"Where Are They Now" piece on Bernie
Bernard Leadon was born July 19, 1947 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the mid sixties, Bernie attended Gainesville High School in Gainesville, Florida. One of his many classmates was Don Felder who would later be alongside him in The Eagles. Felder was a member of a band called the Continentals with another great rocker Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills & Nash fame. Leadon ended up replacing Stills and joining Felder in the band, which was renamed the Maundy Quintet. As a sidenote, in the 1966 Gainesville High School Yearbook, the Maundy Quintet was pictured alongside another Gainesville band, Tom Petty and the Epics.
He played in Southern California bluegrass and country rock groups in the 1960's such as The Flying Burrito Brothers, Dillard & Clark,The Scottsville Squirrel Barkers (with future Byrd Chris Hillman ) and Hearts and Flowers.
He was a member of the band that backed Linda Ronstadt, alongside Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Randy Meisner. The quartet tendered their resignation en masse and formed their own group, dubbing themselves the Eagles as a nod to seminal folk rockers the Byrds in 1971.
Leadon was a huge force in the early sound of the Eagles. He played lead guitar, acoustic, banjo, and pedal steel guitar, among other things. He also wrote/co-wrote many Eagles songs such as "Earlybird", "Train Leaves Here This Morning", "Bitter Creek", "My Man", "Journey of the Sorcerer", "Witchy Woman", "On the Border" and others. Leadon used his boyhood choir training to arrange intricate harmony vocals on the Eagles' first few albums.
Between 1972 and 1975, Leadon rose to stardom with the Eagles indulging in the rock-star life along the way. Disagreements about the band's direction, and conflicts with other Eagle members led to Leadon leaving the band in December 1975 after completing and touring for the Eagles' fourth studio album, One of These Nights. He reportedly announced his resignation by pouring a beer over the head of Glenn Frey. He was replaced by Joe Walsh as the band moved towards a harder rock sound.
Afterwards, Leadon went on towards a more country sound. His first post-Eagles album was Natural Progressions (1977), done with Michael Georgiades. He also played a stint with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He produced bands such as Restless Heart and their hit, “I'll Still Be Loving You.”In the nineties he formed a group called Run C&W that spoofed "modern" music by recording it with a country/bluegrass sound.
In 1998, Leadon temporarily reunited with all the members past and present of the Eagles in New York City for induction into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. They performed two songs: "Take It Easy" and "Hotel California" (although Leadon was not in the Eagles when the latter was released).
Leadon released his second solo effort in 27 years, 2004's Mirror. Leadon is also known as a surfing enthusiast.
At the time of this writing, it is not known who will portray Leadon in the planned Eagles biopic.
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There is a planned Eagles biopic? :shock: Who is spearheading this project?
Re: "Where Are They Now" piece on Bernie
Quote:
Originally Posted by DonFan
He reportedly announced his resignation by pouring a beer over the head of Glenn Frey.
That Glenn, everybody loves him, don't they?! :laugh:
Quote:
Originally Posted by DonFan
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There is a planned Eagles biopic? :shock: Who is spearheading this project?
Ha! We'll see! :lol:
