Writers: Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey
Producer: Glyn Johns
Recorded: 1972, Olympic Sound Studios, London
Released: June 24, 1972
| Players: | Glenn Frey — lead vocals, guitar Bernie Leadon — guitar, banjo, vocals Randy Meisner — bass, vocals Don Henley — drums, vocals |
| Album: | Eagles (Asylum, 1972) |
Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon named the group from Hopi Indian lore, where, he said, “the eagle is considered a most sacred animal. It symbolizes the highest spirituality and morals. I would hope that the music would soar that high.”
“Take It Easy” entered the top 40 of the Billboard chart on June 24, 1972, where it spent eight weeks, peaking at Number 12.
Co-writer Jackson Browne released his own version of “Take It Easy” on his 1973 album For Everyman. In April 1974, he released “Take It Easy” as a single, but he had no chart success with it.
Due to its distinctive musical sound and lyric, and the images of both the Eagles and Browne, “Take It Easy” came to symbolize the laid-back style of California rock, to the point that Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes copped a riff from the song on the 1981 live album Reach Up And Touch The Sky, after joking about the difference between themselves and the Eagles.
On the 1993 Eagles country music tribute album Common Thread, Travis Tritt covers “Take It Easy.” He also reunited the group — singer-guitaristGlenn Frey, singer-drummer Don Henley, singer-guitarist Joe Walsh, singer-bassist Timothy B. Schmit, and guitarist Don Felder — for a music video of the song, which preceded the group's 1994 reunion tour.
