Joe Walsh


He comes off as a very likable and down to earth guy who is very thankful for the gifts life has given him. He is not pretentious and if he has a big ego he hides it well. I saw him in July 1974 at a Day on the Green concert at the Oakland Coliseum with his band Barn Storm (also on the bill were CSNY, The Band, Jesse Colin Young, and Rick Derringer). Joe hit it out of the park. Timothy B. Schmit also comes off as a humble person that you would want to hang out with. Frey and Henley, on the other hand, are both very gifted musicians, and I don't know them so they could be great guys, but they come off as egocentric, narcissistic, and very high maintenance dudes. Don Felder comes off as a poor businessman. He undoubtedly cost himself millions of dollars by refusing to bite his tongue when Glenn Frey would have a hissy fit. Perhaps he didn't need the money. Most of us have to take a lot of crap at work--and don't get paid much to take it. Don was getting highly compensated to take it.

P.S. I retract what I said about Don Felder not being a good businessman. I just researched and found that Don was an equal partner in the Eagles from 1972-1980. He has a net worth of $60 million. He simply had the luxury of not having to take Glenn Frey's sh*t.

Cancel my subscription to the Resurrection. Send my credentials to the house of detention.

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I always liked Walsh. He's one of those happy go lucky type of guys. Glad he got sober and I do like his fun personality.

Frey/Henley do come off as big jerks, but they've earned it, and I mean that in a good way.

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Wow, I was stunned at those "before and after" clips of Walsh in the doc. When he was wasted, he looked just horrible. For me, the most gratifying part of the film was seeing him get sober and seeing how grateful he was. He's a terrific musician and I think his contribution to the band is important.

I just started reading Don Felder's expose on his time in the Eagles. Just going by the doc, the way Frey treated him was disgusting. As far as Frey/Henley "earning" their right to be jerks, I think they've earned the right to have huge ego's. I don't think they've earned the right to treat people (especially fellow bandmates) like garbage. Felder was just as essential to carrying that recognizable Eagles sound as Frey and Henley, in my mind.

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I'm sure you enjoyed the part of Don Felder's book where he described Joe Walsh as getting his biggest ever Christmas present when he was asked to join the Eagles. In contrast, Felder seems to believe he was doing the Eagles a favour when he agreed to join the band.

Even after he joined the Eagles, Joe Walsh continued to have a solo career. He also does gigs with Glenn Frey.

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Don Felder was right, about Walsh and the band.

Save me from the people who would save me from myself

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For me, the most gratifying part of the film was seeing him get sober and seeing how grateful he was.


I so totally agree. He's a beautiful man who did a lot of dumb things (like so many of us baby boomers). Unlike his buddy Keith Moon Joe is a survivor.

To me, this is the most beautiful and sad song that Joe sings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRSUBH5JFf4

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I've liked Joe since Funk #49. If you want to see him as more of an individual than a member of a group, you might like "Joe Walsh - Live From Daryl's House"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPV6nKrhOGg

Daryl Hall (from Hall and Oates) has musical guests at his home where they jam and talk. According to the show's website, Daryl started the show as a free monthly web show in late 2007, after having the idea of "playing with my friends and putting it up on the Internet."

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What I liked about Joe Walsh best in this movie wsa how fantastic and pure his singing was, after he was old, gray and sober. He now easily rivals Henley as the best singer in the band.

(Tim B. Schmidt was pretty good too).

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after he was old


Joe is not old!

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I was struck by the sober Walsh's affect: Clearly the years of booze and drugs took a toll on him emotionally as his affect projects a heaviness/sadness.

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Inspired by this documentary, I've researched the band a bit and have listened to Walsh's first half dozen solo albums. And it's clear to me that he doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

It's also clear to me that he sells himself short. He mentions in the documentary being consistently in awe of Henley and Frey, and that he could never write songs as well as they do. And yet his stuff from the 70s is eclectic, interesting, and well-performed. Great guitarist. And it wasn't until recently that I learned that he sang lead on "Pretty Maids All In A Row", which really impressed me with his vocal skill.

Plus he seems like he'd be a cool guy to hang out and chat with. Bet he'd have some great stories.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.
-- Klingon proverb

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I think that Walsh's solo stuff blows Frey's away.

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AGREED. Frey's post-Eagles stuff that I've heard was just 80s pop-ish dreck. Walsh had bluesy swagger and some actual soul in his solo music.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.
-- Klingon proverb

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And it wasn't until recently that I learned that he sang lead on "Pretty Maids All In A Row", which really impressed me with his vocal skill.


That's my favorite Eagles song...so melancholic and just really beautiful. I agree that Walsh's solo work is far superior to Frey's. Henley's solo work strikes me as mostly commercial, with some gems. Walsh seems more like the true 'essence' of the band.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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I'm not sure that Walsh is the "essence" of the Eagles; to me, that's best exemplified by Don Henley, whose solo work fits in pretty seamlessly with the Eagles' repertoire. Walsh, in his natural state, is ALMOST too bluesy, too funky and too eclectic for the Eagles, who let's face it, didn't exactly push a lot of boundaries with their music. Thus the addition of him (and Don Felder) to the band made the Eagles more interesting and less "easy listening".

Yes, "Pretty Maids" is a great song. I don't have terribly strong feelings towards the rest of the Eagles' music one way or the other, but that song admittedly gives me chills in parts. Particularly the instrumental/harmony section between the two verses at around 1:55, with Walsh working the slide.

I've only just recently listened to the James Gang Rides Again, their second album with Walsh, released in 1970. What a GREAT album. Really showcases his talent.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.
-- Klingon proverb

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Yes, "Pretty Maids" is a great song. I don't have terribly strong feelings towards the rest of the Eagles' music one way or the other, but that song admittedly gives me chills in parts. Particularly the instrumental/harmony section between the two verses at around 1:55, with Walsh working the slide.


Agreed, for me too. I also think Walsh is a vastly underrated singer.

I've only just recently listened to the James Gang Rides Again, their second album with Walsh, released in 1970. What a GREAT album. Really showcases his talent.


Would you believe, I've never listened to James Gang. I need to.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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I think that Walsh's solo stuff blows Frey's away.


Absolutely

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDQwBeGSjBE

.

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Why is it necessary to compare them?

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Because in the second part of the History of the Eagles documentary Frey says that he would only reunite with the Eagles if he and Henley make more money than the other members, and his justification for that demand is because he and Henley have done more than the other members outside of the Eagles to "keep [the Eagles'] name alive."

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because he and Henley have done more than the other members outside of the Eagles to "keep [the Eagles'] name alive."
They did. Joe Walsh had a music career before he joined the Eagles, so the Eagles are not the only group he is associated with as Don and Glenn are + he didn't do such a good job of representing any group after they broke up. There is no Eagles without Glenn Frey and Don Henley. If Joe hadn't sobered up, the Eagles would have made their comeback and gone ahead just like they did after Felder left. The Eagles are no more. If Joe Walsh had died I would not be saying that. However, my question was asked because I don't think any of them can be compared with each other in regard to talent.

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Don and Glenn were the heart of the Eagles, but who did more in their solo career and kept the Eagles name alive after they all split is another question altogether. Did Don? Absolutely. Glenn? Please.
Did you watch the documentary?

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It was absolutely Don who kept the Eagles name alive in that venue. I don't know that Glenn did that much, but as he and Don were the leaders of the group, it was hard not to think of the Eagles every time you saw Glenn, on Miami Vice or Jerry McGuire. The number one entity that kept the Eagles music on everybody's mind was/is the gd radio.

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Henley was by far the most prominent person in the Eagles who "kept the name alive" with his solo career. Frey? Not so much. He had a few very 80's-sounding short-lived songs ("Smuggler's Blues," "You Belong to the City," & "The Heat is On"), but it really was mostly classic rock radio that kept the Eagles alive, and along with the Eagles actual songs, which member of the Eagles got played the most on classic rock stations? Joe Walsh. Don Henley gets played a lot on classic rock radio stations now, but back in the 80's and 90's Henley's solo stuff was contemporary, not yet classic. Henley, Walsh, & Frey were all heard on contemporary radio stations back then, with Henley far in the lead and Walsh/Frey far behind him.

Remember, this is entirely in contradiction to Frey's statement on the documentary that he and Henley kept the Eagles name alive more than anyone else did after they split up/took a long hiatus in 1980. Frey's statement was the justification that he used for why he and Henley should earn more money than Felder, Walsh, and Schmit for the Eagles reunion. If he and Henley didn't earn more money than the other guys, then Frey would refuse to reunite. Had Frey stated that he and Henley should earn more money because they wrote most of the Eagles songs, then you would hear no argument from me. All I know is that Frey didn't make much of an impact apart from the Eagles, while Henley and Walsh did.

I respect Frey's contributions to the world of music, mainly via the Eagles, and was sad to hear that he died, but death does not change the facts and I'm not going to emphasize Frey's contributions just because I feel sorry that he died too early. Frey's appearances on Miami Vice and Jerry Maguire didn't really have any impact on Eagles' music because they were so few and such brief cameos. If I put the individual Eagles' names in the (most to least) order of who kept the Eagles' name alive mostly in the 80's and early 90's, then it would be Henley, Walsh, Frey, Felder, and then Randy Meisner. [I don't remember hearing anything from Leadon or Schmit in those years, though they probably played or sang on some things that I would recognize.]

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I only have one opinion and I heard very little from Joe Walsh except how smashed he was all the time, a little bit of music and acting from Glenn Frey and a fair amount of music from Don Henley, but every time I turned on the radio I heard an Eagles song. It matters little how Glenn characterized it, everyone acknowledges that Glenn and Don were the leaders of the band. The Eagles are no more and there are only 2 people who could have made that determination.

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You didn't hear Joe Walsh songs when you listened to a classic rock radio station? I heard him on there quite a lot. It was my introduction to Walsh, and even though the songs were recorded before he joined the Eagles, they still reminded me that a member of the Eagles made some awesome solo music.

Like I said before, I wouldn't have any problem with Glenn's justification that he and Don should make more money because they wrote most of the Eagles' hits, or because he and Don were the backbone of the Eagles. Those things would be true. But, he didn't use those reasons to justify him and Don making more money during the reunion. He used the reason that he and Don were the only ones who kept the Eagles name alive after they broke up, which is untrue.

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I didn't hear that many Walsh songs and don't today. We have way too many classic radio stations here and the Eagles are on all the time, but not the solo artists.

He used the reason that he and Don were the only ones who kept the Eagles name alive after they broke up, which is untrue.
I agree with this.

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That's the heart of my argument, that Glenn's stated reason in the History of the Eagles for why he and Henley should make more money is untrue.

If he had said the reason why he and Henley should make more money to reunite is because they wrote most of the songs, or because they were the backbone of the band, then I would not be voicing any criticism.

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I think of that statement as a simplification for the purpose of the documentary. Elsewhere I've seen Don Henley say that it was because they started the whole thing.

I see why you would question Joe Walsh being paid less, as he has always had a high profile. Possibly, the uncertainty about whether the rehab would work played a part in that.

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I wouldn't call it the purpose of the documentary at all. The purpose of the documentary is for the Eagles, particularly Henley and Frey, to tell things from their point of view because no other full-length official documentary of the Eagles has ever been made.

I would like a link to where Henley said it was because they started the whole thing, please. I don't want the link to challenge you; I want it because, of all the big classic rock bands out there the Eagles have the least amount of bio/interviews/docs to find.

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Here's the quote:

Felder was angry Henley and Frey were getting paid more than the rest of the band.

“Glenn has no qualms about talking about that,” Henley says. “He feels like we deserve it, because we started this mess. We guided it, we’re the ones who had the connections that got the record deal with David Geffen, we wrote most of the hit songs.

