Discussion about Felder's contributions in the Eagles

[WalshFan88]

This thread has gone way off-topic. I don't see an existing thread to that would work for the discussion. so I think I'm going to create a new thread and move some of these posts. I was thinking of naming the thread something along the lines of 'Discussion about Felder's role in the band', but I'm open to other suggestions if anyone has any ideas. I don't have time to do this right now, so in the meantime, feel free to continue the discussion here.

I would say that name would fit Dreamer.

[edwardd19]

i mean to speak the brutal truth, i am not trying to bash on Henley or Frey, like i said before, im a huge fan of the eagles, if not a die-hard fan. I love the eagles, from bernie to randy, to glenn and tim, i love them all. Despite Felder not being in the band, i still went to go and see the eagles live in concert, feb 8 of this year, and two years ago. Although yes henley and tim and joe were still apart of the band when they performed, its just not the same. If you have Bernie and Felder who are still physically healthy enough to perform, why not have them tour with, now i can understand felder not being a prime option, but atleast have bernie tour, what harm can he do? I just feel like Felder should have been treated more FAIRLY. my opinion may come off as biased, im not sure, but i feel like henley and frey did not treat Felder with the up-most respect that he deserved during the HFO period, or at least approached him correctly, i mean Henley did try and get Felder to play on his tour in the 80s, not once, but contacted him multiple times, in which felder denied his proposal, doesnt that say something?. Okay, he cant sing for his life, but his guitar work is one that is compared to that of Hendrix, Page, and Clapton, which should be enough for them to say "hey you know what, well pay you a little extra." i mean if Hendrix or clapton were in the eagles, would you deny them of a little more money if they asked for it? Even Henley in an interview in 2017 said " Felder is a world-class guitarists, one of the best" nothing more and nothing less and if you think that of someone would paying them a little extra money for their work be such a big deal? i mean if you think of them so highly, then treat them like that, i personally dont see any hate coming off of Henley when speaking about Felder, now do i think Henley would have felder come back to the band? yes i really do, but it would not be the right thing to do, with regards to glenn, bringing your bestfriends "enemy" back into a group, is not the right thing, and is the reason why henley would not have him back. some may be saying well what about joe? shouldnt he deserve more money too? well if you really look at Joes parts in the eagles, i feel like he was constrained by the eagles, I mean i think it is pretty obvious if you have done your research, but Henley did not like joe, because of his character (being wild and crazy) this can be found in multiple interviews, but when you look at joe in the eagles, he is not the same person as he was before, how do you go from singing songs like RMW and funk 49# to some soft ballad like PMAIAR, Joes best work in my opinion is when he did his solo work, even his solo work while he was in the eagles was more popular than his work with the eagles, lifes been good > in the city, anyways this was not about joe,but overall all im saying is i love the eagles, they truly are the best band of all time IMO, Henley and Frey no doubt in my mind are the lennon and mccartney of America, but If you look at felders playing during HFO, he plays the main guitar parts/solo for both Glenn and Henleys songs, (you belong to the city, the boys of summer, dirty laundry, etc even joes). im not trying to argue with anyone, im just trying to defend Felder, after i saw several comments about his concerts and little speeches that he gave during his concerts.

[WalshFan88]

Edwardd19, Joe's work in the Eagles is worthy of as much respect as Felder's.

I don't think the Eagles held him back at all. He did plenty of guitar work on the HC and TLR albums. He wanted to join the band as much as Glenn wanted him in the band. It wasn't like he was prodded.

