This is wonderful to hear the original version of the song...my heart still is with Iain Matthews version, esp. his earliest cover of the song, (prior to Valley Hi)...check it out...really, worth finding.
My first Columbia record album I received way back when was Joan Baez Diamonds and Rust which featured a great rendition of Seven Bridges Road. Anyone have this track. I think she makes the most of this song.
I love both versions. The writer puts his very soul into the performance of his art. This cannot be replicated or "covered." That said, bands like Led Zep, the Stones, etc. create their own magic with their renditions of old acoustic blues songs. The entertainment value is no less for it being their interpretation. Love it all, Glen
By far, better than the Eagles version. For some reason, the Eagles changed it from 3/4 to 4/4 time, and the extra beat in each measure causes the song to drag -- badly. It's just a showcase for show-off harmonies and loses the emotional charge of the original.
@meatman55 I don't know what point you were trying to make. Iain Matthews did a great cover of Steve Young's song & the Eagles copied his version. I neither said nor meant anything against either Steve Young or Iain Matthews, and if you think I did, I have no idea where you got the notion.
I have heard many artists perform this song, each of them bringing their own style to the song, yet none of them taking away from the words. Regardless of your taste in music it is because of Steve Young that we even have this awesome song to listen to. His style is how he perceived it to be performed, but like baking a cake, everyone adds their own ingredients to spice it up a bit.. Thank you Steve Young!! Awesome Song.
I'd always wondered how the Eagles got their version of this song from what Steve did.i got to Steve Young a couple of days ago. he told how Ian Matthews did the song before the Eagles. if you've not seen Steve Young you need to. he does a great show. just another of many Alabama boys. born in Georgia but doesn't remember much of living there.
For soul and heart, you cannot beat Steve's version of this song. Yeah, the Eagles have beautiful harmonies, but this is the real deal. One guy, one guitar, singing from deep within . . . .
I too give full credit to the Stever Young as the creator of this beautiful song. The "Eagles" are my favorite band of all time and believed that their version of this song was the ulitmate rendition. That was until I heard "Ricochet" sing it. Theirs is undoubtably the best version ever recorded.
this version is cool and sounds great...calms me down..some of you say you like the eagles version better and so do i i love the eagles version better but hey if it hadnt of been for this guy they wouldnt even have had the song in the first place
There are many versions of this song now, the Dolly Parton one is great. There is room for all our favourites and our individual interpretations and thoughts on the lyrics. A truly great song and the very definition of the term "haunting" when applied to music. Many years ago, Mr Steve Young, a great gentleman taught it to me personally. We are all sharing it now.
Don't get me wrong, the Eagles Accapella version shows how beautifully their vioces blend/harmonize without all the technical stuff. Steve Young gives this song and entirely different feel. His is my personal preference if I had to choose. Luckily we can enjoy all versions. Thank-you Dan984Player for this post!
@hozeryo Joan Baez and Jeffery Shurtleff did a great version, in 1969 or 1970, though I can't find them on YouTube. It's good to be able to hear so many different versions.
@hozeryo Joan Baez and Jeffery Shurtleff did a great version, in 1969 or 1970, though I can't find them on YouTube. It's good to be able to hear so many different versions.
Amazing.................love the fact that he let the Eagles sing this song............well written and then the Eagles add the icing......my favorite song of all time,
I like a lot of people remember "7 bridges road" off the 1980 Eagles album and have heard a lot of remakes of the song, some great and some not so good. this is the first time i've heard it by Steve Young although we hear them anounce his name at the beginning of the song. The Eagles defenetly made it their own songthe way they sang it accapello and i think comparing the two versions would be comparing apples to oranges, but I so appreciate the post. I always love hearing the origional version
Pastoral and majestic! The picking at 4:55 gave me chills! I could visualize the countryside he was singing of. Apples & oranges aside, its a beautiful, majestic song!
Ian Matthews version is the best harmonically but the power and majesty of this version is breathtaking. I can see the starry night and the lonely road.
This song is about a road in south Montgomery County, Alabama; it leads out by the Trotman Place on Woodley Road. Legend has it that Steve and a couple of local boys who may still be around were picking and singing on their way to a party. The local boys apparently didn't have Steve's tolerance for shine; and Steve wrote the song on the way back to town while the locals slept it off.
Eagles give him credit for this song on their hell freezes over album...I like their cover better personally...they harmonize very well and its just an all around great version
Don Henley of the Eagles is from North East Texas. Glenn Frey came from Michigan, Randy Meisner from Nebraska, Bernie Leadon from California, then Florida. Then Don Felder, also from Florida where he knew Leadon. Then Joe Walsh from Kansas, Ohio, New York and New Jersey, who replaced Leadon. Then Tim Schmidt from California, who replaced Meisner. The first four came together in LA as a backing band for Linda Ronstadt.
I always love to hear the songwriter sing his own song. My favorite cover of this amazing tune was done by Joan Baez many, many years ago. Check it out if you can find it...And thank you, Mr. Young, for writing a song that has helped me keep on keepin' on for 55 years!
I never suspected this song wasn't written by the Eagles! Like all songs, I think, they are always better by the writer....ie; Bob Dylan's versions of all of his music, can't be covered by ANYONE and have the same feeling....
he wrote this, he wrote lonesome onery and mean, he wrote long road to hollywood, he wrote montgomery in the rain, he wrote rock salt and nails . . . .
I always preferred Ian Matthews' version to the Eagles. I prefer almost anything to anything by the Eagles. This one here by Steve is haunting and wonderful.
I never liked the Eagles version. It is to fast. I prefer the version on the Blue Canyon release, next would be the version with Tracy Nelson and after that the original on Rock Salt And Nails.
I think every time he cuts it, he adds something different and unique.How many times has he done this at least ten. They are all great. He sings it with soul and passion.How could he not, he wrote it. He has lived it.
