The Eagles’ Desperado album photos were taken at the Paramount Ranch western film set in Agoura Hills by Henry Diltz, and Gary Burden was the album cover graphic designer. The album was recorded in London at Island Studios with Glyn Johns as their producer. Glyn had recorded the first Eagles album, too. (Bill Szymczyk would later take over as producer beginning with their next album which had already been started with Johns, On the Border.)
The Desperado album was released Apr. 17, 1973 and is their 2nd album. As a promotion, stagecoaches were used to deliver albums to radio stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, and Seattle. A photo of the stagecoach is below.
Paramount Ranch was destroyed by the Woolsey Fire in November 2018. Photos of the old west film set are near the bottom of this page.
“The gear they got really could have been worn by John Wayne because it came from the same rental place that supplied all the big movies. The band loved those clothes so much, they refused to return some of them, which must have cost David Geffen…”
Henry Diltz, photographer
Interviews:
Glenn and Randy are interviewed by Redbeard for “In the Studio with Redbeard” about this album and the On the Border album. Randy shares a funny story about the guys riding their horses. The Redbeard interview is on the Podcasts and interviews with Randy Meisner page on this website. Also, on this Desperado post (farther down this page) is the short video clip from the Laurel Canyon documentary of all four Eagles riding horses. And, there is a Cameron Crowe interview with Glenn Frey for a publication called “Zoo World” below.
Videos (short excerpts and clips):
- “Under the Covers”
- BBC documentary “Hotel California: LA from the Byrds to the Eagles”
- “Who Shot Rock and Roll” documentary
- “Library After Dark”
- “Laurel Canyon” documentary
- Linda Ronstadt’s version of Desperado on the Don Kirschner show in 1974
- Randy tells John Beaudin about the Desperado bootleg tape he made and then lost at an airport.
Desperado trucker:
A desperado trucker held the office manager at Elektra Asylum Records in New York hostage for two hours on Mar. 20, 1980 until a New York radio station DJ played “Desperado” on the air for him. The New York Post did a 40-year follow-up story on the desperado trucker.
Henry Diltz remembers the Desperado photo shoot
This excerpt from Under the Covers with Henry Diltz and Gary Burden shows the footage of the Desperado photo shoot as it’s being filmed.
1999
Excerpt from the BBC documentary Hotel California: LA from the Byrds to the Eagles
Some comments by Henry Diltz, JD Souther, and Ned Doheny – Ned gave the book called The Album of Gunfighters to Jackson Browne which began the Desperado concept for the album.
2007
“Who Shot Rock and Roll” documentary with Henry Diltz
2012
“Library After Dark – A Conversation with John Van Hamersveld & Henry Diltz” at the El Segundo Public Library in California
Feb 13, 2020
Eagles Desperado album front and back covers
Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, and Bernie Leadon
More readable song info farther down on this page
Photo used for album cover
Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, and Bernie Leadon
Desperado billboard on Sunset Strip and the photo used for the billboard
Randy Meisner, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Bernie Leadon
Eagles Desperado photos
Jackson Browne, Boyd Elder (in white coat), Randy Meisner, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Bernie Leadon
Bernie Leadon
Henry Diltz getting the shot he wants
Jackson Browne
JD Souther, John Hartmann, and Jackson Browne
Randy Meisner
Larry Penny, Richard Fernandez, and Tommy Nixon
John Hartmann
John Hartmann and Glyn Johns
John Hartmann, Glyn Johns, Boyd Elder (on horse), Larry Penny, Tommy Nixon, and Richard Fernandez
Henry Diltz
JD Souther
Boyd Elder, Larry Penny, and Gary Burden
Foreground: Gary Burden
Background: Randy Meisner, Bernie Leadon, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey
A short clip from the Laurel Canyon documentary with Randy and the Eagles on horseback
Screenshots of Randy Meisner on horseback
“This shot of the Eagles was taken the day we did their Desperado album cover out in Agoura Hills. It never really got used in connection to the album art, but I’ve always really liked it. That day we all really went back to the 1800’s… a complete time warp.” per Henry Diltz
Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner
Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner
Eagles Desperado album photos
Standing L-R: Gary Burden, Larry Penny, Richard Fernandez, Boyd Elder, Tommy Nixon, John Hartmann, and Glyn Johns
Standing L-R: Gary Burden, Larry Penny, Richard Fernandez, Boyd Elder, Tommy Nixon, John Hartmann, and Glyn Johns
Standing L-R: Gary Burden, Larry Penny, Richard Fernandez, Boyd Elder, Tommy Nixon, John Hartmann, and Glyn Johns
Standing L-R: Gary Burden, Larry Penny, Richard Fernandez, Boyd Elder, Tommy Nixon, John Hartmann, and Glyn Johns
The photo chosen for the back of the album cover
Standing L-R: Gary Burden, Larry Penny, Richard Fernandez, Boyd Elder, Tommy Nixon, John Hartmann, and Glyn Johns
Dead on ground L-R: Jackson Browne, Bernie Leadon, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, Don Henley, and JD Souther
Boyd Elder, who is in the photos above, was the designer of the Eagles albums with the skulls on the covers. He received a Grammy nomination for the best album cover art for his artwork on the One of These Nights album.
The Odessa American (Odessa, TX) – Aug. 2, 1987
One of These Nights
Released June 10, 1975
Their Greatest Hits
(1971-1975)
Released Feb. 17, 1976
The Very Best of the Eagles
Released May 10, 1985
This is a short film about the artist Boyd Elder. Boyd died Oct. 6, 2018 in Texas. He was a colorful character, so be prepared for some questionable language in a few places.
There are no accompanying articles, only the text below each picture. Since the Desperado album was released April 17, 1973, most likely these promos occurred right at that time.
