Eagles: Headliners - oh, the irony

[sodascouts]

I got this old book called Headliners released in 1981 which features old interviews with the Eagles. Now, you might ask, "Why not put this in the Eagles books thread?" The answer: it is full of such delicious irony (the guy didn't have a clue the Eagles had broken up or their problems behind the scenes) and great quotes that I think it deserves its own thread!

I'll start with the last. Here's Felder's quote from the end of the book, plus commentary - apparently he hadn't gotten the memo about the end of the band either:
"Even as the live album was climbing the charts the Eagles began making preparations for their next record.

'There's about another album's worth of material,' notes Don Felder, 'that is about half to three-quarters finished, left over, since we started out this last time to do a double album. We've got enough basic tracks with arrangements, overdubs, and stuff that we could finish those songs in, say, six months. There are a lot of options. We're also thinking about starting fresh since I have some ideas and so do Glenn and Henley.'
[...]
Altogether it seems the '80s will hear quite a lot from the Eagles."
Ha!

Here's a quote from Henley, this time from 1976 after Joe joined:
"'It's much better than it ever has been,' Henley enthused, 'everybody is much happier. There's no struggle, there's no power struggle, no fighting, and none of the problems that used to exist.'"
Ha!

Even earlier, quotes from Glenn and Don in 1972, after the Eagles LP was out and before Desperado:
"'Johns was the key to our success,' Frey elaborates. [..] 'I didn't mind him pointing us in a certain direction.'
[...]
Johns was a stern taskmaster in the studio and really broke the cocky Eagles in the process of recording until he got them to do exactly what he told them. 'Glynn made us very aware of all the little personal trips within the band,' says Henley. 'He'd just stare at you with his big, strong, burning blue eyes and confront you with the man-to-man talk. You couldn't help but get emotional. We even cried a couple of times.'"
Can you guys picture that? It's not so much ironic as it kind of gives you an idea of how intimidated they were by Johns at the beginning. That would change!

There's so many more but I'll leave it at that for now. This book is great!!

[chaim]

Hilarious stuff. Thanks! "Kisstory" is full of stuff like this. :hilarious:

[NightMistBlue]

Thanks, Soda! Does it feature all the guys? Well, I guess the author didn't speak with Randy.

Crikey, the book is $97 on Amazon!

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Soda, thanks for that, I needed some levity on this Monday afternoon. Of course, my co-workers are wondering what's making me laugh...

[sodascouts]

Thanks, Soda! Does it feature all the guys? Well, I guess the author didn't speak with Randy.

Yeah, he talks to Randy, too. The interviews are apparently culled from 1972-1981.

Here's a funny quote from Randy re: 1972 that's amusing when you consider how big they would get:
"[We're] opening a show. People yell and say weird things while you're playing soft music."
I can see him now, singing his heart out on "Most of Us Are Sad" while the Yes fans act like douches.

[Brooke]

I sure can't picture our guys 'crying' about anything! :hilarious:

[VAisForEagleLovers]

I sure can't picture our guys 'crying' about anything! :hilarious:

There is a possibility that the pain of biting through their lips in an effort to keep their tempers made their eyes water...

[sodascouts]

Remember how young these guys were and how much they respected a famous producer like Glyn Johns. When Don tells Johns he wants to sound like John Bonham and Johns tells him "You can't play like John Bonham" - ouch! They were isolated in the studio with Johns and any attempts at ego reinforcement from friends and family over the phone would seem hollow after getting a dressing-down from a big shot. His was the only voice they were hearing at the time. I think the analogy that he was "breaking" them sounds pretty apt.

[NightMistBlue]

Yeah, he talks to Randy, too. The interviews are apparently culled from 1972-1981.

Here's a funny quote from Randy re: 1972 that's amusing when you consider how big they would get:
"[We're] opening a show. People yell and say weird things while you're playing soft music."
I can see him now, singing his heart out on "Most of Us Are Sad" while the Yes fans act like douches.

Oh, Yes fans never act douchey - those people must have been Tull fans. :)

[chaim]

Yeah, he talks to Randy, too. The interviews are apparently culled from 1972-1981.

Here's a funny quote from Randy re: 1972 that's amusing when you consider how big they would get:
"[We're] opening a show. People yell and say weird things while you're playing soft music."
I can see him now, singing his heart out on "Most of Us Are Sad" while the Yes fans act like douches.

What do you mean by this? Did that kind of a thing really happen? YES is a very beautiful band, and I would be very surprised to hear that their audience has behaved "like douches".
I consider Yes one of the most misunderstood bands ever (NOT about virtuosity at all), but that's another story and has nothing to do with this...

[VAisForEagleLovers]

The Bob Seger concert earlier this year is the first time I've been to any concert where the fans truly appreciated the warm-up band and didn't act like a bunch of 5-yr olds. J. Geils was the opening act. For the most part, people just want the opening act off the stage so the act they paid the money to see can get on the stage, and that was more prevalent in the 70's than now. The exceptions I can think of were double-billed acts as opposed to opener/headliner.

[sodascouts]

What do you mean by this? Did that kind of a thing really happen? YES is a very beautiful band, and I would be very surprised to hear that their audience has behaved "like douches".
I consider Yes one of the most misunderstood bands ever (NOT about virtuosity at all), but that's another story and has nothing to do with this...

