Eagles books

The errors in the Tom King book are minor - he's taken a story from another source and tried to simplify it but instead loses accuracy. For example, Henley originally told Cameron Crowe the story of Geffen in the sauna with Glenn, Jackson, JD and Ned Doheney but when King retells it, he puts Henley in the sauna, too.

In Mansion on the Hill by Fred Goodman, there's a good chapter on the Eagles and their management problems. The author interviewed Glenn Frey, JD Souther, Don Henley, Ned Doheney, Irving Azoff, John Hartmann, Harlan Goodman, John Boylan, Paul Ahearn and others in 1992/1993. i've seen bits of it in other books, but this is the clearest and fullest account.

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Originally Posted by NightMistBlue

A woman I work with has a copy autographed sweetly by Mr. Henley - a friend got it for her at a local book signing. It says, "Rosemarie, I've heard you're very beautiful. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to see you." What a charmer, that Don.

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Talk about smooth!!! Don could teach James Bond a thing or two. :heart::heart:

Need I mention it was a male friend who got the autograph for Rosemarie. Don Juan was trying to help a comrade out :)

Has anyone heard of "Palm Tree 13" by Camden Joy? Here's a review at goodreads:

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A western starring all of the country-rock stars of the Southern California seventies. Glenn Frey is fistfighting hero, bemoaning his drowned horse. It turns out that the whole western is only going on in the heads of the self-obsessed musicians, who have ritualistically eaten handfulls of tequila worms that they have been saving all summer. Hilarious.

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I'm guessing it's not one for fans.

That can't be for real!

It sounds intriguing, very imaginative:
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Palm-Tree-13-Camden-Joy/dp/0970085885[/ame]

I just ordered the book Canyon of Dreams from Barnes and Noble. Amazon surprisingly was sold out. It depicts the famous people that lived in Laurel Canyon during the 70's. Henry Diltz has photography in it. The Eagles are suppose to be featured in it. It is in paperback and hardcover. I got the paperback not very expensive. Hope it's good. I'll report back.

I received my copy this week - it's really lovely. I enjoyed all of Randy's quotes. There is at least one Henry Diltz photo, of Glenn and his ol' 55 Gladys. Henry talks about the contrast of photographing Glenn and Randy, with their differing personalities and energies: sensitive Pisces man Randy vs. outgoing, extroverted Glenn.

Has anyone read any of Rand Bishop's books on songwriting? It seems he hung out at the Troubadour and his books include anecdotes about that time, including tales of one-upmanship from his rivalry with Glenn.

Google books allows you to read a sample from one of the books with Eagles/Frey anecdotes on pages 112-114.

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Originally Posted by UndertheWire

Has anyone read any of Rand Bishop's books on songwriting? It seems he hung out at the Troubadour and his books include anecdotes about that time, including tales of one-upmanship from his rivalry with Glenn.

Google books allows you to read a sample from one of the books with Eagles/Frey anecdotes on pages 112-114.

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I've never heard of him, and therefore I was unaware of any rivalry with Glenn, so what he had to say didn't mean anything to me.

I had to smile at Rand's extremely concise songwriting goals though, all four of which centered on cultivating contacts and relationships. It's ALL about who you know, he argues.

The Glenn anecdotes were snarky and a tad bitter. That's fine but I don't know if it would be worthwhile to wade through a whole book of that tone.

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Originally Posted by Freypower

I've never heard of him, and therefore I was unaware of any rivalry with Glenn, so what he had to say didn't mean anything to me.

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That's what I liked. It's the other side of "I don't know why fortune smiles on some and let's the rest go free." There's this guy hanging out at the Troubadour, young, ambitious, talented and yet he doesn't make it big. The rivalry fits with other descriptions of the Troubadour scene and brings it to life and at that stage of their lives, they had no idea who would make it. I don't care that his stories aren't that flattering - he's putting down a rival and his tone is that of a cocky, young man.

