How in control was Bill Szymczyck on the Eagles albums?
I always sensed that you and Henley were right behind him calling the shots in the studio. We were all involved with those records. Bill provided a very unique and invaluable service for us. He was a great “listener” and he knew what all of us could do. “Producer” is such a nebulous term. You look at each person who calls himself a producer and you’ll find he does something different. One thing I’ve found out since I started producing is that the more the artist knows the less I have to do. That doesn’t mean you’re less involved or that you couldn’t get more involved if you need to, but you’ve got to give the artist some reins. Bill was very understanding in that regard which was more valuable than having him jack around with every arrangement on every basic track. What I do when I’m producing is basically the same thing I did with the Eagles–get the basic track together, work on the arrangement for the rhythm action and the vocals. I was basically the arranger for the band, especiall
