Press and Discussion about Don's new album(s) in progress

http://www.bostonherald.com/entertai...si#articleFull

This is a great email interview with Don in the Boston Herald. My favorite part:

"As for me, I’ve spent a few weeks in the studio, both in California and Texas, since the Eagles European Tour ended in late July. I’ve cut half a dozen tracks and we will record more in December, January and February. I suppose the work could be loosely defined as a country album. Some of it is very traditional, old-style country and some of it is not. There will be some interesting guest vocalists and players. I’d also like to mention that Timothy B. has a brand new solo album out."

YAY!! Looks like next year we will finally get that oft-promised solo album from Don. I can't wait! AND he gives a nice mention about Timothy's solo album too.

Let's see....another solo album usually means more solo dates, and by next year I will have worked long enough to get some paid vacation time so hopefully I can see a few solo concerts--with some of my favorite Border friends! It's all good. :nod:

Don Henley Plans a Country Project

http://blog.gactv.com/blog/2010/09/1...untry-project/

Another e-mail interview with Don here:

"Don Henley Brings His R&B Soul to Fantasy Springs Show Friday" - The Desert Sun

It's quite short (just 3 questions) but there's an interesting nugget I hadn't seen before:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don Henley in The Desert Sun

I am currently working, simultaneously, on two different album projects, one of which I hope to release early next year. One is traditional country, containing some original material and some covers. The other is a soul/R&B album. That's the kind of music I sang when I was a teenager playing in clubs in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

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Not one but TWO albums? Not just a country album but an R&B album? Ambitious man! Let's hope both of these come to fruition.

Also;

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don Henley in The Desert Sun

I've long considered writing an autobiography, but it wouldn't be confined to my musical career. I've had an interesting and varied life, both inside and outside the Eagles.

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I would love to read this! Yes, it would be biased as all such things are, but he's a fascinating man and I'm sure it would be a fascinating read.

I love the idea of 2 albums, will probably buy both, listen to one and not open the other. ;)

And what I wouldn't give to read an autobiography from him or any of the current members. I hope this does happen and he tells the other guys just how fun it was to put his life story on paper for all to see. :thumbsup:

Found this article regarding Don's upcoming album. Contains a few quotes.

http://www.theboot.com/2010/09/17/do...ry-album-2010/

Thanks, Susan. It's great that there's so much buzz being generated about Don's albums even this early.

http://www.accessatlanta.com/atlanta...ey-651970.html

Q&A: Don Henley of the Eagles

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don Henley in AccessAtlanta

I enjoy working on two projects at once because one informs the other. Country and R&B share some basic elements. There will be original material and some covers on both recordings.

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This is so cool. It reminds me of Lindsey Buckingham putting out two albums in as many years - one acoustic and one electric. Just record the songs at one time and put them on the album that fits 'em.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don Henley in AccessAtlanta

Ray Charles and Otis Redding, both native Georgians, had a profound effect on me.

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Ooh, work the local angle. Smooth, Don, smooth!

Where have I been? Don's cutting a country album?!

Folks, take this as proof: there is a God.

Heck, maybe he'll cover a George Strait tune!

My universe would implode. You'd see me on the Travel Channel's Top Ten Unexplained that they air every Halloween: Girl Spontaneously Combusts After Don Henley Pays Tribute to Fellow Texan George Strait. And if I ever hear him sing Amarillo By Morning, forget it - I'll just keel over.

LOL! I have to admit, I'm EXTREMELY curious as to what songs he would consider covering. If I had to guess, it would be the older stuff like Merle Haggard, George Jones, etc etc. I'm really excited about both albums though!

Don Henley Ready to Build on Storied Solo Career with Two New Solo Albums

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...n_storied.html

Well this is very interesting, and I hope he has a big success with these two albums.

However I would argue about him being the most important member of the band. I would consider that accolade to be held jointly by Don and Glenn :heart:. I think the band could not function as a unit without the input of BOTH of these guys.

