Steuart Smith interview

[WalshFan88]

One of my favorite guitar-related channels just did a 2 hour video interview with Steuart about his history and coming up. The last 30 minutes or so are pretty guitar heavy and those not in tune (ha!) with guitars, gear, and sound might not find it as interesting but the first half or more is definitely something anyone remotely curious about him needs!

I love Steuart and I feel Glenn said it best - he was a shot in the arm the Eagles needed!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm34V0oRqf0

[WalshFan88]

I forgot to mention he talks about his Eagles audition in depth and how he learned all the parts and his decision to join the band and all the dirty details we've been wondering for years!

He also stated that he feels it was Glenn's band and that Glenn was largely responsible for the crafting of the guitar parts and musical parts as a whole and that he was a great guitar player himself. He talked about him being a Lone Arranger. I got the feeling he really liked and misses Glenn. He layed the props on him heavily which I highly appreciated. He did however give props to DH for being a perfectionist and that he treated him gently when discussing how to play things for them and that he always called him and didn't have his people do it for him. That is definitely respectable.

[KingWalsh]

Thanks for sharing! Will definitely give it a listen. So cool. :cool:

[chaim]

Just noticed this. I was just thinking about the guy a couple of days ago and looking for interviews. So thanks for this!!

[chaim]

And also...Although this man has never been an official member, to me he became a real Eagle when he started making original music with them. It was silly that Joe pretended to play his licks in videos.

[chaim]

Just listened to the Eagles part from the beginning to the arrival of Vince Gill. What a joy he is to watch and to listen to.

[WalshFan88]

And also...Although this man has never been an official member, to me he became a real Eagle when he started making original music with them. It was silly that Joe pretended to play his licks in videos.

Agreed. It did seem very silly to me in How Long to make it seem like Joe's licks.

Although I don't think we can blame Joe for that. I'm sure the decision to make it seem like Joe was playing it was either Don and Glenn or Steuart himself. I think he's made it clear he didn't want to be an Eagle (although he should be!!) nor does he care for the spotlight. Getting a video interview with him is about as far as he's gone. No social accounts, no real online presence. Other than some written interviews and the very little time he talked in the HOTE doc, he's very under the radar and I get the jist he likes it!

So yeah, not a great look but I don't think for a minute Joe insisted on making it seem like he played them. Joe is about as humble as they come. Far more humble than someone like Mr. Felder. Maybe even more humble than Bernie Leadon, but they are pretty close to be fair. As is Steuart. Stu is extremely humble and seems like a very good hang. Although I get the jist also, that he might be an introvert and a quiet guy. I am very much the same, along with some shyness. But I'll take his type as a "hang" over the boisterous/hyper or quietly snooty/narcissistic types who think they are a little better than you, even if they don't say it, it will always show itself through passive-aggression.

[chaim]

Oh, I didn't mean that Joe wanted to "play" those licks in the videos, (I think he did so in the BBF video as well). I've never thought that it was something he asked to do. I'm sure he was asked/told to do it. The correct wording should have been "it was silly that Joe was ASKED to...", but I think it's obvious that he was asked.

And yeah I don't think that Steuart would have cared to be in the video(s) even if he had been asked. IMO they should have shown something else in the video(s) during Steuart's licks and solos. Like the band hanging out together or something.

I know that Steuart doesn't care about being an official Eagle, but I wonder if he has been asked...

[WalshFan88]

I would think he probably made it clear without coming out and directly saying it to the guys that he wasn't comfortable with the rockstar thing or being a 5th Eagle. Maybe he doesn't want to do band interviews, be "too" known, etc. I mean even the written interviews are sparse from him, this is the first real interview on video/audio with him. He spoke maybe 5 sentences on the HOTE doc but I get the jist he doesn't see himself as a rock n' roll star/band member/celebrity/out front guy. He pretty much lays low.

Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, and Joe Walsh were the main guys for so long after Felder left that those four are iconic with the name Eagles and under the banner. It was a good unit. I think Steuart would have made a terrific official 5th Eagle, even if he wasn't the prototypical sex/drugs/rock n' roll celebrity band member like the others.

And maybe the guys didn't want him to be, that's plausible but obviously Steuart was ok with that if not delighted. I don't see him as a rockstar. I think he's definitely a sideman, a writer, a session musician. It's like now with the Eagles-lite. Vince Gill is about the farthest thing from the cool rockstar vibe of Glenn, DH, Tim, and Joe that he IMO is more like Steuart now. Deacon, on the otherhand, exudes that rockstar celebrity vibe and has the coolness of his father. I still think he should be doing his own thing, but he doesn't look nearly as out of place as Vince does. I mean Joe Perry would probably look out of place in the Pure Prairie League too, to be fair. But I don't think Vince could have hung or kept up with those 60s/70s/80s rockers or even would want to try. He's a little clean cut for that and he probably wouldn't have partaked in any of the extracirriculars.

I can't see him with a coke nose next to Felder or Walsh in the Hotel California music video. LOL! As a dirty greasy classic/hard rock and roll fan, it wouldn't have worked for me! I was too into classic rock and that lifestyle. I mean I went out and had my left ear pierced after seeing a Rolling Stones concert video to try to look like Keith Richards, the real "Walking Dead"! Clean cut doesn't fit me. I might be a shy introvert IRL, but inside I'm trying to be my best Keith Richards that I can be at any given moment in time. :lol:

[Ive always been a dreamer]

IMO, Steuart, along with Scott, Will, and Michael are the perfect fit for the role they play in the Eagles. I don't think any of them seek the limelight that goes with being an Eagle and that's why they are all still with the band. After Felder was fired, I don't believe there was ever any intention to bring in another member to replace him.

I have met all these guys casually during my Eagles travels, and while I don't pretend to know them, I got the impression that they all had low-key personalities.

Hopefully, I will be able to watch the interview soon. Thanks for finding it, Austin.

[chaim]

With my initial comment I didn't mean to complain that he isn't an official member. I just wanted to say that to ME he is an Eagle now, although he isn't officially. That's my way of saying that I love what he has done in the band.

[WalshFan88]

Oh absolutely, chaim. I knew what you meant. :)

Dreamer - that's probably right on the money. I mean "hired hands" in the Eagles and Scott Crago in particular go back at least to Hell Freezes Over. So it was nothing new then either to use sidemen in a famous group instead of all official members.