I Wish You Peace

[Shadowland07]

who's playing what in the song? obviously you have Henley on drums and Meisner on bass, but what bout the others? I only hear one guitar and the electric piano. I imagine Frey on the piano, but what about Leadon and Felder?

[whitcap]

I just checked my copy of One of These Nights. Bernie plays lead guitar. It doesn't mention any other instruments.

[chaim]

Glenn indeed plays the keyboard part. I asked Bernie about this when he was still visiting his message board. He said, "Yes, Glenn played keyboards in this song".
I think Don Felder and Bernie are playing acoustic guitars. If there's only one acoustic (I haven't listened to the song that closely, but I think there are two of them) I'd presume that it's Bernie and Don doesn't appear at all. Bernie, of course, plays the solo.

[Shadowland07]

hey thanks. i was reading Felder's book and it said that he played the 12 string acoustic guitar on "Too Many Hands", but then that leaves Bernie out because Glenn played the electric guitar parts with Felder.

[chaim]

hey thanks. i was reading Felder's book and it said that he played the 12 string acoustic guitar on "Too Many Hands", but then that leaves Bernie out because Glenn played the electric guitar parts with Felder.

I'll have to listen to "Too many hands" again. I've never paid much attention to the instrumentation. But I seem to remember that there's one rather clean electric guitar doubling the acoustic riff and playing chords in the verses; an electric rhythm guitar. I think that's Bernie. Glenn is trading leads with Don (all of them overdubbed, of course). Glenn was also fond of overdubbing guitar harmonies in the early days ("One of these nights" for example), so it wouldn't surprise me if it was Glenn doing all the harmony parts in the choruses of "Too many hands". I don't think it's Glenn playing the electric that plays the riff and the chords. I think it's probably Bernie.

[GettheLeadonOut!!]

This song is often maligned (most notably by Henley :-x). But I must admit, I really dig it. Bernie was mellowing at the time and very in love with Patti and this was the perfect swan song. I like what Felder said about it that he didn't realize it at the time but it was Bernie's farewell statement to the band.

[sodascouts]

Yeah, Henley did insult this song pretty viciously, but I think that was more about his loathing of Patti Davis than the song itself, as the comment I'm remembering was in response to Davis proudly proclaiming herself to be an Eagles songwriter. I think Don was reading that interview with Davis and thinking "She has some nerve acting like she deserves to be on the same page as people like JD Souther, Jackson Browne, Jack Tempchin, and other serious musicians who were real contributors to the Eagles canon." That's just my speculation, though. I like the song, too, especially the end.

How cool that Bernie used to visit his message board. Wish I'd had a chance to ask him a few questions myself!

[chaim]

Bernie said in his message board about the I Wish You Piece/Patti Davis issue that Don had apologised him and that "it's a non-issue". He seemed to be a bit annoyed when people, me included, were kind of bashing Don for making that comment. I understand this now. One tends to start bashing other band members (or ex-members) in the website of another member (or ex-member).

[bernie's bender]

Anybody recall when Patti Davis posed nude in playboy....

never have so many, anticipated so much, for so little.

I kept thinking that Clara Peller might have something to say....

as my grandma would have said, "she was kindly scrawny." Maybe they should have called the song I wish you (a tiny) peace...

Now... is that a 'hand up' or a 'hand out'?

http://files.posterous.com/jackierad/ygEujpAsrgAdlgknAeEGGhDjGptfxubcusBhqpiFyCIebptcsD vwoDibqwDF/media_httpimgskitchcom20090823xb5xqmstasbb56rk5bwh 28treijpg_xIrjygstxJGFJvn.jpg.scaled500.jpg?AWSAcc essKeyId=1C9REJR1EMRZ83Q7QRG2&Expires=1273100965&Signature=R15zgRuHkpEIbxQZLwm5%2BNM3zdg%3D

[sodascouts]

Well I didn't see them - were these the nude photos of Davis?! Surely not!!

[EagleLady]

Well I didn't see them - were these the nude photos of Davis?! Surely not!!

BB Posted a pic of Davis's Playboy cover

[Ive always been a dreamer]

GLO - I had never thought about I Wish You Peace being Bernie's farewell statement to the band, but it makes sense. I guess I missed that in Felder's book (Geez, I thought I had that entire book committed to memory as many times as I've gone through it. :wink: ) But anyway, I like the song too - I think it's very pretty. IWYP and JOTS are both very good songs, but I do think they accentuate that Bernie wasn't on the same page with the direction the band was going at this point. IMO, both of Bernie's contributions on One of These Nights are a bit 'out of synch' with the other songs on the album.

And that is so cool that Bernie used to visit his message board. Man, I wish I had known that. Like Soda, I can think of a ton of questions that I'd like to ask him - #1 being ... who the hell is saying "you in some trouble boy" in On the Border. :lol:

[sodascouts]

I've also wondered if Bernie's solo song As Time Goes On (http://www.bernieleadononline.com/solo/np/astimegoeson.htm) was a message to the Eagles as well or ruminations on his time with the Eagles, especially the third verse.

I really admire how he seems to have no bitterness towards the band and never says anything bad about them, not even when asked to comment on the remark Don made (I wish I could find his reply to that, but it was something along the lines of "Actually, Patti wrote the first verse and helped me write the chorus" and left it at that. No condemnation of Don personally.)

