seriously, he needs to GET OVER IT
seriously, he needs to GET OVER IT
Although it's nice that Don seems to work in a friction-free environment these days, I find this constant "no egos" thing - comparing his solo band to the Eagles - a bit strange, because how can you compare a solo artist to a band? In a band there are members and naturally everyone wants to have a say. With a solo artist it's clear for everyone who's the boss. Are you going to insist that you have at least two songs on the next album if you're a session player in a solo artist's band? Are you going to fight for the spotlight with the person the audience has come to see?
It doesn't mean that these people don't have egos. It just means that in this particular project they know their place as session musicians.
Last edited by chaim; 01-03-2017 at 01:19 PM.
It makes me think of an interview with Andy Fairweather-Low where he explained that he was "good on the bus". Even though he'd been the frontman of a very successful group and had had a solo career, when he became a sideman, it was as much about getting on with people as playing. Even now thathe's fronting a band again, he insists that the band is not his backing band, he's just their lead singer.
And to quote one of Don's former band members:
Of course, it's a lot easier now that I'm running my own successful dictatorship (laughs) as opposed to being in a struggling democracy. One of the reasons life is great now is because I'm the boss.
Spent the time to read the whole thread.
Wow!, is all I can say.
In his book, Don said that he thought that Henley's(Waldenwoods support) and Frey's(Cranston support) was nice, but to force your conscience and politics onto your bandmates to playing those benefits is crossing the line.
Irving Azov was the band's manager - not the manager of just Henley and Frey.
Timothy B. Schmidt likes being part of the Eagles as basically a session player as he is not a full partner of the band. So it's easy to see why he would just rather play and not say anything that would tick off Irving Azov, Don Henley and the late Glenn Frey.
Joe Walsh is also happy to be a session player for the Eagles as he is also not a full partner. He stated to Felder that he did the solo thing and is happy to just go out and play. He would also say nothing that would tick off the above mentioned three.
It would be nice to have Don Felder put the original Hotel California demonstration tape up on his web site so all the crap could be put to rest about how much of the song was in place when it was turned over to Henley and Frey. Or, he could just put it on his next cd and he could get the royalties to that much all by himself without having to share it with Don Henley and Glenn Frey's estate since there are no vocals or lyrics in place.
Is the glass half full or half empty? Or, is the glass twice as big as it needs to be?
Marshmaster
The quote was from Glenn Frey in 1984. Toni's comment made me realise the simularities between Don's current situation and Glenn's in the 1980s.
The next bit is probably me being pedantic, but I don't like it when terms such as "full partner", "session musician" and "sideman" are used when writing about members of the band. For simplicity, I'm going to focus on the 1980 version of the band.
First, there was not and is not such thing as a "full partner" in the Eagles. If it was ever a partnership, that ended when they incorporated in 1974. After that it was a corporation with shareholders. By 1980, there were just three shareholders: Frey, Henley and Felder. These three shareholders were in the band along with two musicians who were not shareholders, Walsh and Schmit. According to both Schmit and Felder, they were paid equally at this point. Walsh and Schmit also got to be centre stage for one or more songs and they appeared on publicity material. They were not session players or sidemen; they just weren't shareholders. Both Schmit and Walsh seem to understand that they had joined an established group and to some extent they had to fit in.
David Sanborne was a session musican who played on The Long Run. He didn't play on every track and he had other jobs. When the Eagles toured, he went along as a sideman for some dates but was later replaced by Phil Kenzie.
Joe Vitale was a session player and sideman who nearly became a band member - at least that's what Joe Walsh wanted. He even appears in some photos from that time.
How the band was actually run is murkier. In theory, it was democratic but by 1980 it seems that decisions were made by Henley, Frey and Azoff and then presented to the other band members. This probably had little to do with ownership. However, if it did, then this team owned 2/3 of the shares in the corporation and could out-vote the other shareholder.
Last edited by UndertheWire; 01-04-2017 at 11:46 AM.
I don't think these terms are being used in a purely technical sense. When Joe and Timothy are referred to as "sidemen" (and I see that a lot), it's because they are perceived to have less say and less power, even though they are fully vested legitimate band members. When Don F calls himself and others "partners" in his book, that's probably because that's the very term the band members themselves used. Yes they were shareholders but they were also "partners" in the sense they jointly owned and operated the entity known as the Eagles.
Also, I have noticed Glenn and Bernie calling each other "pardner" during their early shows. OK, that's a different context...
Don and Styx doing an "open rehearsal" to promote their Las Vegas Residency:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/enterta...-out-las-vegas
Here's the print version of an interview where Don talks about the Gainsville music scene. There is also a podcast.
http://parade.com/538800/nancyberk/f...-rock-journey/