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Thread: Felder Interviews and promotions

  1. #1
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
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    Default Felder Interviews and promotions

    An interview to promote his Fallsview shows:

    http://www.bestofwny.com/nightlife/

    Always in our hearts, Never forgotten

  2. #2
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don Felder doing some live shows

    Another interview, this one from the Niagara Falls Review.

    Always in our hearts, Never forgotten

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    Stuck on the Border
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    Default Re: Don Felder doing some live shows

    Well, you cannot accuse him of false modesty.

    The patronising swipes at Henley's drumming are particularly grating in the first interview. Also, when he says that he was told by Henley to rearrange Hotel California for HFO.... where was Frey at the time?

    He says Leadon 'invited' him to 'jam' with the Eagles. Again, I thought Frey asked him. But as we all know, Frey can never be given credit for anything at all.

    As for 'I felt compelled to represent the interests of those who were no longer with the band' - what a statement. He represented himself, as he had every right to do. I think Dreamer has said before that this assumption he makes that Leadon and Meisner were apparently incapable of looking after themselves is offensive. As were/are Tim and Joe, who he apparently also 'stood up' for. Please. We are talking about grown men who did not need Felder to hold their hands.

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    Stuck on the Border TimothyBFan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don Felder doing some live shows

    That man just continues to grate on me!!! Just when I think it's over, he does another interview and sticks a couple more jabs at the guys into it.
    He sings it high, he plays it low

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    Stuck on the Border EagleLady's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don Felder doing some live shows

    I swear Felder is such a whiny brat

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    Border Rebel Lisa's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don Felder doing some live shows

    Don Felder has so much talent as a guitarist. He added depth and virtuosity to the Eagles sound when he joined the band. I'm glad the band kept adding musicians to fill out and develop their sound.

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    Out on the Border
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    Default Re: Don Felder doing some live shows

    Quote Originally Posted by Freypower View Post
    Outlaw Man, welcome to The Border. I'm glad you enjoyed the show.
    Thanks. We were actually wondering if we might run into DF and his fiance, the next day, on the wine tour of the Niagara-on-the-Lake region. They held a wine/chocolate event, as she had lived in the area, which explained why this was one of the few locations chosen for the tour.

    Quote Originally Posted by Freypower View Post
    The patronising swipes at Henley's drumming are particularly grating in the first interview.
    Let's keep things in perspective. Nobody is going to confuse Don Henley's drumming with, say, Neil Peart's. Plus, it's not as if they didn't go out of their way to knock Felder, and he has attempted communications.

    Quote Originally Posted by Freypower View Post
    I happen to live with a Neil Peart worshipper. I am well aware that Henley as a drummer does not rate with somebody like Peart, but I found Felder's comments extremely patronising, as I said.
    Something tells me that Don Henley didn't take umbrage with the comment much, as he's got no qualms about lettting others fill in for him on the drum stool, even on his solo concerts.

    Quote Originally Posted by Freypower View Post
    You say the other band members 'knocked' Felder. Not in public, they haven't. The only comments have been made by Henley in the Rolling Stone cover story.
    A rather high profile way of going about it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Freypower View Post
    Apart from that it has all been one way traffic, and you wonder why they have not returned his 'attempt at communiciations'. I would not want to communicate with a former colleague who did nothing but heap scorn on me, I'm afraid.
    Going to read the book on Wednesday, so that'll give me a better perspective of commenting...and will possibly join the discussion in the Heaven and Hell thread and give insight as to my perspective.

    Quote Originally Posted by Freypower View Post
    Still, it is good to hear from someone who has seen Felder live, so welcome again.
    That's what it's all about, enjoying the music.


    Quote Originally Posted by sodascouts View Post
    Thanks for posting the review! I've been very curious if his solo shows had the same setlist as on the site, and what he's like live. Can you tell us more about the song he did in place of Eagles Blues?

    And welcome! Love your name - great song.

    Yes, it is a great song...very underrated.

    The song was a ballad (sorry, already forgot the name). He'd written it before joining the Eagles, but apparently completed it over time since. Everything he did received a strong response from the crowd. It included a few requests (ie "A Good Day in Hell"). He was cordial but seemed to still be getting used to being the leader of a band.


    To give an introduction, so you know where I'm coming from:

    Eagles fan since 1976. Had everything on vinyl, saw them first in '79 on the Long Run tour. Disappointed in the breakup, but was not really surprised. Continued to pay some close attention to the solo careers. HFO reenergize the interest. Currently my CD collection includes Desperado, OoTN, HC (DVD-A) and TLR.

    Some observations -

    Randy Meisner had some success after leaving, but it was one album and that was all.

    Really have no idea what Bernie Leadon did after OoTN.

    Glenn Frey could almost be summed up with "Miami Vice." "You Belong to the City" and "Smuggler's Blues" were his solo career highlights. "The Heat is On" was OK, but his outside stuff didn't rank with his Eagles work.

    Timothy B Schmit put out a few solo records, but nothing memorable. He was best known as Randy's replacement in Poco, and had done quite a bit of background vocals for Steely Dan, prior to replacing Randy in the Eagles.

    Joe Walsh. His greatest musical achievements were before the Eagles. His reputation as a great guitarist was solidifed with the James Gang and his solo career. XM ran a '73 concert from Univ. at Texas - Arlington. He never was given the opportunity to play like that with the Eagles. Yeah, the allow him to do a lot of his outside work, but there really wasn't any stretching out.