“We felt like, and we still feel like, we are the leaders of this band. Although we certainly do listen to the opinions of the other guys. We all seem to be able to reach consensus these days and go forward.”

and the link http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/don-henley-talks-resentment-jealousy-and-bustups-as-eagles-put-egos-aside-for-australian-tour/story-e6frfn09-1226943002053


If the link doesn't work, try cut-and-paste and then look for extra spaces in the string. imdb used to do that with long urls.

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Thank you!
As I said earlier in this thread, if Glenn had said in the doc what Henley says here, then you would hear no argument from me. It was Glenn's insistence that he and Don were the only ones who kept the Eagles name alive after they broke up that struck me as unfair and untrue.

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We all know that overall Henley had the most successful solo career, but you're underselling Frey's. Between 1980 and 1993 he had as many top 40 singles as Henley (and more than double Walsh, Schmit and Felder combined) and three albums than charted, two of which went gold. Where he didn't do as well as Henley was in selling huge numbers of albums - two of Henley's went platinum. The key issue is that Frey was considerably more successful than Walsh, Schmit and Felder during that period and he knew he was essential for the reunion.

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The key issue is that Frey was considerably more successful than Walsh, Schmit and Felder during that period and he knew he was essential for the reunion.
It wouldn't have mattered if Glenn Frey moved to an island in the Pacific in 1980 and lived off the land for 14 years. Glenn Frey and Don Henley were the backbone of the Eagles. I think they were all hard on Glenn - blaming him for the band not getting back together. In another documentary, Timothy indicated Glenn was angry they all got together in 1990. However, I read in yet another article that the reason Glenn didn't show up was because he was ill and had to have surgery - again. Another thing most of us know, but they downplay is there was a deep divide between Frey and Henley. They tried to write together in the late 80's in secret, but it didn't work and as late as 1992 Glenn was bad mouthing Don. I think what happened is Glenn got off the drugs before Don. When Don got clean, engaged and moved to Texas, I think that had an impact on Glenn in relationship to getting together.

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You should watch The History of the Eagles documentary.

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I've seen it many times.

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My bad. I figured you had not because you have said a few things things that are either contradicted in the documentary or things that were answered in the documentary.

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We all know that overall Henley had the most successful solo career, but you're underselling Frey's.


I did not undersell Frey's solo success, and of course he was essential for the reunion. In fact, he's so essential that the Eagles are absolutely done now because Frey's dead. He was the leader of the band. I just said that Frey wasn't more key than Walsh in keeping the Eagles' name alive after they split in 1980 because Walsh was played on classic rock radio stations all of the time, and Walsh had some post-Eagles solo success. I think you're underselling Walsh's solo career and impact.
Frey's solo music was so-very-1980's and I heard Walsh on the radio more than I heard Frey. I realize that Walsh wrote most of that stuff before he was in the Eagles, but when I heard those songs I thought, "Hey, that's the guy from the Eagles . . . this song is great!" However, when I heard Frey's stuff I did not think of the Eagles. I thought of Beverly Hills Cop, Miami Vice, or Harold Faltermeyer.

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Master_Voorhees said:

If I put the individual Eagles' names in the (most to least) order of who kept the Eagles' name alive mostly in the 80's and early 90's, then it would be Henley, Walsh, Frey, Felder, and then Randy Meisner.


I agree with this completely. I would even rank Felder AHEAD of Frey. I'm sorry that Frey passed but the multitudes of accolades coming his way now ring false. ESPECIALLY from members of the Eagles, who (by all accounts) did not feel very "warmly" towards him. They, of course, have to say all the right things now but Frey wasn't well liked, plain and simple. It says a lot that Irving Azoff was probably his best friend within the group, and he wasn't even a musician. Azoff himself has a very poor reputation as a man of merit, though he was an excellent manager. Read Don Felder's excellent book and other various written accounts of Azoff in the industry to confirm this.

I think thoughts of those who have NOT seen "The History of the Eagles" documentary are very different from those who did. Frey comes across very badly....as a spoiled rotten child who doesn't play nice with others. Ok, that's him as a man.

Frey as a musician? His solo stuff was largely forgettable, poppish garbage. Can you imagine the Eagles without Frey? Musically, I can. Can you imagine the Eagles without Henley? Even Felder?

I can't. I think the most memorable Eagles songs featured Henley front and center ("Hotel California"), and heck, even Timothy B. Schmit ("I Can't Tell You Why" is perhaps the band's best ballad).



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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I agree that Felder's tribute does ring false as there is no overlap with what he wrote in his book. So it's possible he wrote what he thought he should in order to be seen as a classy and forgiving individual. Alternatively, in the decade or so since he wrote his book, he may have gotten over his anger and bitterness towards Frey and now be able to acknowledge the good stuff as well as the bad. I prefer the latter explanation because it shows both Felder and Frey in a better light.

I saw the documentary with fairly fresh eyes (I knew the music but not the personalities) and Frey did not come across badly to me. He came across as a good storyteller who was trying to convey how he felt at that the point in time he was describing. It also became clear to me - not from Frey's words but from what everyone else said - that Frey was central to the band.

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When celebs write books, they are told they have to include salacious content or it won't sell. When I hear so & so wrote a book and there's always some gossipy item in it, I figure it's way over dramatized or it's such old news to the people involved they don't care. I haven't read Felder's book, but I imagine that book came from a place of revenge and the publisher wanting to sell a book. Felder's tribute to Glenn was as heartfelt as Henley's, in fact, I was disappointed Henley used the word dysfunctional in his. I've thought about it and I think Don felt like he hadn't said all he needed to say to Glenn and he felt guilty. I listened to Henley's interview on December 8th with Howard Stern again with new insight. I don't know if Howard knew Glenn's condition, but Don knew he was dying. Howard asked all the stupid questions he normally asks and even though Henley praised Frey, he again used that word, dysfunctional. I think they all looked up to Glenn, but at times had creative and perhaps lifestyle differences, but from people outside of the band who have talked about Frey and the way he lived his life, I think he was a person of good intent and well-liked by his peers.