I was just kidding! I used "Yes" because I knew the Eagles had opened for Yes. That's the only reason. The truth is all I know about Yes is that the Eagles opened for them in 1972; I do not know any of their songs. I have no grudge against them. I don't even know what type of music they play.

However, I will take your word for it that Yes fans are all very nice people who undoubtedly treated the Eagles with the utmost respect.

Upon further reflection, I am convinced that NMB is right and it was the Jethro Tull fans. ;)

[AlreadyGone95]

:rofl::rofl::hilarious:
I've been on edge all day, and reading those quotes made me relax some. Thanks Soda!

As for Yes, I'm a bit more than a casual fan. (I'm in the minority who loves Jon Anderson's voice). They have their fair share of soft songs, Wondrous Stories for example.

[UndertheWire]

Hopefully it wasn't the Procul Harum fans. It's so funny that they opened for all those british bands, From what I've read, the Eagles got on well with Procul Harum, introduced cocaine to Yes and ignored and were ignored by Jethro Tull ("Leaping Leotard"). Let's blame it on the Tull fans.

[sodascouts]

Check out these Glenn quotes from 1973 after the release of Desperado and the fact that it wasn't doing so well (emphasis mine in the quotes below):
"What is happening right now in what I call the age of chaos is that most of the kids want to see something that is totally removed from their day to day existence. They would rather see Alice Cooper or David Bowie simply because they are unlike anything else in their lives. We have an escapist subculture and the demand is already there. You don't really have to create a demand for Alice Cooper. For music like ours, I don't know whether there is a great demand. We have to work hard at it simply because we may look like kids who would be going to New York City College. Who knows how many kids in the escapist culture want to escape into reality. I think the more insane things get, then the more the kids will want to have emotional types of experiences. Kids are going to wanna get off instead of go crazy. So we are not going to change it."

As to why they aren't selling more tickets for the Desperado tour, especially when compared to flashier acts:
"I don't think we have lost any of our audience [to flashier acts]. That audience was never ours to begin with. I don't know whether our audience goes to concerts. I have had flashes that a lot of people that buy our records wouldn't be caught dead in the seething mass of 6,000."
Guess he found out the answer to these questions! How about a seething mass of 16,000?

[UndertheWire]

I wonder if they ever considered a flashier image. Maybe that's what Glenn's sequined belt was about.

[sodascouts]

How funny! He actually addresses that in the next paragraph (emphasis mine)!

"Anybody who goes on stage to perform is representing himself the way he wants to represent himself, sincerely or insincerely. I'd just rather cultivate my own electricity. It depends upon how famous you want to get. Visually we are an excellent looking band. Everybody looks good, nice, angular, lean California boys. I guess we would just look fabulous if we were to slick it up and appear in outrageous clothes. However, the Eagles won't be wearing glitter this year anyway."
Not too modest about their looks, eh, but he's just bein' real!

[UndertheWire]

So they didn't want to be Busy Being Fabulous, even then.

I need to go and think of fabulous stage outfits. Sweet dreams!

[chaim]

Hopefully it wasn't the Procul Harum fans. It's so funny that they opened for all those british bands, From what I've read, the Eagles got on well with Procul Harum, introduced cocaine to Yes and ignored and were ignored by Jethro Tull ("Leaping Leotard"). Let's blame it on the Tull fans.

It's ProcOl Harum, by the way. ;) I didn't know/remember that the Eagles toured with them too. Great music.

[chaim]

I was just kidding! I used "Yes" because I knew the Eagles had opened for Yes. That's the only reason. The truth is all I know about Yes is that the Eagles opened for them in 1972; I do not know any of their songs. I have no grudge against them. I don't even know what type of music they play.

However, I will take your word for it that Yes fans are all very nice people who undoubtedly treated the Eagles with the utmost respect.

Upon further reflection, I am convinced that NMB is right and it was the Jethro Tull fans. ;)

It is possible that there were "what is this stupidly simple, soft crap?" people in the Yes audience. There are probably still some "I'm an intelligent person because I listen to this stuff" people among their fans. But that kind of thinking is far from the Yes spirit IMO.

Jethro Tull is a rather gentlemanly band too, but, again, there may have been some morons in their audience. Would be interesting to know which band's audiences gave the Eagles a hard time. Of course it's possible too that this happened only once or twice, but Randy remembered them as funny situations.

[UndertheWire]

After checking the stage outfits of some of the 70s (british) pop groups, I think they made a wise choice with their image. Jeans, t-shirts and cowboy boots have aged well; gold, knee-high platform boots have not. What's more, they can still get away with a modified version of the look.

I was interested that they at least considered something flashier. From what we've heard of Glenn attending a Beatles concert and his plan that, “everybody had to look good, sing good, play good, and write good", I've been surprised that they didn't try to exploit their image more. Somewhere along the line, they decided they wanted to look like their audience rather than being held up as pop idols with girls screaming at their feet. The lower profile may have helped them stay relatively down-to-earth, too.

Whilst I'm at it, I'll repost a link to John Hartmann's blog about the Eagles image: http://theholodigm.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=symmetry

[Jonny Come Lately]

Jethro Tull is a rather gentlemanly band too, but, again, there may have been some morons in their audience. Would be interesting to know which band's audiences gave the Eagles a hard time. Of course it's possible too that this happened only once or twice, but Randy remembered them as funny situations.

