Why I no longer am happy with my favorite band

[chaim]

The "bipolar" thing was just an example I managed to remember and even find - although not the original interview. But...Ok, so "bipolar" is neutral and he wasn't being mean. I was wrong, Don F has never said unpleasant things about Glenn in interviews. I stand corrected.

By the way, the fact that the link was from ten years ago was exactly the point. And the point was that he hasn't always been as nice about Glenn in interviews as he is now. But apparently I have been wrong. And Glenn and Don H are the only ones who have been mean - we can see it in the documentary. Don F has always been nice. Did I get it right now? Case closed, I hope.

(The flu has lasted almost three weeks, so I'm a bit...tense.)

[New Kid In Town]

Chaim - I hope you start feeling better and will be on the road to recovery. My sister had the flu and it took her quite awhile to get over it too. Feel Better.
No matter what we say there will be people who refuse to believe Don Felder ever said anything nasty about Glenn. No matter how many quotes from his book or past articles or interview taken from "Don Felder And The Press" we paste here. WE KNOW HE DID - IT IS IN BLACK AND WHITE AND ON VIDEO IF NOT TAKEN DOWN. Don F. did not tame his comments until a few months after Glenn passed. Now he seems to refuse to say anything. Glenn makes one comment in the HOTE while Don F. bad mouthed Glenn for 11 years.

[maryc2130]

Chaim - I hope you feel better soon. I'd be tense, too, if I had the flu for 3 weeks.

I wasn't arguing that bipolar was neutral. I agreed that it wasn't a nice thing to say,and I also am glad he's lightening up. I'm also sure that Glenn and Don H have said plenty of negative things about Felder, although not about his musical ability. (To my knowledge, anyway.)

My point was that Henley may have been agreeing with Felder, in a sense, in using the word mercurial to describe Glenn. Henley chooses his words with great care, and I personally believe, from the common use of the word, that he did not mean it in a positive way. I think he was attempting to give an accurate description of the Glenn he knew and loved, faults and all.

Also, I know I should shut up about this, but as an aspiring writer, word meanings are important to me. I noticed that someone said that they considered volatile a positive adjective. Volatile means something about to change for the worse. Another definition:

volatile. ... Volatile from Latin volatilis "fleeting, transitory" always gives the sense of sudden, radical change. Think of it as the opposite of stable. A person who is volatile loses his or her temper suddenly and violently. A volatile political situation could erupt into civil war.

I don't see how that could be positive. Anyway, I'm going to try to shut up after this, as much as I enjoy arguing semantics. I don't think I was arguing the original point you made, Chaim, and I'm sorry if I made it worse. I do still maintain that if Felder described Glenn as bipolar, and Henley and purportedly Browne (I haven't looked at Browne's quote myself) referred to him as mercurial, that gives some indication that Glenn's personality wasn't always the most stable. So what. Henley also said a lot of the good things. I believe he was trying to paint a realistic portrait of a person he considered his brother. I love Don Henley, but I'm sure he's arrogant and unyielding in some (many?) situations. None of these guys is perfect, and IMHO, it's silly to argue with every little implied criticism of them.

[chaim]

No prob, maryc2130. I guess I overreacted. I think I'll stop talking about this bipolar thing. Not because of your post, but because it was discussed years ago and I don't want to beat a dead horse any more than I have already. And, like I said, I'm in a bad mood already because of this darn flu.

EDIT:

Thanks for the well-wishes.

[New Kid In Town]

MaryC - I pretty much agree with everything you and Chaim said. It sounds like both Don and Glenn could, at times be difficult to work with and had tempers. I would guess we could say this about all of them or there would not have been so much arguing back in the 70's. Obviously, the drugs and drinking made it worse.
I myself can have a bad temper at times but I have learned to control it as I got older(lol).
Very cool that you are a writer. What kind of things do you write?

[Delilah]

The "bipolar" thing was just an example I managed to remember and even find - although not the original interview. But...Ok, so "bipolar" is neutral and he wasn't being mean. I was wrong, Don F has never said unpleasant things about Glenn in interviews. I stand corrected.

By the way, the fact that the link was from ten years ago was exactly the point. And the point was that he hasn't always been as nice about Glenn in interviews as he is now. But apparently I have been wrong. And Glenn and Don H are the only ones who have been mean - we can see it in the documentary. Don F has always been nice. Did I get it right now? Case closed, I hope.

