“New Kid in Town” by The Eagles

The Eagles led with "New Kid in Town" when Hotel California, their fifth album, rolled out in 1976, and that first single off the record went all the way to number one in the U.S. Glenn Frey, Don Henley and J.D. Souther wrote it, and Bill Szymczyk produced and mixed.

Frey sings lead and strums the acoustic, Henley lays down drums and the main harmony, and the whole thing glides like a slow cruise down the coast highway: Don Felder handles every electric guitar, Joe Walsh fills in on Rhodes and Hammond, and Randy Meisner digs out a guitarrón, the big Mexican acoustic bass of the mariachi bands. All that blending paid off with a Grammy for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices. The single fades out a little sooner than the album cut.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.