Whenever I've seen the members of Jethro Tull interviewed on TV documentaries they've always come across as being pretty normal guys. In actual fact, my dad once knew someone who knew Ian Anderson, and IIRC this guy found him to be decent.

I'm glad the Eagles didn't go for fancier costumes. I find that in rock music getting your to band wear specific costumes (beyond wearing similar T-shirts, such as on Pink Floyd's Animals Tour when Roger Waters and David Gilmour both wore T-shirts with a pig on the front) doesn't tend to work well with certain exceptions. With people like David Bowie and Peter Gabriel it was part of their expression as an artist and although KISS aren't really my cup of tea I can understand why their costumes are part of their identity. By contrast, for bands like the Eagles where the songs are the stars, wearing flashy outfits wouldn't seem right, and when other more straightforward rock bands try this the results in my view are usually a bit embarrassing...

[NOLA]

With regards to Don H.'s quote about band cohesiveness, it's just another classic example of the length they went to keep details about the infighting under wraps.

I can almost see Don H.'s facial muscles twitching when he answered that question!:hilarious:

[NightMistBlue]

Maybe it's for the best that we never saw Henley in an open-chested catsuit a la Freddie Mercury. Likewise, I don't think any of the boys' looks would be improved by make-up.

[UndertheWire]

I wondered about the Rod Stewart satin trousers but it's hard to beat those how-the-***-did-they-get-them-on? jeans.

[AlreadyGone95]

Maybe it's for the best that we never saw Henley in an open-chested catsuit a la Freddie Mercury. Likewise, I don't think any of the boys' looks would be improved by make-up.

Not the mental image I wanted to picture just as I'm getting woke up for the day :lol:

I never cared much for the outrageous get ups wore during the 70s. I see photos and just say "why?. While I get the point of doing so, it has never appealed to me. I prefer normal looking rockstars.

[AlreadyGone95]

I wondered about the Rod Stewart satin trousers but it's hard to beat those how-the-***-did-they-get-them-on? jeans.

Anytime I think of those kinds of jeans, Robert Plant comes to mind, but so does this photo:
http://www.glennfreyonline.com/images/GFrey1973HotStuffCar.jpg

How the :censored: did Glenn them on, and how did they not split or hurt something valuable? (If you catch my drift ;))

Is that the belt buckle someone mentioned above?

[GlennLover]

Anytime I think of those kinds of jeans, Robert Plant comes to mind, but so does this photo:
http://www.glennfreyonline.com/images/GFrey1973HotStuffCar.jpg

How the :censored: did Glenn them on, and how did they not split or hurt something valuable? (If you catch my drift ;))

Is that the belt buckle someone mentioned above?

LOL, that's the belt & the picture that we have dubbed "Come Hither"!

ETA: I believe that the belt is in the RRHOF. Some here who have been there can correct me on that if it isn't.

[sodascouts]

Here's a Glenn one from 1974:

"Now we are at a point where we have to plan our careers four or five months in advance to make it comfortable for us. The group is now two years old. A lot of bands don't even last two years," he proudly stated. "Especially when you have a lot of famous people in them. The Eagles are never going to have any personnel changes or have any kind of that nonsense going down. It is just unfair to our fans. [...] When people initially become fans of yours, they don't want to see the personnel change."
Never say never, Glenn! Isn't it cute how proud he is that they'd lasted two whole years? lol

[GlennLover]

Here's a Glenn one from 1974:

"Now we are at a point where we have to plan our careers four or five months in advance to make it comfortable for us. The group is now two years old. A lot of bands don't even last two years," he proudly stated. "Especially when you have a lot of famous people in them. The Eagles are never going to have any personnel changes or have any kind of that nonsense going down. It is just unfair to our fans. [...] When people initially become fans of yours, they don't want to see the personnel change."
Never say never, Glenn! Isn't it cute how proud he is that they'd lasted two whole years? lol

That's too funny! There are a lot of things that he said that the "never say never" phrase applies to.

[L101]

Maybe it's for the best that we never saw Henley in an open-chested catsuit a la Freddie Mercury. Likewise, I don't think any of the boys' looks would be improved by make-up.

Oh I don't know, I wouldn't mind seeing Henley in an open-chested catsuit, though I think he would have been too skinny in the 70's to pull it off (hmmmmm :hmm:)
These days I would be happy for an open-chested shirt!!

Soda, love the quotes and can't wait to read more of them :)

[AlreadyGone95]

Can you imagine if Glenn or Don had any insight about beloved their music would become?

Also, I'd love to see their reactions if they read these old quotes today! :lol:

[AlreadyGone95]

LOL, that's the belt & the picture that we have dubbed "Come Hither"!

ETA: I believe that the belt is in the RRHOF. Some here who have been there can correct me on that if it isn't.

That's a good name for it!

Seeing that belt in person would be worth the cost of going to Cleveland!

[UndertheWire]

Anytime I think of those kinds of jeans, Robert Plant comes to mind, but so does this photo:
http://www.glennfreyonline.com/images/GFrey1973HotStuffCar.jpg

How the :censored: did Glenn them on, and how did they not split or hurt something valuable? (If you catch my drift ;))

Is that the belt buckle someone mentioned above?
Glenn, cultivating his own electricity.

[NightMistBlue]

I wondered what the "come hither" photo was! Mystery solved, thank you.

Ooh la la, Glenn looks fine. Despite the sequined belt though, he still looks like a dude who works at a gas station (in a good way).

[sodascouts]

http://www.glennfreyonline.com/images/GFrey1973HotStuffCar.jpg

Glenn, cultivating his own electricity.

I think I have a new favorite phrase, lol.

[AlreadyGone95]

I wondered what the "come hither" photo was! Mystery solved, thank you.

Ooh la la, Glenn looks fine. Despite the sequined belt though, he still looks like a dude who works at a gas station (in a good way).

He looks like the kind of guy that you love, but your parents wouldn't! (as I'm sure was the case back then). Maybe "formal come hither" (I do believe that is what it's called) is better:
http://glennfreyonline.com/images/GFrey1982tux01.jpg


Ok, that's it.. I'm off to Frey Fever! :D :lol:

[sodascouts]

Don Henley talks about the hardships of recording in England in 1973:

"We couldn't think [in London], we couldn't create. We were too busy trying to find a good restaurant."

[shunlvswx]

I love those "come hither" pictures of the guys. You don't know what to do when you get the come hither. :hilarious:

[AlreadyGone95]

Don Henley talks about the hardships of recording in England in 1973:
"We couldn't think [in London], we couldn't create. We were too busy trying to find a good restaurant."


Trying to find some decent food to eat? lol

[UndertheWire]

I can believe it. Food at home was pretty uninteresting and restaurants were worse from what I can remember. One of the 1973 bootleg's has Glenn complaining about the food in London - something about the thin white bread and micro-slices of ham and after three days you can't go to the bathroom, either.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Glenn, cultivating his own electricity.

Love this, UTW!

[NightMistBlue]

Can you imagine if Glenn or Don had any insight about beloved their music would become?

Maybe they did, on some level? Their meticulousness in the studio was legend, as if they knew they were crafting those records for the ages. I don't recall the exact Glenn quote but he talked about polishing and polishing the music like a piece of furniture, to get it perfect.

I don't know what inspired or motivated such a fierce work ethic, that would be interesting to know. People in their twenties don't typically have a long-range perspective on anything.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Maybe they did, on some level? Their meticulousness in the studio was legend, as if they knew they were crafting those records for the ages. I don't recall the exact Glenn quote but he talked about polishing and polishing the music like a piece of furniture, to get it perfect.

I don't know what inspired or motivated such a fierce work ethic, that would be interesting to know. People in their twenties don't typically have a long-range perspective on anything.

IMO, they wanted success and everything that went with it, the money, the women, the life. People from Glenn's past, like Seger, have mentioned how 'driven' he was/is. I don't think Henley was any slouch in that department, but being a country boy from Texas, he likely seemed (deceptively so) more laid back. They knew the path to success was giving fans what they wanted, and for their own personal preference, they wanted the respect of their peers. Since they had the talent and the drive and the intelligence to know how to get what they wanted, they succeeded beyond even what they could have envisioned.

I feel it's pretty rare in any field to find talent, drive, intelligence, and a strong work ethic. I could even toss in good looks, because that helps in any field as well. To compare to the corporate world, they have what the guy on the top floor with the corner office has, who worked his way up from the bottom, and there aren't very many of those, either, and to get there, you have to be that way from long before you hit 20.

[Brooke]

I love the phrase too! :thumbsup:

Btw, I can't remember, did Glenn ever wear the sequined belt in a concert?

To me, it just doesn't look like something he would wear at all, but there he is in the picture! It just defies everything 'Glenn'! :headscratch:

And I agree with you NMB about him looking like a guy working at the gas station, except for the belt! :hilarious:

[UndertheWire]

Steve Martin remembered Glenn telling him "I want to be a rock star so bad it hurts".

[AlreadyGone95]

Maybe they did, on some level? Their meticulousness in the studio was legend, as if they knew they were crafting those records for the ages. I don't recall the exact Glenn quote but he talked about polishing and polishing the music like a piece of furniture, to get it perfect.

I don't know what inspired or motivated such a fierce work ethic, that would be interesting to know. People in their twenties don't typically have a long-range perspective on anything.

They probably did, but probably not on the scale that it has become(ie:more popular now than in the 70s, I think).

As for the work ethic, I believe that that was probably instilled in them in childhood, at least in Don's case. In the preface to Heaven is Under our Feet, Don talks about having to get up "an ungodly hour" every Saturday morning to help his dad with the garden, so I'm sure that part of that drive and work ethic came from things like that.

[AlreadyGone95]

To me, the belt buckle looks like something a country musician like Charlie Daniels would wear.

[NightMistBlue]

Steve Martin remembered Glenn telling him "I want to be a rock star so bad it hurts".

Many people want success and its rewards, but they don't want to put in the work. Remember how Chris Hillman implied that the Eagles were kind of unusual in that respect - not that other bands didn't work, but perhaps not as hard, or their approach was not as exacting.

OT: I have to get cracking on "Heaven Is Under Our Feet" - I bought it weeks ago and it's still sitting in my To Be Read pile.

[UndertheWire]

Btw, I can't remember, did Glenn ever wear the sequined belt in a concert?

