STACK #260 June 2026

MUSIC FEATURE

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A well-respected veteran of the control room, the engineer’s engineer, Michael Braunstein, spoke with STACK about his work on the Eagles’ classic, One ofThese Nights . Words: Paul Jones L ENGINEERING THE EAGLES V I N Y L V I T A

“C hris Stone called me in and said, ‘You’re going to work with Bill Szymczyk in Studio B with the Eagles.’ I had experience as a first engineer, so in I went with Szymczyk on April 1st, [1975].” Michael Braunstein thumbs through the pages of his worn 1975 diary before settling on the entry for that day. He pauses, turns a page, and smiles. “Here. Here we go. April 2nd, we overdubbed [Don] Henley’s tablas on Too Many Hands .” In the 1970s, Record Plant – the brainchild of sound-engineering visionaries Chris Stone and Gary Kellgren - established first in New York and then, two years later, in LA, became the world’s premier recording studio. After getting sacked as the studio carpenter’s assistant, Braunstein convinced Stone to utilise his experience as a live sound engineer and landed a role behind the desk. “The Eagles would come in around 11am, and I’d ask what song they wanted me to put up on the 24-track. “[Glenn] Frey was the one who always led the session, but Henley would have the final say. “It was Frey who would sit next to me and moan, saying stuff like, ‘No, we need more guitar on that’, but out of the side of his eye, he was always watching Henley. “Henley was very quietly the one who had the yes or no. It was an interesting dynamic.” Three albums in, the Eagles were still searching for a true breakout record. Their previous album, On the Border , had been a commercial success thanks largely to Best of

The Eagles

My Love , while signalling a departure from the band’s country roots. The Eagles were now pursuing a more rock oriented direction - one fully realised on One of These Nights . The album is packed with radio-friendly heavyweights: Lyin’ Eyes, Too Many Hands, One of These Nights, and the anthemic Take It to the Limit . While Braunstein didn’t record the vocals

Florida - he did set up the song’s famous string accompaniment. “That was one of the things I loved about Szymczyk - he gave me a lot of latitude,” says Braunstein. “He would tell me what we had for strings – say, 12 violins, four violas, two cellos, and two basses - and he would let me set it up. “Then I would do all the micing and stuff. So, on Take It to the Limit , the entire song just fell together the way I watched it. “I’d put the tape up, and we’d all listen to it in the control room, and it was just

on Take It to the Limit – much of One of These Nights was cut in

WORKING WITH THE EAGLES The Eagles’ fallout is legendary, the band imploding in 1980 after years of substance abuse and fierce quarrelling. But according to Braunstein, there was little tension during the recording of One of These Nights . “They were very professional. There was virtually no bickering, although there was some smouldering resentment that Bernie Leadon held during the whole time. I think he was on the way out the minute he walked in the door to work on that album. “But there was a reason they called Szymczyk the ‘Coach’. That’s what made him the best producer I’ve seen with these eyes. He took five genius musicians with five huge egos – I mean, between Frey and Henley alone, there was more ego than you and I would ever want to have - and ran the smoothest, coolest show. He was just focused on getting the music.”

GOING DIGITAL

Alongside the plethora of recording artists Michael Braunstein worked with – including Frank Zappa, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Nils Lofgren - he also engineered the first major label digital recording session, in February 1979. Using an innovative 3M digital recording system, he recorded a new version of Stephen Stills’ Cherokee , making the studio veteran an early trailblazer in the shift from analogue tape to digital audio.

Michael Braunstein in Studio B

10 JUNE 2026

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