"New Kid in Town" is a song by the Eagles from their 1976 studio album Hotel California. It was written by Don Henley, Glenn Frey and J.D. Souther. Released as the first single from the album, the song became a number-one hit in the US, and number 20 in the UK. The single version has an earlier fade-out than the album version.
The song features Glenn Frey singing the lead vocals, with Don Henley singing main harmony vocals. Randy Meisner plays the guitarrón mexicano, Don Felder plays electric guitars, and Joe Walsh plays the electric piano and organ parts. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices.
- "We were writing about our replacements."
That's what J.D. Souther told us about this song, which he wrote with Eagles members Glenn Frey and Don Henley. Souther was part of the flourishing Southern California music scene, and often collaborated with the Eagles, also cowriting their hits "Best Of My Love" and "Heartache Tonight."
Souther explained: "'New Kid' emerged from our whole fascination with gunfire as an analogy. The point was at some point some kid would come riding into town that was much faster than you and he'd say so, and then he'd prove it. That's the story of life. That's the story of aging, especially coming out of your teenage and young man years and as you approach 30, you begin to see that things don't stay the same forever. And that there's a lot other guys like you and gals like you that want the same thing that are coming up, and they want their moment, too, and they're going to get it. And it's fine. It's as it should be." - Don Felder, who was the Eagles guitarist at the time, told us that once they came up with the concept of the "Hotel California," some other songs fell into place, including this one. Said Felder: "Once you arrive in LA and you have your first couple of hits, you become the 'New Kid in Town,' and then with greater success, you live 'Life In The Fast Lane,' and you start wondering if all that time you've spent in the bars was just 'Wasted Time.' So all of these other song ideas kind of came out of that concept once the foundation was laid for 'Hotel California.'"
A - New Kid In Town (4:49)
Written-By – Don Henley, Glenn Frey, John David Souther
B - Victim Of Love (4:04)
Written-By – Don Felder, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, John David Souther
Companies, etc.
- Pressed By – EMI-Bovema N.V.
Credits
- Producer – Bill Szymczyk
van de Elpee: AS 53051 "Hotel California"
Notes
Release: 1976
Genre: Country Rock
Label: Asylum Records
Catalog# AS 13069
