Celebration of Airborne

[whitcap]

Don Felder's only solo album, Airborne, was released 28 years ago this week! I love this album! Felder's an excellent guitar player and I like his singing voice too.

Like we've done with other albums, I've ranked the songs from favorite to least favorite:

1. Haywire
2. Bad Girls
3. Winners
4. Never Surrender
5. Still Alive
6. Who Tonight
7. Asphalt Jungle
8. Night Owl

[sodascouts]

Here's mine - with comments on fave and least fave

1. Still Alive (sweet sentiment)
2. Haywire
3. Asphalt Jungle
4. Bad Girls
5. Night Owl
6. Who Tonight
7. Never Surrender
8. Winners (it bothers me how much this sounds like "Gloria" - and the "you're a winner/spinner" chorus - yikes)

[whitcap]

The chorus of Winners irks me a bit too. I initially had it ranked last but the more I listened to it the more I liked the rest of the song so I moved it up.

[Freypower]

Good heavens Soda. The song name Gloria for me means Van Morrison/Them's Gloria ('and her name is G - L - etc') but I take it you mean Laura Branigan's song.

I have this album on CD so I can rank it.

1. Neve Surrender
2. Asphalt Jungle
3. Haywire
4. Still Alive
5. Night Owl
6. Who Tonight
7. Bad Girls
8. Winners

Only 8 tracks!

[UndertheWire]

I was wondering what you all thought of the lyrics. I listened to them for the first time recently and my first impresions are
1) Better lyrics than I expected and more coherent than many of his contempories.
2) Yuk! I'm not sure why I felt like this but possibly because they are mostly third person commentaries on casual sexual encounters. It makes them somewhat voyeuristic (or maybe I'm influenced by the Bad Girls video).

I can see them as a following on from some of the Eagles songs such as Those Shoes and Victim of Love. It seems stranger that this married, family man is writing that kind of song.

[Freypower]

I think it may be because he's trying to sound 'hip' and 'contemporary' so perhaps he thought the lyrics needed to sound 'streetwise'. Some of them do echo Eagles songs in which he was prominent. I agree with your comments about the content being mainly about sexual encounters. The only song which appears to address his own relationship, Still Alive, is OK at best.

I prefer this album to Road To Forever. I think the singing is better & the guitar work is more prominent. RTF may attempt to be more personal but some of it jars with me for various reasons.

[sodascouts]

I find Road to Forever far superior in just about every way, including lyrics. I agree that the ones on Airborne are for the most part rather shallow. I hate "Bad Girls" and one of my least favorite songs on RTF is "Girls in Black" because it was basically that song reheated.

[UndertheWire]

Don said that "Bad Girls" and "Haywire" were two song ideas he'd come up with for The Long Run but they were not accepted so he finished them himself.

I like the chorus of "Haywire" - kind of like The Little River Band - but the melody on the verse is monotonous. The lyrics make me cringe (especially as he said he was thinking of 13-16 year olds). "Bad Girls" is too repetitive and irritating even before considering the subject matter.

[sodascouts]

13?! Oh my gosh. That's just gross and wrong.

[Funk 50]

I'm pretty sure Don was referring to the carnal lusts of teenage boys in Haywire rather than a predilection for underage girls.

I enjoy listening to most tracks on Airborne, I don't enjoy his second album but, despite his inference that he is, in my opinion, Don isn't a solo artist.

He can bring some guitar wizardry to a project but I quickly find that tiresome, listening to a whole album. He needs a band around him but after displaying dissatisfaction in the dream job that is the Eagles and then subsequently suing his band mates, he may find that difficult (he was trying to get a band together just before HFO).

It looks like Don is reduced to a future, releasing uninteresting solo albums and being a premium Eagles tribute act. But as long as he and his fans are happy :)


Airborne Preferences:

1 Still Alive
2 Never Surrender
3 Asphalt Jungle
4 Night Owl
5 Haywire
6 Who Tonight
7 Bad Girls
8 Winners

[UndertheWire]

I'm pretty sure Don was referring to the carnal lusts of teenage boys in Haywire rather than a predilection for underage girls.
Agreed, except he includes the lust of teenage girls, too. It still makes me uncomfortable. If it had been a first person telling of his experience, I might have given it a pass.


I enjoy listening to most tracks on Airborne, I don't enjoy his second album but, despite his inference that he is, in my opinion, Don isn't a solo artist.

He can bring some guitar wizardry to a project but I quickly find that tiresome, listening to a whole album. He needs a band around him
That's a good point. When I've tried to listening to his work, I start of thinking it's ok but I get tired quickly, often before the end of the song. If he had someone to work with/against, that might add variety.

Ouch for that "premium Eagles tribute act" comment.

