The So Cal sound
Eagles hit maker Jack Temphchin plays Altadena
By Joanna Beresford 07/30/2009
YOU PROBABLY THOUGHT THAT DON HENLEY, GLENN FREY AND OTHER MEMBERS OF The Eagles wrote all their big hits. Not so. Another hand, that of Jack Tempchin, was at work in the early days of the legendary band, and he’s performing Friday night at Coffee Gallery Backstage.
Singer, songwriter and guitar player Tempchin shares the bill with perennial California psych-country-rock favorites I See Hawks in LA.
Tempchin started out playing the San Diego coffeehouse circuit, sharing stages with The Eagles, Jackson Browne, JD Souther and Tom Waits, among others, helping launch what became known as “The Southern California Sound.”
Early on, he penned two of The Eagles’ massive hits: “Peaceful Easy Feeling” and “Already Gone.” Both songs were on the disc “The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975,” which the Recording Industry Association of America says eventually went platinum times 29. That’s some kind of staying power.
As members of The Eagles went on to solo careers, he co-wrote another dozen hits with Frey, including “You Belong to the City,” “Smuggler’s Blues,” “Party Town,” “I Found Somebody” and others. He and Frey also co-wrote “The Girl From Yesterday,” on the 1994 Eagles reunion disc, “Hell Freezes Over.” In 2007, Tempchin co-wrote two more songs for The Eagles’ “Long Road Out of Eden” CD. His 2009 release, “Songs,” his sixth studio album, includes his version of “Smuggler’s Blues.”
Music starts at 8 p.m. Friday at Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N. Lake Ave., Altadena. Call (626) 398-7917.
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