I Can’t Stand Still Don Henley

• 1 I Can't Stand Still 03:34
• 2 You Better Hang Up 03:22
• 3 Long Way Home 05:29
• 4 Nobody's Business 03:44
• 5 Talking to the Moon 04:40
• 6 Dirty Laundry 05:36
• 7 Johnny Can't Read 03:33
• 8 Them and Us 04:02
• 9 La Eile 00:51
• 10 Lilah 04:08
• 11 The Unclouded Day 03:37
• Total Runtime 42:36

Info for I Can’t Stand Still

„Don Henley's first solo album may still have had the ghost of the Eagles lingering in the corners, but for the most part it showcases his stalwart partnership with producer and songwriter Danny Kortchmar. Lyrically, Henley's songs are a tad weak, but for an inaugural album from a man who had spent most of his career surrounded by multi-talented musicians and writers, on the whole it fairs quite well.

His material deals with the hardships of love, the fickleness of the media, and the declining state of education, all induced with a friendly pop sound. The title track, a trouble-in-paradise love song, has Henley pouring his heart out with sugary angst, but is helped along with some avid keyboard work. 'Dirty Laundry' is Henley's attack on the shallowness of the network newsperson that peaked at number three on Billboard's Top 40.

Its bouncy chorus and contagious organ riffs proved that his role as a musician could conform to any style. His social commentary comes into fruition with 'Johnny Can't Read,' loosely based on the increasing amount of high-school dropouts at the time and helped bolster Henley's reputation as a musician with a concern for pressing issues. Numerous musicians help him out on this album as well, including former Eagles members Timothy B. Schmidt, Joe Walsh, and J.D. Souther; drummer Jeff Porcaro and guitarist Steve Lukather, both from Toto; and even Warren Zevon. Don Henley's adept combination of lyrical wit and thought-provoking staidness begins to materialize on I Can't Stand Still, paving the way for an extremely accomplished solo career.“ (Mike DeGagne)

Don Henley, drums, keyboards, vocals, background vocals
Ras Baboo, percussion, timbales
Derek Bell, harp
Kenny Edwards, bass, guitar, electric guitar
Steve Foreman, percussion
Bob Glaub, bass
Louise Goffin, vocals, gut string guitar
Andrew Gold, keyboards
Max Gronenthal, vocals, gut string guitar
George Gruel, vocals, background vocals
Garth Hudson, synthesizer
Maren Jensen, vocals, gut string guitar
Danny 'Kootch' Kortchmar, synthesizer, bass, guitars, keyboards, background vocals
Russ Kunkel, drums
Steve Lukather, guitar
Paddy Moloney, whistle, Uillean pipes
Jeff Porcaro, drums, maracas
Steve Porcaro, synthesizer
Timothy B. Schmit, bass guitar, vocals, background vocals
Leland Sklar, bass
J.D. Souther, acoustic guitar, vocals
Benmont Tench, keyboards
Waddy Wachtel, electric guitar
Ian Wallace, drums
Joe Walsh, lead guitar
Mark Williams, drums
Bill Withers, vocals, gut string guitar
Warren Zevon, vocals, gut string guitar on 'Them and Us'

Recorded and Mixed at Record One, Sherman Oaks, California
Engineered and mixed by Greg Ladanyi
Produced by Don Henley, Greg Ladanyi

Digitally remastered

Don Henley
Born and raised in Texas (he attended North Texas State) Henley was taken under the wing of country superstar Kenny Rogers in 1970. Rogers encouraged him in the creation of his early band Shiloh and in California he teamed up with Glenn Frey as part of Linda Ronstadt’s backing band. That was the catalyst for forming The Eagles, once Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner were hired to complete a legendary quartet. Henley and Frey assumed a major controlling interest in the band’s development – operating under the theory that a benevolent dictatorship would accomplish far more than a full fledged democracy, and Don’s methodical raping vocal style and underrated drumming underpinned everything from ‘Desperado’ and ‘Witchy Woman’ to the gloriously romantic ‘Best of My Love’ and its polar opposite ‘Hotel California’, a song which couldn’t really have been sung by anyone other than him.

Don’s debut solo album, the self-explanatory I Can’t Stand Still, was extremely well received. Tracks like ‘Dirty Laundry’ and ‘Johnny Can’t Read’ (a sideswipe against American educational standards) pleased critics and piqued public interest. But it was Building the Perfect Beast (1984) that persuaded everyone – here was an artist who was far more than an Eagle, let alone a drummer. The disc has sold over three million copies and established a brilliant partnership with Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers men Mike Campbell, Stan Lynch and Benmont Tench. The stand-out song ‘The Boys of Summer’ is a Henley/Campbell collaboration which won Don the Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance in 1986 but it’s the startling lyrics about youth and mortality that make it so resonant. The lyrical reference to the Deadhead bumper sticker spotted on a Cadillac gave the number instant appeal to generations of listeners and wry as the observation was it also made a valid point about one time rebellion becoming a consumerist normality – albeit with a perfect up tempo rhythm offset by an entirely downbeat delivery. Stellar assistance on this classic album arrives via Lindsey Buckingham, bassist Tim Drummond, Jim Keltner’s kit and Jerry Hey’s moody horn parts but there are also surprise contributions from a fellow sardonic in Randy Newman (synthesiser) and the late great English drummer Ian Wallace, a member of Henley’s touring band.

Don follows that three years later with The End of the Innocence whose title track is another brilliantly conceived account of impending middle age. This time he colludes with pianist Bruce Hornsby (ironically then a member of The Grateful Dead) and the video is shot by the celebrated movie director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) is startling black and white. The track ‘I Will Not Go Quietly’ (written with long time pal Danny Kortchmar) finds space for Axl Rose’s backing vocals, making it a collector’s piece, and the not to be overlooked gem ‘New York Minute’ has a slick apocalyptic arrangement augmented by Toto maestros David Paich and Jeff Porcaro: this has a distinctive whiff of Steely Dan about it. Other notables in the ranks are Edie Brickell, Valerie Carter, Sheryl Crow and Wayne Shorter, as well as those Heartbreakers. The End of the Innocence is a top-notch example of peerless West Coast rock cut though with acerbic lyrical wit.

Augmenting these two fabulous discs we have Actual Miles: Henley’s Greatest Hits (1995). Another Platinum affair this collates material from his first three solo discs and adds new tracks – ‘The Garden of Allah’ (a Hollywood Babylon epic on a par with his finest writing), ‘You Don’t Know Me at All’ and a superb cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Everybody Knows’ whose mordant lyrics reference everything from AIDS to social unrest and religious turmoil. All a far cry from The Eagles’ ‘Take it Easy’.

With Henley back in the driving and drumming seat with his parent group Inside Job (2000) was another well-received release but we point you towards The Very Best of Don Henley, available in a deluxe version that contains extra bonus audio and DVD. This came out in 2009 but it’s unlikely to be the last word on his idiosyncratic take regarding the American condition from Mr Henley. He remains one of the most insightful commentators on modern society viewed through a rock star’s eyes that we have. Turn up the Don Henley, the neighbours are listening. (Words: Max Bell, Source Universal Music)

This album contains no booklet.