Hotel California

Eagles, 1976. Solo by Don Felder & Joe Walsh.

Two guitarists trading eight-bar statements before locking into harmony is the blueprint for the twin-lead coda. It works because every phrase is singable; you can hum the whole outro.

The coda runs a little over two minutes and plays like a conversation between Don Felder and Joe Walsh, each answering the other before the two lock into harmonized arpeggios over the B minor progression. Felder's Les Paul and Walsh's Telecaster give the exchange two distinct voices, which is why you can always tell who is speaking. Henley insisted they recreate the lines from Felder's original demo, so the parts have the shape of composed melody rather than loose jamming. That singable quality is what made the twin-lead ending a model for countless rock bands. Listen for the moment the call-and-response stops and both guitars move together; the song has been building toward that release all along.

Hotel California by Eagles is ranked #3 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Don Felder & Joe Walsh and the song was released in 1976. It appears on 60 lists, placing as high as #1 (liamrecord.blog).

The story of Hotel California

The music began with Don Felder, who was renting a beach house in Malibu. Sitting with a twelve-string acoustic, he worked up a chord sequence and recorded an instrumental sketch on a small TEAC four-track, adding a drum machine and most of the guitar parts, including the twin-lead finale. He passed cassettes of that and other ideas to his bandmates. Don Henley nicknamed the track 'Mexican Reggae' because of its Latin and reggae lilt, and that became its working title.

Glenn Frey and Henley turned the instrumental into a story: a traveller crossing the desert at night who checks into a strange, luxurious hotel he can never quite leave. They wanted it to open like an episode of The Twilight Zone. The band later framed the lyric as their take on the excess of the Los Angeles high life, and Henley has since described it as a song about the dark side of the American dream and a journey from innocence to experience.

Getting it on tape was laborious. Felder's demo sat in E minor, which pitched Henley's vocal too high, so the song was moved to B minor. The band cut it at the Record Plant in Los Angeles more than once, once judged too fast, before a final version at Criteria in Miami. Producer Bill Szymczyk said the master was assembled from dozens of edits on the two-inch tape, splicing together the best sections of several complete takes.

Asylum issued the title track as the album's second single, after 'New Kid in Town', on 22 February 1977, backed with 'Pretty Maids All in a Row'. Its length, long intro and two-minute guitar coda defied the rules of AM radio, yet it went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Grammy for Record of the Year.

The solo

The closing solo is a dialogue between Don Felder and Joe Walsh that runs a little over two minutes. Felder played a 1959 sunburst Gibson Les Paul through a narrow-panel 1950s Fender Tweed Deluxe with an Echoplex, while Walsh used a Fender Telecaster. The pair first improvised, but Henley insisted they reproduce the lines on Felder's original demo. Because Felder could not remember exactly what he had played, his housekeeper in Malibu put the cassette in a boombox and held the phone up to it so he could relearn the parts. The solo trades call-and-response phrases between the two players before they lock into harmonized arpeggios over the B minor progression. The work took roughly three days, with Szymczyk splicing the best phrases from different passes.

Legacy

The song won the Grammy for Record of the Year at the 20th Grammy Awards and entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003. Its guitar finale regularly tops reader polls: Guitarist magazine readers voted it the best solo of all time in 1998, and Guitar World readers placed it at No. 8. Rolling Stone ranked the song No. 49 in its 2004 list of the greatest songs. Its closing line has become shorthand for anything that is easy to enter but hard to leave, from financial products to software platforms.

Top 10 facts about Hotel California

Felder wrote the music on a twelve-string in a rented Malibu beach house and demoed it on a TEAC four-track.
Songfacts
The song's working title was 'Mexican Reggae', Henley's description of Felder's instrumental demo.
Wikipedia
Felder's demo was in E minor; the band moved it to B minor because the original key made Henley sound too high.
MusicRadar
Felder's solo guitar was a '59 sunburst Les Paul into a 1950s Tweed Deluxe, while Walsh played a Telecaster.
MusicRadar
To match his demo, Felder had his housekeeper play the cassette down the phone line to the studio.
MusicRadar
Producer Bill Szymczyk said the finished master contained 33 edits on the two-inch tape.
Wikipedia
The 'steely knives' line is a friendly jab at Steely Dan, who had name-checked the Eagles in 'Everything You Did'.
Wikipedia
The Eagles skipped the Grammy ceremony where the song won Record of the Year, watching on TV while rehearsing with new bassist Timothy B. Schmit.
Songfacts
Frank Ocean built 'American Wedding' in 2011 on the song's full instrumental, drawing a legal threat from Don Henley.
Wikipedia
In 2024 prosecutors dropped a criminal case over Henley's handwritten Hotel California lyric sheets partway through the trial.
Wikipedia

Live versions

Los Angeles Forum (1976) The first live recording of the song, later added to an expanded edition of the album.
Eagles Live (1980) Official live album version from the band's original era.
Hell Freezes Over (MTV) (1994) Acoustic reunion arrangement with a new flamenco-style intro by Felder; Grammy-nominated.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction (1998) The only time all seven past and present Eagles performed it together.

Notable covers

Gipsy Kings (1990) Spanish flamenco version later used for the Jesus in The Big Lebowski.
The Orb (as Jam on the Mutha) (1990) Dance reworking that reached No. 62 in the UK.
Victoria (2006) Czech singer's version topped the Czech radio chart.
The Cat Empire French-language 'L'Hôtel de Californie' for triple j's Like a Version.
Mike Piranha (1998) Parody 'Hotel Honolulu' that became a local hit in Hawaii.

In our lists

The Most-Taught Solos — #2
See Them Live — #1
The Greatest Solo of Every Year — #33
The 25 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Solos — #3
The 1970s — #3
Twin Guitars & Harmonies — #1
Epic-Length Solos — #3
Played on a Les Paul — #1
Most Agreed-Upon — #3
Critics' Picks — #6
Fans' Picks — #3

Sources

What guitar was used on the Hotel California solo?

A gibson les paul, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Hotel California rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#3 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 60 of them.

Who wrote Hotel California?

Don Felder wrote the music; Don Henley and Glenn Frey wrote the lyrics.

Who plays the guitar solo on Hotel California?

Don Felder and Joe Walsh trade lines and then harmonize in the closing solo.

What guitars were used on the Hotel California solo?

Felder used a 1959 Gibson Les Paul through a Fender Tweed Deluxe; Walsh used a Fender Telecaster.

What is Hotel California about?

The band describes it as a look at excess in the Los Angeles high life and, more broadly, the dark side of the American dream.

Did Hotel California win a Grammy?

Yes, it won Record of the Year at the 20th Grammy Awards in 1978.