I really have not heard anyone else do this that can come near to his.
I remember listening to an album by Steve Young (I forget the title) on Sonet that included not only this song but others equally brilliant: 'Many Rivers' was one, 'Lonesome, On'ry, and Mean' another, and my favourite 'Montgomery in the Rain' - a magnificient song. I wish that I could still lay hold of that album as there was not a bad moment on the whole of it.
I was hangin' out with Steve back in those days and we were both infatuated/in love with Tracy Nelson. She had the first cut on this song and then sang harmony with Steve on his RCA LP "Nowhere to Fall". I've had the pleasure of getting to know his son Jubal Lee and played some shows with him too. I love this song and Steve is one hell of a writer. He also wrote "Lonesome, Onry and Mean" that Waylon Jennings had a hit with.
I hope loyal fans of the Eagles version would be open to Young's version that he wrote. He doesn't fit the mold of a "specific" type of blues/folk songwriter and singer. He has put his heart and soul into these songs, like Alabama Highway.
Just be glad he gifted the world with Seven Bridges Road and try to listen to another person's way of singing about the roads that take us down the highway of life. He really is a fantastic picker on that 6 string.
I never heard of Steve Young before I saw Heartworn Highways. Now I look him up, and its like, how could you miss him?
This song plus the HH performance of Alabama Highway convince me that he might have one of the strongest voices in the history of Country music.
Play this on just one "pop country" radio station, PLEASE! I'd much rather hear this kinda stuff then Strawberry Wine for the 1,000,000,000,000th time.
I have been in the entertainment business for over 25 years. I absolutely love the tight harmonies by The Eagles on their cover of this song. However, this version of Mr. Young's song BY Mr. Young himself is quite possibly the most beautiful, most powerful musical performance I have ever witnessed. It is simply devastating in mood and simplicity, with a poignancy that comes straight from Mr. Young's gut and wrenches your heart. To fully comprehend this performance, one MUST be a TRUE artist.
What's a "true" artist? I started playing music only after having discovered all of countercultural era's perfect music (10,000+ albums, including all of Steve Young's music). Sensitivity is not a slave to anything anyone DOES, such as PRODUCE art!
Ummm.... what? Sorry, I don't understand your reply. What I mean, very simply and quickly, is "not a poseur." I will be more than happy to share my definition and opinion of a "true artist" if you so desire.
Steve is a "true artist" of the highest order. No question about that. Just responding to you suggestion that even for a listener fully to "comprehend" this performance's beauty, one must be a "true artist." Anywho, Steve's voice definitely is more powerful in his earlier recordings of this song. I believe folks are also collapsing all of Steve's version into the idea of "this version."
Ah, ok...got it. Yes,you raise a very good, valid point. I absolutely agree his voice is MUCH stronger on earlier recordings--even LATER recordings. THIS particular performance coincides with the 12th year anniversary of his wife leaving him. He hadn't played it live for over 5 years. His voice and picking here is UNUSUALLY honest and heartfelt,but technically rough. To the untrained--this may have a sound bordering on "schmaltz." (continued on next comment)
A true atrist will tell you (as I'm sure you know, being that you seem to be of that special variety)that "you're only as good as you dare to be bad." Steve makes some very daring, different choices here in arrangement in the spur of the moment. If you're familiar with the backstory, he wasn't even CONSIDERING playing this song on this night. He takes some real risks here in phrasing and arrangement and pulls it off magically. The average listener won't recognize those choices and/or risks.
All good points. The "average listener" doesn't listen to Steve! No one can sing like him and it can't be learnt, but I hope someone can convince him to do a video on his great guitar style--especially his melding of blues and country-folk on songs like this and Hank Williams' "Ramblin' Man." Do you know him personally?
For the umpteenth time--Eagles' "version" is the same as Iain Matthews' 1973 version. Please get off your backsides and go find it on vinyl or CD, instead of youtubing everything.
Really a great song. Can somebody tell me where I can find the "studio version"of this song with the violins on it? Or can somebody post that one? txs
The best one imo is on "No Place To Fall" which was reissued together with "Renegate Picker" on a double-CD by BMG (UK & Ireland), one (recorded for A&M) on his CD "Rock, Salt And Nails" on Edsel (UK) and one (recorded for Warner Bros.) on BEV Music (Germany). This one can be obtained through me quite cheap... Just send an email...
I was unemployed in the late "70's and staying with a friend. I was going trough his albums and stumbled on "Renegade Picker". I was hooked. This man is one of the greatest singer/sonwriters of our time. He has a tremendous voice and can really turn a phrase.
if you like this version i have an old vinyl album called steve young rock salt and nails where he does it a little different. the album is great and there are 5 other songs one of which he also wrote that are fantastic
I'm not going to go into how I stumbled upon Steve Young and his music, but what a great voice he has! So emotional and much more emotion invoking than any version I have heard before of this, no matter who performed it. Thank you for sharing this wonderful performance!
On CD I have versions of that song from Tracy Nelson (who sung background on Steve's fantastic LP "No Place To Fall", Firehouse, Dolly Parton, Joan Baez and Ricochet. Can't say tight now how many more versions I have on vinyl...
it's always extremely interesting to listen to the different versions of a song...to understand the creativity and the talents of different folks. Steve young has to be recognized and appreciated for writing this beautiful song and yet the eagles get all the glory. obviously their version is excellent too...great job steve young!!
good job Dan984Player posting a unique original. Too bad there are far too many morons on youtube to appreciate it. They should just turn on their local Top40/Rock radio station, tune in, and shut there fucking mouths were they don't have enough brain power to even have a valid opinion! Can anyone say that better you bunch of fucking morons!?!
Please stop saying the Eagles do this better. I too love there version, but it is apple and oranges. I always give a lot of credit to the composer of a song even if I like the way someone covers it better. Just My humble opinion.
