James Dean (song)

"James Dean" is a song written by Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Jackson Browne, and J. D. Souther, and recorded by the American rock band Eagles for their 1974 album "On the Border". It was the second single released from this album, reaching number 77 on the U.S. pop singles chart.
The song is about American actor James Dean (1931–1955) who starred in such films as "Rebel Without a Cause", "Giant" and "East of Eden". The lyrics, "too fast to live, too young to die" refer to the life and abrupt death of Dean in a car crash in 1955. Bernie Leadon played the guitar solo.
Background.
"James Dean" was first written as for an album originally intended to have a theme on anti-heroes. According to Glenn Frey, he together with Don Henley, Jackson Browne, and J. D. Souther were jamming together after attending a Tim Hardin show at the Troubadour in 1972, and they came up the idea about doing an album about anti-heroes. From this came the songs "Doolin-Dalton" and "James Dean". The album however evolved into a wild-west themed album "Desperado" which was released in 1973, and "James Dean" was shelved. When recording began for "On the Border", the song was immediately pulled off the shelf and completed. The song was written mostly by Jackson Browne according to Henley.
The B-side "Good Day in Hell" is notable for being the first Eagles track recorded with Don Felder, who joined the band midway through the sessions for the album.
Reception.
"Billboard" described "James Dean" as "good solid rocker" with "fine vocal harmonies" whose instrumentation is reminiscent of Jackson Browne's 1973 song "Redneck Friend," on which Eagles guitarist Glenn Frey provided backup vocals.