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Felder's book is very good; I highly recommend reading it. Most of the things he digs deeper into are mentioned in the History of the Eagles documentary, so I don't think that he gossiped it up. Frey was dysfunctional, as his confrontations with Meisner, Leadon, and Felder show. He was also often well-intentioned and liked by his peers. One can be both.

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I've heard some of Felder's interviews on the Stern show and I follow him on Twitter and I like him. I absolutely believe Frey could be an a$$hole. However, comments I have read online are from people who have only seen the documentary and I don't see him in any different light than any other band, except what happened in their band has been memorialized and built on over the years. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when John and Paul were writing and Yoko was sitting in the corner or when Stevie Nicks was screwing Mick Fleetwood. But I am going to get Felder's book.

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NY Times, 2013

Q.

Glenn, the film gives you a chance to revisit a notorious onstage falling-out you had with Don Felder in 1980, that precipitated the original breakup of the band. Were you chastened by this experience?
A.

FREY Let’s put it this way: I’m glad I’ve had a second chance. I could have handled some things a lot better. We put the band back together in 1994 and I played music with Don Felder for six years. So I feel like that’s water under the bridge. We were young and I had a temper. I still have a temper. [laughs] I’ve just retired it.
Q.

You’re also very candid, when it came to the reunion, about explaining why you felt you and Don Henley deserved more money.
A.

FREY That’s the way I felt. I watched Don Henley work really, really hard for 14 years. I felt like he and I were the guys that continued to work in our business, and it was a way that we perpetuated the Eagles as well. I just felt that fair was fair.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/the-long-long-run-glenn-frey-and-don-henley-reflect-on-history-of-the-eagles/?_r=1

And yes, I know that Walsh and Schmit also continued to work in the business. Felder was the only one who'd dropped out. (Felder's book is confusing in this area because the description of the years from around 1985 to 1994 jumps backwards and forward in time to an alarming degree - I'm guessing that part was put together by his co-writer).

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Thank you for the link, though it doesn't say anything more than what the History of the Eagles doc says.

And yes, I know that Walsh and Schmit also continued to work in the business. Felder was the only one who'd dropped out.
That's simply untrue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Felder#Discography

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The credits stop in 1985. Also, it's in Felder's book although the dates aren't clear. He writes about how he got depressed being away from music.

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I was only showing that he did make some music after the Eagles. It was short-lived, but he did it, and the stuff on Heavy Metal was popular for a time.

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I thought the documentary showed that Frey, as well as the other guys, are human beings. In real life there is no one who is all good or all bad. Henley and Frey were the backbone of the Eagles, but they were also egotistical tyrants within the Eagles. I loved their backstory and the things they did creatively, but I cringed when Felder and Frey were threatening each other on stage during their last gig in 1980 pre-break up and when Felder said, "You're welcome ... I guess" to Senator Cranston's wife. I cringed even more when, during the reunification, Frey told Felder's manager that Felder was the only a-hole of the band and he had to sign the contract that day or he would be fired. It seemed to me that Frey was being the a-hole. Because Felder, Walsh, & Schmit were important to the Eagles' songwriting process, I interpreted Frey's insistence for more money as him pulling a power play in order to increase his family's inheritance.

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I cringed even more when during salary negotiations during the reunification when Frey told Felder's manager that Felder was the only a-hole of the band and he had to sign the contract that day or he would be fired. It seemed to me that Frey was being the a-hole.
I forgot about that - that was uncalled for - I've said before if Glenn hadn't forgiven the past, he should have blown Felder off in the first place, BUT he had to have Felder because of Joe's situation. So, yeah that was a huge douche move. When I look at the stuff that happened the first time around, I always remind myself that all of them were taking a lot of drugs. But any a$$hole move that was done after '94 was uncalled for.
I interpreted Frey's insistence for more money as him pulling a power play in order to increase his family's inheritance.
I've said several times, I don't think money really had anything to do with the problems, it was just how it manifested - I think it was all about control and who is in charge. That's what Szymczyk said in the documentary and he saw a lot.

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If I put the individual Eagles' names in the (most to least) order of who kept the Eagles' name alive mostly in the 80's and early 90's, then it would be Henley, Walsh, Frey, Felder, and then Randy Meisner.
How did Randy Meisner keep the Eagles' name alive? Nobody kept the Eagles' name alive but Henley. It was Henley whose voice we heard on the Eagles' songs and it was Henley's voice we heard in the 80's and very early 90's. If they were paid for the reasons Frey said, Henley should have been paid way more than anyone else.
I'm sorry that Frey passed but the multitudes of accolades coming his way now ring false. ESPECIALLY from members of the Eagles, who (by all accounts) did not feel very "warmly" towards him. They, of course, have to say all the right things now but Frey wasn't well liked, plain and simple.
This is not true. They had artistic differences. If you think Frey was a d!ck, what about Bernie Leadon? He is no shrinking violet. Leadon and Meisner did not want to be part of a successful rock and roll band. Frey put the band together, he had the vision, he was the captain and Henley the first mate. If you add in they were all young, as Leadon said, the stress, pressure and the drugs, I think Frey did as well as he could. He admitted in the documentary he f'd up back then. The deal with Felder is separate. Frey made all those guys multi-millionaires. Only a malcontent, to use Geffen's word would care if they made $2M or $3M. I agree about Felder's guitar talent. I refuse to watch newer videos of them performing without Felder, but Frey was right. Felder can't sing. In fact, he is the only member who can't sing. So if we're listing reasons who should get paid what and how they should get paid, that alone should put Felder at the bottom of the list.
Can you imagine the Eagles without Henley? Even Felder?
The band went on sadly without Felder, so yes I can. But the Eagles are over now.

