Felder's "Heaven and Hell" Discussion Thread

[sodascouts]

I am not sure if I want to buy this, so I just went into Barnes & Noble and sat down with it for a while. I only got through about 1/4 of it so far. I plan on going back to read more tomorrow. I looked at the pictures first and was surprised he had pictures of everyone except Randy! (not counting the group pics). I wish every band member would write a book, so we could get everyone's perpective on things. I just realized something too...I saw the new documentary, and I heard Don said it didn't show the whole truth, but he was in it, so he obviously had his say, so i'm a bit confused what parts he thought weren't true. I've also seen some of you say his book wasn't quite truth either. I realize there are some things we can never know the truth about, but is there anything I should keep in mind as I finish the book, that you all KNOW he lied about?

I know this is a long thread, but if you really want details, go back and read through it. We go into these things at length.

One inconsistency that really pissed me off was at one point, Felder said Glenn called the track "Victim of Love" by the nickname "Iron Lung" and that it was hugely offensive because it mocked children with polio. Of course, that makes Glenn sound really cruel. However, elsewhere, he admits he (Felder) was the one who came up with that nickname for the track!

[AstraeaLunaAvani]

Ok I finished the book tonight, and now I really want to read all of this thread! I will get right on that!

I just wanna add...after reading it, I didn't quite pick up on the victim vibe, I mean yeah a few times he sounded like he was complaining but in all of those situations I would be complaining too. I did see he talked badly about Glenn and Don a lot but honestly I got that vibe just from watching the documentary. I dont know if all of you read my introduction post but I have only been a huge fan for a week LOL I saw the documentary and became super interested all of a sudden, so thats how this started...anyway...

Without even knowing ANYTHING but what the documentary said, I totally got the vibe from it that Glenn was a jerk. Then i saw other people agreeing with me so I just assumed ok i guess he was just the dick of the band. Of course everyone has their good and bad sides so i'm not saying I hate him. I might be rambling now LOL Let me get to reading this thread!

[EaglesKiwi]

Without even knowing ANYTHING but what the documentary said, I totally got the vibe from it that Glenn was a jerk. Then i saw other people agreeing with me so I just assumed ok i guess he was just the dick of the band. Of course everyone has their good and bad sides so i'm not saying I hate him. I might be rambling now LOL Let me get to reading this thread!

If I'm suggesting one thing for you to bear in mind when you read through - I think they all had their moments. None of the 7 were saints, but they all contributed a lot to the band.

The most telling thing I got from Felder's book is that he doesn't seem to give any credit at all to Glenn. He talks about how wonderful Henley's voice is (although isn't as complimentary about his drumming!) & also about how great his and Joe's playing together was, and about how much Randy & Bernie contributed (doesn't say very much at all about Tim).

[sad-cafe]

I have read Heaven and Hell, I have watched many interviews/vidoes and things. I keep going back to Felder should have just shut the hell up and rode the wave.

[sad-cafe]

he is still hurt, but IMO he screwed himself by doing this. There will never be a happy time because of the dirt that wasn't necessary to sell this bool

[sad-cafe]

after watching the 77 concert, I will admit he was good with the guitar, but he is and would have been my least favorite. Just don't much care for him.

[Freypower]

I am not the moderator of this forum so I can't merge your posts but if you'd like to make further comments about the book, this is the thread:

https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/...read.php?t=585

[sodascouts]

Posts have been moved.

[chaim]

I may have said this earlier, but I'm not sure. One thing I don't like about this book, and autobiographies in general, is that Don judges other people by their doings and often by their non-doings. But about himself he says stuff like "I wondered if I still had his number...to call him and ask if there's anything I can do". Glenn didn't reply when Don asked him if there's anything he could do after Glenn's divorce. But in another situation, being a better person, Don himself wondered if he still had someone's phone number. Hey, maybe Glenn, too, thought about replying to Don's message, but didn't in the end. Maybe he was emotionally too drained to reply to ever message.
It's so easy to make yourself look good in your own autobiography, because you can say things like "I thought about..." and "I wondered if...", even when you actually did nothing about it.

[chaim]

I like this book in many ways, and I find myself re-reading it once in a while. I notice some hilariously written bits here and there, like this piece of brilliantly constructed storytelling my eyes caught today:

Don talks about the band rehearsing "I can't tell you why" for the first time:

"This is a killer track, Timmy", I told him, "I'm gonna have some fun working out my guitar parts for this."

Right after this comes: "Don and Glenn seemed burned out".

In other words, Timothy came up with a killer song and Don F helped Timothy with it, while Don and Glenn were being "burned out".
Has Don forgotten that Glenn came up with the intro, the "try to keep your head little girl" counter melody, and all the lead guitar parts for that song?