@paulandlesson yes but what youv gota understand is steve wrote this for the eagles coz he couldnt do and if it wernt for the eagles it wouldnt be a famous song
@paulandlesson i agree, even though i think the eagles version sounds better, this is the original and you can't cover a song better than the original
I think Steve's original studio recording is the best - better even than the Eagles. Check out his CD "Lonesome, On'ry & Mean" - and for some other songs, check out the dvd "Heartworn Highways"
this is the original, like it or not. This is how the song was meant to be played. I like the eagles version too, i am simply sharing a live performance of the original.
awesome and beautiful you can feel what he is putting out and I love that I love this song so much and I am so glad to have heard the writer sing it, it gave me chills to chest wow
Great song. It's nice to hear it sung by the man who wrote it. I first heard it on Rita Coolidge's self-titled 1971 album and will always favor that version and treasure that fine album.
Wow, I had never heard this version, thank you. I knew that it had folk roots but could never figure out how the Eagles changed it. While I really like the eagles harmony, this guy drills holes in your soul. I wonder what a 2-part harmony with Young and Gordon Lightfoot would sound...or Maybe Neil Young, are they related??
I guess we all often get "imprinted" by the first time we heard a song. With all due respect for Steve Young's great "official" interpretation, for me it's Joan Baez, with Jeffrey Shurtleff, on her _One Day At A Time_...
There us simply no other way to put this, this is one of the GREATEST songs EVER written. It is from a whole different universe, strange how the song itself carries so much energy, as if any one who applies themself to this song cannot help but sound good.
womp womp. the eagles cover sounds better. i do respect that he wrote the song though. cause if he didn't than the eagles couldn't have redone it better 21 years later (or however long)
Generally I'm of the opinion that no one can convey the emotion in a song any better than the writer. However, you haven't heard this song sung til you hear Dolly Parton do it.
Hi, this is a really good version of the song, but its different, I think both versions are really good, nobody can compare one kind of music with other, and also, the only one time The Eagles recorded this song in the 1980 Live Eagles, they said " this is a song of Steve Young ", so nobody could think other thing
Ian Matthews did a good version and so did Rita Coolidge, both definitely better than the Eagles. And then there is Steve's own reworking on Songlines revisited, check it out.
i worked on a TV show in LA when he released 'rock salt & nails' and he was on one of the shows, i couldn't believe how soulful he was then and still can't, one of the very best ever and nice person to boot, gave me a signed copy of that record which i still play. i understand he tours and want to see him again.
Buy Renegade Picker by Steve Young and then ask yourself why radio wasn't playing the crap out of it back in the Seventies. What a voice and the man can pick a guitar!!!
have not heard sing this since i was young and so was he..the Eagles do a fine version but it is only a parody of the original album version by steve young with some woman keening in the background. thanksso much for this ..if you hear Lonesome,Onry and mean by Steve young you will like it more than waylon jennings excellent cover
a parody is making fun of, The Eagles did a cover, huge difference. They are both amazing songs and unique in thier own way. The Eagles is more upbeat and this one is more down to earth.
I happen to like the Eagles version better. Not to say anything against this guy. He wrote an awesome song, but I just LOVE all the harmony in the Eagles version of the song.
this is the first time i've heard the original version and i actually like it better than the eagles' version. i also have a version by a guy named ian matthews which i like better than the eagles' but that's just my opinion.
Well, I suppose this is proof that some remakes improve a song a lot. I guess this just isn't my style -- don't really like his voice. The reason I love the Eagles' version is the harmony and the lack of bravado. That said, he wrote a great song!
great version of the song. i like the eagles version better just because i like the harmony. but this is a good version too. thanks for posting this. i knew the eagles didnt write it because they gave steve young credit. but ive never heard it. again thanks
I'm embarrassed that I've never even HEARD of Steve Young...I just stumbled across this because I was looking for the Eagles version of this (which I thought they had written). Thank you, Dan, for posting this - clearly my musical education has a major hole in it. And, he is a great guitarist on top of everything else. Wow.
I heard this by Steve Young back in 1969 or 70. It blew me away. He has written some great songs. The Eagles version lacks the soul Steve puts into it. I don't know the date of this recording...but I think it is later in his career. God bless you Steve for the beauty.
The reason for that, was The Eagles didn't want to produce another album. The producer of the Eagles wanted them too. So, he made a bet with them. If he won, they had to make another album, with this song being the song he choose for them. He won.
To Dan: Thank you for sharing this copy of Seven Bridges Road. You, sir, are a gentleman
To Steve Young: Thank you for a wonderful song and I'm going to your website to buy the album with that song on it! I heard the Eagles sing it many moons ago and I lived in a town with a street called Seven Bridges Road. So that song has a special meaning to me.
I had never heard this before.....but it's sung from his heart......I like it. I like the Eagles version better only because of the harmonizing that goes on it it. Acapella still lives....
Hmm... if he is the original writer, why does he need a voice synthesizer? The eagles do not sing it with symetrical voices, there is a 4-layer harmony.
Anyone who is sour on Steve Young for any reason doesn't understand what it means to be a singer / songwriter, the beauty is not in the delivery but in the rugged honesty. The Eagles owe people like Steve Young a debt of gratitude.
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Is this cat drunk? He should be glad the eagles recorded this for him other wise he would just be an old washed up drunk with a bad need for singing lessons!
The Eagles have always given credit to Steve Young for Seven Bridges Road. I have always regarded it as a tribute. The kind of magic that happen when artists of this caliber collaborate and are open minded to all music genres. Outstanding video, please post more if you could.
This is wonderful to hear the original version of the song...my heart still is with Iain Matthews version, esp. his earliest cover of the song, (prior to Valley Hi)...check it out...really, worth finding.
ceresmary206 1 week ago
My first Columbia record album I received way back when was Joan Baez Diamonds and Rust which featured a great rendition of Seven Bridges Road. Anyone have this track. I think she makes the most of this song.
