"Tequila Sunrise" is a 1973 song written by

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", "Des ...

and Glenn Frey, 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, jus ...

. It was the first single from the band's second album, ''

Desperado Desperado may refer to: * Outlaw, particularly in the American Old West Books * ''Desperadoes'' (comics), a comic book series * ''Desperadoes'' (novel), a 1979 novel by Ron Hansen * Desperado Publishing, an American independent comic book publi ...

''. The song peaked at number 64 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. A cover version was recorded by

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many ...

on the 1993 tribute album '' Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles''. It peaked at number 64 on the ''

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 adverti ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks 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 sa ...

chart.

Background

Glenn Frey and Don Henley did not write songs together for their debut album, ''

'', and they decided that they should collaborate after they had finished recording the debut album in London. In the first week of their collaboration, they wrote "Tequila Sunrise" and "

". According to Frey, the song was finished fairly quickly. He said he was lying on a couch playing the guitar, and came up with a guitar riff he described as "kinda

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

, kinda Mexican". He showed Henley the guitar riff and said: "Maybe we should write something to this." The title refers to a cocktail named Tequila Sunrise that was then popular. In the liner notes of 2003's '' The Very Best Of'', Henley had this to say about the song: According to ''

'', the theme of the song is " one man's efforts at survival and having to take 'a shot of courage.'" ''

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 ...

'' called it "a magnificent medium tempo tune certain to become a classic" that is "highlghted by some excellent vocal harmonies." Henley said that Frey came up with changes for the bridge, and that "take another shot of courage" refers to tequila because they used to call it "instant courage." He said: "We very much wanted to talk to the ladies, but we often didn’t have the nerve, so we’d drink a couple of shots and suddenly it was, "Howdy, ma’am."" There is a live version of this song (Live ABC 1973) that Glenn Frey sings additional lyrics to the standard ending, it goes like this: There is no information to confirm if this is just an impromptu, or if it is actually the original lyrics which they decided to leave off the original record. So, there is an earlier live version of this song (Live Popgala’73) (Voorburg 1973, De Vliegermolen, The Netherlands March 9th,1973, Popgala’73 VARA Television and Radio) that Glenn Frey sings additional lyrics to the standard ending, it goes like this: url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHIxFrWxnmE

Personnel

* Glenn Frey – lead vocals, acoustic guitar *

– drums,

maraca A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were ...

s, backing vocals *

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 ...

– bass, backing vocals * Bernie Leadon – B-Bender electric guitar, acoustic guitar solos, backing vocals

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tequila Sunrise (Song) 1973 singles 1993 singles Eagles (band) songs Alan Jackson songs Songs about alcohol Songs written by Glenn Frey Songs written by Don Henley Song recordings produced by Glyn Johns Asylum Records singles 1973 songs