For Those Saying Glenn Frey is Necessary to the Eagles; no Glenn, no legit Eagles

[sodascouts]

Aside from being angry about no memorial for Glenn, the way that Don, Tim, Joe, and Irving have handled things in general since Glenn's death infuriates me at times. I think we can look back to the way Don publicly 'announced' that the band would participate in the West Classic festival to get a glimpse into where things would go from there. If you need your memory refreshed, someone asked Don if it were true, and Don's response was simply 'That's what they tell me". As I've said before, these men are not ignorant and they had to know that this would not be universally well-received, but apparently they didn't care what anyone thought. The insensitive way in which they have gone about this last year just totally blows my mind. It's just plain disrespectful not only to Glenn, but to many of their fans as well. So, no, I don't expect them to do a tribute when they can't even be bothered to dedicate a song to him in their shows at this point.

I have a slightly different read on that. It seemed to me that at that time, Don was hesitant to take responsibility for the decision to reform the Eagles and do shows without Glenn. There was the "That's what they tell me" remark and then the "It's Irving's ball" remark. Then, of course, the statements about how it might only be a couple shows...

At the time, I thought it was because his heart wasn't in it. Obviously, that was just my wishful thinking. As soon as it was clear the public was accepting of the venture, he changed his tune and became completely gung-ho.

So I believe he cared what people thought in one sense: I think the only thing that kept them from reforming earlier was fear of the public rejecting an Eagles without Glenn, not the "shock" Don emerged from just in time to make a few million headlining the Classic Concerts. Once that fear was assuaged, it was "full steam ahead."

[chaim]

I have a slightly different read on that. It seemed to me that at that time, Don was hesitant to take responsibility for the decision for reforming the Eagles and doing shows without Glenn. There was the "That's what they tell me" remark and then the "It's Irving's ball" remark. Then, of course, the statements about how it might only be a couple shows...

At the time, I thought it was because his heart wasn't in it. Obviously, that was just my wishful thinking. As soon as it was clear the public was accepting of the venture, he changed his tune and became completely gung-ho.

So I believe he cared what people thought in one sense: I think the only thing that kept them from reforming earlier was fear of the public rejecting an Eagles without Glenn, not the "shock" Don emerged from just in time to make a few million headlining the Classic Concerts. Once that fear was assuaged, it was "full steam ahead."

He did say "It would appear as greed or something", or something like that. So he did indeed care about how people would take it.

[chaim]

We'll never know, but I have often wondered if he and Cindy ever talked about funeral plans maybe even years before Glenn passed. My husband and I would share with each other from time to time things we did and didn't want to happen. My opinion is that perhaps Glenn's bandmates would honor the wishes of the family. Unless someone on the inside issues a public statement, we will never know. It certainly would have been nice to have a public celebration of his life.

This is possible of course, but as long as they don't tell us that's the case (if it is) many Glenn fans are going to feel disappointed and hurt about it. And that's perfectly understandable. When you're hurt it doesn't necessarily help to try and think of a possibility that would explain the issue - when you don't know (like you said) and the other possibility is just as likely.

[chaim]

As for the band barely mentioning Glenn anymore.. The Eagles have always been a rather "faceless" band in that people know HC and NKIT, but they may not know who sings them. A lot of people who go see them (now and when Glenn was still with us) are probably casual "I love Hotel California" fans or even "Don't you just love that Stairway To Heaven?" fans. Nothing wrong with those people, but it would be nice if the band made sure that these people would leave the concert knowing who the guy who started the band - and was there until his death - was.

Incidentally, I know it from experience that if you have grey hair and you're in a band playing old songs, some people are going to think you were there in the beginning. Luckily Vince Gill and Deacon don't have grey hair.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

These recent posts got me thinking about this a little more. As I said earlier, while our frustration and disappointment may fade some with the passage of time, I don’t think it will ever go away entirely. I truly believe some things are best left frozen in time. If this had happened with the Eagles, their legacy and the way they are remembered would have been firmly secured. We can’t predict how the decision to continue will ultimately change the perception of the band by future generations because, unfortunately, the final chapter of the band’s history is still yet to be written. The band can choose to ignore that we exist, but, I can’t help but believe that we dissenters will be a part of the final story. As the late, great Maya Angelou once said “At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” I believe this may be especially true of a relationship between entertainers and their fans. I get the feeling that Glenn may have understood this a lot more than others, and perhaps his wisdom and vision are as much of a gift to the greatness of this band as were all of his musical contributions. So, yes, at the end of the day I just know how I feel. And that is that Eagles attempt to replace of Glenn has left an indelible stain, and, sadly, I do fear my lasting memory of my beloved band will remain forever tarnished. No doubt that there are many others that feel the same, especially knowing it didn’t have to be this way.

[Dawn]

You know, it's really just that simple. The attempt to replace Glenn Frey so the band could and would be able to continue and sell stadium size mega concerts has left a permanent stain on the Eagles legacy.

[sodascouts]

It really is sad. I just hope that when all of this is over and some time has passed, we can go back to listening to "Hotel California" without feeling a stab of pain at the thought of the fact that it is now being performed on a stage without Glenn, or that I can once again hear "Boys of Summer" without associating it with hypocrisy and betrayal.

Honestly, I do think it will happen one day. The pain will always be there, but I don't think it will dominate. I can't imagine I will never be able to enjoy again what I have loved for so long. I can even see myself enjoying Don again. But I think it won't be for a long time, and I know it won't be during this tour.

Every show they do rubs more salt into the wound; every interview gushing about how great things are now actually rips the wound open further, something I didn't think was possible in 2016. Little did I know in 2016 that two years later, Glenn fans would be subjected to this... and I think we can expect to bleed for a couple more years at least.

[chaim]

Yes, "how great things are now". I think it's the joyfulness around and within the band that bothers me most. Not that I expect them to be miserable, but it would be nice if some of the joy had something to do with celebrating Glenn's life and work. (Even Vince Gill seems to be more worth celebrating now in the Eaglest context.) Having said that, I am aware that for some fans this is a way of remembering Glenn and I don't want to diss that.

As a fan I still have a soft spot for Don, oddly enough. (Timothy probably disappointed me most with that one interview that I found very cold.) He's just doing something I very much dislike.

[groupie2686]

The joyfulness bothers me too. I remember that interview of Timothy, I found it very cold too. I am most disappointed in Joe, I would have thought Glenn meant more to him than this, but then again, Joe has always gone along.

I was reading about The Doors and it's an interesting parallel...John Densmore, the drummer of The Doors, sued the remaining band members because they entered into a deal for a song to be used in a commercial and they were calling themselves "The Doors of the 21st Century." He didn't feel they could use the name The Doors without Jim Morrison and the band had apparently agreed that their music would not be used in commercials. (Jim Morrison turned down such an offer in the 60s). He was joined in the lawsuit by Jim Morrison's parents. He won the lawsuit. He wrote a book about the whole experience and said that it wasn't right for them to continue as The Doors without Morrison, regardless of whatever money Densmore himself could have made from it. When I read this, I couldn't help but think, yes, he has it right. (And Led Zeppelin too, as FP pointed out). This just isn't right.

[chaim]

I've never heard that Doors story before. Interesting!