Quoting my own quote because... I got this book for my birthday! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by CAinOH
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Quoting my own quote because... I got this book for my birthday! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by CAinOH
Congratulations. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by CAinOH
I didn't learn anything earth-shattering but instead it confirmed/enhanced my impression of Glenn's quirks and personality. A few of the stories and comments are really funny.
I am supposed to get my book today. I am looking forward to reading it.
What are your thoughts on the book, NKIT?
Here are some quotes from the "Last Encore" book.
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Glenn took everything very seriously, sometimes way too seriously. But I knew him well in the many years I worked for him. The good side of Glenn far outweighed the bad, and sometimes with family you just have to take your lumps in stride and move on.
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We on the crew had always heard that Felder was never happy. There were selfish attitudes and behaviors we got from him towards us that seemed to back up the stories. He wasn't the crews favorite Eagle...
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I'd never known Timothy to want a change of strings on his bass. But I was responsible for his set-up and spare bass as well. Timothy was easy. The only thing I had to do for Timothy was to make sure his wife off in the wings had a cigarette.
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...when it came to band pranks, Henley could be as much fun as any of the other band members...
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[Glenn]... would reward you for a job well done, or a show of loyalty. Above all Glenn was a loyal guy and didn't hesitate to reciprocate. But if Glenn didn't like you or you screwed up something for him he'd throw his favorite hockey term at you and you'd be "off the ice" in the penalty box, and you'd have to earn your way back in.
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Arrogance can be rampant in a rock n roll band. Others, like the Eagles, while they demanded our best, were not like that. They got it and appreciated the work we did. They showed it in many different ways, like the bonus I got for "nice catch", the food and beverages they brought in for rehearsals, the decent hot meals in the contract rider, and the per diem and paychecks we received on time, every time. We felt appreciated by the band members, all but one that is. Overall my time with the Eagles was a pleasure.
Of course, "Norton" was Glenn's guy and has a bias, but he also paints a very human picture of the man including flaws.Quote:
One point of contention between Frey and Felder was that Glenn occasionally came up with parts that his fingers just couldn't play. While Glenn was the consummate creator, Felder was the consummate player. Everyone on the stage conceded the fact that technically "Fingers" Felder was the best musician on stage. But Glenn could come up with great guitar parts his fingers couldn't deliver.
Instead of taking Glenn's suggestions in stride Felder's ego was easily bruised. In his book... he hinted at the fact that he was always hesitant to present songs to Frey and Henley... for fear of being shot down... That might intimidate an insecure person.
Thanks for that, UTW. I finished reading the book, too. Overall, it was a fun, entertaining, and easy read. Not a lot of anything new, but it was an interesting and believable take from an insider. There were a few stories in it that I had never heard before though. One that stands out is his account of how Glenn and Cindy connected at the Livin' Right' video shoot. According to Norton, Glenn wanted a massage, and his regular therapist was out of town. Among other things, Cindy was apparently a skilled massage therapist, so Norton called her and arranged an appointment for Glenn. Apparently, it went well. ;-) He also gives some interesting personal accounts about Glenn and Cindy's engagement and wedding.
I was amused about the hockey reference and definitely find that as believable. Glenn once told Soda, PLS, and myself about someone who he said was "in my penalty box for life".
There were a couple of things that I found a bit annoying - first of all, my book was printed in very low quality. Also, throughout the book, Norton talks about him being with the Eagles during their heyday - the 80's. Sorry, dude, but the Eagles of the 80's lasted 6 months. My guess based on other references in the book is that he was with the band during The Long Run tour, and then, after the break up, Glenn kept him on retainer as a personal assistant.
Overall - it is a must read for Eagles, and, especially, Glenn fans.
I was entertained by the idea that Glenn didn't want to be recognised buying underwear.
FF - I enjoyed the book - it was an easy read. As Dreamer and UTW have said, I did not learn a lot of new information. Like Dreamer said, it gave info on Glenn's engagement and wedding to Cindy that I did not know about. I thought it was interesting that the road crew felt Don F. was a complainer and the least liked of all the guys. Dreamer, I have to agree about the 80's heyday, It was the 70's not the 80's - that kind of annoyed me too. I also figured he worked on the Long Run Tour. His ID badge on the cover of the book shows him wearing a "The Long One" t-shirt. UTW - I thought the underwear comment was funny too.Quote:
Originally Posted by FreyFollower
I was also struck by the fact that after Norton sold the business he went 50/50 with Glenn, they seemed to loose contact with each other. Kind of "Out of Sight Out of Mind" . Also, he apparently did not like Irving at all. Also, I did not think Tim was married at that time but only dating his wife. He does not spill any beans on the guys and reveal any real personal info on them.