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I saw the documentary with fairly fresh eyes (I knew the music but not the personalities) and Frey did not come across badly to me. He came across as a good storyteller who was trying to convey how he felt at that the point in time he was describing.


I find this very surprising, as I've read a lot about how poorly the doc makes Frey appear. But, you're obviously entitled to your interpretation. I was left with a very bad impression of Frey...he came across as a brat to me (not in all parts, mind you). Also you say "how he felt at that point in time". It seemed to me Frey was still very bitter and snippy in his demeanor in those interviews. He seemed to think he was a gift from above and that everyone else in the band was not on his level. I understand it takes a certain amount of arrogance to be a "rock star" but this guy was off the charts.

This whole Henley vs. Frey thing of "keeping the Eagles name relevant in the past" is largely subjective, of course. For some of us, Henley was the end all and be all of the Eagles. For others, it was Frey. I can recognize talents in both but I simply felt that Henley was essential to the Eagles, whereas Frey was replaceable, to a certain extent. With Henley, Walsh and Felder, they could have kept on.

Is it so crazy to hope that those 3 can keep the band going? I expect it won't, but throw in a drummer if need be and we're off to the races.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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I think you meant for this to go to the other poster, but it came to me.

I simply felt that Henley was essential to the Eagles, whereas Frey was replaceable
I think Henley's voice became the "voice of the Eagles", but as Glenn said, that was intentional. I love Glenn's voice and I respectfully disagree with you. The Eagles were foremost, Glenn's band, even Don says he was the captain. Just because he wasn't singing doesn't mean he didn't lead the group. In theory, since all they've done is tour for the past umpteenth years, they could replace anyone but Henley, however, Glenn and Henley together were the heart and soul of the band.
Is it so crazy to hope that those 3 can keep the band going?
Yes

As far as how Frey came across in the documentary, I understand how many people had negative opinions after I read online what people thought. I watched it and saw something else. I tried to walk in everyone's shoes and I think I understand the different perspectives. I don't get why people don't understand Glenn's feelings of ownership of this band.

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I don't get why people don't understand Glenn's feelings of ownership of this band.


Ownership is one thing, but Frey seemed to think he was the only one in the band entitled to it. A band is a GROUP, not one person. Frey's comments in that documentary (which perhaps he had regretted) indicate a real perverse hoarding of the attention and the acclaim. However, as I said, you're entitled to your opinion....to each his/her own.

I agree that you don't have to be a lead singer to be essential to a band (for example, Keith Richards is as essential to the Stones as Jagger, IMO). But for all their contributions, I prefer the order a previous poster in this thread had.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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I know many people feel the way you do and many feel Henley is worse than Frey, but I didn't see it. I understood everyone's perspective in the band. I think what colors people's perspective is what Walsh said, everyone in the band was an alpha, but Meisner and Frey came from that 'I'm going to kick your ass to solve a problem' mentality. However, Henley is like a guy in the cornfield with a hayseed sticking out of his mouth, but other people think he was the one who was a big narcissistic jerk.

indicate a real perverse hoarding of the attention and the acclaim.
What parts are you referring to as I've seen the documentary several times. Was it the comments about money? Because I can't think of anything else he said that was a 'perverse hoarding'??

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I don't get why people don't understand Glenn's feelings of ownership of this band.
I understand his ownership. He was the leader. He was the captain. His failure was in thinking that he could continue leading the Eagles by replacing key members. That said, the Eagles were still the Eagles even after they lost Meisner and Leadon, but they were a different, albeit good, band with Schmit and Walsh.

In my opinion they stopped being the Eagles after Don Felder was fired. True, their very last tour featured Bernie Leadon as a guest, which added to their Eagles-ness, but without Felder's solos and him doing that incredible dueling guitars with Walsh at the end of "Hotel California" (a song for which Felder wrote the music), it just didn't feel like the Eagles to me.

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His failure was in thinking that he could continue leading the Eagles by replacing key members.
That's a mischaracterization of what happened. Each member who left did so because of a unique reason and it wasn't because of Frey. Felder was fired because he wasn't happy with the financial arrangments that he had agreed to and had his people poking around. Even though Frey was a jerk about Felder signing his contract, Felder could have said no. So, it wasn't 'Glenn Frey replacing members'. That's the part that gets me - all these stories lumped into one pot and it all falls on Frey's shoulders.

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I did not mischaracterize what happened. Watch the documentary again. Frey was the impetus for every member who left or was fired from the band. With Leadon it was because Frey wanted things to be more rock than country. Henley did, too, but it wasn't Henley who was adamant about how things should go that inspired Leadon to pour beer on his head. It was Frey who thought, "Joe Walsh for Bernie Leadon" (Frey's own words). Frey suggested to Meisner that it was probably time for him to go before a gig one night when Meisner was refusing to sing "Take it to the Limit" and Frey who initiated what was almost a fistfight between he and Meisner over that issue, which is mentioned in the History of the Eagles doc. It was Frey who was threatening Felder with being fired and Frey who ultimately decided that Felder was out. The other members of the band went along with their leader, Glenn Frey, but Frey was the catalyst, the captain leading the charge, every single time.

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No. Leadon wanted a country rock low key band and Henley and Frey did not. First, Leadon does not strike me as a guy who takes any sh!t and now you're blaming Frey for Leadon pouring a beer on him?  Which war did Frey start? Leadon and Meisner both wanted to go. Meisner didn't want to tour - he wanted to be home with his family and Leadon didn't want to be in that kind of band. The original Eagles were like the Monkees. Linda Ronstadt put that band together. It's just that things changed. Glenn wanted to change. Henley wanted to change. Leadon didn't want to change. Meisner didn't want the stress of touring and being away from his family. None of that was Glenn's fault. I know the documentary was chronological, but there were some things that happened and it was hard to tell when it happened exactly. I think the parting with both Leadon and Meisner was as amicable as it could be. I think we saw what makes the documentary so intriguing. Just like I said about celebs writing books - no one is going to read it unless there's some juicy stuff in it.

