Discussion of Eagles Documentary "History of the Eagles"

I hope I'm not repeating myself - sometimes it feels like I'm going round in circles and it buzzes in my head to the point where I can't remember what's made it as far as my keyboard.

From the books and documentaries what I get is that the music business of the 1970s was a tough place to be and that negotiation techniques and contracts were not what would be considered fair or good practice these days. There are stories of bands who had hits, worked hard but found themselves in debt because the way their contracts were worded. Managers ripping off bands, even suicides. Tom Petty fought to win back his publishing which he'd signed over without realising early in his career. Pete Townsend was pretty broke in the late 1980s before the 1989 tour made him a millionaire. Geffen and Azoff seem to have done well by their clients even if they did even better for themselves. For example, Geffen only took half the publishing.

It was a dirty business and the managers fought dirty for their clients. Just because there was a contract in place, didn't mean it couldn't be changed retrospectively. Geffen was known as a shark, and Azoff was known for being very unpleasant to deal with because of how he would scream at people. Azoff used the carrot of a new album and the stick of it being delayed in order to change how much the Eagles received for the earlier albums and the record company agreed because they needed that album to deliver the numbers their shareholders were expecting. And they were making so much money out of the band that they could afford to pay more.

That was the environment in which the members of the band learned about negotiations. Everyone was out to screw them so they just needed someone ruthless on their side. Contracts could be renegotiated and they used their power to get what they wanted.

Where I'm going with this is that I think it helps explain why Frey/Henley/Azoff felt they were able to renegotiate contracts in 1994 and why they might have thought it reasonable to be quite assertive about it.

On a slightly different tack, all the band members were poker players, so perhaps part of it was about knowing the strength of their hands and bluffing or being able to walk away.

I would have to agree with your assessment, UTW. Irving, himself, has says the music business is a "dog-eat-dog world". Most of the top 'dogs' in the industry were pretty ruthless, and any manager who didn't fight hard for his artist was perceived as selling them out.

This is a bit off topic, but the storyline in the Wise Guy TV series that Glenn guest starred in the 80's depicts a lot of the seedy underbelly of the music industry. I thought it was an entertaining series.

I've been thinking about this for a while, but never had the chance to post it. When Bernie was talking about what lead him to the Eagles. I just remembered he said he left the Burrito Brothers because Graham Parson was gone and he didn't like the way the band was going. He also left the Eagles becausehe was he didn't like the direction they were going. I wonder what he was looking in a band because he left two bands because they were going in another direction.

I can't remember where I read it (maybe Hotel California?), but there was something about Bernie being frustrated in some of his earlier groups because group members had drug and alcohol issues which made their playing sloppy. That was one of the reasons why the Eagles rehearsed so much so that they would still sound good when high or drunk. The band's drug use was also one of the reasons he left the Eagles.

Here's one - when Randy is discussing TITTL and its meaning, he seems to be a bit displeased when he's talking about it (and how it 'took its course') - anyone know anything about this: was it heavily altered by Don H / Glenn? Also, what's the discussion about it being their first No.1 hit? I thought that was Best of My Love, then OOTN then Hotel California?

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Originally Posted by shunlvswx

I've been thinking about this for a while, but never had the chance to post it. When Bernie was talking about what lead him to the Eagles. I just remembered he said he left the Burrito Brothers because Graham Parson was gone and he didn't like the way the band was going. He also left the Eagles becausehe was he didn't like the direction they were going. I wonder what he was looking in a band because he left two bands because they were going in another direction.

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He was wanting to go to more of a 'country' direction and the rest of the band wanted to 'rock'.

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Originally Posted by thelastresort

Here's one - when Randy is discussing TITTL and its meaning, he seems to be a bit displeased when he's talking about it (and how it 'took its course') - anyone know anything about this: was it heavily altered by Don H / Glenn? Also, what's the discussion about it being their first No.1 hit? I thought that was Best of My Love, then OOTN then Hotel California?

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You're right, tlr. BOML was their first #1. TITTL was their first gold record.

https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/biography.htm (the definitive source)

And for additional info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_of...e_(Eagles_song)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_It...t_(Eagles_song)

Quick question: are the varsity jackets that the Eagles had made in the 70s made out of satin? I have a friend who does clothing and I'm thinking about asking her to make me one, but I wanted to ask my Eagles Experts first.

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Originally Posted by thelastresort

Here's one - when Randy is discussing TITTL and its meaning, he seems to be a bit displeased when he's talking about it (and how it 'took its course') - anyone know anything about this: was it heavily altered by Don H / Glenn? Also, what's the discussion about it being their first No.1 hit? I thought that was Best of My Love, then OOTN then Hotel California?

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The Number One singles were as follows:

Best Of My Love
One Of These Nights
New Kid In Town
Hotel California
Heartache Tonight

Sadly Felder has done his level best to pretend that the song Hotel California was the first single from that album which went to Number One. This is not true.

As for TITTL being certified gold, I have never understood why the other songs which actually did hit Number One were not gold also.

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Originally Posted by Shadowland07

Quick question: are the varsity jackets that the Eagles had made in the 70s made out of satin? I have a friend who does clothing and I'm thinking about asking her to make me one, but I wanted to ask my Eagles Experts first.

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You could always buy one of the current ones, but I know that doesn't answer your question. I don't know if they were entirely made out of satin or not.

http://eaglesband.com/store/product/...varsity-jacket