[Freypower]

Agreed, except he includes the lust of teenage girls, too. It still makes me uncomfortable. If it had been a first person telling of his experience, I might have given it a pass.

That's a good point. When I've tried to listening to his work, I start of thinking it's ok but I get tired quickly, often before the end of the song. If he had someone to work with/against, that might add variety.

Ouch for that "premium Eagles tribute act" comment.

I couldn't have put it better myself.

[RamboIV]

I hope no one minds me resurrecting this thread, but I was hoping to garner some responses for a project I'm working on.

As some of you may know, I produce a rock'n'roll based YouTube show called "Play That Rock'n'Roll", which you can check out here (https://www.youtube.com/user/BMovieRollOut). In many of my episodes, I review failed albums. I've reviewed Dirty Work (https://vimeo.com/145938151) by the Rolling Stones, Kilroy Was Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD2Rzc9R_Zw&t=) by Styx, Eye of the Zombie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL-8OB0RYqI) by John Fogerty, among others. The goal of these episodes is to discover how and why the albums didn't sell/are not remembered/are disliked/etc.

Since the Eagles are pretty strict about copyrighted footage on YouTube, I haven't discussed much work that related to them. But that is about to change! My next review is going to be a look back at Don Felder's Airborne, which I think is a pretty bad record.

So when I decided to write this review, I knew I would need to immediately check in with two vital sources: Felder's book and this website! I know Nancy's Felder archive will be a good place for me to start on this project, but I was hoping to get some help from people here on the forum as well. Basically I am looking for any and all information about Airborne. Trivia, fun facts, interviews, videos, reviews from the time, etc. If any of you know anything interesting about this record, please post it here!

I'm most interested in learning why he wanted to make a record, and why he did not tour to support it. Otherwise, I'm happy to learn (or be reminded!) of any information.

Once the video is complete, I'll post it here on this forum! Thanks in advance for your help!

[Freypower]

I know no more about it than the brief amount of space which Felder gave to it in his book, although I've owned it since it was released, and I think I am one of the few people active on this forum who does own it. I can give you opinions on it, as I still have it on my iPod.

Remember I'm not American & would not have had access to any interviews from the time of release, given that it sank without trace. So if you've got the book & you're looking at DFO that is probably as much as you will find. But the general consensus is that it was made as a contractual obligation exercise. I have no idea why he didn't tour it.

Have you not seen the video for Bad Girls? Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oIH8bNsRpU

[New Kid In Town]

Rambo - I have Don F.'s book and from what I can remember he stated he was contractually obligated to release one album after the Eagles broke up. I don't remember if he said why he did not tour but, he did say he turned down gigs with other musicians so he could spend time with his family.
Hope this helps.

[Dawn]

Per Felder's own words from his book Heaven and Hell

Pages 226-228

"As an inducement for the last Eagles album, Elecktra/Asylum had offered each of us a record deal, so I decided to take up the offer"

Paraphrased

His budget was $300,000 which per Felder "wasn't huge".

He called the album "Airborne" to "signify that this Eagle wasn't grounded"

One song was called Still Alive , "a comment on my journey through life with the Eagles and my relationship with Susan. Another song called Night Owl was about the "lightless rock and roll lifestyle - living in the darkness and going to bed when the sun comes up, a statement on the slithering, intoxicated nights we had allowed to devour us. A song called Bad Girls he had originally offered to the Eagles for The Long Run. Joe Walsh and Felder had come up with it in one all night drinking session. It was previously called Wild Turkey. His favorite was a song called Who Tonight on the theme of fidelity.

While he plodded on doing his own stuff everything was changing at the record label. Asylum had done a 180 degree shift and its new direction was in black R&B acts.

"I eventually delivered Airborne to a company that has no interest in it and had even closed its offices in LA relocating to New York.

Felder writes he "was relieved and happy to have finished the album which had taken all his strength. I turned it in and thought "If it sells that's great. If it doesn't sell, it doesn't really matter. Which was just as well."

--------

Don't know if any of this is relevant but in rereading the section on the making of the album it sure sounds to me like he gave it his all and was focused on enjoying a "new relaxed attitude to life" post Eagles.

Something else ... Felder writes about how when making the album he still had serious inhibitions about his voice. "I mixed my voice down so low that you had to strain to even hear it above my guitar playing. For years I had been browbeaten into believing that my voice was mediocre at best. When it was time for me to step up to the mike for my own album my self confidence was a bludgeoned, bleeding thing and it showed".

I have not listened to the album and don't really have an opinion one way or the other. I like Don Felder and have to give him props for all the hard work he put into the album as well as his efforts to overcome his inhibitions about his vocals.

Your local library should have a copy of his book, if not, they can usually order from another branch. There's much more about the album that should be helpful to you especially if you plan to use the info you would want to be sure to get the whole story.