Norton's time with the Eagles has to have been 1980 or possibly 1979-80 and probably was months rather than years. When his collaborator referred to "mild dementia" in the introduction, I was a little concerned because who wants to read the memoir of someone with memory loss? So I wasn't expecting perfect recall, just some stories and an overall impression and in that respect, it was fine. If he'd done this twenty years ago, it would have been better. What we really need is someone who took copious notes and keeps everything, like Cameron Crowe.
Very true, UTW.
"Reciprocate". Had to look that one up.
I wonder which guitar parts played by Felder were something "Glenn' fingers just couldn't play". Eagles songs don't have that challenging guitar parts in the first place in terms of notes (perhaps Glenn just couldn't make them sound good?) and the Don't Give Up intro didn't seem to be too hard for Glenn's fingers.
Glenn's warm personality and his loyalty was admirable, as was the fact he wouldn't let you get away with letting him down or disrespect him. In other words, he reciprocated and wouldn't let you walk over him.
I'm not surprised at all about Felder and his constant woe-is-me whining. It would wane on anybody. It was interesting though to hear it from the road crew! Just goes to show you that Glenn wasn't wrong nor was he in the wrong for getting rid of him. No one liked that stuff. It was good to hear that it wasn't just "The Gods" that got tired of it or had a problem. I'd wager to bet that Walsh and Schmit got tired of it too.
I am surprised though about Glenn's guitar parts he would create that he supposedly couldn't play. I'm with Chaim all the way on this. Glenn was an awesome and catastrophically underrated guitarist!
Thank you UndertheWire, Dreamer and New Kid for sharing your thoughts on the book. Does Thompson mention Randy? Don H and Glenn contributed vocals to Randy’s 1980 “One More Song” album. And I wondered maybe if the band or Irving talked about him.
NMB - I don't remember him saying anything about Randy. He did not join the road crew until the LR Tour.Quote:
Originally Posted by NightMistBlue
I don't recall any specific mentions of Randy either, NMB. If there was, it was probably in the context of him being an original member.
And re: Glenn creating guitar parts he couldn't play, I would question that as well. Of course, it's not impossible, but, I find it more likely that he created parts that he thought were well-suited for other band members to play live e.g. I Can't Tell You Why. As WF said, Glenn was an underrated guitarist, but his RA limited him in his later years.
So a few weeks ago i had rented a book out from the library entitled "Rock Star Babylon" by Jon Holmes. It's all about rock stars behaving badly. I honestly wasn't expecting any Eagles stories, I just got it because it sounded funny and interesting. But there I was flipping through the book, seeing stories about the Led Zeppelin mudshark episode, Nikki Sixx and a groupie, Ozzy and a bat. All of a sudden a name caught my eye, Felder! I nearly dropped the book and screamed out "What?!" There was only one chapter on them and it was called "Where Eagles fear to tread" I was thinking "what kind of shit could they possibly have on -" and then it hit me. They're talking about the whole incident where Felder and Glenn almost came to blows right on stage. Didn't go into great detail about it, but it did say that ever since then, the band members each have a designated piece of carpet that they stand on, so they're a safe distance from each other. Ouch.
I don't know about this story...... I never saw carpet on the stage where they stood when I saw them in concert.
It's from some comedy writer, so I doubt that part is real. But just the thought of it is a bit cringeworthy. I just mentioned the book because it surprised me to see a story about the guys in it.Quote:
Originally Posted by New Kid In Town
I love your avatar Elle - I have that slogan on a t-shirt so true!
Thanks! I'll probably keep it for a while, because it took me what seemed like forever to get it on here. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Glennsallnighter
I just read that in the book.Quote:
Originally Posted by chaim
"Everyone on the stage conceded the fact that technically "Fingers" Felder was the best musician on the stage. But Glenn could come up with great guitar parts his fingers couldn't deliver."
The way the line reads it's Felder's fingers that couldn't deliver not Glenn's. Note the word "But" at the start of the next line.
Friends sent me a book for my birthday, just got it Saturday. Haven't read it yet but scanned through it
"The Eagles: Take it to the Limit" by Ben Fong-Torre formerly Rolling Stone magazine It's a hard cover and really nice good quality. Lots of pictures, some I've seen before and some new ones. Looks like it's covering from the old line up to the new one today. Hope to get started on it today.
Nice! That's one of the books that I've been wanting to read. Please let me know if it's worth getting. :grin:Quote:
Originally Posted by Scamp
It looks like this an update of his 2011 book, "Taking it to the Limit". I remember that as having nice pictures. It would be interesting to know what has changed.
