eagles (band) songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Glenn Frey Songs written by Don Henley Songs written by JD Souther Song recordings produced by Glyn Johns Asylum Records singles