When Don Henley began his encore on Saturday night at the Santa Barbara Bowl, he said, “I want to thank you for 40 great years.”
Our pleasure, really.
Henley kicked things off with his 1982 hit song “Dirty Laundry,” which he described as a “Valentine to tabloid media, and Rupert Murdoch in particular.” Henley sings from some experience on such matters, having been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after a 16-year-old prostitute was found passed out from a drug overdose at his Los Angeles mansion in 1979, an incident that naturally generated a lot of media attention. Dirty laundry, indeed. It is widely believed that the “bubble headed bleach blonde” mentioned in the song was a Los Angeles anchorwoman who eagerly covered the story.
Moving on, Henley played other solo hits that were seemingly all over the radio in the 1980s and have aged quite well: “Sunset Grill,” “New York Minute,” “The End of the Innocence,” “The Heart of the Matter,” “The Boys of Summer,” “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” and “The Last Worthless Evening.”
Before the latter, Henley told a story of being at a Hollywood party in the ‘80s at which he saw “the most gorgeous blond woman” across the room, who was sitting and smoking next to Jack Nicholson, but didn’t seem to be enjoying the party. Desperately wanting to meet her and with alcohol-fueled bravery, Henley decided to bum a cigarette off her, even though he didn’t smoke. He got the cigarette but not the girl, and Nicholson mocked his attempted pickup with, “Excellent work, Henley,” who then “crawled back across the room,” smoked the cigarette, and went home and wrote the song.
Of course, Henley was in a band before becoming a solo artist, namely a little old band called the Eagles, whose catalog was revisited with the beloved classics “One of These Nights,” “Life in the Fast Line,” “The Long Run,” “Hotel California” and “Desperado,” all faithfully reproduced by Henley and the stellar band.
Henley made some interesting choices for songs to cover. One was Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” heard not too long ago at the Chumash Casino by the the original performers, and getting the Bowl crowd on their feet. Another was Kool & The Gang’s “Funky Stuff,” after which Henley said, “I wish I could write stuff like that — genius.”
Emmylou Harris joined Henley for the country ballad “Too Far Gone,” written by Billy Sherrill and which appeared on Harris’ first solo album and will appear on Henley’s forthcoming one. Then there was “Guilty” by Henley’s “favorite songwriter” Randy Newman, which Henley described as “kind of the story of the ‘70s, and part of the ‘80s.” Fittingly, the lyrics include “Got some whiskey from the barman / Got some cocaine from a friend.”
Henley also covered a couple of songs by lesser-known artists that he admires: “Everybody’s Famous” by Jeffrey Foucault, who sometimes plays in our neck of the woods, and “You Don’t Have to Believe Me” by Eric Hutchinson and enhanced by a full horn section.
The evening started with a sublime set by the legendary Harris, whose voice has been enchanting listeners for four decades. Widely regarded as one of the top interpreters of other people’s songs, Harris didn’t disappoint, with an amazing cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty” being a particular highlight. She also sang “Orphan Girl” by Gillian Welch, herself recently at the Bowl opening for Buffalo Springfield, “Luxury Liner” written by Gram Parsons and performed with gusto by Harris and her band the Red Dirt Boys, and another Parsons song, “Wheels.”
Parsons, of course, was Harris’ musical mentor and duet partner, a country rock pioneer who lived and played hard, succumbing to a drug overdose at age 26 in Joshua Tree, Calif. At the concert, after singing her recent homage to Parsons called “The Road,” Harris described Parsons as “a dear friend of mine. I didn’t know him very long, but he had a big effect on my life.”
This was followed by Harris’ chilling new song “My Name Is Emmett Till,” which tells the story of Till’s murder in 1955 in Mississippi after he, as a 14-year-old black boy from Chicago, flirted with a white woman. Harris sang, from Till’s perspective, “I was sent back to my mother / At least what was left of me / She kept my casket open / For the whole wide world to see / The awful desecration / And the evidence of hate / You could not recognize me / The mutilation was so great.” Pictures of Till’s body were widely published at the time, and his murder was a catalyst for the civil rights movement.
Harris also sang what she described as an “existential lullaby” for her “dear little granddaughter,” the song “Goodnight Old World” that she co-wrote with local songwriter Will Jennings, who she announced was in the audience.
It was truly one of those nights, one of those crazy old nights to remember.
Emmylou Harris Setlist
Six White Cadillacs
Orphan Girl (Gillian Welch cover)
Red Dirt Girl
Hold On
Goodnight Old World
Hello Stranger (Carter Family cover)
Pancho and Lefty (Townes Van Zandt cover)
Michaelangelo
The Road
My Name Is Emmett Till
Wheels (The Flying Burrito Brothers cover)
Luxury Liner (International Submarine Band cover)
Together Again (Buck Owens cover)
Born to Run
Don Henley Setlist
Dirty Laundry
Sunset Grill
Everybody’s Famous (Jeffrey Foucault cover)
New York Minute
Everything Is Different Now
The Last Worthless Evening
One Of These Nights (Eagles song)
It Don’t Matter to the Sun (Garth Brooks/Chris Gaines cover)
Too Far Gone (with Emmylou Harris)
The End of the Innocence
Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears cover)
The Heart of the Matter
Guilty (Randy Newman cover)
You Don’t Have to Believe Me (Eric Hutchinson cover)
Funky Stuff (Kool & The Gang cover)
The Boys of Summer
All She Wants to Do Is Dance
Life in the Fast Lane (Eagles song)
Encore
The Long Run (Eagles song)
Hotel California (Eagles song)
Desperado (Eagles song)
— Noozhawk contributing writer Jeff Moehlis is a professor of mechanical engineering at UCSB. Upcoming show recommendations, advice from musicians, interviews and more are available on his Web site, music-illuminati.com.
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