Those who remember the Eagles can reconnect
with the rock band's music in a surprising place. No, not in
some Hotel California, but in the tiny town of Winslow, Ariz.,
about 100 miles from the Grand Canyon.
On the surface, it would appear there
isn't much to do in Winslow. But look again – it's one of those
little gems that rewards the traveler who takes time to stop and
explore. This is especially true for fans of 1970s music and
those who like to discover quirky places.
Basically, Winslow is a collection of
small desert-style houses and some gas stations for those
traveling through.
The La Posada Hotel, built in 1929, used
to be the main tourist attraction.
Because Winslow sits on historic Route
66, it once reaped the benefits of countless tourists traveling
that highway made famous by the popular television series of the
same name, which ran from 1960 to 1964. But when Interstate 40
opened to the north in the late 1970s, it took the cars,
tourists, and much of the area's revenue with it.
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Now that Winslow, Ariz. is a tourist attraction, business is booming.
James Michael Dorsey
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Before long, Winslow was on the verge of
becoming a ghost town. So in 1997, the city decided to
capitalize on the hit song "Take It Easy," written by Jackson
Brown and Glen Frey and recorded by the Eagles.
One verse of the song goes, "Well, I'm
standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, and such a fine
sight to see. It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin'
down to take a look at me."
"Take It Easy" was a long-lasting hit and
continues to be played constantly on classic rock radio
stations, and the residents of Winslow saw it as a way to
breathe new life into their town.
So a local foundation formed a committee
to come up with ideas and request proposals from artists and
sculptors. In 1999 "Standin' on the Corner Park" opened to
national acclaim.
When travelers get about 20 miles from
Winslow in either direction, they see highway signs suggesting
that they tune their radios to a local station for town
information. When they do, they hear about the site, get
directions to the park, and are invited to have their photos
taken with the girl in the Ford truck.
Now, that's not an invitation that comes
the vacationer's way every day!
In the center of town, the first thing
you notice is a large trompe l'oeil mural covering the
western wall of an aging brick building that shows what appears
to be the reflection in a window of the girl in the flatbed Ford
slowing down to take a look at a bronze statue of a young man –
wearing jeans, shirt, boots, and vest – on the corner with his
guitar.
A street sign reads "Standin' on the
Corner," and the lyrics from "Take It Easy" play from several
loudspeakers. Looking down on all this is an eagle perched on a
second-story window. It is the song brought to life.
On any given day, even when the heat is
oppressive, anyone wanting to stand on the corner to have a
photo taken must first stand in line, as there is a steady
stream of tourists waiting to become part of this piece of
Americana.
Aging hippies stand shoulder to shoulder
with Japanese tourists, mothers from Kansas with small children,
and hipsters from New York, who all wait their turn with cameras
in hand. To stand on the corner in Winslow is to re-enter the
1970s.
Naturally, businesses in town have
capitalized on Winslow's bit of fame: Shops sell everything from
reproductions of Route 66 highway signs and newly mastered DVDs
of the old television series to Eagles CDs, hats, key chains,
shoulder bags, and refrigerator magnets, as well as prints of
the mural. Every store in town sells "Standin' on the Corner"
post cards. Business is once again booming in Winslow.
And never more so than each September,
when, for the past eight years, the annual Standin' on the
Corner Festival has brought thousands of tourists to town. This
year's festival will take place Sept. 28 and 29 and features the
tribute band "Hotel California, a Salute to the Eagles."
Thanks to all this activity, the earlier
situation has been reversed – many people now choose to bypass
the Interstate highway and drive along old Route 66 through the
Southwest to take in attractions such as the Winslow park. It
has become part of a grass-roots movement to revitalize the old
highway as an important piece of American history.
Sometimes song lyrics become catch
phrases, making their way into the daily lexicon of the American
language. But in the case of "Take It Easy," they have given new
life to a desert town that seemed on its way to vanishing.