Joe's Sobriety

[Ive always been a dreamer]

After the discussion in the thread about Joe offering to help give advice to the young people of Australia about drug and alcohol abuse, I decided to start this thread. I'm surprised that we don't already have one on the board about this, but I guess all the discussion is intermingled in other threads. Anyway, we can discuss anything we want about Joe's sobriety here.

I'll start by saying that I know there are different versions about what lead Joe to the decision to get sober. I believe it was a series of events over a fairly long period of time that ultimately brought Joe to the decision. The band almost reunited in 1990, but then Glenn pulled out at the last minute because he didn't want to get back together if it was going to be a repeat of the band's earlier days. Both Joe's personal and professional life were really floundering in the late '80's and early '90's. In 1993, Glenn decided to tour with Joe, and this is when they first went out as the Party of Two. Joe was in a bad way at this point, and he was pretty trashed in some of those shows. I guess this was the only way Glenn knew how to reach out as a friend to try to help him. However, I think Glenn must have thought his intervention failed, thus killing any chance of an Eagles reunion. It was very soon after that Glenn signed the contract to do the South of Sunset TV series. So when the TV show failed and the Travis Tritt video came along, the only missing link to an Eagles reunion was Joe's sobriety.

So I guess my point here is that while it may not have been the only factor, the hope of an Eagles reunion seemed to be a major impetus for Joe to clean up.

[WalshFan88]

One of the many versions that has stuck with me was the one when he was on a talk show, I think it was Howard Stern show. He said that he had about reached rock bottom, was sick all the time, his doctor told him straight out to either give up the booze or die. He made his decision, which included getting rid of the people who kept him supplied with alcohol and drugs, which were a heck of a lot of people in his life. And Stern made the comment that it had been 11 years since Joe had been on the show and Joe just shrugged as if to say you gotta do what you gotta do.

And if you all go back to 1993 and check out some of the pictures and some of the videos, he certainly looked horrible. I don't like to look at those, it had to be such a terrible time in his life, he was in his early 40's and looked twice that. But by the time of the HFO reunion he was healthy and vigorous. The doctor had to have been ONE of the reasons he kicked his habit. There are many more, so let's hear what you all have heard.

I heard the Howard Stern interview - I think it was on YouTube at some point. I'm sure the doctor did play a big part in his recovery. I'm sure everyone close to him such as the band members wanted him to get clean as well as the doctor.

[MikeA]

When I think on this subject, I immediately think of Joe and Stevie Nicks. They were very tight there for a while and I can't remember if it was Joe or Stevie who said that they were just enabling each other and had to split up and stay from each other. I cannot substantiate that with fact right off hand. It could have been something Joe said at the M&G I went to up in Chicago.

I just always thought that a terrible shame that two people who admired each other as much as Joe and Stevie did, had to stay away from each other because of booze and drugs. That my friends is the HELL that that stuff will get you into!

Wasn't it Vodka that Joe's drug of choice? But he had to have been a wreck physically after all the dope back during the Hotel California and Long Run periods. They pretty much lived on crack cocaine back then.

I'm definitely not a tee-totaler, but it breaks my heart to see people so strung out on anything like that.

[Freypower]

In 1993, Glenn decided to tour with Joe, and this is when they first went out as the Party of Two. Joe was in a bad way at this point, and he was pretty trashed in some of those shows. I guess this was the only way Glenn knew how to reach out as a friend to try to help him. However, I think Glenn must have thought his intervention failed, thus killing any chance of an Eagles reunion. It was very soon after that Glenn signed the contract to do the South of Sunset TV series.

I must be wrong. I thought the POT tour occurred after SOS failed & Glenn realised he had to go back on the road.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I must be wrong. I thought the POT tour occurred after SOS failed & Glenn realised he had to go back on the road.

Well, FP - all of this happened in a very close timeframe. I think the timeline goes like this ...