Rock songs: Life In The Fast Lane (intro and solo), Victim Of Love (solo), In The City (intro and slide solo), The Long Run (slide), Heartache Tonight (slide), Those Shoes (talkbox, solo). Yes, as far as him singing lead, there wasn't a lot of that. But really you had one ballad (Pretty Maids All In A Row) and one rocker (In The City). I don't think it's fair to infer that he had to sing ballads. I think DH and GF greatly respected Joe. And as much as Henley might not want to admit, it gave them some of that bad boy street cred with the rockstars that they didn't have before. Joe was hanging with Belushi, Moon, etc. Henley may have resented it when asked, but deep down I think he liked it. I know that Glenn certainly liked it. But Henley was definitely a bit prudish. The whole thing about drugs in the studio with Glyn Johns and him siding with Glyn told me that he himself could be seen a party pooper. Now I'm sure he was right, but I think drugs were a part of what made that music so great. Certainly with bands like Aerosmith and Zeppelin. I'm not endorsing their use - I'd rather people be alive than die making great music, but I think it's potently obvious that the sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle of the 70s and 80s is what fueled the inspiration for so many great songs then.

But I've heard the whole I prefer Joe solo thing and it really bothers me, a lot actually. Joe was a far better fit for the Eagles than Bernie Leadon. They were a rock band, they just didn't know it until starting around 1975. I'm no BL fan as far as music. I respect him, but his thing isn't mine at all. I prefer the later 70s Eagles. The whole desperado cowboy thing isn't in my vocabulary nor persona. I'm a hard rocker.

As far as the Eagles "changing" Joe. I'm not so sure. I also think that "if you've done your research" is an unnecessary thing to state. I don't think it is that obvious that the Eagles constrained him, Edward. IN fact in the 90s, I think their "constraining him" was probably what saved his life by saying we won't do this unless you agree to go to rehab for awhile. I thank Don and Glenn for doing that. I'd hate to think of losing Joe. I think he needed the Eagles every bit as much as the Eagles needed him. As far as Henley not liking Joe - I think his room trash wore on Don, but I think he also liked what it did for their street cred. I think from what I see, Henley does like Walsh, and I have no reason to doubt that. I know Don wasn't approving of him doing Desperado with Sam Kenison, but that is an isolated incident. I see no reason to believe that Henley resented having Joe in the band. I think if anything, he was just as ready to shed the country sound as Glenn was. I think Henley is glad Joe is a member, even today. I see no signs of resentment there.

You bring up Life's Been Good. Well to me it's clear that the version IN the Eagles is better than the original, and better than him doing it solo. Doing it with the band, brought a lot more to it. I almost never listen to the version on But Seriously Folks. I listen to the version on Eagles Live. That's Life's Been Good. Doing it with the band backing him was a far better song to listen to, to me. I fought for it to stay in the setlist when we'd have debates around here whether or not solo songs should be in the setlist, around the time of the HOTE tour. I personally think that Life's Been Good is clearly better with the Eagles. That's just me.

Even Joe will tell you he preferred being in a band than being solo. And I personally would give up all of my Joe solo albums as long as I could keep HC, TLR, and Live. That's Joe at his best, for my money's worth.

Regarding Bernie, I think he was the one who chose not to participate in this 3.0 version of the "band". I don't think it was a case of not being invited or being shut out. From what I hear, he wasn't interested. I saw him on the HOTE tour. While it was cool to hear him on TIE, I felt that it didn't bring a ton extra having him there. I'm not into TLHTM or Saturday Night. I also much prefer the original arrangements of WW.

As far as Felder's treatment. Let's just agree to disagree. But I wanted to bring up a contradiction you made. You said a few posts ago that "they never had a problem with Henley" or that in the doc they never mentioned Henley as a problem, just Glenn. Something to that effect. But then you say that it should "say something" because Felder turned down Henley when asked to come play with him on his solo tour.

And as far as the money thing. Felder wasn't making chump change! He was more than well taken care of. He was a freakin' rockstar for crying out loud touring with the biggest and best American rock band of all time! If he was getting paid that poorly, I'd totally be on your side on the money thing. The argument isn't about being him not being paid well. It's about him and some others thinking he was an equal to Don and Glenn, which I firmly state again that he was not. He was making great money, money anyone would love to have. He wasn't going to be on the streets in a year after the tour ended. C'mon. I know you like Felder, and I love him as a guitarist. But this wasn't about getting paid fairly for his work. This was about seeing his own importance and contributions as equal to Don and Glenn. It wasn't. So, that settles that.