To me, it just doesn't look like something he would wear at all, but there he is in the picture! It just defies everything 'Glenn'!
It made a TV appearance, maybe to provide a break from wall-to-wall demin:
http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t450/hairynosed/helen_reddy_2_zpsyq0x2ezo.jpg
And don't forget the gold shoes bringing a little sparkle to the white shirt and jeans combination for that infamous benefit.

[Brooke]

Haha, there it is! Thanks UtW!

How could I have forgotten? And it looks amazing on him! :smokin:

[VAisForEagleLovers]

I've seen that pic a thousand times and can honestly say I've never noticed the belt!

[AlreadyGone95]

Besides the belt, that's the most patches I've ever seen on a pair of jeans!

I do love Bernie's har!

[Brooke]

I've seen that pic a thousand times and can honestly say I've never noticed the belt!

Me either! :hilarious:

[sodascouts]

Emphasis mine in the following, as usual. This is an interesting dynamic I hadn't heard before - from context it sounds like Felder and Bernie were just as antagonistic as Glenn (unless you think the second Don is Henley, which I really doubt, because I can't see Henley threatening Bernie with a fistfight he knows he'd lose - no offense to him, but look at Bernie in 1975, he could've kicked all of their a$$es):
"Leadon and Felder had more than a few arguments and tension became almost unbearable. Frey usually managed to turn that energy into a rationalization. 'We fight with our manager. We fight with each other. Don and Bernie nearly had a fistfight the other day. We fight about everything: playing too loud, facial expressions, drinkin' too much, stayin' up too late, talking in a restaurant. Not saying anything when you shoulda spoke up. The issue is not the important thing. The important thing is that it gets vented. When you're working with a band, when you're working with a producer, with managers, with a whole lot of other people, it's all a romantic relationship. When the band don't get off, the band fights. It's gonna be released some way. It's creative tension.'"

So Glenn felt it was important to "vent." Was this part of why he was often the one confronting people?

Also, it's interesting how Glenn veers from speaking in a very educated manner to slang in a really inconsistent way you don't see with the other guys in his various quotes. Read one and he sounds like a eloquent philosopher, read another one and he sounds like the typical 70s rock star whose metaphors rarely extend beyond comparisons to sex. Compare this to his "age of chaos" quote. He had a real duality going on and I wonder if he wasn't deliberately trying to play up the "cool 70s" guy and tone down the other side of him for image purposes - perhaps falling into the trap he had talked about earlier in choosing how to represent yourself, "sincerely or insincerely" - but in speech rather than in dress. Or perhaps it just depended on how many substances he had abused before the interview. Who knows.

[UndertheWire]

Hmm, Felder writes about Bernie being argumentative and being used to having to fight for his place, as one of ten children, but paints himself as the peacemaker. However, musically they would have been on different sides.

Isn't there a quote somewhere about Glenn being good at street talk? I can see he might have needed that duality growing up, being the bright kid from the wrong side of town.

ETA: In case you hadn't noticed, I'm enjoying these quotes and the discussion. I know we keep going off track, but that's part of the fun.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

I don't know, Soda, I can understand the dual persona when it comes to speaking. I have no doubts that Glenn wanted to evoke a cool image, but it could be more than that. I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of Southwestern PA where redneck is more than a way of life, it's a language. Cross that with the Pittsburgh area an hour or so away where 'Yinz' instead of 'you' (plural) is standard. Then I moved to Northern Virginia (y'all, which is singular and all y'all, which is plural). I now live in Kentucky. Yet because I'm a mid-career professional, I'm expected to speak perfect (American) English. Because of this, I tend to speak the language of those I'm with.

I'm enjoying this as well. I just try to keep myself from believing the things I want to believe, because some of it has been incorrect, and that makes it all suspect.

[AlreadyGone95]

I'm enjoying reading the quotes and this thread as well, though I might have taken it off topic (sorry).

As for the dual persona, I have(or had) one myself. Being born and raised in Georgia, I obviously have a southern accent. (Heck, it even shines through on the Internet at times with my use of the words "figured , reckon, fixin to" etc). Now, around friends and family, I don't care if I sound like Ernest T. Bass from the Andy Griffith show. However, when I was at school, I tried to tone it down some (I can't turn it off completely "morning" will always sound like a cross between moaning and mourning and ya'll will always be said (note the placement of the apostrophe..It's done on purpose because that's how I was taught to spell it). When I was in "class", spending 40 hours just sitting in the room, working toward my GED, I tried to be as plain spoken as possible. I know that a heavy southern accent makes someone want to knock off 50 IQ points from ya.
Another thing, I went to the all black local public school, which was a totally different world than my home life. Over the 10 years of going there, I learned how to speak "black" to fit in and not be too much on an outcast. I learned the slang and the pronunciation of certain words fairly quickly (ex: scraight, not straight). I still say "a'ight" often because its one of my favorites. I was one of the few "nerds", but I tried to be a cool nerd(if such a thing exists), and for the most part, I succeeded. Luckily, it was a small school, and everyone got along well enough to not cause any big trouble.

I believe that Glenn probably did the dual persona to fit it and be cool.

[sodascouts]

I understand about the speech thing. Unless I'm in Texas, I minimize my Texas accent a great deal; most people have no clue where I grew up because I just pronounce everything "properly". My accent only thickens in times of extreme agitation or drunkenness, and I'm not in either condition very often.


I'm enjoying this as well. I just try to keep myself from believing the things I want to believe, because some of it has been incorrect, and that makes it all suspect.

