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Anyone Else Read Don Felder's Book, "Heaven & Hell/My Life In The Eagles (1974-2001)"

Bbreaker

By Bbreaker
in Electric Guitars

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Jim85IROC Newbie

Jim85IROC

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a band being slick doesn't mean they are entertaining. Yeah sure their musicanship was excellent, but my god would it hurt them to actually move their bodies when they play live. So many {censored} songs they had -'lyin eyes' the most revolting song ever and they play it live! - it's just so booooooring live.

I guess it depends on what your expectations are. I just can't see how a band like the Eagles, with their relatively mellow songs, could ever have a concert that involved all kinds of stage antics without it coming off as ridiculous. When I saw them last year, I was extremely entertained. I like the Eagles because of their music, so hearing their music played so flawlessly was a real treat to me. They also had enough going on with the big screen and all of the backup musicians that I never got the least bit bored... but it's mainly because I was pulled in so deep into the music.

 

But, there was still plenty of energy at the show. It was a lot different than the Hell Freezes Over video. The crowd had an amazing energy that I didn't expect considering the relatively mellow attitude of the band. When the first couple bars of Hotel California started, the crowd was louder and far more energetic than any Metallica crowd I've seen. Plus, Joe always kept the show interesting. They played a few of his songs, including Funk 49 when Joe wore the helmet cam. During his other songs, the big screen had plenty of interesting stuff happening to make it very entertaining.

 

Those guys played for a solid 3 hours and I could have enjoyed another 3 hours.

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MisterTV Newbie

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Arguments about money and songwriting credits can be the downfall of any band. Interesting that two of the most long-lived groups, U2 and R.E.M., have had an "equal split" arrangement from the beginning of their respective careers.

 

Without a commitment from everyone at the beginning, talking about songwriting credit is a bit of a non-starter. If there is no band, there are no future royalties. Pete Buck said it best:

 

"The way I look at it, you're getting songwriting credit for riding around in the van for five years, not having a house or a girlfriend or any money."

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KwadGuy Newbie

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You walk in a room and Henly, Frey and Irving Azoff are there and tell you your contract has been changed, your percentage has been cut, and to enjoy your life. With those three on the other side of the table, you say "thank you" and walk backwards to the exit, hoping there isn't a henchman on the other side of the door and that there isn't a bomb in your car.

 

Yeah, I can see where that would eventually get to you.

 

He's a good guitarist. His songwriting is mostly not that exciting. He was far from the most important or best musician to pass through the Eagles, but without him, they are one step closer to self parody under the brand name "Eagles".

 

Yeah, he's whining, but I can't say I blame him.

 

I would suggest that the Eagles are the group whose long-term success most outweighs both their recorded legacy (dull-to-good but never brilliant) and the quality of their live shows (dullish).

 

As a person, Henley's reputation is about on par with Paul Simon's. Or Irving Azoff's, for that matter.

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slodge Veteran

slodge

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I enjoyed the book. What really struck me, confirmed by most of the concert footage I've seen, is that Frey and particularly Henley never seem to be having any fun.

 

 

They were very emphatic about not having any fun.

 

Jesus, it's the Eagles for crissakes, not the friggin' Beatles, and the Beatles didn't take themselves that seriously.

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HeatherAnnePeel Newbie

HeatherAnnePeel

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Their records sound very much like a collaborative effort (albeit a highly calculated one), regardless of the war of wills behind the scenes. I have gone through periods where I loved them (late '70s/early '80s), hated them (late '80s/early '90s), was indifferent ('90s-'00s), but now I am back to liking them once again. I always respected them as musicians, especially Joe Walsh, whose solo career has been excellent. In fact, I liken Walsh's presence to that of Neil Young; when he was with CSN they were much better than without him. Joe is a true Rock 'n Roller!

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slodge Veteran

slodge

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Their records sound very much like a collaborative effort (albeit a highly calculated one), regardless of the war of wills behind the scenes. I have gone through periods where I loved them (late '70s/early '80s), hated them (late '80s/early '90s), was indifferent ('90s-'00s), but now I am back to liking them once again. I always respected them as musicians, especially Joe Walsh, whose solo career has been excellent. In fact, I liken Walsh's presence to that of Neil Young; when he was with CSN they were much better than without him. Joe is a true Rock 'n Roller!

 

 

+1 on the Joe Walsh sentiment. Because of him (and Felder) it's almost like the Eagles of "Hotel CA" and "Long Run" were a different group than the "Tequila Sunrise" Eagles.