ATHRUZ426 2 weeks ago
well, he's no gaga. :) yuk yuk. seriously, tho, very powerful
dirkadirkabro 3 weeks ago
I love both versions. The writer puts his very soul into the performance of his art. This cannot be replicated or "covered." That said, bands like Led Zep, the Stones, etc. create their own magic with their renditions of old acoustic blues songs. The entertainment value is no less for it being their interpretation. Love it all, Glen
2253glen 5 months ago
By far, better than the Eagles version. For some reason, the Eagles changed it from 3/4 to 4/4 time, and the extra beat in each measure causes the song to drag -- badly. It's just a showcase for show-off harmonies and loses the emotional charge of the original.
thrash5409 6 months ago
But the Eagles only took Iain Matthew's version as their own...
TheGWFrog 7 months ago
@TheGWFrog you are wrong i know him personally and been friends with my family for years.
meatman55 5 months ago
@meatman55 I don't know what point you were trying to make. Iain Matthews did a great cover of Steve Young's song & the Eagles copied his version. I neither said nor meant anything against either Steve Young or Iain Matthews, and if you think I did, I have no idea where you got the notion.
TheGWFrog 5 months ago
One of the greatest singer songwriters around,seen him many times in the uk,a real gentleman to meet.
nojobtoosmall 8 months ago
brilliant.
olchum47 9 months ago
I have heard many artists perform this song, each of them bringing their own style to the song, yet none of them taking away from the words. Regardless of your taste in music it is because of Steve Young that we even have this awesome song to listen to. His style is how he perceived it to be performed, but like baking a cake, everyone adds their own ingredients to spice it up a bit.. Thank you Steve Young!! Awesome Song.
jake734x 9 months ago
I'd always wondered how the Eagles got their version of this song from what Steve did.i got to Steve Young a couple of days ago. he told how Ian Matthews did the song before the Eagles. if you've not seen Steve Young you need to. he does a great show. just another of many Alabama boys. born in Georgia but doesn't remember much of living there.
cosbyutube 10 months ago
For soul and heart, you cannot beat Steve's version of this song. Yeah, the Eagles have beautiful harmonies, but this is the real deal. One guy, one guitar, singing from deep within . . . .
homer1950 1 year ago
I too give full credit to the Stever Young as the creator of this beautiful song. The "Eagles" are my favorite band of all time and believed that their version of this song was the ulitmate rendition. That was until I heard "Ricochet" sing it. Theirs is undoubtably the best version ever recorded.
ACutieFan1 1 year ago
this version is cool and sounds great...calms me down..some of you say you like the eagles version better and so do i i love the eagles version better but hey if it hadnt of been for this guy they wouldnt even have had the song in the first place
METHODMAN4EVA 1 year ago
Thank you for bringing this to my attention!
One voice, one guitar...Amazing talent!
I understand why the Eagles would want to use it, and they DO give credit.
I sure like this version.
grandcanyonplanet 1 year ago
Brilliant !
psychkoala 1 year ago
this song is a heartbreaker..
nicksamboo 1 year ago
There are many versions of this song now, the Dolly Parton one is great. There is room for all our favourites and our individual interpretations and thoughts on the lyrics. A truly great song and the very definition of the term "haunting" when applied to music. Many years ago, Mr Steve Young, a great gentleman taught it to me personally. We are all sharing it now.
martinpleass 1 year ago
Before the Eagles, Ian Mathews (And Mike Nesmith) showed the Eagles the way to their version of this great song!
Find it and listen.
I take nothing from the Eagles.
Let us just give proper creds.
wdchefdave 1 year ago
Don't get me wrong, the Eagles Accapella version shows how beautifully their vioces blend/harmonize without all the technical stuff. Steve Young gives this song and entirely different feel. His is my personal preference if I had to choose. Luckily we can enjoy all versions. Thank-you Dan984Player for this post!
mrreoww4840 1 year ago 2
Ian Matthews version is very nice also, 1973. Steve Young recorded it in 1969.
hozeryo 1 year ago
@hozeryo Joan Baez and Jeffery Shurtleff did a great version, in 1969 or 1970. It's good to be able to hear so many different versions on YouTube.
wldbwriter 1 year ago
@hozeryo Joan Baez and Jeffery Shurtleff did a great version, in 1969 or 1970, though I can't find them on YouTube. It's good to be able to hear so many different versions.
wldbwriter 1 year ago
@hozeryo Joan Baez and Jeffery Shurtleff did a great version, in 1969 or 1970, though I can't find them on YouTube. It's good to be able to hear so many different versions.
wldbwriter 1 year ago
Ian Matthews recorded a very nice version ....
hozeryo 1 year ago
Amazing.................love the fact that he let the Eagles sing this song............well written and then the Eagles add the icing......my favorite song of all time,
dramgi63 1 year ago
I like a lot of people remember "7 bridges road" off the 1980 Eagles album and have heard a lot of remakes of the song, some great and some not so good. this is the first time i've heard it by Steve Young although we hear them anounce his name at the beginning of the song. The Eagles defenetly made it their own songthe way they sang it accapello and i think comparing the two versions would be comparing apples to oranges, but I so appreciate the post. I always love hearing the origional version
alaskayardrat 1 year ago
wow no wonder he wrote this for the eagles
chadlovesdrums 1 year ago
No other bands or composers play this song as good as Steve Young.
Cam1Deathsnake 1 year ago
Pastoral and majestic! The picking at 4:55 gave me chills! I could visualize the countryside he was singing of. Apples & oranges aside, its a beautiful, majestic song!
Featster74 1 year ago
thanks for posting this, definitely favorited it
DavidsMusicBlog 1 year ago
I'm sure he's given back every royalty check that's come his way...
hughjourgan 1 year ago
Very Beautiful....