The advice about networking certainly seems to hold true for many of those 70s California-based songwriters. Jack Tempchin's meeting with Glenn & JD, led to the Eagles recording "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and with that Jack's songwriting career began. I believe his advice in one interview was for a songwriter to make friends with some musicians who were just about to break out.

It's certainly wise advice. It made me smile because it's so unusually honest and straightforward. The many books and articles I've read on songwriting focus on the craft and the business aspect, almost never the social aspect. Maybe the importance of networking is so obvious to most people that it doesn't bear mentioning, but I confess I'm not one of those people :) I needed to have it spelled out and then I was able to see it.

I still hope Glenn writes that book on songwriting that he said he wanted to do some years ago - that would be gold.

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Originally Posted by UndertheWire

Has anyone read any of Rand Bishop's books on songwriting? It seems he hung out at the Troubadour and his books include anecdotes about that time, including tales of one-upmanship from his rivalry with Glenn.

Google books allows you to read a sample from one of the books with Eagles/Frey anecdotes on pages 112-114.

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Thanks for that link! I love to read these little stories.

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Originally Posted by DJ

I just ordered the book Canyon of Dreams from Barnes and Noble. Amazon surprisingly was sold out. It depicts the famous people that lived in Laurel Canyon during the 70's. Henry Diltz has photography in it. The Eagles are suppose to be featured in it. It is in paperback and hardcover. I got the paperback not very expensive. Hope it's good. I'll report back.

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DJ, I looked at that one on Barnes and Noble and thought it looked pretty good. Let me know what you think of it :)

I just saw this book...wondering if anyone has read it?...

http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/...pswtyvlxcr.jpg

First I've heard of it. Looks like Amazon released it on Feb. 1. The paperback is $20.65! I'm betting it has $0.50 of information I don't already know, and $8.65 of information that's not right, and $7.20 of opinions I don't agree with.

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Originally Posted by zeldabjr

I just saw this book...wondering if anyone has read it?...

http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/...pswtyvlxcr.jpg

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I ordered this book last June from Amazon and they just sent me an update Monday that said it is being sent out and I should have it by Saturday. It is probably like VA said but I will let y'all know. Amazon did give me a discount since it has taken so long. :thumbsup:

There's a preview of the book here which has the contents list and introduction. It goes right up to and including the HotE tour.

That looks pretty cool! The title of chapter 40 made me laugh aloud, "Don Henley Must Die: Eagles Love, Eagles Hate."

I read the first six pages of the intro and am not impressed. I might get the book when the price goes down.

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Originally Posted by VAisForEagleLovers

I read the first six pages of the intro and am not impressed. I might get the book when the price goes down.

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I read it as well. Lots of mistakes & inaccuracies. Definitely not worth the price they are charging. You wouldn't know if what you are reading is fact. I agree with you, VA. I might buy it at a cheaper price, just out of curiosity. :)

I just went to the mailbox and got my mail. The Eagles FAQ was there. It's too late to start reading but I looked at the acknowledgments and it appears that his information was gathered from the internet, other books, magazine articles, conversations with other artists, etc. A couple of sentences stood out in the acknowledgments......

"Thanks to Nancy and Lisa, who run two exemplary Eagles sites, EaglesFans.com and EaglesOnlineCentral.com. The information and passion they channel is simply awesome".

I wish he would have had the fan site names in the correct order.

It's good that he gives the credit!

I had my mom pick me up "Sound Man" the Glyn Johns book today.

I'll read it when my eyes feel like it. Even though the Johns period is my lesser favorite to the Szymczyk period, I felt like I had to read it, not to mention his work with other huge names in rock n' roll.

Has anyone here read Linda Ronstadt's autobiography? I'm intrigued to see there's a chapter on the Eagles. Apparently, some "chapters" in the book are only a few pages, so I won't get too excited.

There's also some Eagles content in the book I'm reading now "Girls Like Us," Sheila Weller's bio of Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon. Joni was involved with J.D. Souther (who wasn't?, you may well ask - it's amazing that guy is still standing) and was/is a friend of Don Henley. Mr. Henley doesn't come off particularly well, as one of Joni's boyfriends describes Don as a megalomaniac who only talked about himself.