(The flu has lasted almost three weeks, so I'm a bit...tense.)

I'm sorry to hear you are feeling unwell and tense. I've been there.

This is why I said that I did not want to get mired in this. It can go and on, especially when claims are made that are not based on fact e.g. exaggerating what someone else posted/saying something was said that wasn't/going off-topic (I'm making a general comment and not specifically directing this at you). I was giving another perspective about Don's bipolar comment. All I have to go on is the link to the blogger review you posted, and I didn't see enough there to conclude Don was trying to insult Glenn. I agreed it wasn't a nice word choice. Maybe he really was being a big jerk about it but it is also possible he was just providing an honest opinion about Glenn's personality, like when Don H said Glenn was "bull-headed."

Of course I never said Felder has had only pleasant things to say about Glenn and Don H. I don't know if anyone on this board has ever made that claim (maybe Vector?). At least not since I joined the board.

No prob, maryc2130. I guess I overreacted. I think I'll stop talking about this bipolar thing. Not because of your post, but because it was discussed years ago and I don't want to beat a dead horse any more than I have already. And, like I said, I'm in a bad mood already because of this darn flu.

EDIT:

Thanks for the well-wishes.

Fair enough, I appreciate this comment.

[Freypower]

Chaim - I hope you feel better soon. I'd be tense, too, if I had the flu for 3 weeks.

I wasn't arguing that bipolar was neutral. I agreed that it wasn't a nice thing to say,and I also am glad he's lightening up. I'm also sure that Glenn and Don H have said plenty of negative things about Felder, although not about his musical ability. (To my knowledge, anyway.)

My point was that Henley may have been agreeing with Felder, in a sense, in using the word mercurial to describe Glenn. Henley chooses his words with great care, and I personally believe, from the common use of the word, that he did not mean it in a positive way. I think he was attempting to give an accurate description of the Glenn he knew and loved, faults and all.

Also, I know I should shut up about this, but as an aspiring writer, word meanings are important to me. I noticed that someone said that they considered volatile a positive adjective. Volatile means something about to change for the worse. Another definition:

volatile. ... Volatile from Latin volatilis "fleeting, transitory" always gives the sense of sudden, radical change. Think of it as the opposite of stable. A person who is volatile loses his or her temper suddenly and violently. A volatile political situation could erupt into civil war.

I don't see how that could be positive. Anyway, I'm going to try to shut up after this, as much as I enjoy arguing semantics. I don't think I was arguing the original point you made, Chaim, and I'm sorry if I made it worse. I do still maintain that if Felder described Glenn as bipolar, and Henley and purportedly Browne (I haven't looked at Browne's quote myself) referred to him as mercurial, that gives some indication that Glenn's personality wasn't always the most stable. So what. Henley also said a lot of the good things. I believe he was trying to paint a realistic portrait of a person he considered his brother. I love Don Henley, but I'm sure he's arrogant and unyielding in some (many?) situations. None of these guys is perfect, and IMHO, it's silly to argue with every little implied criticism of them.

It was me who said that, and it's news to me that volatile always means 'change for the worse'. As a political 'leftie' I don't necessarily think that 'sudden, radical change' is wrong, and that includes in a personality. I thought Glenn had the most interesting personality of all the Eagles' members, flawed though he may have been. He was no saint. However the word 'bipolar' was not 'implied'. It seems a shame that people now want to dwell on the negative aspects the way Felder did. I will leave it there. I don't know why this thread is still going.

[UndertheWire]

All this does is emphasise how people see things differently.

I'm familiar with "volatile" being used in a negative way to describe someone with a tendency to lose his/her temper. However, that it not the word that was used by Jackson Browne or later by Don Henley (possibly echoing Jackson). The word they used was "mercurial" and I take this to imply an overall quickness whether of temper or wits and as something that can be exciting to be around but also tiring. Jackson's usage of the word was when describing Glenn's ability to quickly come up with just the right word or phrase. If Henley had meant "volatile", I expect he'd have used that word.

I accept that Don Felder and Glenn Frey had issues with each other but the difference is that Felder chose to air his grievances in his book and subsequent interviews whereas Frey remained silent until the documentary when he gave his version. Henley made the odd dig against Felder but mostly kept away from the subject.