TexasMom17 1 year ago
Are these tears in my eyes?!
97669 2 years ago
I thought Rita Coolidge did a great cover of this song too
Slope142 2 years ago
Ian Matthews version is the best harmonically but the power and majesty of this version is breathtaking. I can see the starry night and the lonely road.
Beautiful!
Beemerboy324 2 years ago
A true legend that didn't get involved with all the hype.
redshaftedflicker 2 years ago
This song is about a road in south Montgomery County, Alabama; it leads out by the Trotman Place on Woodley Road. Legend has it that Steve and a couple of local boys who may still be around were picking and singing on their way to a party. The local boys apparently didn't have Steve's tolerance for shine; and Steve wrote the song on the way back to town while the locals slept it off.
ReggiesReply 2 years ago
Eagles give him credit for this song on their hell freezes over album...I like their cover better personally...they harmonize very well and its just an all around great version
jezx21 2 years ago
Oh man! Steve Young is the best!
Amazing !
MikeGaglio 2 years ago
The Eagles are from North East Texas
phydeauxddog 2 years ago
Don Henley of the Eagles is from North East Texas. Glenn Frey came from Michigan, Randy Meisner from Nebraska, Bernie Leadon from California, then Florida. Then Don Felder, also from Florida where he knew Leadon. Then Joe Walsh from Kansas, Ohio, New York and New Jersey, who replaced Leadon. Then Tim Schmidt from California, who replaced Meisner. The first four came together in LA as a backing band for Linda Ronstadt.
west1805 2 years ago
The Band The Eagles was formed in Linden Texas. Don Henly is ofunder of group. My brother played guitar with Don in earlier band
phydeauxddog 2 years ago
the eagles are considered california rock
garthbrooksfan1 2 years ago
Rita's version is extraordinary - watch the backing band, as is their take on * Born under a bad sign *
totovillefranche 2 years ago
I always love to hear the songwriter sing his own song. My favorite cover of this amazing tune was done by Joan Baez many, many years ago. Check it out if you can find it...And thank you, Mr. Young, for writing a song that has helped me keep on keepin' on for 55 years!
mckathiki 2 years ago 4
I never suspected this song wasn't written by the Eagles! Like all songs, I think, they are always better by the writer....ie; Bob Dylan's versions of all of his music, can't be covered by ANYONE and have the same feeling....
emilyseven 2 years ago
I guess I really like the harmony that the Eagles put to this song. And the Eagles really aren't country, but some people think they are.
bevlillo 2 years ago
they are southern rock, which is similar - but you are right... definitely not country
smithjt1 2 years ago
This is more folkie the Eagle's version is more country. When I saw the Eagle's they acknowledged Steve Young as the writer
MarkCox73 2 years ago
i wouldn't consider the Eagles to be country, but people have different oppinions i guess... i would consider then to be classic rock.
wolffang92 2 years ago
he wrote this, he wrote lonesome onery and mean, he wrote long road to hollywood, he wrote montgomery in the rain, he wrote rock salt and nails . . . .
bellhhh 2 years ago
love steve, he's an amazing writer and performer. he didn't write rock salt and nails though. that would be the late, great Utah Phillips.
dwryman 2 years ago
I always preferred Ian Matthews' version to the Eagles. I prefer almost anything to anything by the Eagles. This one here by Steve is haunting and wonderful.
Ptrgamb 2 years ago 2
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the eagles one is WAY BETTER!!!! this one is way too slow
DustJumba 2 years ago
I never liked the Eagles version. It is to fast. I prefer the version on the Blue Canyon release, next would be the version with Tracy Nelson and after that the original on Rock Salt And Nails.
I think every time he cuts it, he adds something different and unique.How many times has he done this at least ten. They are all great. He sings it with soul and passion.How could he not, he wrote it. He has lived it.
I really have not heard anyone else do this that can come near to his.
kthstefani 2 years ago 3
I love the sound of this guitar. I wonder what kind it is?
sherrillwallace 3 years ago 2
The guitar is a fairly recent C.F. Martin D-28.....his "road" guitar.
kimsings 2 years ago
I remember listening to an album by Steve Young (I forget the title) on Sonet that included not only this song but others equally brilliant: 'Many Rivers' was one, 'Lonesome, On'ry, and Mean' another, and my favourite 'Montgomery in the Rain' - a magnificient song. I wish that I could still lay hold of that album as there was not a bad moment on the whole of it.
shortfatso 3 years ago
I was hangin' out with Steve back in those days and we were both infatuated/in love with Tracy Nelson. She had the first cut on this song and then sang harmony with Steve on his RCA LP "Nowhere to Fall". I've had the pleasure of getting to know his son Jubal Lee and played some shows with him too. I love this song and Steve is one hell of a writer. He also wrote "Lonesome, Onry and Mean" that Waylon Jennings had a hit with.
denniseggers 3 years ago
I hope loyal fans of the Eagles version would be open to Young's version that he wrote. He doesn't fit the mold of a "specific" type of blues/folk songwriter and singer. He has put his heart and soul into these songs, like Alabama Highway.
Just be glad he gifted the world with Seven Bridges Road and try to listen to another person's way of singing about the roads that take us down the highway of life. He really is a fantastic picker on that 6 string.
TulsaLaniB 3 years ago
I never heard of Steve Young before I saw Heartworn Highways. Now I look him up, and its like, how could you miss him?
This song plus the HH performance of Alabama Highway convince me that he might have one of the strongest voices in the history of Country music.
Play this on just one "pop country" radio station, PLEASE! I'd much rather hear this kinda stuff then Strawberry Wine for the 1,000,000,000,000th time.