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Leadon wanted a country rock low key band and Henley and Frey did not.
That's what I said.


First, Leadon does not strike me as a guy who takes any sh!t and now you're blaming Frey for Leadon pouring a beer on him? 
No, I'm blaming Frey for instigating Bernie's departure. The beer being poured on Frey's head did, as they said in the documentary, "illustrate a breaking point."


Which war did Frey start?
"War?" A bit hyperbolic, don't you think?


Leadon and Meisner both wanted to go. Meisner didn't want to tour - he wanted to be home with his family and Leadon didn't want to be in that kind of band.
Watch the documentary again. Touring was hard on Meisner, but Frey clearly states that he told Meisner it's probably time for him to leave the band and the battle over country v rock sound was primarily between Frey and Leadon. Watch the documentary again.


The original Eagles were like the Monkees.
What? Have you listened to their stuff from before they recorded their first album? Have you listened to their first album?


Linda Ronstadt put that band together.
No, she did not. She invited Glenn and Don Henley to stay a part of her touring band and they said that they did not want to do that because they wanted to start their own band. She gave her blessing and suggested they get Bernie Leadon to join them, too. She made "Desperado" a hit. Along with her friendship and dating the Eagles' co-writer JD Souther, that is the full extent of her involvement.

None of that was Glenn's fault . . . I think the parting with both Leadon and Meisner was as amicable as it could be.
He's not completely to blame, but he was the leader of the band and he was the impetus for how things changed, and it was not as amicable as it could be. As Frey himself said, he could've done a better job in how he handled these things. If anything, the documentary glossed over and minimized the in-fighting. For example, Henley and Frey were tired of each other, arguing, and at loggerheads, too, but the documentary did not mention this much except in passing. When Frey said the band was over in 1980 he completely cut off Azoff and Henley, too.

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You're taking some things I write out of context, not understanding my meaning and certainly not enjoying my humor and don't tell me to watch the documentary again. I could quote parts of it. Frey didn't say he told Meisner it's time to go. Much of what Frey and Henley said in the documentary were musings. For both Meisner and Leadon, there was nothing said about real conversations regarding them leaving.

The comment about the Monkees was because the Monkees were a band put together by a TV studio, not about their music. LR said, "you should get Bernie Leadon". They were all young and on drugs - I give them all a pass for what happened back then, but anything post '94 was douche behavior. I don't think there was much of that after '94. I do know about the parting of the ways with Azoff, but Frey needed to spread his wings. He and Henley were sort of like kids who had been locked up for 10 years. Frey was not a saint. He had an ego, but you can't be an artist without one. But I think he was not nearly as bad as some people make him out to be.

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I'm no really sure where to butt in on this, but a 3 hour documentary does not allow enough time to go into all the issues. For example Bernie leadon left the band on several occasions but was talked into returning. In that light, considering Joe Walsh can be seen more as a contingency plan for when Leadon left for good.

In the book "To the Limit" (Marc Elliot), Henley said that he gave up on Meisner before Frey (and possibly this is reflected in the documentary - Henley's comments about Meisner are harsher than Frey's).

Leadon's version of how he joined the band is slightly different to Linda Ronstadt's. He said he was at McCabe's Music Store and someone told him John Boylan was putting together a band for Glenn Frey and Don Henley and he decided to give Boylan a call. He'd seen Frey in Longbranch Pennywhistle and he'd heard that Don Henley was good from one of Henley's Shiloh bandmates who joined the Flying Burrito Brothers.

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When Henley threw Meisner under the bus in the documentary, it killed me. Meisner was married already and had 3 kids and I know that was a lifetime ago, but Henley said he was up all night with a bunch of girls drinking whiskey and that's why he couldn't sing the high notes on 'Take it to the Limit'. That was brutal, even after 40 years, considering Meisner's station in life. I need to read Marc Elliot's book too.

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"Why don't you just quit? You say you're unhappy. Quit." - Glenn Frey to Randy Meisner, according to Frey on The History of the Eagles.

That aside, I don't mean to be so adamant with my opinions here. They are based almost entirely on Felder's book, the 2-part History of the Eagles documentary, and a few interviews from Felder, Henley, Frey, and Walsh. I am willing to be wrong if I am truly mistaken about anything, and I might very well be.

The only truly unequivocal fact that I know about the Eagles is this: Joe Walsh is the coolest human being on Earth, and most likely the Universe.

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How did Randy Meisner keep the Eagles' name alive?
Note that the list is in order of who kept the Eagles' name going from the most to the least, and it doesn't mention Leadon or Schmit because I don't remember hearing from those guys then. Meisner is last because he only released one solo album that had any radio airplay in the 80's.

Nobody kept the Eagles' name alive but Henley. It was Henley whose voice we heard on the Eagles' songs and it was Henley's voice we heard in the 80's and very early 90's.
That is not true. Frey had a few hits in the 80's, mainly through Miami Vice and Beverly Hills Cop songs, Felder was featured on the Heavy Metal film's soundtrack, and Walsh was played on classic rock radio quite a lot and he had a few songs from his 80's solo career that received some airplay.
Henley was, however, the most obviously popular member of the Eagles in the 80's and early 90's. I even went to see him in concert then.

If they were paid for the reasons Frey said, Henley should have been paid way more than anyone else.
I agree.

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You can be somewhat objective by looking at record charts and sales. At some point, I did make an attempt to work out what the split should be based on relative success. I think it ended up being along the lines of Henley 40%, Frey 30%, Walsh 20%, Schmit 8%, Felder 2%.

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How did you come up with those percentages?

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Billboard charts and a finger in the air. I didn't keep my workings. However, I recently counted top 40 singles in that period and it was Henley 7, Frey 7, Walsh 2, Schmit 1, Felder 0. If you take albums into account, Henley takes the lead.

At the time of the reunion, Henley had two Gold and one 3xPlatinum albums. Frey had two Gold. Walsh had two Gold and one Platinum from the 70s but none since. Felder's solo album didn't even make the Billboard 200.

For a quick overview, Billboard did something that ranked the hits of Eagles and as solo artists based on chart position. Of the top 25, Henley had 6 solo hits and 2 duets, Frey had 5 solo hits and Walsh had 1.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/1550455/weekly-chart-notes-the-eagles-greatest-hits

In the 80s, Henley, Frey and Walsh all toured as solo acts. Schmit toured with Jimmy Buffet, Toto and others. Felder stayed home.

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I don't contest that Felder's post-Eagles stuff was minimal before reuniting. In fact, I would cite his work on the Heavy Metal soundtrack as the only thing he did in the 80's that is worth mentioning.

I do, however, contest that Walsh didn't keep the Eagles name alive more than Frey. Walsh's solo stuff in the 1980's and early 1990's was okay, but it is the stuff he did with the James Gang and in his pre-Eagles solo act that is important for me here. My main point here is that I heard more from Walsh in the 80's than I did Frey because classic rock radio played him all of the time and Frey was just making forgettable 80's pop tunes. I liked them for a time, but they are so very 80's. I blame Harold Faltermeyer. To me and a lot of other people who listened to the classic rock stations that started up around the time that the Eagles split, Walsh's solo stuff endured and was far more important in keeping the Eagles name alive in the 80's.

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You are talking about what you heard in the 80s which is not objective. You are also limiting it to Classic Rock radio whereas the potential audience for an Eagles reunion was much wider.

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So in spite of what Frey says at the beginning of part 2 of The History of the Eagles, you think that classic rock radio didn't keep the Eagles alive and Walsh's heavy rotation on that format wasn't just as important as Frey's 80's pop sounds were?

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So in spite of what Frey says at the beginning of part 2 of The History of the Eagles, you think that classic rock radio didn't keep the Eagles alive and Walsh's heavy rotation on that format wasn't just as important as Frey's 80's pop sounds were?

Frey's and Henley's 80's pop sounds were irrelevant. Nobody went to an Eagles reunion concert to hear that stuff.

How is "we made more money in the past so we deserve to make more money now" a logical statement?

Those two were already getting far more royalties from songwriting. Why did they need to be paid more to step on the same stage and play live for the same amount of time as everyone else in the Eagles?

Bottom line- they didn't need that. It was just an excuse for Frey to stick it to Felder and piss him off. And it worked. Felder had an old wound and Frey stuck a knife right back into it, just because he felt like it.

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Only a malcontent, to use Geffen's word would care if they made $2M or $3M.
Geffen, who I think came across as an arrogant jerk in the doc, was talking about Don Henley being a malcontent. Felder's problem, as Irving Azoff said in the doc, was really about him wanting the Eagles to be a band, and there was no unity in his mind if Henley and Frey were making so much more money.

I agree about Felder's guitar talent. I refuse to watch newer videos of them performing without Felder, but Frey was right. Felder can't sing. In fact, he is the only member who can't sing. So if we're listing reasons who should get paid what and how they should get paid, that alone should put Felder at the bottom of the list.
This comment is wrong in so many ways. First, look up "Victim of Love Don Felder" on YouTube and listen to him sing it. The man can sing. He can't sing as well as Henley (nobody in the band could, as they said), but he could sing. All of the members of the Eagles could sing. That is a big part of their charm, that four or five part harmony they produce. Frey and Henley thought Felder could sing, but they didn't think that he could sing lead that was up to Eagles' standards. I listened to multiple recordings on YouTube of him singing "Victim of Love" and wholeheartedly disagree with Frey's and Henley's assessment of Felder's singing. Listen to him singing on YouTube and tell me I'm wrong.

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He sounds better now than he used to. Maybe he's had lessons or maybe there's clever technology involved.

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was talking about Don Henley being a malcontent.
I know he was talking about Henley, I said I was borrowing that word from Geffen. What Azoff was saying without saying it was that things changed from 1980 to 1994, not necessarily with the Eagles, but the world. There were no more hippies spreading the love at Woodstock. The music business had truly become a "business" and the power was in writing the songs. Leadon explained how bands make money. Felder wanted things to go back to 1975 and that wasn't going to happen. I agree with that, but I don't agree with the way Frey handled it.

I follow Felder on Twitter and I've seen him on Stern. I like how he comes across - he seems like a great guy. I had totally forgotten about the "Victim of Love" mess. He still tours and he tweeted one of his performances one day and I clicked on it and I thought OMG, no wonder they wouldn't let him sing. He's terrible. So I went on YouTube and listened some more and Glenn was right - he can't sing. Maybe he can harmonize, but he is not a lead singer. Maybe Leadon wasn't lead material either, but the rest of them were and anyway, that wasn't Leadon's problem. As we know he had a different issue.

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Nobody in the Eagles can sing as well as Henley, but I think that Felder does a pretty good job at singing "Victim of Love": https://youtu.be/tUnSTWMmOM0

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All I can say is he's a hell of a guitar player and he and Joe will always have "Hotel California". 

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Did you really just resort to snark? I thought our discussion was above that. I was enjoying it until now. SMH

I suppose that one can never account for another person's taste, or lack thereof. Suffice it to say that Frey and Henley never invited anyone to join the Eagles who couldn't sing because the vocal power was the band's greatest strength. Henley does sing "Victim of Love" better than Felder, but Henley sings everything better than everyone else in the Eagles. They didn't think that Felder's vocals were up to par to sing lead on that song, but they didn't think that Walsh had a better voice than Bernie Leadon (they state this in the documentary), yet Walsh sang quite a few songs. I like both Walsh's and Felder's voices, though Henley, Schmit, Meisner, Leadon and Frey all have better voices.

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I was making fun of Felder, not you. I actually can't remember what Leadon sounds like - I'll have to look up some of his stuff. You continually repeat what Felder said in the documentary about "Henley sings better than anyone" and it still is not going to make me think Felder is a good singer.

