The Long Run (song)

"The Long Run"
Single by Eagles
from the album The Long Run
B-side "The Disco Strangler"
Released November 27, 1979
Format 7" vinyl
Genre Rock, rhythm and blues[1]
Length 3:42
Label Asylum
Writer(s) Don Henley, Glenn Frey
Producer(s) Bill Szymczyk
Eagles singles chronology
"Heartache Tonight"
(1979)		 "The Long Run"
(1979)		 "I Can't Tell You Why"
(1980)

"The Long Run" is a song written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey and recorded by the Eagles. The sound of the song is viewed as a tribute to the Stax / Memphis rhythm and blues sound.[2] It was the title track of their album The Long Run and was released as a single in November 1979. It reached #8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in early 1980.[3] It was the second of three singles released from The Long Run album, preceded by "Heartache Tonight," which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1979, and followed by "I Can't Tell You Why," which also reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, in the spring of 1980.[3]

The song was featured on the TV show WKRP in Cincinnati on the episode "The Doctor's Daughter". Specifically, Dr. Johnny Fever decides to air the recording and his programming director, Andy Travis is hysterical with delight that his popular DJ is playing a hit record for once.

Music critic Dave Marsh states in his book "The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made" that the song "The Long Run" is more than just a tribute, calling it a complete ripoff of the 1972 R&B song "Tryin' To Live My Life Without You" recorded by Otis Clay and written by Eugene Williams, the latter of which was covered by Bob Seger in 1981.[4]

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart (1979/1980) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100[3] 8
Canadian RPM Top Singles[5] 9
Canadian RPM Adult Oriented Playlist[6] 9
New Zealand Singles Chart[7] 30
UK Singles Chart[8] 66

Cover versions

References

  1. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. "The Long Run > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  2. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. "The Long Run > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved January 31, 2010. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "The Long Run > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved January 31, 2010. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ "RPM Volume 32 No. 19, February 02 1980". Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  6. ↑ "RPM Volume 32 No. 19, February 02 1980". Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  7. ↑ "charts.org.nz - Eagles - The Long Run". Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Chart Stats - Eagles - The Long Run". Retrieved January 31, 2010.