    Don Henley. "Dirty Laundry" was a good kickoff, don't think that anything else off it made much of a dent. Building the Perfect Beast (got it on MoFi gold) was really good. "The Boys of Summer" stands the test of time, and there's plenty of other decent material. The End of the Innocence (got it in 5.1) was the high water mark. It is a classic record, but let me state that the title track (best of his post-Eagles breakup) was his greatest piece. That song was Bruce Hornsby through and through, except for the lyrics and vocals.

    Fast foward to early 90's....

    A local concert took place at a theater...very small with a few hundred seats in Buffalo. This was around '93, but not positive. It was close to Eagles but not totally. Neither Don was included, but it was Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Ticket prices were very reasonable. It was regrettable for not making the effort to go, both because of the lineup and that the venue is now history.

    The next year, HFO passed through town in the NHL hockey arena. The promoter of the previous year's gig couldn't belive the ticket prices. He said that he had 3/5 of the Eagles there for about a 1/3 of the price, and it didn't fit. Not his exact words, but the gist of his response stuck with me for all these years. $100+ ticket prices were unheard of at that time, and became the norm since. The Eagles and their management were largely responsible. So, when Don Henley is quoted as saying "think about the money"....'patronizing' comments about his drumming (don't think he even played drums on his solo releases) don't exactly ring true. If they hadn't played their cards right, they could be like Styx or REO Speedwagon, at this juncture. Yeah, they're great businessmen, but are they expanding musical boundaries?...don't think so.

    Now, the solo careers of all of them were done by the early 90's.

    Henley was obviously the most successful, but TIoTI was it for him.

    Frey had nothing going on after '86 or thereabouts.

    Walsh knew what he was doing, since he'd covered that ground before, but hadn't put out a decent album since There Goes the Neighborhood. He expended more effort trying to be funny than reminding the world what a great guitarist was capable of being.

    ...Which brings us to Don Felder.

    Frankly, I had no strong opinions on the subject until seeing the Eagles, sometime around '02-'03. Somebody, maybe at Eagles Fans, had it exactly right. It was after the song, "Hole in the World," had be debuted. The reaction was "there's a hole in this band." That was exactly the point! No matter how much people try to prop up Steuart Smith, it's not the same. He's a great Nashville guitarist. That's it. His style does not mesh with the sound that they were trying to establish. This is just my reaction, and it's understood that others may feel differently, and this is respected. A copy of LROoE was given to me. It was enjoyable, but it doesn't rank up there with the 'golden era' for me.

    So, this led me to reevaluate his status. Maybe too much has been made about HC, even if this was their signature tune. His contributions were so much more than "Visions" and so on. The writing credits were starting to increase from OoTN through TLR. If you compare it Timothy B and Joe, there isn't much. Yes, Tim struck gold with "I Can't Tell You Why" and Joe just rearranged a song he'd written from the "The Warriors" soundtrack, but maybe the latter was saving other ideas for his solo career.

    My inclination is to think that maybe Henley and Frey did not fully take advantage of the musical weapon that they had at their disposal, which was DF. It's hard for me to dispute the account of DF saying that DH gave him the green light to improvise the acoustic intro for HC on HFO. That was one way to make up for lost time. DH is probably the main culprit for expecting the band to sound just like the records in the live settings. So, this doesn't sound any warning bells for me, esp. since DF had been in a jazz fusion band. DF wanted to improvise a bit. Covering this missing piece with a Nashville guitarist, a horn section, strings, etc. does not fill the void.

    As for the legal hassles...it'd been my understanding that there was an existing agreement, which was that the revenues would be split equitably. If Henley and Frey had approached Felder and explained their position and tried to negotiate, maybe things would have been different. It seems to me that they just acted as if the previous contract no longer existed, and to treat a former 'equal' partner as a sideman by squeezing higher percentages for themselves with the aid of the group's manager. The fact that they attempted to prevent US distribution of the book shows to me that there were issues that they didn't wanted known to "protect the image."

    Having said all that, my plan is to read the book on Wednesday and absorb his thoughts. Enought reviews have been posted. My expectation is to approach it as an entertaining read with, hopefully, some interesting insights. After that, I'll try to enter the Heaven and Hell discussion with a fresh perspective.

  8. #8
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don Felder doing some live shows

    I read your post with interest. I think you're right that Smith, as good he is, just isn't Felder. The Eagles scored a terrific guitarist when they snared him, and it's a pity that it in the end they couldn't work it out.

    I have to admit that after I read Heaven and Hell, I had some uncharitable thoughts about Felder and many remain to this day. However, I cannot dispute his musicianship, nor would I want to. He deserves props as a fine guitarist and a contributor to the several Eagles songs, including of course their biggest hit. I respect that.

    Always in our hearts, Never forgotten

  9. #9
    Stuck on the Border MikeA's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don Felder doing some live shows

    OM

    Welcome! I enjoyed reading through your insights on the Felder/Eagles issue. I very much look forward to hearing more from you.

    MikeA

  10. #10
    Out on the Border
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    Default Re: Don Felder doing some live shows

    Thanks, guys. Nice to be here, and hopefully I can add something to the discussions.

    After reading the book, it'll allow me to contribute intelligently in the Heaven and Hell thread. People need to remember a few things when evaluating its contents.

    DF didn't necessarily approach it with the intention of writing a "tell all" book. He was writing down his feelings, reactions, etc. His fiancee read the thoughts and suggested that it'd make a great book. The other aspect is that we all have to realize that it's in the best interests of the publisher to encourage conflict/controversy to generate sales. They want to hear about the sex, drugs and disputes within the group. So, some of this was going to be magnified for effect. As has been mentioned, it is his version of events.

    So, plz give me a couple of days to read the book and digest it, then I'll drop back to share some comments.

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