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I know you were making fun of Felder and I don't understand why given how well he sings in that link I posted from YouTube.

Felder isn't the only one who said Henley sings better than anyone. Frey does, too. In fact, I think you (or someone) in this thread quoted Frey saying that. You know, the part where Frey says him singing less and less was intentional because they had Don Henley. David Geffen said it, too, with his nickname for Henley: "Golden Throat."

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Wow....I check back in after a coupla hours and there's like 20 new posts and one big disagreement! Seems very apropos because this is the Eagles after all, right? 😂

Perhaps I am flawed in this thinking, but I really use Felder's autobiography as a starting point for all this. It's very even-handed and very well-written and I don't think Felder "had an ax to grind". Even when he was in the band, Felder says he was really shut out of most decisions by Frey and Azoff, and, to a lesser extent, Henley. As Vorhees as said in this thread, Felder was an integral part of the band (legendary end of HC, etc). How dare Frey dictate who was and who was NOT important in this band?

To be honest, I was disgusted by Frey's treatment of Felder and I really felt for Felder, after finishing his book. "The History of the Eagles" recent documentary only reinforced this view.

Anyway, I am not trying to throw dirt on a dead man but I hope by now people realize who Frey really was.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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I'm anxious to read Felder's book and what I know about him I like, but if Felder's book is 'even-handed', how come you came away with this:

How dare Frey dictate who was and who was NOT important in this band? To be honest, I was disgusted by Frey's treatment of Felder and I really felt for Felder, after finishing his book.
That doesn't sound too even-handed to me. Walsh discussed this in the documentary - he said he was shut out too and he didn't like it, but he knew 'it was good for the Eagles'. I know it sounds like Joe is kissing a$$ because he's still part of the band, but what is this stuff about 'being important'? I thought the rub with Felder always control. There's 2 sides to a story.

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I'm anxious to read Felder's book and what I know about him I like


I recommend it...it's pretty interesting. I read it more than a year ago so I don't recall everything with perfect clarity. In some ways, he was very complimentary towards Frey, who was kind to him in some unexpected ways. But overall, he points out several instances in which Frey very much made him feel like an outsider. And that was when he was IN the band.

but if Felder's book is 'even-handed', how come you came away with this:
How dare Frey dictate who was and who was NOT important in this band? To be honest, I was disgusted by Frey's treatment of Felder and I really felt for Felder, after finishing his book.That doesn't sound too even-handed to me. Walsh discussed this in the documentary - he said he was shut out too and he didn't like it, but he knew 'it was good for the Eagles'. I know it sounds like Joe is kissing a$$ because he's still part of the band, but what is this stuff about 'being important'? I thought the rub with Felder always control. There's 2 sides to a story.


Felder is so understated and humble in the book that he actually doesn't condemn Frey for his poor treatment of him. He leaves that up to the reader. The net result is to FEEL his outrage, though he doesn't come out and say what he really 'thinks' of Frey. Does that make sense?

As far as "control", no...I didn't get that at all from Felder's book. RESPECT was more like it.





"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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I'm getting the book tonight if I have to pay for it. What a concept - paying for a book. I like Felder, but it takes 2 to tango. I know Felder comes across all 'down home and aww shucks', but he's not stupid or naive. I'll read the book.

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I almost feel entitled to royalties from your book purchase 😀

I'd be very interested in your thoughts after you read the book. BTW, I got it from my local library, so you might be able to get it that way.


"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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What is this library you speak of? It's so sad. I am close enough to walk to a library & I've never been there. 

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Hehe! You should be able to check online for your library's catalog, to see if they have it.

I just checked the prices for "Heaven and Hell" on Amazon and they're surprisingly high....perhaps because the book may be out of print now. It's $11.99 on itunes and, I imagine, Kindle also.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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I have to toot my horn. I am the best researcher. I'm already on chapter one. I can find almost anything online. One thing I forgot about but I just read Henley said it an interview and I thought the same thing - the way Felder broke down and got up during his interview was soooo phony. What say you?

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I have to toot my horn. I am the best researcher. I'm already on chapter one. I can find almost anything online.


Definitely impressive! Hope you enjoy it....let us know what you think of it.

One thing I forgot about but I just read Henley said it an interview and I thought the same thing - the way Felder broke down and got up during his interview was soooo phony. What say you?


I have to admit, it did seem somewhat orchestrated, which was strange....because Felder comes across as so genuine (sometimes excessively genuine!) in his book. Also, Felder has had some time now to separate himself from all those emotions for him not to be overwhelmed by them. I felt it more in his book than in the interviews.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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Not so fast - on chapter 2 reading how Felder walked uphill both ways and it popped up I needed to pay $4.99 for a month & I thought OK, I'll have other books I can read, then I couldn't go any farther & it popped up I needed to pay $8.99 and I went to Paypal and requested a refund. I guess I'm not that smart. I know I won't go to the library. I'll try to find it cheaper than Amazon online & order it. 😂

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Sorry....unfortunately these days, a simple act of reading a book can become a technological nightmare. I love the library because books (esp. hardcovers) are ridiculously overpriced.

I digress though....hope you can get it at a reasonable price.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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I read Felder's book after I watched The History of the Eagles and highly recommend it, too. I borrowed it from the library.

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Yeah, I don't get why some simple items on Amazon are ridiculously overpriced....makes no sense.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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I think Amazon is overrated. I've seen some things way overpriced on there before, but when I saw that I cracked up.

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I usually use EBAY, provided you get a good seller. Can sometimes find real steals there. Amazon is ok for some things and lousy for others.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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I looked on e-bay and they have a signed copy of Felder's book for $130, but the $900 one is still on Amazon. I haven't found one for less than $10. I may run down the street and get a library card tomorrow.

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Wow....that's crazy. Do you mind Kindle or Itunes books? I think it's $11.99 but most people like the feel of a book in their hands, not a tablet.



"The future is tape, videotape, and NOT film?"

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