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stethescoper Newbie

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Your over-simplification is funny but full of missing facts. He admits his screw up with his wife and is giving her half his money willingly which in addition to her own makes her more wealthy then him. Frey and Henley are so far out of touch with reality that it isn't worth commenting on their greed.

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BeanoBoy Newbie

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HeatherAnnePeel wrote:

 

Felder was a member of one of the most successful bands of all time. He is far luckier than most. I'm sorry things didn't work out for him as an Eagle, but he comes across as nothing more than a whiner. He's a fine guitarist, but The Eagles were always the Henley and Frey show.

 

I agree. Hotel California was Felder's one songwriting gem. According to Henley, Felder was constantly making demos of guitar solos that were probably cool but didn't lend themselves to a song. Henley and Frey recognized his Hotel California demo as something with potential. If he had made that demo back in Florida, a complete unknown nationally, it probably wouldn't have seen the light of day. All of us unknown songwriters would love to pitch some music to established artists. I doubt Felder would have created a melody or lyric as great as "The Gods". I'm sure his royalty from Hotel California affords him a pretty comfortable life. He contributed very tasty guitar parts while in the Eagles ( the Hotel California album is full of Felder gems.) but Henley and Frey wrote the majority of one of the richest bodies of work ever, many before Felder even joined the band. True, Frey and Henley are ruthless businessmen but Felder was probably well compensated. Joe Walsh and Timothy Schmidt seem a lot wiser than Don Felder. They're part of a dream gig, more than handsomely compensated. Business dealings are seldom equitable, especially in the Music Biz. As a comparison, I'm sure Jagger-Richards make a lot more money than any of the other Stones.

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Dr. Scottie C Newbie

Dr. Scottie C

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I actually felt the Felder's "Heaven & Hell" is one of the best written guitarist biographies out there.....(ie: I thought Clapton's & Slash's were especially lame.)

I didn't think Felder came off as a whiney bitch at all.

In fact, I feel that 99% of what Felder said was the way that things actually went down.

He describes each band member as:

Henley--- A angry, and controlling man, who if he had it his way, would have been the lead singer on every Eagles track. However, Felder also tells us that Henley is a English Lit major, and has a fantastic way with words...and that essentially, Henley wrote 90% of the Eagles lyrics.

Frey--- Ego so big that he could barely fit through any door. Felder tells us that Frey was great at come up with song "situations"...example.......

Take the writing of Hotel California.....

Don Felder wrote all of the music....ALL OF IT (no one, even "the gods" dispute this) When he presented the song to the Gods for the first time, it was already intact, including the outro dual lead solo.

Glenn Frey came up with the "idea" of what the song could be about.....but as Felder put it..... "Frey used 7 notebook pages front and back to tell his story about what the song could be about" So in essence, In Frey's world... it would be an hour long song.

This is where Henley steps in.....who according to Felder, is a master at taking a lyric "idea" and condensing it down to 3-4 versus, chorus, bridge.

So....in Felder's book.... he said that Henley slaved over "Hotel California" lyrics for about 6 weeks.....and would not let anyone (including Frey) see where he was at....and when asked "how it was coming?" He would just tell them ....."I'll let you know when I am done."

When Henley was finished..... the lyrics were NOT up for discussion. They were going to be the exact words sang.....and Henley WAS going to be the one singing them....again....it wasn't up for debate.

The ONLY input that Frey had to the song was basically a 7 page story about a fictional hotel.

The music was all Felder, Lyrics all Henley......yet Frey got 33.3% writing credit for the song, and to date, about $7.2 million just for saying "it could be about a fictional hotel."..... these were the kind of things that pissed off Felder.

Joe Walsh & Tim Schmidt were just as others have said..... paid employees.

Felder speaks very fondly of Walsh, and states that they had never had a single arguement or disagreement.

"The Gods" reluctantly would allow Joe to do a song or two per album (depending on space)

Walsh was in the band because Henley saw him as the best guitarist he could get who wouldn't challenge his authority..... Frey wasn't so sold on Walsh, not because of his playing, but rather, Frey thought he was "a loose cannon."

The book is pretty telling and interesting.....We learn that Don Felder was a guitar teacher for about a year to a Florida teenage----named Tom Petty.

It's worth a read. It wasn't shocking to find out that behind closed doors, Henley/Frey are pissed off control freaks....consider that is exactly how they come off on stage.

 

 

 

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kayd_mon Newbie

kayd_mon

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Brian Jones was on Beggar's Banquet and Let It Bleed, which I (and many others, too) consider to be the Stones best albums. Not that Sticky Fingers and Exile aren't good, because they are, but Beggar's Banquet and Let It Bleed are where it's at.

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