Well, I've been pretty much keeping it to direct quotes from the guys with a little context, so unless you think they were misquoted... although of course the guys might not quite be telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

This quote from Glenn in 1975 is a bit enigmatic, but perhaps I'm missing something:
"My feeling is that Los Angeles is the Rome of North America, during the chaos. And if there's going to be any fall of the dynasty, I'd like to see it from L.A. because I think L.A. will feel it first."

This one is a bit more down-to-earth:
"There are days when I drive to the office, drink a cup of coffee for an hour, check the mail, watch Irving Azoff kill on the phone, get existential anxiety, go to the Cock'n'Bull to eat, drive to the dry cleaners, drive back up to the house, look out at the view and wonder what's gonna get me up to do what I wanna do. That's the whole premise of 'After the Thrill is Gone.' Where is the next stimulation?"

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Well, I've been pretty much keeping it to direct quotes from the guys with a little context, so unless you think they were misquoted... although of course the guys might not quite be telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth!



This is good to know! I wasn't sure what were quotes from the guys or just from the book.

I like that last quote from Glenn, and I imagine it's something all artists struggle with at least occasionally. Authors wonder where the next novel will come from. Painters wonder about the next painting. It's not something I can come close to relating to, since my inbox is always bigger than my outbox. My creative impulses come through cooking and crafts, and because I never have any time, I always have ideas stored up. A lot of artists can't imagine a 9-5 job, but I can't imagine getting up in the morning and trying to find the elusive idea that I could turn into my next paycheck.

[Freypower]

This quote from Glenn in 1975 is a bit enigmatic, but perhaps I'm missing something:
"My feeling is that Los Angeles is the Rome of North America, during the chaos. And if there's going to be any fall of the dynasty, I'd like to see it from L.A. because I think L.A. will feel it first."



The fall of the decadent empire. Isn't that what the whole Hotel California album was about? LA as Glenn apparently saw it was full of selfish rich people wallowing in their decadence (Tiffany twisted etc) while turning a blind eye to the poor. I would think he thought the rich were more visible & prominent in LA because of the music & movie industries than they were in other cities where they were more low key. So he thought if the US empire was going to crumble the first symptoms would occur in LA.

You get a direct reference in Disco Strangler; 'Rome is burning, but that's alright' & much later more broadly in I've Got Mine. I would argue that the title track from LROOE also bemoans this American decline as evidenced in the divide between rich & poor & the flaunting of wealth & privliege. I'm not giving an opinion on this; just trying to interpret what he may have meant.

[sodascouts]

This is good to know! I wasn't sure what were quotes from the guys or just from the book.

Just look for the quotation marks, either single or double. As an English teacher, I take attribution seriously. If I say it's a quote from one of the guys, then unless otherwise indicated, anything that I transcribe with be a direct quote. By "otherwise indicated" I mean with internal single quotes that set it apart, or with brackets that indicate a word's been replaced.

Here's an example of what it looks like when there's a set off quote, indicated by a single quotation mark surrounding the exact words, with the rest bound by double quotation marks. I've bolded the single ones to help you see them (at the end, there is both a single and double to indicate closing Felder's quote as well as the book quote). Hope that helps!

"To [Felder], Eagles music is 'a real good statement of the head of earthpeople, the people who have had some drug experiences, the people who have done a lot of thinking about what's going on. Without getting into the whole cosmic rap like the Grateful Dead. I think it's a real valid statement about a certain group of people and their evolution at a certain point in time. And that's what music is, it's a reflection of what's happening.'"

Hmm... so, is "earthpeople" a 70s term for hippies?

[AlreadyGone95]

Earthpeople- sounds like something a Martian would say :hilarious:.

FP, your interpretation of that quote is pretty much the same as mine.

As for having to wait and sit around for something to "spark" and you start working on it, I much like that idea more than a regular 9-5 job. That kind of job seems really monotonous and stifling to me, but it's probably what I'll end up doing.

[NightMistBlue]

If you read the NYU songwriting seminar thread though (in the Glenn section), it doesn't seem at all like Glenn is advocating a "wait for inspiration to strike" workstyle. I wrote down his quote, "Show up and try every day." And Don H. has said that Glenn is more workmanlike in his songwriting approach, sitting down at the piano or his desk whether he feels like it or not.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

If you read the NYU songwriting seminar thread though (in the Glenn section), it doesn't seem at all like Glenn is advocating a "wait for inspiration to strike" workstyle. I wrote down his quote, "Show up and try every day." And Don H. has said that Glenn is more workmanlike in his songwriting approach, sitting down at the piano or his desk whether he feels like it or not.

Yes, most people wait for inspiration, believing you can't force it. Judging from Glenn's quote, he didn't do either. He sought interactions, went places, and kept his mind open to possibilities. That is, after all, how we got Lyin' Eyes! His workman-like approach probably included trying a lot of things to see if they'd work. Not forcing it per se, but more of the belief that he wouldn't know if it would work or not until he tried.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Just look for the quotation marks, either single or double. As an English teacher, I take attribution seriously. If I say it's a quote from one of the guys, then unless otherwise indicated, anything that I transcribe with be a direct quote. By "otherwise indicated" I mean with internal single quotes that set it apart, or with brackets that indicate a word's been replaced.

