I think you can assume that most of us have read Felder's book and seen the documentary. If you go to the appropriate threads, you can read everyones thoughts on both.
One big correction - like many you write about "partners" and "partnership" and legal status and this incorrect. Although the band probably started out as a partnership, they incorporated and the five members became equal shareholders of that corporation. It's a different kind of legal entity with different rules.
Yeah being an Eagles fan wasn't solidified until I watched the doc. It was my forst impressions of what the guys were like as I only listend to the music. I didn't even know Henley sangnand played drums at the same time lol. But yeah after my first viewing I imediatly thought jesus Glenn was a real asshole and some other bad words I wont repeat here. It could have been splitnup into several siffrent parts like the Beatles anthology. I am sad I will never get to see them perform live as the Eagles. They came by my area twice and My mother went with my sister the first time she only two and I was put of state the second time. Being on this site slowly is changing my views on Glenn I never thought my avatar be a picture of him.
Felder calls his book "Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001)"
I think it's a "tell as much as he can get away with" padded out with stuff that is outside the remit of the title.
Until Felder turned on them, the Eagles were always a very private band. All the dissension was kept in house. As far as the fans knew, they all got on well and liked each other. Even Felder's sacking was low key. I don't think the statement included a bad word against him.
Maybe if Felder, got the pay off he deserved and then started a fresh chapter to his career, I'd be more forgiving but he hasn't budged from his Eagles persona.
It looks like he'll still be playing on his Eagles guise, long after Henley, Walsh and Schmit have moved on.
I'm a bit concerned that we're way off topic so I wont be responding further... sorry
As big of a Felder fan that I am, I have yet to still read Felder's book simply due to $$$ reasons (I'm going through bankruptcy as I type this).
Felder's book is something that I would love to read so that I could give a better opinion of him and his relationship with the band while he was an Eagle & after the firing. I will say this: I do think that every band member should get equal pay. I definitely wouldn't work in a band where I'm making a lot less than the two most powerful men in the band (Henley & Frey).
Sorry to hear about your troubles, TT.
My thing about Felder's pay is that I fully believe Glenn and Don deserved more pay than the other guys. They were the founders, they were the principal songwriters, and they asked Felder to join THEM. Let's be clear, Felder wasn't getting chump change here, he was paid fairly, along with Joe and Tim. But to expect the same amount of money, as say, Glenn was getting, is crazy to me. Glenn was the leader, arranger, songwriter, and along with Henley really were the ones who were most important to the band. Glenn even more so, to me at least. If Felder was truly unhappy with his pay, and not just because of a comparison to the "gods" salary, he could have said something without the unnecessary comparison. The way I understand it, he poked at them and whined about it for quite some time instead of taking the hint that he should take it or leave it. Instead, he wanted everyone paid the same and that is just not right IMO nor was it ever going to fly with GF/DH. As Glenn said in HOTE, he wasn't going to reform unless he and Henley made more money, which they should and did. Felder wasn't a starving musician, by any stretch. If he feels he was THAT important to the band, more power to him but I and certainly Frey and Henley didn't see it that way.
Was Felder's contributions worthy of pay? Of course! He certainly made his mark on their records. Was Felder (or Bernie, Randy, Tim, and Joe for that matter) as important to the band as Frey or Henley? No, IMO.
ITA with everything you wrote, Austin. And, not only that, but Bernie, Randy, and even Felder himself, have all said as much. Back in the day, while Bernie was off surfing, etc. and Randy and Felder were busy raising their families, Glenn and Don were living the Eagles 24/7. This is not a criticism, but merely stating fact. I also am not trying undervalue the contributions that all the band members made. But, it seems appropriate that the ones primarily responsible for most of the band's success would be compensated for their efforts. Felder is the only band member that has ever gone on record as being dissatisfied with the financial arrangements in the band. Throughout his book and subsequent promotional interviews, even though he often acknowledged Glenn's and Don's contributions to the band, he always seemed to overestimate his own.
"People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016
Agreed, Dreamer!