DEADHAWK076 3 years ago
boring........the Eagles gave this so much energy...not even the same song....give me the eagles harmony
fuzzypige222 3 years ago
I have been in the entertainment business for over 25 years. I absolutely love the tight harmonies by The Eagles on their cover of this song. However, this version of Mr. Young's song BY Mr. Young himself is quite possibly the most beautiful, most powerful musical performance I have ever witnessed. It is simply devastating in mood and simplicity, with a poignancy that comes straight from Mr. Young's gut and wrenches your heart. To fully comprehend this performance, one MUST be a TRUE artist.
daletag 3 years ago 3
Extremely evocative. Ur obviously a person of real depth.
canozbrit 3 years ago 2
What's a "true" artist? I started playing music only after having discovered all of countercultural era's perfect music (10,000+ albums, including all of Steve Young's music). Sensitivity is not a slave to anything anyone DOES, such as PRODUCE art!
LongTallYamlaJay 3 years ago
Ummm.... what? Sorry, I don't understand your reply. What I mean, very simply and quickly, is "not a poseur." I will be more than happy to share my definition and opinion of a "true artist" if you so desire.
daletag 3 years ago 2
Steve is a "true artist" of the highest order. No question about that. Just responding to you suggestion that even for a listener fully to "comprehend" this performance's beauty, one must be a "true artist." Anywho, Steve's voice definitely is more powerful in his earlier recordings of this song. I believe folks are also collapsing all of Steve's version into the idea of "this version."
LongTallYamlaJay 3 years ago
Ah, ok...got it. Yes,you raise a very good, valid point. I absolutely agree his voice is MUCH stronger on earlier recordings--even LATER recordings. THIS particular performance coincides with the 12th year anniversary of his wife leaving him. He hadn't played it live for over 5 years. His voice and picking here is UNUSUALLY honest and heartfelt,but technically rough. To the untrained--this may have a sound bordering on "schmaltz." (continued on next comment)
daletag 3 years ago
A true atrist will tell you (as I'm sure you know, being that you seem to be of that special variety)that "you're only as good as you dare to be bad." Steve makes some very daring, different choices here in arrangement in the spur of the moment. If you're familiar with the backstory, he wasn't even CONSIDERING playing this song on this night. He takes some real risks here in phrasing and arrangement and pulls it off magically. The average listener won't recognize those choices and/or risks.
daletag 3 years ago 2
All good points. The "average listener" doesn't listen to Steve! No one can sing like him and it can't be learnt, but I hope someone can convince him to do a video on his great guitar style--especially his melding of blues and country-folk on songs like this and Hank Williams' "Ramblin' Man." Do you know him personally?
LongTallYamlaJay 3 years ago
This is amazing...Plain and simple
justingarman 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This version SUCKS!! So glad the Eagles took it over and we now have a classic.
motorworx 3 years ago
Right! with all do respect just leave it to the eagles.
granolaswab 3 years ago
For the umpteenth time--Eagles' "version" is the same as Iain Matthews' 1973 version. Please get off your backsides and go find it on vinyl or CD, instead of youtubing everything.
LongTallYamlaJay 3 years ago
Really a great song. Can somebody tell me where I can find the "studio version"of this song with the violins on it? Or can somebody post that one? txs
renoo1957 3 years ago
There are several studio versions available:
The best one imo is on "No Place To Fall" which was reissued together with "Renegate Picker" on a double-CD by BMG (UK & Ireland), one (recorded for A&M) on his CD "Rock, Salt And Nails" on Edsel (UK) and one (recorded for Warner Bros.) on BEV Music (Germany). This one can be obtained through me quite cheap... Just send an email...
misterzigg 3 years ago
I was unemployed in the late "70's and staying with a friend. I was going trough his albums and stumbled on "Renegade Picker". I was hooked. This man is one of the greatest singer/sonwriters of our time. He has a tremendous voice and can really turn a phrase.
thomasay637 3 years ago
Here Here!
petehuss 3 years ago
if you like this version i have an old vinyl album called steve young rock salt and nails where he does it a little different. the album is great and there are 5 other songs one of which he also wrote that are fantastic
wellegett 3 years ago
i m really into the eagles
but he really does his song well
much better than there cover
altough its jsut two differant styles of music
the eagles cover is about 3 minutes shorter
clairvoyant321 3 years ago
I'm not going to go into how I stumbled upon Steve Young and his music, but what a great voice he has! So emotional and much more emotion invoking than any version I have heard before of this, no matter who performed it. Thank you for sharing this wonderful performance!
jazcat6822 3 years ago
who? As far as I'm concerned the Eagles and Steve Young should be the only ones to record this.
jtsnowman66 3 years ago
On CD I have versions of that song from Tracy Nelson (who sung background on Steve's fantastic LP "No Place To Fall", Firehouse, Dolly Parton, Joan Baez and Ricochet. Can't say tight now how many more versions I have on vinyl...
misterzigg 3 years ago
Thanks so much for posting the original. It's great... so different from the Eagles' version, yet truly wonderful too...
leiwea 3 years ago 2
it's always extremely interesting to listen to the different versions of a song...to understand the creativity and the talents of different folks. Steve young has to be recognized and appreciated for writing this beautiful song and yet the eagles get all the glory. obviously their version is excellent too...great job steve young!!
mark0906 3 years ago 2
good job Dan984Player posting a unique original. Too bad there are far too many morons on youtube to appreciate it. They should just turn on their local Top40/Rock radio station, tune in, and shut there fucking mouths were they don't have enough brain power to even have a valid opinion! Can anyone say that better you bunch of fucking morons!?!
painter2k 3 years ago
Much respect after years of listening to the Eagles Live version great to hear the original!