[UndertheWire]

Here's an interview from 1983:
http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~markowit/interviews/df/latimes/latimes.html

Fastlane has a radio interview which is about the release. http://www.eaglesfans.com/don-felder-bbc-salute-to-thanksgiving/

My impression is that Felder did almost everything himself - writing, singing, arranging, producing (?) and that might be part of the problem. He was used to a collaborative approach to record making and while he probably enjoyed the freedom to do whatever he wanted, he wasn't getting the feedback from others that might have made it better.

[Dawn]

Here's an interview from 1983:
http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~markowit/interviews/df/latimes/latimes.html

Fastlane has a radio interview which is about the release. http://www.eaglesfans.com/don-felder-bbc-salute-to-thanksgiving/

My impression is that Felder did almost everything himself - writing, singing, arranging, producing (?) and that might be part of the problem. He was used to a collaborative approach to record making and while he probably enjoyed the freedom to do whatever he wanted, he wasn't getting the feedback from others that might have made it better.

I agree. Felder said in the book he felt stuck out on a limb with no one to ask how he was doing. I also think the big changes at the record label were a factor.

Edited to add

Thanks for the links UTW, good find!,

[chaim]

It is indeed very common as far as I know that people who are used to feedback from band mates are a bit lost when they're alone. Well, not necessarily lost, but they and/or the audience feel they should have someone to bounce ideas off. Felder could have used a producer, but perhaps the budget didn't allow it. (Or perhaps he did something else with some of the money. :mrgreen:) Don Henley didn't do his albums alone - he even had composers who gave tracks to him (like Boys Of Summer). Glenn had different people. Felder was pretty much alone.

Incidentally, for a person who says he doesn't care about money he sure does mention the word quite a lot. Two times in that interview from '83. Anyway, thanks for the link. I loved reading it. Too bad it's so short.

[Delilah]

I hope no one minds me resurrecting this thread, but I was hoping to garner some responses for a project I'm working on.

Since the Eagles are pretty strict about copyrighted footage on YouTube, I haven't discussed much work that related to them. But that is about to change! My next review is going to be a look back at Don Felder's Airborne, which I think is a pretty bad record.

I'm most interested in learning why he wanted to make a record, and why he did not tour to support it. Otherwise, I'm happy to learn (or be reminded!) of any information.

Once the video is complete, I'll post it here on this forum! Thanks in advance for your help!

As others have pointed out, Don discussed why he made the record in his book. As far as touring, he said flat out he didn’t want to tour again, that he already missed out on his children’s lives and he enjoyed being with them again. I do suspect his pride played a role too. He thought Henley’s offer of $5000 a week to go out on the road with him was insufficient for a “rock star.” This may have been a misstep on his part though. Had he toured with Henley, their relationship may have been improved and they could have collaborated on some music outside the confines of the Eagles’ system. They did well together on HC, Victim of Love and Those Shoes, after all. It would have raised his profile and his name recognition probably would have shot up, too.

It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to Airborne. I remember liking a couple of tunes like “Never Surrender” and “Still Alive.” The rest of it was kind of ho-hum but not terrible. I’m impressed that he wrote or co-wrote all the material. He stated he wanted to do what he wanted which is understandable after years of compromising being in the Eagles. That’s probably why Timothy wrote his own material and used no co-writers for his last 2 albums.

[New Kid In Town]

If I remember right, Don did everything himself when making the album. He even recorded it in his own studio. It could be just me but a $300,000 budget sounds like a lot of money by 1982-83 standards, especially when you consider he did not hire anyone and did not have to pay anyone.

Delilah - Good point about accepting the invitation to tour when Don. I also think it would have helped his name recognition. However, would he have wanted to take orders from Don H. ? Something tells me no. Don could be difficult to get along with an a tour may have strained their relationship.

[Dawn]

D, I have to agree with you about Felder and Henley. At the end of the day he experienced first hand what Walsh and others have said about how hard it is to be a solo artist. You have to do everything yourself. Fast forward to the present and it seems clear Felder has alot to be thankful for including learning from the mistakes he made. I do believe Felder valued the friendships, support, opportunities and challenges of being an Eagle but like he said ... it wasn't just Glenn. They'd all been ready to run from the "machine".

[Dawn]

If I remember right, Don did everything himself when making the album. He even recorded it in his own studio. It could be just me but a $300,000 budget sounds like a lot of money by 1982-83 standards, especially when you consider he did not hire anyone and did not have to pay anyone.

Delilah - Good point about accepting the invitation to tour when Don. I also think it would have helped his name recognition. However, would he have wanted to take orders from Don H. ? Something tells me no. Don could be difficult to get along with an a tour may have strained their relationship .

