The Bob Seger Tip That Totally Transformed Don Henley Boys of Summer
This November marks the 40th anniversary of Don Henley‘s second album, Building the Perfect Beast. But do you know the story of how Bob Seger changed “The Boys of Summer” with one suggestion?
Bob Seger and Don Henley – what did Bob say?
What did Bob Seger say to Don Henley that changed one of Don’s biggest solo hits? It’s an amazing story from producer Niko Bolas. You’ll also discover that the song (at least the music) was created by Tom Petty’s guitar player for Tom…like we said, it’s an amazing story.
“The Boys of Summer” was actually written by Mike Campbell for Tom Petty. But Tom, for whatever reason, didn’t feel like it was the right fit. Don Henley, however, saw its potential. He jumped in and penned some incredible lyrics to match Mike’s music.
Mike had programmed the track using the Lin 9000—a groundbreaking piece of equipment at the time—and played all the guitar parts. We went on to record, mix, and cut the single. When we got the seven-inch back, it was a Friday night. We were in the studio, celebrating, listening to the playback, and everything was feeling just right. Bob Seger happened to stop by to see Don, and he joined us in the control room. Drinks were flowing; everyone was enjoying the moment.
Then, as the track finished, Bob turned to Don and said, “That’s a great record. But why didn’t you sing it higher? Chicks love it when you sing high.” The room went silent; you could’ve heard a pin drop.
Don looked at me and asked, “What can we do?”
I had just gotten this new AMS unit, which came with a harmonizer and pitch changer. So I took the instrumental track, created an instrumental version off the multitrack, ran it through the harmonizer, and made a cassette with progressively higher pitches.
That weekend, we took the cassette to Don’s house and played around with it, experimenting. Don would sing it higher, then lower, trying to find the range that felt strongest and most natural. And Henley, being the phenomenal singer he is, could really fine-tune it.
By Monday, we were back in the studio with a clear direction. I matched the pitch he liked best, found the key, and we re-recorded the entire thing. Don re-sang the vocals, we remixed it, and still hit the release date.
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of “Building The Perfect Beast” with Don Henley
To celebrate the milestone, he’s released a 40th anniversary two-album edition, remastered from the original analog tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl.
The album that gave us “The Boys of Summer,” “All She Wants to Do Is Dance,” “Sunset Grill” and “Not Enough Love in the World” will also include “A Month of Sundays,” making it the complete track, which was only available CD, cassette, and digital versions.
With this announcement comes the release now of the remastered digital version “The Boys of Summer.”
Building the Perfect Beast won the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male for “The Boys of Summer,” and Video of the Year at the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards for “The Boys of Summer.”