TartanBear 3 years ago 3
Please stop saying the Eagles do this better. I too love there version, but it is apple and oranges. I always give a lot of credit to the composer of a song even if I like the way someone covers it better. Just My humble opinion.
paulandlesson 3 years ago 14
@paulandlesson yes but what youv gota understand is steve wrote this for the eagles coz he couldnt do and if it wernt for the eagles it wouldnt be a famous song
chadlovesdrums 1 year ago
@chadlovesdrums great point. I was just giving my 2 cents. :)
paulandlesson 1 year ago
@paulandlesson i agree, even though i think the eagles version sounds better, this is the original and you can't cover a song better than the original
hockeyguy1414 7 months ago
The eagles performes it much much better:P
Dacojo 3 years ago
what about ian matthew's version? his is ABSOLUTELY the best. has anybody heard it? it's magical.
knichols123 3 years ago
No...?
awbttm 3 years ago
Comment removed
kthstefani 3 years ago
I think Steve's original studio recording is the best - better even than the Eagles. Check out his CD "Lonesome, On'ry & Mean" - and for some other songs, check out the dvd "Heartworn Highways"
icepickmikey 3 years ago 3
thanks
JDHBand 3 years ago
that is just totally cool! thanks so much for sharing that little gem of music history. is Young's stuff available on DVD or mp3 anywhere?
JDHBand 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
were is the eagle virson of this song its alot better
MrairGuitar 3 years ago
The Eagles version IS better.
BrassPie 3 years ago
this is the original, like it or not. This is how the song was meant to be played. I like the eagles version too, i am simply sharing a live performance of the original.
Dan984Player 3 years ago 7
Thanks Dan984Player for posting Steve's version( especially a live version ).
I love the Eagles cover but this version has a haunting quality that is just awesome!
arkgunslinger 3 years ago
@Dan984Player
Good on ya, Dan 98 !!!
caseypons 1 year ago
@MrairGuitar fuck off back to your top 40 radio life
tblaxxable 1 year ago 2
I met Steve years ago in Oxford England where he would play at the radclife arms pub.
Super kind man, with an extremely serious
side, makes for fantastic music...
starrrppppp 3 years ago
Wow-this is amazing. What a voice! Beautiful playing - the guitar sounds so clear and crisp. Cool! Thanks for posting it.
4music65 3 years ago
I still like the Eagles' version better, but it was great to hear it from the guy who wrote it.
snakesmyle 3 years ago 5
me too :)
sanjak 3 years ago
awesome and beautiful you can feel what he is putting out and I love that I love this song so much and I am so glad to have heard the writer sing it, it gave me chills to chest wow
angelinafraz 3 years ago
what a beautiful old song. It gives me chills.
chestrockwell47 3 years ago 2
Thanks! I didn't know Steve Young wrote it. Maybe that's why I have trouble finding the recording.
austinitesince1979 3 years ago
Great song. It's nice to hear it sung by the man who wrote it. I first heard it on Rita Coolidge's self-titled 1971 album and will always favor that version and treasure that fine album.
smarlonc 3 years ago
Wow, I had never heard this version, thank you. I knew that it had folk roots but could never figure out how the Eagles changed it. While I really like the eagles harmony, this guy drills holes in your soul. I wonder what a 2-part harmony with Young and Gordon Lightfoot would sound...or Maybe Neil Young, are they related??
DawnShereeJoe 3 years ago 3
He's playing today in pasadena. he's like 5 minutes away from my apartment. unfortunatley i'm at work. :( til 11
zombiegeeknecrocult 3 years ago
steve young is cool
timmagg 3 years ago
I'm sure I remember the Eagles saying something along the lines of:
"This is a song that we heared from a fellow named Steve Young, who lived in San Diego and this is called Seven Bridges Road, I hope you like this."
Well, they gave him credit for it and so do I. Great song, thanks Steve Young!
aledparry 3 years ago
I guess we all often get "imprinted" by the first time we heard a song. With all due respect for Steve Young's great "official" interpretation, for me it's Joan Baez, with Jeffrey Shurtleff, on her _One Day At A Time_...
HCherns 3 years ago
There us simply no other way to put this, this is one of the GREATEST songs EVER written. It is from a whole different universe, strange how the song itself carries so much energy, as if any one who applies themself to this song cannot help but sound good.
devilsclickingcanes 3 years ago
that is pure COUNTRY: I LIVE IN GERMANY; WE DON#T HAVE SUCH GOOD; SOULTOUCHING MUSIK: NOT;LIKE THAT:
schnurrecat 3 years ago
womp womp. the eagles cover sounds better. i do respect that he wrote the song though. cause if he didn't than the eagles couldn't have redone it better 21 years later (or however long)
lifeguard15 3 years ago
Take time to see and hear the man. This guy is the real deal.
WHISKERYDICK 3 years ago
Generally I'm of the opinion that no one can convey the emotion in a song any better than the writer. However, you haven't heard this song sung til you hear Dolly Parton do it.
cbeckmeyer 4 years ago
Hi, this is a really good version of the song, but its different, I think both versions are really good, nobody can compare one kind of music with other, and also, the only one time The Eagles recorded this song in the 1980 Live Eagles, they said " this is a song of Steve Young ", so nobody could think other thing
EaglesGone 4 years ago
Totally ;). I hadn't read this before I wrote my comment.
aledparry 3 years ago
Ian Matthews did a good version and so did Rita Coolidge, both definitely better than the Eagles. And then there is Steve's own reworking on Songlines revisited, check it out.
totovillefranche 4 years ago
Holy crap! I thought Eagle's is the coolest I've ever heard until.....I hear this! This is the real deal!
510124 4 years ago
A never ending shiver down my spine, a never ending sweetnes down my soul. Great !
iPuddu 4 years ago
i worked on a TV show in LA when he released 'rock salt & nails' and he was on one of the shows, i couldn't believe how soulful he was then and still can't, one of the very best ever and nice person to boot, gave me a signed copy of that record which i still play. i understand he tours and want to see him again.
jayscott49 4 years ago
Buy Renegade Picker by Steve Young and then ask yourself why radio wasn't playing the crap out of it back in the Seventies. What a voice and the man can pick a guitar!!!
calnonleo 4 years ago
This great man asked me once to sing one of his songs, (Montgomery in the Rain)! Life gets no better, thank you Steve. love respect oh great one!!!!!
