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TheTOWER

Bethany Legends: It’s Another Tequila SunriseBy AMANDA RODAUGHTOWER staff writer

Imagine if Bethany Col-lege brought one of the biggest names in music’s history to campus to perform? Well, they already have and no, Chingy does not count. Not only did Bethany have one of the biggest names in music history, but also that band wrote a famous song on the rolling hills that sur-round campus.

The song “Tequila Sunrise” by the Eagles was written at the good old Gresham Inn. Though it is difficult to verify, there is plenty of evidence that gives this legend credibility.

Joyce Dumbaugh-Chernenko, a 1978 Bethany alum, was close friends with Darline Nicholson, Bethany’s Associate Dean of Students for thirty-three years. During her time here, Nichol-son coordinated all the student

activities including concerts. Nicholson often told Chernenko and other students of the mem-ories she had during her time at Bethany College. The Eagles’ visit was one of them.

Before the Internet was cre-ated, many bands did college tours in order to get their music heard and recognized. As early as the 1950’s, many soon-to-be big-name artists appeared on the Bethany campus to per-form for the students. Among these artists were Billy Joel, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane (also known as Jefferson Star-ship after playing at Woodstock in the 60s), Grace Slick, Chi-cago, the Sha-na-na group, Yes, Barry Manilow, the Eagles, and many more. The Beatles were booked to perform at the 1964 Homecoming, but after appear-ing on television (on the old “Ed Sullivan Show”) and becom-

ing famous, they had to cancel. A similar case happened with Bruce Springsteen who had been booked to perform at Beth-any College; however, due to his own sudden fame, he was forced to cancel, too.

Some other famous names to hit Bethany College cam-pus were Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, and the Lester Lanin Orchestra. The Lester Lanin Orchestra played ev-erything from rock and roll to swing music and was hired by wealthy socialites to perform at events such as Princess Diana’s wedding. The group also had invitations to appear at White House inaugural balls from the Eisenhower through the Carter administrations. The orchestra had a special bond with Beth-any College and played at the Homecoming dance every year until the mid-80s.

The Eagles performed at Bethany in 1972 after their first album had come out. The album includes many songs that are considered classics now but did not catch on until later. Accord-ing to Nicholson, her brother, who always went to the con-certs, hung out with the Eagles

during their stay. Like most of the bands that performed, the Eagles would do the concert and then head to the Franks, which is known as Bison Inn today. Af-ter leaving the bar, the band and Nicholson’s brother returned to the Gresham Inn with liquor in hand.

The following morning her brother returned to Nicholson and told her how he and the band had stayed up all night on the hill behind Gresham, drink-ing Tequila and writing songs as the sun came up. After the Eagles’ second album Desper-ado was released the following year, Nicholson’s brother rec-ognized the song “Tequila Sun-rise” and said that was one of the songs they wrote that night at the Gresham. Later during an interview about their Des-perado album, the Eagles stated that they had written the songs while on their college tour.

Though the Eagles were un-able to sit down and chat due to conflicting schedules, the story does add up. Bethany Legend number two investigated and… almost solved.

The song “Tequila Sunrise” by the Eagles was written at the Gresham Inn. (Photo by M.E. Yancosek Gamble)