"Peaceful Easy Feeling" is a song written by

Jack Tempchin Jack Tempchin is an American musician and singer-songwriter who wrote the Eagles song "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and co-wrote " Already Gone", "The Girl From Yesterday", "Somebody", and "It's Your World Now". Career During the Eagles' breakup per ...

and recorded by 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, just ...

. It was the third single from the band's 1972 debut album ''

''. The single reached No. 22 on the charts and is one of the band's most popular songs.

Glenn Frey Glenn Lewis Frey (; November 6, 1948 – January 18, 2016) was an American singer, guitarist and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. Frey was the co-lead singer and frontman for the Eagles, roles he came to share with fellow member Don ...

sings the lead vocal, with

Bernie Leadon Bernie Leadon (pronounced ''led-un''; born July 19, 1947) is an American singer, musician, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member ...

providing the main harmony vocal (starting in the beginning of the second verse) and

Randy Meisner Randall Herman Meisner (born March 8, 1946) is a retired American musician, singer, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles. Throughout his professional musical career, Meisner's main role was that of bassist and backing high-harmony vocal ...

completing this three-part harmony.

Background

Jack Tempchin wrote the song during a period in which he was performing at

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

coffee shops around his hometown of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. A friend had created a poster to advertise his performances, which included fake quotes from famous individuals attesting to Tempchin's talent, which landed in the hands of a shop owner in nearby

El Centro El Centro (Spanish for "The Center") is a city and county seat of Imperial County, California, United States. El Centro is the largest city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core urban are ...

. Tempchin slept on the floor of the club the night of his show, and wrote an early version of "Peaceful Easy Feeling" on the back of the poster. Back in San Diego, Tempchin was rooming in a communal-type home with other musicians when inspiration for completing the song hit. During a following trip to

Old Town San Diego State Historic Park Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, located in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California, is a state protected historical park in San Diego. It commemorates the early days of the City of San Diego and includes many historic buildings ...

, Tempchin saw a girl with "turquoise earrings against her dark skin," which he incorporated into the song. "I guess I was trying to distill the beauty of every girl I saw into words on paper and then into a song," he later stated. He later completed the song's third verse in the parking lot of the Der Wienerschnitzel

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...

establishment in San Diego. Some time later, Tempchin had moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and was attempting to break into the music industry alongside

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

, and

J.D. Souther John David "J. D." Souther (born November 2, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He has written and co-written songs recorded by Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles (band), Eagles. Souther is probably best known for his songwriting ab ...

. Frey heard Tempchin's "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and asked if he could develop it further, adding that his new band,

the Eagles The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s ...

, had only just formed eight days prior. He presented Tempchin with a

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

demo on the track the next day, who later remarked, "It was so good I couldn’t believe it." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described the song as "a pop-flavored progressive country effort with lyrics that penetrate and stick in the mind."

Personnel

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar *

– B-Bender electric guitar, harmony vocals *

– bass, backing vocals *

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. He is the drummer and one of the lead singers for the Eagles. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles hits such as "Witchy Woman", "Despe ...

– drums, backing vocals

Cover versions

On the 1993 album '' Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles'', country music band Little Texas recorded a cover of "Peaceful Easy Feeling". This cover version charted at No. 74 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts and was later included on the band's 1995 ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' album.

B. W. Stevenson Louis Charles "B.W." Stevenson (October 5, 1949 – April 28, 1988) was an American country pop singer and musician, working in a genre now called progressive country. "B.W." stood for "Buckwheat". Stevenson was born in Dallas, Texas, United S ...

also recorded "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and released it on his 1972 album ''Lead Free'' (RCA Victor 4794) and later included it on his 1977 LP ''The Best of B. W. Stevenson'' (RCA Victor APL-1-2394). Folk singer

Kate Wolf Kate Wolf (born Kathryn Louise Allen; January 27, 1942 – December 10, 1986) was an American folk singer and songwriter."Kate Wolf", pp. 533–534, in '' All Music Guide'', 2nd edition (1994), edited by Michael Erlewine. San Francisco: Miller ...

included a slow, acoustic cover of "Peaceful Easy Feeling" on her 1982 live album ''Give Yourself to Love''. Country singer

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...

covered this song live at the Grand Ole Opry as a tribute to the late Glenn Frey. 1978 episode of HEE HAW Buck Owens and the Buckaroos performed on episode. In 2017, Tristen released a digital single via Instant Records.

Chart positions

Weekly charts

References

{{Authority control 1972 singles 1993 singles Eagles (band) songs Little Texas (band) songs Songs written by Jack Tempchin Song recordings produced by Glyn Johns Asylum Records singles 1972 songs