WHISKERYDICK 4 years ago
have not heard sing this since i was young and so was he..the Eagles do a fine version but it is only a parody of the original album version by steve young with some woman keening in the background. thanksso much for this ..if you hear Lonesome,Onry and mean by Steve young you will like it more than waylon jennings excellent cover
PERI59 4 years ago
a parody is making fun of, The Eagles did a cover, huge difference. They are both amazing songs and unique in thier own way. The Eagles is more upbeat and this one is more down to earth.
ks016 4 years ago
I happen to like the Eagles version better. Not to say anything against this guy. He wrote an awesome song, but I just LOVE all the harmony in the Eagles version of the song.
mluna785 4 years ago
Actually after listening to this a few times I really like it. I like the acoustic guitar.
mluna785 4 years ago
That was my reaction as well. The first time it was only good, not great. But now I love it.
Dan984Player 4 years ago
this is the first time i've heard the original version and i actually like it better than the eagles' version. i also have a version by a guy named ian matthews which i like better than the eagles' but that's just my opinion.
lloydm9 4 years ago
Well, I suppose this is proof that some remakes improve a song a lot. I guess this just isn't my style -- don't really like his voice. The reason I love the Eagles' version is the harmony and the lack of bravado. That said, he wrote a great song!
iamihop11 4 years ago 2
Agreed....
lapointeric 4 years ago
Vibratto ?
buddha5003 4 years ago
do you happen to have the song "my Oklahoma by him?
yandrfan4ever 4 years ago
great song.
timbek 4 years ago
Every band that ever plays a show in Montgomery, Alabama should be required to play this song.
justinruns 4 years ago 3
great version of the song. i like the eagles version better just because i like the harmony. but this is a good version too. thanks for posting this. i knew the eagles didnt write it because they gave steve young credit. but ive never heard it. again thanks
garfunklejones 4 years ago
I'm embarrassed that I've never even HEARD of Steve Young...I just stumbled across this because I was looking for the Eagles version of this (which I thought they had written). Thank you, Dan, for posting this - clearly my musical education has a major hole in it. And, he is a great guitarist on top of everything else. Wow.
1avantgardener 4 years ago 2
WOW! this is awesome. Such feeling in his voice, and the guitar rings like bells. Thank you for sharing!
buddha5003 4 years ago
i can't sleep...
Dolzer 4 years ago
Always loved the eagles version..then heard this...right now its the awesome best!
CleatoArroyo 4 years ago
I have hung out at his house before in Nashville!
LIBERALTHNKR 4 years ago
I heard this by Steve Young back in 1969 or 70. It blew me away. He has written some great songs. The Eagles version lacks the soul Steve puts into it. I don't know the date of this recording...but I think it is later in his career. God bless you Steve for the beauty.
frtofsprt 4 years ago
The reason for that, was The Eagles didn't want to produce another album. The producer of the Eagles wanted them too. So, he made a bet with them. If he won, they had to make another album, with this song being the song he choose for them. He won.
hawkeye125646 4 years ago
To Dan: Thank you for sharing this copy of Seven Bridges Road. You, sir, are a gentleman
To Steve Young: Thank you for a wonderful song and I'm going to your website to buy the album with that song on it! I heard the Eagles sing it many moons ago and I lived in a town with a street called Seven Bridges Road. So that song has a special meaning to me.
Wheelpack 4 years ago
I had never heard this before.....but it's sung from his heart......I like it. I like the Eagles version better only because of the harmonizing that goes on it it. Acapella still lives....
Hutchman60 4 years ago
Great but I like the Eagle's version best :)
ubc3000xlt 4 years ago
Steve is a genius that some will never understand,I can call him friend.he is a great picker too
grandimagineer 4 years ago
Hmm... if he is the original writer, why does he need a voice synthesizer? The eagles do not sing it with symetrical voices, there is a 4-layer harmony.
jbucky1092 4 years ago
Anyone who is sour on Steve Young for any reason doesn't understand what it means to be a singer / songwriter, the beauty is not in the delivery but in the rugged honesty. The Eagles owe people like Steve Young a debt of gratitude.
jaredregelin 4 years ago
this is beutiful
beiron 4 years ago
This is alright, but sometimes a cover is the best thing that can happen to a song. Thank God the Eagles covered this one.
snotjello 4 years ago
Great song, always like to here it by the original artist. Would like to here the Steve Young version of Don't Think Twice.
gibbi4310 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Is this cat drunk? He should be glad the eagles recorded this for him other wise he would just be an old washed up drunk with a bad need for singing lessons!
ded1454 4 years ago
This guy is incredible. My God, get some taste, ded.
designx86 4 years ago
after only knowing this by the eagles it is very hard to like this version. maybe a few more plays then it might be palletable,
tig1960 4 years ago
ermm i think the eagles did better job...good nonetheless
n00bz666 4 years ago
This is the worst piece of shit I have ever heard.
trojengolden 4 years ago
Yet your dumbass listened through it and took the time to comment. Sounds like something a 5 year old would do.
paulandlesson 3 years ago
Steve Young is THE greatest. Magic.
meeco59 4 years ago
Steve is THE BEST. I could lidten to this song a million times and never get sick of it.
kthstefani 4 years ago
The Eagles have always given credit to Steve Young for Seven Bridges Road. I have always regarded it as a tribute. The kind of magic that happen when artists of this caliber collaborate and are open minded to all music genres. Outstanding video, please post more if you could.
HigherLove70 4 years ago 2
Thanks for this! Steve's the Man!
digius2 4 years ago