''I Can't Stand Still'' is the debut solo

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

by American musician Don Henley, drummer and co-lead vocalist for the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...

. It was released in August 1982 by Asylum Records. Henley, Danny Kortchmar and Greg Ladanyi produced the album. ''I Can't Stand Still'' achieved gold status, and peaked at No. 24 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and at the same position on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. Three singles were released from the album, including the hit " Dirty Laundry", which peaked at No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and became Henley's best-selling single. The title track "I Can't Stand Still" reached No. 48 and the controversial track " Johnny Can't Read" reached No. 42 on the charts. The album showcased some of Henley's frustrations at the time. "Dirty Laundry" displays his disgust with the media and tabloid news coverage, and "Johnny Can't Read," shows his displeasure with the American educational system.

Critical reception

Robert Palmer, music critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

,'' was surprised by ''I Can't Stand Still'' and wrote that it "rings with the righteous indignation of a man who has taken a good look at what's going on around him and decided at least to speak his mind about it...The record doesn't offer any solutions, but how many pop records do? ''I Can't Stand Still'' scores points for its palpable anger; for its lean, stripped-down arrangements; for the lack of self-indulgence in the playing, the production and Mr. Henley's soaring vocals, and for its overall point of view, which links the disparate songs together and gives the album an admirable coherence. As far as this listener is concerned, it's better than anything Mr. Henley did with the Eagles." Reviewing retrospectively for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, critic Mike DeGagne has written of the album, "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," and then added "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." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was 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 onli ...

'' said of the title track that "using the same organ that made “ Laundry” so unique, Henley weaves the chords through a ballad about a guy’s bitterness over his lost love’s new find." ''Cash Box'' also said that it's "a slow, dramatic, organ-dominated tune that’s almost, but not quite,

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" and that Henley's vocal tingles with a jealous edge as he sings of his lover’s 'undercover' relationship."

critic Mike DeGagne called it "a trouble-in-paradise love song, hathas Henley pouring his heart out with sugary angst, but is helped along with some avid keyboard work."

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians * Don Henley –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

harmony vocals Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical c ...

(1),

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

(1, 2, 8, 10),

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

(3, 6), arrangements (11) * Danny Kortchmar – keyboards (1),

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

s (1),

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

(2, 4, 5, 8, 10), baritone guitar (3, 7, 11),

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

(6), backing vocals (6), arrangements (11) * Benmont Tench – keyboards (3, 4, 5, 11), acoustic

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(5, 10) * Garth Hudson –

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s (5) *

Steve Porcaro Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff in 1992 and M ...

– synthesizers (5), keyboards (6), special keyboard effects (6) * Roger Linn – special effects (6) * Andrew Gold – keyboards (7) *

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...

– electric guitar (2), acoustic guitar (5), 2nd guitar solo (6) * Waddy Wachtel – electric guitar (4, 11), slide guitar (10) * Joe Walsh – 1st guitar solo (6) * Bob Glaub –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(1, 2, 7, 11) * Leland Sklar – bass (3, 10) * Kenny Edwards – bass (5, 8), electric guitar (7) *

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working o ...

– drums (2, 3, 5, 6), maracas (2) * Russ Kunkel – drums (4) * Mark Towner Williams – drums (7) * Ian Wallace – drums (11) * Steve Forman –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

(3) * Ras Baboo – percussion (11), timbales (11) * Derek Bell – harp (9) *

Paddy Moloney Paddy Moloney ( ga, Pádraig Ó Maoldomhnaigh; 1 August 1938 – 12 October 2021) was an Irish musician, composer, and record producer. He co-founded and led the Irish musical group the Chieftains, playing on all of their 44 albums. He was parti ...

– tin whistle (9), original arrangements (9), Uilleann pipes (10) * Timothy B. Schmit – harmony vocals (1, 2), backing vocals (3, 6), bass (4, 6) * Max Gronenthal – harmony vocals (1) * J. D. Souther – harmony vocals (2), acoustic guitar (3, 4, 10) * George Gruel – backing vocals (6) * Louise Goffin – harmony vocals (7) * Maren Jensen – harmony vocals (7) *

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician. Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", " Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Th ...

– backing vocals (8) * Bill Withers – backing vocals (11) Production and artwork * Don Henley – producer * Danny Kortchmar – producer * Greg Ladanyi – producer, recording, mixing * Niko Bolas – additional engineer, assistant engineer * Jim Nipar – additional engineer * Jamie Ledner – assistant engineer * Wayne Tanouye – assistant engineer *

Doug Sax Doug Lionel Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three of The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six of Pink Floyd's albums, including '' The Wall''; Ray Ch ...

– mastering * Mike Reese – mastering * The Mastering Lab (Los Angeles, CA) – mastering location * Paul Gurian –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

* Ron Coro – graphic coordinator * Kristen Kasell Nikosey – graphic coordinator * Jo Ann Callis –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is emplo ...

* Front Line Management – management

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control Don Henley albums 1982 debut albums Asylum Records albums Elektra Records albums Warner Records albums Albums produced by Danny Kortchmar Albums produced by Greg Ladanyi