Winslow, Arizona, was all but forgotten when a freeway displaced Route 66 and began whisking travelers around its downtown in the late 1970s.

But it still had one thing going for it: Everybody wanted to stand on a corner in the small city after hearing Glenn Frey and the Eagles make it sound so cool in “Take It Easy.”

Standin’ on the corner in Winslow, Ariz., is a statue depicting the late Glenn Frey, the Eagles musician who co-wrote with Jackson Browne “Take It Easy.” – The Associated Press

Locals capitalized on the lyrics with an annual festival and park featuring a statue and mural commemorating the 1972 song.

Frey died Monday at 67. Winslow residents staged a memorial service Tuesday night that featured Eagles songs and dancing in the park.

Tom McCauley, part of a foundation that organizes the annual Standin’ on the Corner Festival, said an estimated 150 to 200 people were “visiting and dancing and basking in the music” during the two-hour memorial.

Fans have been leaving flowers and notes at the park to celebrate the life of Frey, who sang “Take It Easy” and co-wrote it with Jackson Browne.

A statue of a man with boots, jeans and a guitar has stood downtown since the late 1990s.

In front of it is a Route 66 shield painted on the road and behind him is a mural with a woman looking in his direction – a visual reference to the lyrics: “Well, I’m standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin’ down to take a look at me.”

Browne came up with the Winslow line after getting stranded there once but was stumped on how to finish the verse. Frey suggested the flatbed Ford line, and it clicked.

“Jackson was so thrilled. He said, ‘OK! We co-wrote this.’ But it’s certainly more of him,” Frey said.

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