New Interview: Don Henley: A pretty fly guy

[timfan]

I found another interview with Don regarding the new album etc.. There are some very intersting parts to it.


http://www.independent.ie/entertainm...y-1213885.html

[sodascouts]

Hmm, this is interesting.... noot always in a good way! But thanks for finding it.

Some comments:

Henley and I have met in west London ahead of a rare club show by The Eagles at the indigo2. Dressed all in black, and fortified by a Starbucks takeaway, he is less curmudgeonly than billed and even smiles a bit. Asked how he celebrated turning 60 in July, he says he went surfing with his nine-year-old son. "All the debauchery stopped a long while ago, so I'm in pretty good shape. I still like a glass of claret, but that's about it."

Starbucks again. Don doing nothing harder than claret - he's come a long way!

Many critics have suggested that the new record would have worked better as single album. Interestingly, Henley agrees: "I strongly opposed a double album", he goes on, "but Mr Frey wanted a double record and he's the boss. Everybody thinks I'm the boss, but I'm not. Part of it was band politics, of course. When you have four lead singers you want everybody to be represented. I wrote 'Do Something' with Timothy, and Joe sings a Frankie Miller song ['Guilty of the Crime'], and he wrote 'Last Good Time in Town' with J D Souther. Frankly, Joe and Timothy didn't bring in a lot of stuff. We were waiting for it, but it never came."

Great, here we go again. Not only complaining about "Mr. Frey" but about Joe and Tim too. Lovely.

Some killer, some filler it may be, but the good songs on the new album are very good indeed. Witness "No More Walks in the Wood", a harmony-rich, part-a cappella showcase with words adapted from a work by the US poet and Professor Emeritus at Yale, John Hollander. Henley came across the poem (then entitled "An Old-Fashioned Song") while perusing The Oxford Dictionary of American Poetry. Having set it to music and made a demo on which he sang all four harmonies himself, he asked Hollander, now in his seventies, for his blessing. "He sent back a very cordial note saying that we could do the song. I said, 'Great! Go and get yourself a good lawyer, because this is the music business!'"

I'm glad to hear more about this. I was curious as to Hollander's reaction!

But what of his Eagles band mates? Are they still friends? Do they see each other socially? "I'd be lying to you if I said there weren't still difficulties in this band," says Henley, "but anybody who plays in bands will tell you that they are all about compromise. You have to remember that there's this thing out there called The Eagles that's much bigger than the individuals concerned. Some days I feel like going, 'F**k it!' But what can you do? None of us is going to change now."

Well, at least he doesn't appear to have given up on the band entirely!

[glenneaglesfan]

I wish Don could be a bit more positive about the album. After all it's gone in at number 1 in the US, UK and Australia simultaneously in its release week, and he's going to reap the benefits. Perhaps it's just the perfectionist rising up in him.

[timfan]

I certainly agree that Don could be more postive. I get the feeling he really needs to take a break from "being an Eagle" for a bit.

In terms of this comment....

Frankly, Joe and Timothy didn't bring in a lot of stuff. We were waiting for it, but it never came."

I don't know whether Joe has been writing for the band or not but I do know for a fact that Timothy has submitted a signifigant amount of material for the Eagles album (Timothy has talked about this in various interviews and diary entries over the last few years). Granted much of his writings obviously weren't used, but Tim was trying none the less.

[The Bomber]

I don't know whether Joe has been writing for the band or not but I do know for a fact that Timothy has submitted a signifigant amount of material for the Eagles album (Timothy has talked about this in various interviews and diary entries over the last few years). Granted much of his writings obviously weren't used, but Tim was trying none the less.

I guess what Henley should've said was that Schmit didn't bring anything he and Frey thuoght was good enough for the Eagles. Seems to me like they don't like Schmit's work unless he gets help from them. The only songs he's had with the Eagles, all four of 'em, were either written by Carrack or co-written with Henley and Frey, or now even Henley and SMITH! So Stueart Smith gets more co-writing credits than Schmit in the Eagles catalog, 5 to 3. Hell, so does Jack Tempchin, who also has 5, but at least he's been around since 1972 so that's easier to swallow.

[timfan]

The only songs he's had with the Eagles, all four of 'em, were either written by Carrack or co-written with Henley and Frey, or now even Henley and SMITH!

Well ICTYW was a song that Timothy had started before he joined the Eagles and I believe he had a good portion of it completed at the time he presented it to Don and Glenn.

[sodascouts]

The only songs he's had with the Eagles, all four of 'em, were either written by Carrack or co-written with Henley and Frey, or now even Henley and SMITH!

Well ICTYW was a song that Timothy had started before he joined the Eagles and I believe he had a good portion of it completed at the time he presented it to Don and Glenn.

And Glenn has said that's one of his favorite Eagles tracks ever.

[Freypower]

I have always been under the impression that most of ICTYW was written by Glenn.

Thanks for 'Mr Frey is the boss', Don, as if anyone had any doubts. He could have been more gracious about it. The comment about Joe and Tim's contributions appears very unfair.

This is probably a token post by me as I doubt I will be around much due to my problems connecting to the site.

[sodascouts]

Oh no! I'm sorry you're having such trouble FP. Hopefully that will clear up.

[Glennsallnighter]

Thats a pity FP . I hope you get them sorted soon. I love the pics that you put up in FF particularly. Thanks