Chaim, thanks for clarifying that Don apologized and they're cool with each other. I think Don wrote that letter to the magazine in the heat of the moment and later realized it was uncalled for. Good for him for telling Bernie so.

[sodascouts]

By the way, if you want to listen to As Time Goes On:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=38020765

[sodascouts]

Coincidentally, this song came up on my iPod a few minutes ago. It really is a sweet song and overly maligned, IMHO. It made me feel all mellowed out. :)

[chaim]

Coincidentally, this song came up on my iPod a few minutes ago. It really is a sweet song and overly maligned, IMHO. It made me feel all mellowed out. :)

This song was a real favourite of mine when I was a teenager. It had nothing to do with my "life situation" or anything, it just clicked. I never link songs to my own life anyway...I still love the song!

[GettheLeadonOut!!]

The article titled "Henley Rips Patti Reagan" can be found here on the second page if you scroll down on the right:

http://www.eaglesfans.com/info/articles/pdffiles/augustscans2/randomnotes.pdf

It says a lot about what a cool guy Bernie is when he responds to Henley's defamation of his song ("smarmy cocktail music" :-x) with total bewilderment and the statement "I really like Don". I'm glad to know that Henley apologized.

If there were any clashes in the band it was between Bernie and Glenn. Bernie wasn't ok with Glenn acting as post facto leader of the band and the fact that his acoustic, folk, bluegrass leanings were being pushed to the side in favor of more stadium rock. I also read that Glenn would jokingly/mockingly refer to "Journey of the Sorcerer" as "Banjoland" which I'm sure infuriated Bernie and is pretty uncool imo. And Bernie quit after the OOTN tour which ended in October of '75 but it wasn't announced until December which allowed them the time to get Joe on board.

[sodascouts]

Very admirable restraint on Bernie's part.

As far as how Bernie and Glenn got along... well, I think there probably was some trouble when Glenn asserted himself (understandably), but I've never heard Glenn trash Bernie / Bernie's music to the press or vice versa. Of course, I might have missed something, but neither man seems to hold a grudge.

[sodascouts]

What it boils down to is Henley was/is insecure

This isn't just directed at you, pueblo, because I have seen other posters do this as well - but it really makes me wince when I see people making these kind of "armchair psychoanalysis" statements that attribute the guys' actions to emotional issues. We don't know them and we certainly don't know their personal struggles or what psychological needs drive them. JMHO.

[Scarlet Sun]

He thought we were selling out from the very beginning. To me, the point was to reach as many people as possible. To Bernie, I think he saw that as meaning we had to soften our sound, to commercialize, which wasn't the case at all.
From the first time I read this passage, it has made no sense to me whatsoever.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

One thing you have to remember about that book by Marc Elliot is that Don semi-cooperated with Elliot on that book so we are definitely inclined to have more of his recollection of events than we are the other band members. As Soda said, none of us really know the true dynamics of the relationship between Bernie, Don, and Glenn back in the day. They were all probably not very happy with one another at that point. But from everything I've read, I really don't think it's accurate to say that there was no friction between Glenn and Bernie or that the friction was mainly between Don and Bernie. After all, it was Glenn that got the beer poured over his head when Bernie departed. In any event, fortunately, it seems like time has healed a lot of the hard feelings that existed between them and that none of them harbor extremely bitter feelings towards each other any more.

[GettheLeadonOut!!]

Don't forget too that these guys were exhausted with an endless touring cycle compounded with the heavy drug usage. Bernie stated in the Hotel California doc that it was "too much partying", he wanted to get clean and healthy. He had a couple more years on the guys touring with the Burritos so he was burnt out.

He did also have a habit of being stubborn and flighty when he didn't get his way. He quit Dillard & Clark in '69 when Gene Clark brought in his then girlfriend Donna Washburn and gave her some of his vocal duties. Same thing when Chris Hillman hired Rick Roberts into the Flying Burrito Brothers and his duties were reduced. I think Hillman said that he had "boxed himself into the corner" in the Burritos and the same thing happened with the Eagles. I have to say though (with no offense to Glenn or his fans) that I still think Bernie's pouring the beer on Glenn's head is the greatest classic rock move ever for a guy quitting any band. I'm sure they all get a chuckle out of it today, even Glenn.

And I'm certain that Bernie has no regrets whatsoever for leaving and holds no grudges with the guys. Fortunately for him he got his golden parachute in the form of the first greatest hits (or as I like to call it "Bernie Leadon and his Fabulous Eagles" :nahnah:)

[sodascouts]

Good analysis, GTLO.


I have to say though (with no offense to Glenn or his fans) that I still think Bernie's pouring the beer on Glenn's head is the greatest classic rock move ever for a guy quitting any band. I'm sure they all get a chuckle out of it today, even Glenn.

Seriously, that is a classic moment, no matter who's your favorite Eagle! Especially since according to Felder, he poured it slowly from a longneck while Glenn just stood there stunned (Of course, we always gotta keep in mind the source there).

[sodascouts]

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I think it's very thought-provoking to look at this as Bernie's farewell to the band. "I wish you peace" is a nice way to say goodbye.

[Freypower]

I re-read this thread & I honestly can't see it that way. I see it as a straightforward love song.