Don Henley’s interview with David Browne, published in Rolling Stone this month, relates stories about The Eagles and how their 1972 debut album came together. Stories of Zelda Fitzgerald, sounds of chirping birds, Ouija boards, séances, palm reading, peyote trips and more meld to create an evocative sound of the early Seventies.
Henley says about the album cover’s photoshoot: “The Joshua Tree National Monument, in 1971, was more wild and untouched than it is today. It was a magical place. There was a pervasive feeling that we were embarking on a momentous journey; there was an air of portent in the positive sense. It was simultaneously a sensory and a spiritual experience. That’s the effect that the peyote cactus has on most people, but not all. Under the effects of peyote, in the glowing dusk, we saw the Joshua trees as sentient beings.”
Eagles’ Debut: Don Henley on How Peyote, the Occult Shaped Hit LP.
