I Can't Stand Still

Last updated
I Can't Stand Still
Don Henley - I Can't Stand Still.jpg
Studio album by
Don Henley
ReleasedAugust 1982
RecordedJanuary–May 1982
Studio Record One (Los Angeles, California)
Genre
Length42:22
Label Asylum
Producer
Don Henley chronology
I Can't Stand Still
(1982)		 Building the Perfect Beast
(1984)
Singles from I Can't Stand Still
  1. "Johnny Can't Read"
    Released: August 3, 1982
  2. "Dirty Laundry"
    Released: October 12, 1982
  3. "I Can't Stand Still"
    Released: December 1982
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Robert Christgau B+ [2]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

I Can't Stand Still is the debut solo studio album by American musician Don Henley, drummer and co-lead vocalist for the Eagles. It was released in August 1982 by Asylum Records. Henley, Danny Kortchmar and Greg Ladanyi produced the album. I Can't Stand Still achieved gold status, and peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard 200 and at the same position on the UK Albums Chart. Three singles were released from the album, including the hit "Dirty Laundry", which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Henley's best-selling single. The title track "I Can't Stand Still" reached No. 48 and the track "Johnny Can't Read" reached No. 42 on the charts.

Contents

The album showcased some of Henley's frustrations at the time. "Dirty Laundry" displays his disgust with the media and tabloid news coverage, and "Johnny Can't Read," shows his displeasure with the American educational system. [4]

Critical reception

Robert Palmer, music critic for The New York Times, was surprised by I Can't Stand Still and wrote that it "rings with the righteous indignation of a man who has taken a good look at what's going on around him and decided at least to speak his mind about it...The record doesn't offer any solutions, but how many pop records do? I Can't Stand Still scores points for its palpable anger; for its lean, stripped-down arrangements; for the lack of self-indulgence in the playing, the production and Mr. Henley's soaring vocals, and for its overall point of view, which links the disparate songs together and gives the album an admirable coherence. As far as this listener is concerned, it's better than anything Mr. Henley did with the Eagles." [5]

Reviewing retrospectively for AllMusic, critic Mike DeGagne has written of the album, "Henley's first solo album may still have had the ghost of the Eagles lingering in the corners, but for the most part it showcases his stalwart partnership with producer and songwriter Danny Kortchmar," and then added "Henley's adept combination of lyrical wit and thought-provoking staidness begins to materialize on I Can't Stand Still, paving the way for an extremely accomplished solo career." [4]

Cash Box said of the title track that "using the same organ that made "Laundry" so unique, Henley weaves the chords through a ballad about a guy's bitterness over his lost love's new find." [6] Cash Box also said that it's "a slow, dramatic, organ-dominated tune that's almost, but not quite, reggae" and that Henley's vocal tingles with a jealous edge as he sings of his lover's 'undercover' relationship." [7] Billboard called it "reggae California style, using heavy bass and syncopated organ for the rhythm track." [8] AllMusic critic Mike DeGagne called it "a trouble-in-paradise love song, [that] has Henley pouring his heart out with sugary angst, but is helped along with some avid keyboard work." [4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Don Henley and Danny Kortchmar, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Can't Stand Still" 3:33
2."You Better Hang Up" Danny Kortchmar 3:21
3."Long Way Home" 5:28
4."Nobody's Business"
3:43
5."Talking to the Moon"
  • Henley
  • Souther
4:39
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Dirty Laundry" 5:36
7."Johnny Can't Read" 3:24
8."Them and Us" 4:01
9."La Eile"Traditional0:52
10."Lilah" 4:09
11."The Unclouded Day"
  • Josiah K. Alwood
  • J.F. Kinsey
3:36
Total length:42:22

Personnel

Musicians

Production and artwork

Charts

Chart performance for I Can't Stand Still
Chart (1982)Peak
position
Australian (Kent Music Report) [9] 42
US Billboard 200 [10] 24

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References

  1. ↑ Mike DeGagne. "I Can't Stand Still – Don Henley | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  2. ↑ "CG: Don Henley". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  3. ↑ The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. pp. 375–376.
  4. 1 2 3 Mike DeGagne. "I Can't Stand Still – Don Henley | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved 2016-07-18.
  5. ↑ Robert Palmer. "The Pop Life". The New York Times . Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  6. ↑ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. January 8, 1983. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  7. ↑ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. October 23, 1982. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  8. ↑ "Top Single Picks". Billboard. January 15, 1983. p. 51. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  9. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 137. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  10. ↑ "Don Henley Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
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