Maybe Glenn :heart: could also be persuaded to 'put forth' some new material and release a new album as well. I'm sure he has plenty to work with!

This weeks Country Weekly (Tim McGrew on cover) has a picture of Don and a short article about his country album. I don't remember seeing the picture before but he has on a suit so it is probably an old one.

Thanks for the headsup, AEF. Can you scan the picture and post it in Henley Heaven? I'd love to see it and I'm sure a few others around here wouldn't mind either. :wink:

My scanner bite the dust long ago and I never used it enough to want to replace it. Sorry.

Blog post about Don's new country album:

http://ashleymannonmusicrow.blogspot...t-country.html

Apparently he started recording it a few days ago.

Good to hear it's actually in the making! Thanks!

Good find - glad to hear it's rolling along. So, he'll have country guest stars, eh? Can we count on Trisha Yearwood returning the favor? I also remember him doing duets in the past with Kenny Rogers and Reba McIntyre, both of which sounded great. Maybe even a Dixie Chick. You know, Stevie Nicks has said she considered being a country singer so it might be time for some reciprocity in that quarter as well. ;)

ETA: I wonder if he'd invite any of his old Shiloh buds to make an appearance, especially Bowden?

Here a other article
Don Henley Working On Country Covers Album

http://www.undercover.fm/news/13472-...y-covers-album

:yay: So good to hear that Don's first solo is underway. Thanks.

Here's some info on Don's new solo album.

You're not that far from Nashville are you Judy?

Get yourself staked out round them recording studios....Find Don!!!!!! :laugh:

Nope, just about a 20 minute cruise down the interstate. I need to pay more attention to the entertainment section of the news. Like a duck on a June bug I woulda been had I known, heh heh heh.........

Ok, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed that he's picked 7BR. Why do a song that the Eagles have done and do so beautifully? And have been doing recently in concert? Out of all the great, fabulous songs out there? I love 7BR. By the Eagles. I know Ronnie and Allyson will sound wonderful on it with him. They are both great singers, but........it baffles me. :headscratch:

The first impression I get is that he chose 7BR for a vocal warmup:

So Don picks, of all things…"Seven Bridges Road"...alright...which is the song that the Eagles do acapella. And he goes, “let’s go try that.”

But it also says that I’ve recorded some Eagles’ stuff.

And Ronnie Dunn (who I've never heard of) talks later in the piece about 'cutting' the song.


You would have thought he would have wanted to do ANYTHING except the Eagles. If this is true, it is somewhat disheartening. There are a couple of other words that spring to mind, actually. If he wants to play his Eagles songs at solo shows, fine, but why record them?

And this is presuming that he's done songs on which he sang the original lead. But I won't go any further.

Quote:

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Ronnie Dunn was half of Brooks & Dunn, an American country music duo famous around the world. Recently broke up after years of recording, touring, winning all kinds of awards.

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OK, I had heard of Brookes & Dunn. :confused:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by whitcap

Here's some info on Don's new solo album.

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Cool! I really liked Brooks & Dunn in the 90s. Sorry to hear they've broken up.

As for the interview, I was kind of confused about what was going on there. It seems Dunn walked in and they decided to do Seven Bridges Road off the cuff, which made me think it was a warm up or something... but then he says they spent two hours on it, and he didn't talk about doing anything else, which makes me think that's what he was there to record. Plus, unless Don was joking or I'm misunderstanding, he approached Randy Travis about singing harmony on the song. That sure sounds like it's getting recorded.

If Don indeed is putting SBR on his album, I think it's a big mistake. It is a signature Eagles harmony song and - although I like Ronnie Dunn - he and Alison Krauss aren't the Eagles. I'm afraid the song will pale in comparison to the "real deal."

By the way, Krauss is sure making the rounds with the classic rockers, isn't she? lol

Interesting! :hmm:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sodascouts

Cool! I really liked Brooks & Dunn in the 90s. Sorry to hear they've broken up.