Here's an example of what it looks like when there's a set off quote, indicated by a single quotation mark surrounding the exact words, with the rest bound by double quotation marks. I've bolded the single ones to help you see them (at the end, there is both a single and double to indicate closing Felder's quote as well as the book quote). Hope that helps!

"To [Felder], Eagles music is 'a real good statement of the head of earthpeople, the people who have had some drug experiences, the people who have done a lot of thinking about what's going on. Without getting into the whole cosmic rap like the Grateful Dead. I think it's a real valid statement about a certain group of people and their evolution at a certain point in time. And that's what music is, it's a reflection of what's happening.'"

Hmm... so, is "earthpeople" a 70s term for hippies?

Thank you for the clarification. I know all this, of course, but since you felt the need to explain it, and I knew you wouldn't do that unless you had a good reason, I went back and looked at post #55. I can see the single quotes when I put the reading glasses on. The joys of presbyopia.

[NightMistBlue]

Right, I think a lot of (Earth)people get too critical too soon and end up inhibiting the creative process. I forget where I saw this, but Don H. was saying it was really helpful for him to write with Glenn because Frey is less inhibited as a songwriter - he'll say or sing anything, even if it sounds bad, just to get the wheels turning so to speak.

[sodascouts]

I think part of their problems with joint songwriting occurred when that changed; Glenn has said that after the huge success of Hotel California, they both were afraid to voice ideas in case they weren't good enough. It made the process a lot harder.

On another note, Glenn gets outraged over a critical review c. 1975:
"Some guy reviewed us for the New York Times and labeled our songs escapist rock. Now to me our songs are more realist rock, confrontist rock, than anybody's. [...] What we're doing is all stuff that happened to us. We don't make any of it up. It happens to us in real life - a relationship with a girl, a spiritual thing, whatever. I hate those stupid labels. I hate when people call us a country-rock band because they are so full of it. We can do anything! We can do rock and roll, we can do country music - anything!"
You tell 'em, Glenn!

[AlreadyGone95]

:applause::applause::rockon:

Glenn tellin' it like it is!

For me, music as a whole is an escape, but the Eagles' music is about real life. That's why it resonates with so many people.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

I think part of their problems with joint songwriting occurred when that changed; Glenn has said that after the huge success of Hotel California, they both were afraid to voice ideas in case they weren't good enough. It made the process a lot harder.

On another note, Glenn gets outraged over a critical review c. 1975:

"Some guy reviewed us for the New York Times and labeled our songs escapist rock. Now to me our songs are more realist rock, confrontist rock, than anybody's. [...] What we're doing is all stuff that happened to us. We don't make any of it up. It happens to us in real life - a relationship with a girl, a spiritual thing, whatever. I hate those stupid labels. I hate when people call us a country-rock band because they are so full of it. We can do anything! We can do rock and roll, we can do country music - anything!"
You tell 'em, Glenn!

I treat their music as escapist rock at times, but in a real way. By that I mean a song like Peaceful Easy Feeling. There have been many times in my life when it was real, and there are times when I'm stressed and angry or upset. Listening to PEF takes me back to a place in my life where things were better. So I'm escaping back to my own life which was real.

[sodascouts]

A Don Henley quote from 1975 that made me chuckle:


"Rock and roll is a business. Rock and roll music is marketed like deodorant or detergent."

And this quote about Joe from Jim Fox really surprised me. It's about Joe leaving the James Gang. Fox states that Joe hadn't been happy, which I knew, but then he adds:


"[Joe] was always unhappy, he was never a happy guy, he was never the kind of guy to come off the stage and say 'That was a good gig!'"

[AlreadyGone95]

Somehow I just can't picture rock n roll being marketed like Axe is today. Although Axe didn't exist then, so maybe Brut would've been a good comparison? ( For those that don't know, Axe is probably the most popular deodorant for people my age(say between 15-30 y/os) )

Interesting to read that about Joe.

[Funk 50]

Every move is choreographed, every note is agonised over, I'm sure there are loads of genuine rock'n'roll bands but they're the bands you never hear about. The top bands work at it, hard.

At the end of a Genesis concert, Phil Collins would listen back to the show on an audio cassette, maybe even view it on dvd once they started using the Jumbotron screens, to see how the show could be improved. That's how you get good. That's why Jim Fox, great drummer that he was, is The Girl From Yesterday hoping for Joe to instigate a James Gang reunion

[NightMistBlue]

F50, I've read (don't know if it's true) that the Eagles have recorded every show they've ever done. I wonder if they listened back to them - as monotonous as that could possibly be! - to judge their performances.

[Glennsallnighter]

Just scanned this thread Soda, thanks for posting those stories. Really cheered me up!

[AlreadyGone95]

F50, I've read (don't know if it's true) that the Eagles have recorded every show they've ever done. I wonder if they listened back to them - as monotonous as that could possibly be! - to judge their performances.

Considering the fact that the always wanted to be perfect, it wouldn't surprise me if they did do that!