I think it is an updated book as I saw the same publishing company for both books. Looked on Amazon, first book was $149...Guess I won't buy it. LOL Got a couple others too for birthday. I guess my friends think alike Now I got something to read instead of just watching tv.
Scamp - if you are quoting directly from the book, I think you may be right that the writer is saying that Glenn came up with guitar parts that Felder's fingers couldn't deliver. It makes sense because there are various accounts about times such as ICTYW and TALA when Glenn was able to create a better recorded version than either Felder or Joe, but he didn't perform the part live. I doubt if there are any Eagles songs that any of the guitar players couldn't actually play - it was just a matter of who played the best or preferred version on the record.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scamp
Elle - If you want to get some opinions on books about the band, most of them are in this thread. It's a long thread, so if you want, you can search the thread for a particular book e.g. search the word 'limit' to bring up posts that have that word. Keep in mind, there are two different books with 'limit' in the title - the one referenced here by Ben Fong-Torres named 'Take It to the Limit' and another one by Marc Eliot name 'To the Limit'.Quote:
Originally Posted by Elle81
Thanks, dreamer. I'll check out the thread. :grin:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ive always been a dreamer
Yes I was quoting from the book. Also if you noticed Felder and now Smith, play a lot of the solo parts because Joe plays the acoustic guitar, especially 12 string, on a lot of the songs. Also he plays the organ on a couple of them. That was a plus for getting Joe in the band. In fact when Joe first started with the Eagles he played keyboard on some songs and on albums, like Long Road he played a lot of piano and keyboard besides the organ instead of guitar.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ive always been a dreamer
One thing Glenn like about Joe was Felder wrote songs for guitar and Glenn and Don were supposed to come up with the lyrics and how to work them into the song. With Joe they could take the lyrics and maybe an idea for how they wanted the song to go and he could come up with guitar parts to go with the lyrics. He is very good at that. Glenn was a good guitar player but Joe could at that little extra kick that Glenn liked.
I have a few books about the Eagles. When reading them I find remembering who wrote it and that the book is their point of view on what went on makes it more enjoyable to me. Even Kristen's book, she was as high as Joe most of the time. In the early days of the Eagles they all were high, drinking, partying and drugs, so it can really make some differences in what they remember. I only saying this because as I've read post on this thread, sometimes people get mad at what someone printed about their favorite Eagle or the Eagles in general. Also some don't want to read some books because of the same reasons. I say take the book and read it, take it for what it is, just someone's opinion. Most of the books I've found to be very entertaining, even funny at times. They all have lots of information about the Eagles from different points of view. Besides, I'm getting tired of sitting home all day watching tv. LOL It's nice to have another form of entertainment.
Read them and enjoy them. Take what you want from them and disregard the rest if you want.
Peace and Love.
So I decided today to go and try to find the Life magazine Eagles special edition. Sadly, I went to two Barnes and Noble stores but was unable to find it. So, I'll just order it off of Amazon. But I did find "Eagles: Taking it to the limit" by Ben Fong-Torres, which caused me to emit high pitched velociraptor sounds, much to the dismay of my fellow bibliophiles. :rofl:
It was under thirty dollars, so of course I bought it, along with another Led Zep book to add to my rock band book collection. The book has a pretty decent narrative and lot of really great pictures of the guys and their famous friends that makes it so worth the money. It was published in 2020, so it talks about Glenn's passing, which made me cry. It also featured a picture of Deacon, who is absolutely adorable. I highly recommend this book.
In case you didn’t know, Openlibrary.org, which is free, just make an account, has To The Limit/Untold Story of the Eagles. By Marc Eliot. I’m reading that online, now that the kids are older I actually have time to read again. I’d rather have the print version, but it’s cool anyways, and free is always good lol.
That's awesome. I too like actual paper books, but free is always good! I'll have to check that out.
Scamp - That BFT book came out years ago. You are reading an updated version. The Eliott book has lots of mistakes. His research on the music business was good - not so on facts about the guys. Plus he was sued by Don H. when he did his updated version.
New Kid
I have a lot of different books on the LA Rock scene. They all have a different take on the same time. When I read them i keep in mind it's one person's view and as an author and some just put in their books what will sell their book.
I used to go to the Troubadour and the Whiskey Ago Ago during that time. I saw Glenn and JD at the Troubadour, Don when he was in Shilo at the Whiskey, Joe at the Whiskey, Linda at the Troubadour, CSN, Jackson, Joni and so many more good singers who never really made it. It was a good time for music. A good time for drinking too. LOL
Sometimes when I'm reading something it's like I remember that. It was a great time. But also so many good people are no longer with us because of things that went on in that time.