Which band line up is your favorite era?

[TimothyBFan]

My favorite lineup is:

1971-1974
Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner
1974-1976
Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, Don Felder
1976-1977
Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Don Felder, Joe Walsh
1977-1980; 1994-2000
Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Don Felder, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit
2001-present
Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit

All of them! Sorry--I thought about this before--I just can't decide!! I loved the first lineup because that is when I first discovered them.

I love the 1976 lineup because that is when Joe joined, even tho I was upset that Bernie had left. But then I really really loved it when Timmy joined for The Long Run era, again even tho Randy left.

Love Love Love the HFO era-I think mainly because they were finally back.

But now I think I feel a little differently because I, like DF and FP agree that Don's book has really changed the way I feel about him. I feel disappointed that any of the Eagles would write something like that and trash the others. Whether true or not, I don't believe in airing your dirty laundry in a book so publicly.
Does this make sense to anyone else? It's hard to explain because I have just loved them so much no matter what the year, the era or the members! I guess I just simply love the music!

[eaglesvet]

I haven't read the book...now I'm wondering...should I or shouldn't I??

[TimothyBFan]

I haven't read the book...now I'm wondering...should I or shouldn't I??

I haven't read it either-just skimmed thru it and read bits and pieces right here on The Border under the forum about the book. I bought it but just haven't bothered to read it yet because I know how negative some of it is. As someone here told me awhile back when I was trying to decide to read it or not, there's probably nothing in there that a true fan doesn't already know or hasn't already heard anyways.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I've said before that I am glad I read the book even though I honestly didn't learn much new about the band that I hadn't already heard before, I did enjoy reading the parts about Felder's personal life and how some of the songs were written.

However, I wish now that I hadn't spent my own money on it. If I had to do it over again, I'd still read it, but I'd get the book from my local library. I regret that I contributed to his sales and profits. If anyone wants to read the book, but doesn't want to buy it, I'll be glad to lend my copy to them.

[eaglesvet]

Libe should be just fine, but thanks anyway.

[Prettymaid]

Once again I'm overthinking the question...favorite lineup... are we talking musically, personalities...?

Basing my answer on the music alone, I would have to go with the original lineup, because when I think of The Eagles music I think back to TIE, PEF, and TS. That music for me epitomizes The Eagles. I guess it's kind of like what Mrs H said - that's The Eagles I grew up to and familiarize myself with.

That being said, I also like the '76-'77 lineup, because with the release of HC, some of their music became more sophisticated (for lack of a better word), and I really appreciated when their music took that turn.

[thelongrun]

The fav of mine was 1976-1977
Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Don Felder, Joe Walsh

But I teach my kids loyalty should pay, as living your lifetime in the present, so the Winner in my Book is:

2001-present
Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit

[Freypower]

I haven't read the book...now I'm wondering...should I or shouldn't I??

Read it, but don't ever expect to feel the same way about Don Felder again. To quote The Band, 'just like a gambler says, read it and weep'. It was called Heaven & Hell, and about 95% of it was about the hell, and that included Felder's personal life, when apparently everything that went wrong with his marriage was his wife's fault.

If we try to be objective & accept that the 'classic' lineup must include Felder (I'm not talking 'favourite' here as I've already said my favourite lineup is the current one) it really comes down to which of the bass players contributed more.

Meisner: Overall, better songs, including Certain Kind Of Fool, Too Many Hands, Take It To The Limit and Try And Love Again (and I know many people love Midnight Flyer too). Very distinctive voice.

Schmit: Much stronger stage presence and he appears more versatile as a player, though I have to admit ignorance on this score. But his song contribution unfortunately lets him down. He's only done four, all of them ballads, two of them written by Paul Carrack and those, in my opinion, are not Eagles standard songs. You could say, however, that this isn't his fault. His harmonies, however, are a vital part of the band's sound and less 'shrill' than Meisner's parts.

On balance I would stick with the 'classic' HC lineup including Meisner, purely objectively. Subjectively I prefer Schmit.

[sodascouts]

This is a difficult question; all the line-ups had their own appeal.

I love the original lineup for that amazing country-rock sound that they popularized, with its terrific harmonies and melodies. Overall, it's my favorite I think, simply because I like almost every song this foursome put out.

I think having both Bernie and Felder in the same band was an awkard fit, however, so that lineup is not my fave.

I love the HC "classic" lineup for their guitar power and the injection of the force of nature that is Joe Walsh!

Timothy B. Schmit is awesome, but I'm not sure he's an improvement over Randy musically. He just brings different things to the table - as FP pointed out, Tim's much better onstage. Since Randy sings my all-time favorite Take It to the Limit, however, I have to kind of prefer that lineup over the LR-HFO lineup. That said, the emotional aspect of the HFO lineup does have some sway over me because Hell Freezes Over was my introduction to the Eagles.

Steuart Smith complicates things for me regarding assessing the current line-up as opposed to the HFO lineup, however. He essentially duplicates Felder's parts onstage and now is a songwriting contributor as Felder was; however, he's not an Eagle. If we remove him from the equation, the current lineup's live sound wouldn't be comparable to the HFO lineup and songs like "Waiting in the Weeds" wouldn't have turned out the way they did. He's made himself a Felder replacement, but there's no getting around the fact that he is not considered part of the Eagles lineup officially. Where does that leave us? The only thing that recommends the current line-up over the HFO one, IMHO, is the emotional 'Yay, Felder's gone' aspect and not any musical one.

[TimothyBFan]

Now you guys are just confusing me with all this Timmy/Randy talk! And then Soda throws in the whole thing about Steuart, which I hadn't even considered. Of course now I am asking myself, since Steuart is so good at filling the shoes of Don--why haven't they made him an official member, and do you think they might do just that in the future?

I'm still on record as saying I love all the lineups and cannot decide on just one.