[Vector]

Vector - I have one last comment on this thread and then I will never post on this again.
To quote you "For starters, I didn't know the thread in question would be in the "Felder forum", nor did I know which thread (presumably there are plenty) you were referring to. But thanks for the link, as I now have a place to look".

Please, who do you think you are kidding. You know how this board works. You have posted in other threads, including most recently in the one regarding the DC Concert. So, if you expect people to believe you did not know what threads to look for or how to look for them after you have been on this thread since 2013. No matter what people say you keep saying the same shit every time. You will believe what you want to believe end of story. And, that is fine, but for pete sakes, give it a rest !!

Soda - Sorry for the cussing. I apologize.

Well this is a real gem of a post. It seems to imply you are questioning my veracity, and that alone is the reason for your post.

Of course I know how a forum works, however I hardly am a regular here and have not taken the time to explore all the various sub forums. The few other threads I have posted in are likely all in this section, or maybe a couple more. My point was that it would be much easier for someone to link the specific thread that these accusations were in, rather than me try to find which sub-forum it was in, then try to figure out which specific thread it was. Certainly not hard to understand, unless you have an agenda to try and discredit me in some fashion. This presumes you would have a reason to do so, and I can only assume you are allowing your emotions to get the better of you, just because I have been critical of your favorite member/s of the group.

NEWS FLASH - Just as my perception of the band changed after the HOE doc aired and my subsequent research confirmed some of the dirty laundry, so to is it evolving now. The irony is that some of those Frey fans who banded together with Henley fans as a unified front, are now seeing a side of Henley that is unappealing. Yet it was there all along, but they were blinded to it because it served a narrative that Frey/Henley were best buds, and not as bad as they came off during the HOE documentary.

Though I hope for a reconciliation or even an olive branch to be extended by Henley to the former members, those opportunities are not taken (at least not yet). I did like how Leadon was allowed to tour with them again, so that was a step in the right direction from my perspective.

Regardless, I suspect you keep saying the same "dung" every time as well. How flexible are you on your defense of a member you adore?
I on the other hand have discussed new and different aspects of the Eagles as I learn them, including this new notion that Felder has trashed Frey for decades, and most recently said disparaging comments upon his death. Excluding his book where he exposes things from his perspective, I said I had not seen any evidence of that, and asked for corroboration. I am now in the process of trying to see if it is accurate or not.
If it is accurate, then I will say so, and if it isn't, I will do the same.

Unlike some here, I do not have a horse in the race, but clearly recognize that some do. Why they feel the need to attack those who point out things unappealing about their favorite members, is both comical and sad in some ways. Your post is a prime example.
Feel free to disagree with my assertions all you want, but don't attack the messenger just because you do not care for the message.

Lastly, I also got a kick out of how you took the time to type out an apology to Soda for cursing, when it would have been much easier to change the four letter word to something not considered a curse word (see my example of an alternate word in quotation marks above).

[Vector]

Didn't that happen for HFO, and the old frictions soon crept back. Felder was extremely bitter even when he was in the band. I felt Felder's sacking showed that starting afresh was an error they didn't plan on repeating. Glenn's death is a wound that wont heal imho.

The Eagles are a business. If the rewards are worth the work they put in, they'll keep going. I don't sense any bitterness from Don, Joe or Tim. To get to the top of your profession, as Eagles have done, you need a head for business that isn't clouded by such human emotions.

Compared to Glenn and Randy, Felder's a minor loss.

I would say the HFO tour was exactly what you said. Keep in mind that back then, I had no clue what broke them up or who the individual members were for the most part. I do recall someone saying Frey and Henley couldn't get along, but those were just names that had no real meaning to me at the time. I was just happy that I was once again going to be able to see my favorite band play in concert, including some new material. As to the bitterness creeping back in, I suspect Frey's coercion/ultimatum of Fedler played a large part in that.

Regarding Felder being a minor loss comparatively, I guess it largely depends on what form of the Eagles you prefer. I know that my enjoyment of their music came after they became more R&R vs. country/bluegrass. That is not to say I didn't like their music prior to Felder becoming a member, but that was the biggest single change that catapulted them from a very good band to a great one.
Then when they added Walsh, it was another step in the right direction.