[UndertheWire]

It brought to mind something written by Glenn's friend Thomas Sullivan:

I’m always amazed to listen as Glenn and his manager Tommy Nixon (the Lone Star Texan) or Jerry Vaccarino dissect a concert from the night before. What sounded flawless to me at midnight may be the subject of considerable debate the next day, as they parse out every phase of a program. It is always a revelation and a renewal of light on my own creative efforts to realize how nuanced an artist must be in pursuit of perfection.link (http://www.storytellersunplugged.com/2009/09/16/thomas-sullivan-are-you-ready-for-fame-fortune-crosslake-redux-with-glenn-deacon-frey/)

It's not just Glenn. Don Felder writes about asking for copies of the house mix because he wanted to check the new guy was up to the job.

[sodascouts]

Along those lines, here's another interesting quote from Joe from the Jams Gang days:

"I can come off the stage having the worst night I ever had, and if you jump around a lot and play loud you can fool the audience. They're not aware of the fact that you had a bad night. We've come off the stage having the worst night and have a standing ovation and a great reception. Then you might have a good night and nobody gets into it. It really makes you wonder... really shakes you up."

[Funk 50]

Listening back to a concert is one thing, the tricky bit is fixing it. Phil Collins, apparently, would slip a note under the relevant hotel door.

Joe Vitale tells an amusing story about slipping a fancy drum lick into a performance of Those Shoes, causing a stir amongst the guitarists. Initially he thought it was admiration but after being summoned to Henley's room after the show, he realised that the rest of the band knew what was coming to him.

As they gathered for the next night's show, Glenn jokes "So, Joe Bob, remember to play that fill". :-D

If that nice Mr. Felder was listening back to shows, he must've been up for kickin' some ass too!

[sodascouts]

A joke from Joe c. 1975:
"Everyone holds up his own end [in the Eagles]. That's all I ever wanted in a band. In fact, if the Eagles were any happier we would probably break up."
All sunshine and daisies, eh? ;)

This one surprised me - a quote from Henley after the release of Greatest Hits:
"We aren't really advocates of greatest hits albums. They are more or less a ploy by the record company to get free sales. They don't have to spend any money to make them and they get a lot of money back. [...] The record company put it out and we couldn't stop them."
So the record company can put out greatest hits albums without the permission of the band? I wonder how often that happens. I know Don put out two greatest hits packages with essentially the same songs on them, but the first one at least had his participation in that there were some new songs. Certainly he benefited from them. Indeed, in the case of the Eagles Greatest Hits referenced in the quote, the album went on to become the best selling album of the 20th century.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

A joke from Joe c. 1975:
"Everyone holds up his own end [in the Eagles]. That's all I ever wanted in a band. In fact, if the Eagles were any happier we would probably break up."
All sunshine and daisies, eh? ;)

This one surprised me - a quote from Henley after the release of Greatest Hits:
"We aren't really advocates of greatest hits albums. They are more or less a ploy by the record company to get free sales. They don't have to spend any money to make them and they get a lot of money back. [...] The record company put it out and we couldn't stop them."
So the record company can put out greatest hits albums without the permission of the band? I wonder how often that happens. I know Don put out two greatest hits packages with essentially the same songs on them, but the first one at least had his participation in that there were some new songs. Certainly he benefited from them. Indeed, in the case of the Eagles Greatest Hits referenced in the quote, the album went on to become the best selling album of the 20th century.

Glenn talked about this in an interview, and alludes to it in the documentary in that he didn't say 'we' did the Greatest Hits. I'm trying to remember where I read they weren't happy about it at the time.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Soda - I'm loving this thread and hope there's still a few more quotes to come. This is terrific case-in-point chronicle about how people's attitudes and beliefs change as they age if there ever was one.

[Funk 50]

I've seen somewhere that Henley was unhappy that the Desperado songs were being released outside of the context of the album, although it never seemed to be an issue when performing the tracks live.

Also, in the mid seventies, a Greatest Hits album would be viewed as a career retrospective. The Eagles, entering a new era, would have been adverse to any move that would suggest that their best days were behind them.

Glenn's also mentioned that Greatest Hits albums make it less likely that people will buy the actual albums they produced. I think he called the early Eagles albums, little soldiers, fighting their corner and needing all the help they can get.

I think in hindsight, Hotel California and Their Greatest Hits (1972-75) gave their earlier albums a huge boost sales wise.

[sodascouts]

I didn't know this about the making of HC - a quote from Henley:

"We had to finish the album during the start of our tour. We played three concerts in three different cities, and then had to get a Lear jet and fly back to Miami and record all night until six o'clock the next morning. Then we had to fly back to the next town and play another concert. [...] We weren't even at the studio for the last two mixes. Szymczyk had to mix the last two tracks and bring them out to us, on the road, so we could hear them."

Why do touring at that stage? Glenn explains:

"We just couldn't stay out of the American eye for seven months. Once you have somebody [like Leadon] leave your band you don't just put out a press release saying Joe Walsh is joining and leave it at that and let the people who bought your records wonder what you're doing. "
I think Glenn and the other guys believing they couldn't take a break - not even for seven months - was what finally lead to their breakup.

[AlreadyGone95]

That reminds of what Simon Kirke(Bad Company's drummer) said about their work ethic in the 70s. Basically "Album, Tour, Album, Toyr, Album, Tour" etc. That kind of cycle can only work for a short time before something(or someone) snaps. I think that most bands of the 60s/70s had that kind of cycle, and that's why most bands of that era eventually broke up. I can't imagine how grueling that kind of work schedule would be!

[VAisForEagleLovers]

I can't even imagine how he'd feel now, since we all have the attention spans of a gnat.