Cash Box magazine – June 2, 1973
Randy Meisner is second from left, and Glenn Frey is third from right.
Billboard magazine – June 2, 1973
These two photos were taken when Glenn and Don stopped by WNEW-FM radio station in New York to promote the new Desperado album. The Eagles were in New York to record the concert at Central Park that was televised on the Good Vibrations TV show that aired Aug. 23, 1973. Radio station visits like this were necessary to promote their albums.
Since the image of the back cover of the album (shown above) is really hard to read, here is the list of songs with the writers and lead vocals noted.
From Wikipedia
Cameron Crowe interviewed Don Henley and Glenn Frey about the history of some of the Desperado album songs – Aug. 2003
From the book “Sound Man” by Glyn Johns – pg. 199
Cameron Crowe interviews Glenn Frey about the Desperado album
“Flying High Fueled By Tequila”
ZooWorld – Sept. 13, 1973
Zoo World was a bi-weekly music magazine published between Jan. 1972 and Jan. 1975 in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Cameron Crowe was a contributor.
The Cleveland Scene (Cleveland, OH) – May 3-9, 1973
“‘Doolin-Dalton.’ which opens the album, and ‘Outlaw Man,’ written by David Blue, outline the dimensions of this sort of personality in ominous fashion, setting the stage for an eventual, album-ending brouhaha.”
Boston Herald (Boston, MA) – May 6, 1973
“With the release of ‘Desperado,’ the Eagles’ second album, the band has clearly established itself as ‘a cut above the rest’.”
Staten Island Advance (Staten Island, NY) – May 6, 1973
The Cleveland Scene (Cleveland, OH) – May 17-23, 1973
“But the Eagles aren’t mere imitators; they’re innovators in this colorful new genre of music, and their musicianship is comparable to few others.”
Springfield Leader and Press (Springfield, MO) – May 20, 1973
“Listening to Randy Meisner wail, you are never sure if he’s singing about a guitar or a gun, and then you realize it’s probably both.”
Phonograph Record magazine – June 1973
“The fact that the cuts work individually as well as together is why Desperado stands out among the prolific country-rock albums around these days.”
Seattle Daily Times (Seattle, WA) – June 7, 1973
“In ‘Certain Kind of Fool,’ for instance, the song does not specify the object that the boy buys from the store window and practices with in the country until he is good enough to stand with the best. We assume it’s a gun, but it could just as well be a guitar.”
The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, CA) – July 29, 1973
“‘Desperado’ is ostensibly the story of Bill Doolin and Bill Dalton; it follows their development as small-time bandits, their flight from the law and eventual death in the archetypical Wesern showdown.”
The Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, IN) – Aug. 2, 1973
Vidette-Messenger of Porter County (Valparaiso, IN) – Aug. 23, 1973
Cash Box magazine – Oct. 5, 1974
“The Eagles’ concept album, ‘Desperado,’ is being made into a Broadway play and-or movie, but the Eagles aren’t cooperating.”
“One of the issues was reportedly the selling of the group’s ‘Desperado’ album without consultation with the band.”
“Azoff took legal action, the Eagles vs. Warner Communications and David Geffen, which led to an out of court settlement ‘by which the Eagles won back all their copyrights,’ the manager said. ‘They now own every song they ever wrote, copyrights which I have to value at around $5 million’.”
The LA Times (Los Angeles, CA) – Sept. 30, 1979
garyburdenforrtwerk.com
Uncut Magazine – May 2007
The Henry Diltz photo shoot is featured in this 4-page article.
(Click on each image to enlarge. The pdf version is better for reading the text.)
Pg. 78
Pg. 79
Pg. 80
Pg. 81
Uncut Magazine – June 2013
UNCUT Magazine and the story of how the Desperado album came about
(Click on each image to enlarge. The pdf version is better for reading the text.)
Pg. 26
Pg. 27
Pg. 28
Pg. 29
“As a 21st birthday present, our friend and fellow musician Ned Doheny had given Jackson Browne a big coffee-table-type book of photos of the famous outlaws of the Old West. Jackson showed the book to JD and Glenn and suggested that they all collaborate on a song about some of these outlaws.”
Rolling Stone – June 10, 2016
The Tennessean – Apr. 22, 2022
Jim Ed Norman, a member of Shiloh with Don Henley, was the arranger and conductor for the orchestra who performed Desperado with the Eagles in 1973.
Linda Ronstadt sings her version of Desperado with the Eagles on the Don Kirschner show in 1974
Randy made his own bootleg Desperado tape and then lost it at an airport.
Paramount Ranch old west buildings before fire destroyed them
Paramount Ranch destroyed Nov. 2018 by Woolsey Fire
“While the damage was still being assessed, officials confirmed that Paramount Ranch’s ‘Western Town,’ a landmark film location dating to 1927 that included a jail, hotel and saloon, burned to the ground.”
Woolsey Fire story from the Honolulu Star – Nov. 16, 2018
A Desperado trucker held the office manager hostage at Elektra Asylum Records in New York for two hours on Mar. 20, 1980.
40-year follow-up on Desperado trucker story
Central New Jersey Home News (New Brunswick, NJ) – Mar. 21, 1980
“Police said that during the episode, Rivera asked for a sandwich and wanted to hear the song ‘Desperado.’ The song was played on radio station WPLJ-FM, with disc jockey Jimmy Fink calmly announcing, ‘This is Desperado for the desperate trucker’.”
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, TX) – Mar. 21, 1980
A great collection of photos, many new to me, and articles even including the poor hostage.
Thanks! A little while ago I remembered I had the video from Laurel Canyon, so I just posted that very short segment of the guys riding the horses.