Felder's "Heaven and Hell" Discussion Thread

[UndertheWire]

Some interesting thoughts about how Azoff could have managed things better. It reminded me of David Geffen supposedly being appalled at the idea of someone like Azoff managing a band as highly-strung as the Eagles.

As Felder joined after Azoff became manager, his book doesn't have anything on the wranglings with management early in their career and because he was shut out/not interested it doesn't have much on the wranglings with record company later. That's why I'm hoping for something from one of the founding members.

I've been thinking about the timelines. I'm not certain of when Azoff moved in and when he split from Geffen-Roberts. He was certainly managing them before Felder joined because he was part of setting them up with Bill Symzyck and Felder only joined at the end of those recording sessions. The "money for Christmas" incident must have been late 1973, after they returned from London and the aborted recording of "On the Border". At that time they had no money and their management hadn't been doing a lot for them.

What this has to do with Felder is that I believe he's right when he says they had nothing when he joined them - at least financially - and then within a few years of his joining they were superstars. What's harder to determine is how much he contributed to that change. He was recruited because Frey/Henley/Meisner/Azoff wanted a harder sound for the band. At the same time, Azoff was pushing for a better deal for them, organising the new corporate structure and making sure the record company supported their releases.

[MaryCalifornia]

Irving had (has) so many conflicts of interest as regards the individual members of the band, he couldn't possibly have been working in each of their best interests. But, I don't blame him, I think they were making it up as they went, and as long as the money was rolling in, they weren't all 7 of them going to go out and get their own personal manager/agent/business manager.

It seems like many of Timothy's 1980-90 work was because of Irving's efforts on his part, so for that he (Irving) holds a sweet place in my heart.

[Roey]

Just watched the Howard Stern interview with Don Felder on youtube. Don said the lawsuit lasted 6 and half years, it was settled and due to a nondisclosure clause he can't talk about it. He did say that the band left him no choice but to file a lawduit. Robin, Howard's cohost, said something like the money is still rolling in, there must be some provision for you to share in the profits. Don said he couldn't say but he smiled. Don talked about good times with Joe and said he felt bad that he put Joe in a tough spot. When asked when he last spoke to Joe, he said it was at a deposition. When answering questions about the problems among the band memebers, it seemed to me Don Felder blamed alot on Don Henley. Overall it seemed Howard and his staff beat up on Henley and Frey until Robin said "We don't have the other side of the story". Howard said you all made great music together it is a shame it will never happen again. Don Felder replied never say never.

I wish there was someone influential enough to foster a reconcilliation.

The interviewed may have already been discussed in some threads. For anyone that hasn't seen it, topics other than the lawsuit are discussed. I thought it was informative.

[UndertheWire]

I listened to it again but it didn't add much for me. Admittedly, I skipped the bit about how he wrote Hotel California as he tells that in every interview.

What I find odd is that in his interviews and book he always talks about how they were all equal when he joined with the two songs per album etc and yet from other accounts (Bernie, Glyn Johns, a former manager) Glenn and Henley were already dominant before Felder joined.

So which "full partner" came up with the idea of the Third Encore? At least according to Felder. I had assumed it was a tour manager or roadie.

[webvan]

Thanks for the summary of that interview I saw sometime ago. It's got info not available elsewhere AFAIK.

As for the "equal partners", yeah, Frey and Henley already had an upper hand it seems. What "skewed" that I suppose is that Felder came up with the blistering solo on OOTN that caught people's attention and of course with the music for HC (although it seems he might have got it from Jethro Tull) without which...

[VAisForEagleLovers]

As for the "equal partners", yeah, Frey and Henley already had an upper hand it seems.

For me, what really tells the way it was is that Felder met the guys through Bernie, and Felder and Bernie knew each other pretty well. Bernie talked Felder into going to LA to begin with. However, after that first recording session, it was Glenn who called Felder. It seems to me that in a band where everything was equal, it would have been Bernie that made that call, since they were friends and had a history. Maybe there was a reason Bernie couldn't or wouldn't make the call (like being busy doing something else) and perhaps Felder knew of it at the time. If not, then that should have told Felder all he needed to knew about the true dynamics of the band right then.

[UndertheWire]

That could be explained as Glenn being the spokesman for the band following a band meeting. At that time, they were still going though the motions of being a democracy.

However, in the Stern interview, Felder does say that when Eagles Ltd was formed, Glenn was elected President and Henley Secretary so that seems to acknowledge who was running things.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Oh, I'm sure it was discussed, but it seems to me that in a real democracy, after the discussion, the long time friend would be the one to be the bearer of good news. Maybe it's just me, but the fact that Glenn made the call would tell me that Glenn was the leader. Maybe it's just the dynamics of the people I grew up with...

[sodascouts]

Bernie was the one who objected to making Felder a full partner initially, but Glenn insisted. Ah, the irony!

[shunlvswx]

Sounds like a big foreshadowing of what was going to happen down the road.