As for the interview, I was kind of confused about what was going on there. It seems Dunn walked in and they decided to do Seven Bridges Road off the cuff, which made me think it was a warm up or something... but then he says they spent two hours on it, and he didn't talk about doing anything else, which makes me think that's what he was there to record. Plus, unless Don was joking or I'm misunderstanding, he approached Randy Travis about singing harmony on the song. That sure sounds like it's getting recorded.

If Don indeed is putting SBR on his album, I think it's a big mistake. It is a signature Eagles harmony song and - although I like Ronnie Dunn - he and Alison Krauss aren't the Eagles. I'm afraid the song will pale in comparison to the "real deal."

By the way, Krauss is sure making the rounds with the classic rockers, isn't she? lol

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That's how I read it & I agree with what you say; I'm surprised more people haven't commented on this. To put it mildly it shows a certain lack of imagination & an apparent disregard for the Eagles' legacy. But the quoted statement 'I've recorded some Eagles stuff' suggests that 7BR will not be the only Eagles song on this album. I say again; WHY?

Maybe he's "countrifying" some of their later rock stuff and changing it up? That could be interesting, even if it winds up sucking like that rap version of LITFL or the mariachi band version of Hotel California which have both mercifully been removed from YouTube. At least it would be something different.

I hope he's not just re-recording their country-rock tunes, which would leave us with nothing more than inferior versions of what we already have. If he's doing SBR, though, it sounds like that might be what we're getting.

I think it's fine to do revamped versions of old songs on stage. But this is supposed to be a 'new' solo album. I would rather it was comprised entirely of cover versions of other people's songs than this.

It reminds me of Randy recording "Take It to the Limit" and "Take It Easy" for his solo records. They were nothing compared to the Eagles versions (IMHO).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sodascouts

It reminds me of Randy recording "Take it to the Limit" and "Take It Easy" for his solo records. They were nothing compared to the Eagles versions (IMHO).

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OK... so in fact we have a precedent for this. Good grief.

Remember also that Glenn recorded Sea Cruise on No Fun Aloud after the Eagles had been playing it live. But this is re-doing Eagles songs.

Since there's already an album of Eagles covers (Common Thread?) - what's the point to doing it again? And why on earth would Don risk people saying his new version isn't as good as the Eagles' originals? :confused:

I was hoping the new album would introduce me to stuff I hadn't heard before!:worried:

Maybe they were just practising & checking out how the recording would sound... yeah okay, it was a lot of work to put into just practising... but I just have to be optimistic for as long as I can.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EaglesKiwi

Maybe they were just practising & checking out how the recording would sound... yeah okay, it was a lot of work to put into just practising... but I just have to be optimistic for as long as I can.

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True, maybe we're getting concerned for no reason. Dunn by his own admission walked in there completely clueless and he could be confused or not expressing himself clearly about what went down in the studio because it was such an exciting experience for him (understandable). Dude even remembers the first three words of SBR wrong. No other interviews have mentioned Henley including Eagles songs. If SBR was just practice, though, that is indeed quite a lot of work to put into a song that won't appear on the album.

Like you, I will keep hope alive for now!

ETA: I went back and re-read the article, extra-carefully. I found these ending two lines interesting:

Ashley Mann: When do we get to hear it [Seven Bridges Road]?
Ronnie Dunn: I don’t know. It’s a work in progress. He’s still recording.

Does he mean he doesn't know whether or not it'll be on the album, or that he doesn't know when the album will be released, or both?

Also, did you notice Don texted him? I wonder if, like me, Don refuses to use text abbreviations and types out "you" and "are" and the like. Or did Don text "man u did a gr8 job. thnx 4 being so patient"? (Since Ronnie Dunn's interview was oral, we'll never know!)

To me that means he doesn't know the release date.

Unfortunately I thought the crucial line was Don being quoted as saying 'I've recorded some Eagles stuff'.

..PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...just don't "country up" Eagles songs....it's been done much too often already...even if they're done by Don...ugh!!:brickwall:

Well.....all this conjecture is great.....but, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.......a release date would be good..