I thought Joni may have been involved with one or more of the Eagles, as an old Flo & Eddie song claims, but apparently that is not true.

There are a couple of threads that may interest you.

Linda Ronstadt's book gets discussed from about page 5 onwards in the
Linda Ronstadt thread. From memory, the Eagles chapter is just a couple of pages.

And then there's Joni Mitchell and Glenn.

Is "Girls Like Us" worth a read?

I'm enjoying "Girls Like Us" (tho the title still rankles me - why refer to these mature, major artists as "girls," esp. as they came to prominence in the feminist 70s - but I digress) but will only warn that it's very detailed. Weller did serious, original research on these women, which is kind of refreshing these days when a lot of popular biographies seem to be rehashes of previously published material.

Carole King is a rather fascinating enigma. Her life took some odd turns when she fell head over heels for a songwriter/guru who IIRC occasionally made clothes for the Eagles. Don Felder mentions this guy, Rick, favorably in his memoir too.

How did "The Eagles FAQ" turn out? I looked through a copy in a bookstore and it didn't seem too bad but I decided I didn't want to pay full price for it. I bought a second-hand copy of Marc Shapiro's book instead (great bookshop with both new and used books on the same shelf).

The best part of the Shapiro book is the quotes from Randy Meisner, although he may have regreted them later. In a later interview he said he wished he hadn't said some things that appeared in a book - I'd assumed it was Marc Eliot's book but he's harsher in this one.

The worst part of the Shapiro book is there are lots of really obvious errors - he gets names mixed up and at one point he says that Don Felder was born in Topanga Canyon. Most of the book is cobbled together from written and filmed interviews which makes it tempting to play "spot the source".

Thanks for the Look See of the Eagles FAQ book. Might buy it...but I've read pretty much everything on the band. Nothing really new to read. People are People and sometimes you have to say it's run it's course, move on.......They are all very talented, intelligent people and every human has his/her personality and often times they don't agree. For what's it's worth.

Yep - thanks for reviving this thread, UTW and reminding me about this book. I had forgotten to order it, so as soon as I read your post, I hopped over to Amazon and snagged one for under $15. I'm not expecting to learn anything new, but since I'm somewhat of a completest when it comes to the band, I need to have it. :roll: It's been a while since I read any of the books. I keep saying I'm going to go back and reread all of them to refresh my memory, but I can't seem to ever get around to it.

I keep planning to reread them too as it has been awhile and my memory isn't that great I must really make the effort to actually do that! :)

I've read a couple of them, and they aren't accurate, so that ruins it for me. I go through the entire book doubting everything I've read. I felt the same way about Felder's book. Knowing going into it that he relied on Eliot's book, which is chock full of errors, to fill in the holes in his memory meant it lacked credibility to me. Still, at least Eliot got the names right as far as I can tell. A book that has such basic facts wrong means it was put out by someone who doesn't know the band, and is doing it purely to make money off its fans. I refuse to fund their ignorance.

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Originally Posted by UndertheWire

"Hotel California" by Barney Hoskins
This is the one that opens with five naked young men in a sauna.
I really enjoyed this. It has a broader sweep covering The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, CSN&Y, Joni Mitchell, David Geffen which all gives context and perhaps a better perspective. Hoskyns interviewed lots of people, including JD, Jackson and Bernie. Lots of good anecdotes.

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I recently finished this book and enjoyed it very much. It does give a wonderful perspective and I came away with 2 pages of densely-written notes of songs and albums to check out. Hoskyns has done books on two of my other main musical obsessions - the Doors and Led Zeppelin - so those are going on the ol' Amazon wish list. If he writes about the Beach Boys next, he's gonna be my hero :)

Well - I received my Eagles Q&A book, but have only had time to browse through it. I did read the short introduction and, predictably, I thinking I'm not going to get a lot of new information. Plus, I have already found a couple of inaccuracies. As others mentioned, even if I do happen upon something I didn't already know, I'm not sure I'll be able to trust that it's true. Oh well, silly me will probably go ahead and read it anyway eventually just because.