March - July 1993 Party of Two tour
October 1993 Common Threads album released
October 1993 South of Sunset premiers and gets canceled
December 1993 Travis Tritt's Take It Easy video filmed
February 1994 Joe, Glenn, and Don meet in Aspen and agree on resumption
April 1994 HFO MTV shows filmed

I'm not sure exactly when Joe entered rehab but I always assumed it must have been sometime between July - November 1993. However, it could have been between December '93 and the February '94 meeting in Aspen. There is a scene in the Travis Tritt video that shows Joe holding a beer, but I don't think they ever show him drinking it.

I also think the story that Joe tells on Howard Stern is probably true. I believe that the toll that the substance abuse must have been taking on Joe's health was definitely a factor in him getting sober as well.

[jdubfan]

It's my belief that the Eagles have literally saved Joe twice. The first time after his daughter's death, he said "So What" was it, he didn't care if he ever recorded again. He's talked about the cycle of booze for stage nerves, getting too drunk then snorting for the boost. Then the demands of fame - after-parties, success, money. When he left Colorado, he left the pressure of being a boss and having so many people depending on him. Going to CA and just being in a band took off the pressure, so he could party as he wanted. Too much Hollywood lifestyle maybe, but at least he was still involved in music.
I've never heard Joe say too much about Stevie and drugs, but I've heard her talk about her dr telling her is she didn't stop snorting, her nasal passages would be ruined, and that she and Joe had to part or they would have both died.
I saw Joe a few times in the '80s-'90s, whenever I could. Then I went to the Ringo's Allstars in '90 and was shocked. Joe's performance was ok, but he was obviously out of it. I saw him again in '91 or '92, opening for .38 Special at a small outdoor venue in South Bend. I remember being really upset and telling my ex that I felt that would be the last time I'd ever see Joe alive. His appearance was shocking, just awful. I heard nothing else about him until the HFO shows, learned of his sobriety and the bands reunion. I feel it was in part to help them all, but especially Joe. I do feel the band saved him again.

[AzEaglesFan]

OK, for what it's worth. On page 251 of Felder's book, he said "I arrived to resume work with the rest of the band in January 1994. On page 255, he said when they were rehearsing for the MTV gig that Joe fresh out of rehab. So I wonder if Joe was in rehab the 1993. On the Stern interview Joe said that he met Denise about the time he was in rehab. But I don't know when they were married.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

This recount of Felder's seems a bit odd to me. There was no "band" in January 1994. The meeting in Aspen when Glenn and Don agreed to the reunion, and then met with Joe, wasn't until February, 1994.

I recently saw something on the internet that said James Dolan (of JD and the Straight Shot) met Joe in rehab in 1993. Now, of course, that date could be wrong. The scenario that makes the most sense to me is that Joe entered rehab in December, 1993 shortly after the shooting of the Tritt "Take It Easy" video. Apparently, he was out in time to make the February meeting in Aspen. That would fit with Felder's account that Joe was fresh out of rehab when the band was rehearsing for the MTV gig, which would have been in March.

I think that Denise and Joe did meet in rehab. However, I don't believe they married until the late '90's.

And Deb, your recount of seeing Joe in person during that time just tears at my heart. I can only imagine what it must have been like for you thinking that you would never see your idol again. Thank goodness that he made the decision to clean up. Just look at him now!!!

[jdubfan]

http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyl...oe-walsh-1102/

The Eagles’ Joe Walsh has always been a refreshingly candid rock star, and one of the things he’s been quite candid about is his battles with rock star indulgences. After struggling with alcoholism and drug abuse through a good part of his career, Walsh says he’s now been clean and sober for 17 years and has a perspective on the issue of addiction

17 yrs sober fits with this timeline of rehab ~'93.

You're right Dreamer. Like they say, your past makes you who you are today. You have to go thru the bs to appreciate the life you've got and what's in it. The fact that Joe's still here, that I'm still here and anxiously awaiting new Joe words and music makes it all good!

[Prettymaid]

I'm a fairly new Joe fan and I've tried to stay away from the videos that show him in bad shape. But I agree with Deb. Going through that crap made him the person he is today. Like they say, 'Back then I did what I knew. When I knew better, I did better'.