You make a good point. Now I'm thinking it could have gone either way but the potential boost in name recognition can not be ignored.

[WalshFan88]

I dig Airborne.

For me, I don't listen to Road To Forever that often. I also don't listen to JW's Analog Man very often.

Airborne was a cool post-Eagles record when Felder was in a different place than he is now.

Heavy Metal is a cool, cool song. Great guitar in it and probably the song Felder's voice fits best. I also like "Bad Girls". ;)

[RamboIV]

Thank you all for this great information! Especially those links! I will be using quite a bit of this for my video. I KNEW I could count on you all!!!

[RamboIV]

OK! At long last, I can finally present my video review of Don Felder's "Airborne". I would just like to thank you all again for posting what information you had about Airborne. As you will see, I incorporated quite a bit into this video. Tell me what you think of the video!

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

[UndertheWire]

Thanks for posting that. I didn't know there was video of Don from the tv shows he did so I'm impressed you found it.

Where I agree with you is the comment about too many bells and whistles, You referred to it as over-produced whereas I was thinking of it as poor arrangements but I think it's the same thing. Too many layers of sound and not enough "air".

The only bit I think you got wrong is when you said the album charted at #34 - if it had, it would have been seen as a success. Billboard has it peaking at #178.

[sodascouts]

I know we have this released in November, but Felder tweeted that today is the anniversary of its release!

[Delilah]

Yes, looking into it a little, it appears there’s some release date confusion. Marc Eliot in his book says Don’s “solo album” Heavy Metal was released November 1981, and only mentions Airborne in the discography section. Did he get the two mixed up and use the wrong year? Wiki says the Heavy Metal soundtrack was released July 1981.

On well, Happy 36th Anniversary to Airborne!!

ETA: the iTunes Store gives the release date as June 7, 1983.

[New Kid In Town]

Yes, looking into it a little, it appears there’s some release date confusion. Marc Eliot in his book says Don’s “solo album” Heavy Metal was released November 1981, and only mentions Airborne in the discography section. Did he get the two mixed up and use the wrong year? Wiki says the Heavy Metal soundtrack was released July 1981.

On well, Happy 36th Anniversary to Airborne!!

ETA: the iTunes Store gives the release date as June 7, 1983.

Marc Eliot got a lot of things mixed up or completely wrong. He even stated the Super Bowl is in October !:hilarious:
He gave the wrong info on the sex and number of kids Glenn & Tim had, and said Glenn's Mom did not remarry until Glenn was in his late teens(she remarried when he was three). Poor research in MHO.

[sodascouts]

Marc Eliot got a lot of things mixed up or completely wrong. He even stated the Super Bowl is in October !:hilarious:
He gave the wrong info on the sex and number of kids Glenn & Tim had, and said Glenn's Mom did not remarry until Glenn was in his late teens(she remarried when he was three). Poor research in MHO.

Agreed. When it comes to Eliot, we need to make sure we have second source verification for pretty much any claim he makes!

[RamboIV]

Happy 37th birthday to "Airborne" today. Don even acknowledged (https://twitter.com/donfelder/status/1272545340592439297) it on his social media pages.

Here's the "Bad Girls" video which stars Cheech Marin. I believe this is Don's *only* appearance in an MTV-style music video (that wasn't just a performance clip).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oIH8bNsRpU

And here's a re-post of a video review I made about his album back in 2017. This was one was fun to produce! I still believe "Bad Girls" and "Still Alive" are pretty good tracks.


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

[Delilah]

Happy 37th Anniversary to Airborne!

I may give this a listen at a later time, just to see if my opinion has changed about it. There was so much great music during this time period but some cheesiness too. The “Bad Girls” video falls under the latter category but then it was hardly the only one back then. I can see why the album overall really didn’t stand out.

Thanks for the review, RamboIV. I don’t recall ever seeing that FTV show back in the 80s.

[WalshFan88]

Still my favorite DF album.

I love how he nicked the Fender guitar company's logo font (go look it up), with the exception of the L, yet still made it look like the Fender logo, lol. If I do a quick look, I see Fender. It's like those optical illusion things where one letter is out of place but you still read the word and don't notice it. Undoubtedly he meant to copy it, and I do love that. Although Felder will always be a Gibson man. He used a Strat occasionally.

Song wise, I realize some might prefer the RTF or ARNR albums, but I do not. As cheesy as Airborne can be, the slickness of RTF wore off for me the same reason Joe's AM did. And ARNR just never spoke to me. I didn't like the song selection. I've been in an 80s mood, and for better or worse Airborne is totally that "sound". I think Heavy Metal is far and away his best effort. And I admit to liking "Bad Girls" an awful lot too. ;)