And it is cool that Vaughan credits the online fan sites, but he didn't even manage to get that information exactly correct either. :roll:

I've just watched a BBC tv documentary, presented by Mark Radcliffe titled Biggest Band Break Ups And Make Ups.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...s-and-make-ups

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Mark Radcliffe looks at the highs and lows of band life - the creative tension that produces great music and the pressures that come with success and fame, which pulls many apart.

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The aforementioned Barney Hoskins is one of the music jounalists interviewed.
This documentary attributes the "The Eagles will reunite when hell freezes over" to Glenn Frey.

Although there doesn't appear to be much evidence of where and when it was said, it's usually been attributed to Henley.

If the BBC say it's Frey, I'd normally call that conclusive evidence but I'm pretty sure that the HOTE documentary go with Henley, although there doesn't appear to be any concrete evidence that anybody said it. Certainly not before the Hell Freezes Over album was announced.

If the BBC's source is Barney Hoskyns, then they're not reliable. I liked his book, but I remember it as having some inaccuracies.

Thanks for the link to the new doc (probably only available in the UK). It was a good watch and although the Eagles references were simplistic and possibly inaccurate*, the stories of the breakup of other bands reminded me of the Eagles, particularly The Police and The Smiths. The New Order bassist and his lawsuit helped me see Don Felder's side a little.

*I may have misheard it, but I remember Barney Hoskyns saying the Eagles broke up over money. I can accept the argument that they reformed for money (at least in part) but the breakup seems to be down to other staples of band breakups - drugs, stress, broken friendships, personal ambition etc.

[You can see part of the Smiths section here]

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Originally Posted by UndertheWire

[You can see part of the Smiths section here]

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Thank you! Poor Johnny Marr. I loved Morrissey (saw him like 7 times in concert, plus once with the Smiths) but he's got to be the biggest PITA in the world. I went off him after his grotesquely insensitive comment about the Norway massacre.

UTW, what parallels do you see between the Eagles and the Police break ups? Sting went solo because he could make more money and was tired of the other guys challenging him. I don't know about Glenn, but Don H. sure didn't seem confident that he could be a front man. Sting never seemed to lack confidence in that (or any!) regard.

The Police comments that resonated for me were:
- going from all three travelling in a van to separate limos and leading separate lives except when they were shut up in a studio together with the pressure of knowing everyone outside the door was waiting for whatever they came up with.
- they fell apart when one member left to make a solo record (that would be Glenn with the Eagles). Also, Glenn was tired of dealing with Felder and Walsh and probably Henley, too.
- a regret (from Andy Summers) that they didn't agree to take a two year break for solo work and then get back together.
- complaints about not getting songs onto the albums (Andy Summers said he couldn't get Sting to sing his songs).
- Andy Summers talking about the reunion tour as "exhilarating" (just a reminder that playing in front of a huge, appreciate audience has rewards beyond money even if you don't like the other band members).
I will say that compared to Sting (or Mick Jagger), Glenn and Don seem quite democratic and benevolent!

As for The Smiths:
- the comment (from a journalist) about nobody talking about the problems so they don't get addressed.
- Johnny Marr quitting because he'd had enough of dealing with the crap and because he wasn't enjoying it (again, part of the reason Glenn left).
- two band members feeling they had been treated unfairly wrt royalties (one won in court and the other settled).

With New Order, the issue is whether the band split or the bassist left. If they split, the bassist owns 25% of the name and goodwill but if he let, he owns only 1%.

I got cracking on the Laura Jackson book "Flying High" a few days ago, and am a little dismayed by the copious errors - of chronology, quotes taken way out of context, etc.

However, she did shed a little light on Bernie's various musical adventures after he left the Eagles. She said he was in a Christian bluegrass band, for one thing. Is Bernie a Christian by any chance, does anyone here know?