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Thread: Don Henley Runaway Tour in Dallas, TX - July 23, 2017.

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    Stuck on the Border Houston Baby's Avatar
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    Default Don Henley Runaway Tour in Dallas, TX - July 23, 2017.

    Don spoke for around three and a half hours! So this will take some time to get down.

    Don started by welcoming us all. He had a cup of coffee with him and said he didn’t feel awake yet, as he’d been up to about 4am eating BBQ and birthday cake with his son. He joked about people thinking he’d been up all night partying with Joe, but no, they didn’t do that, they’re all old. He said he was glad to be there, and that the night before had been pretty exciting, and he was glad his voice showed up. He said he was very happy that his friends were there, Stevie, Patti, Timothy, and Joe. He said that Stevie will be celebrating 70 next May and he planned to be there in some form or fashion to help her celebrate, and he wasn’t sure what Timothy and Joe were planning to do.

    He mentioned that Paul McCartney was playing in nearby Shreveport, LA the night before, so he was flattered that people showed up for his birthday bash. He said if he’d had the night off, he’d have gone down there himself. He said that Paul had sent along birthday greetings, and said that both Paul and Ringo were his musical heroes, and he at least partially learned to play drums by playing along to Beatles songs.
    He mentioned it was just a Q&A, no singing, because he couldn’t, he’d used it all up on stage the night before, and that he’d given it everything he had. Of course there was a lot of applause for that, because he definitely had.
    He said he got off tour ten days ago or so and his voice had been shot, and so he went to a voice coach who looked at his throat and listened to him and said, “I can’t help you now.” So he talked to a different one via Facetime and he was able to help, but he thought that sleeping for two days before the show was what really helped. He said that rest was important for singing, but he is a nocturnal animal who stays up late on the internet, answering emails, doing business, just making sure everything’s OK, that someone needs to stay up and watch.

    First question: Could he talk about the preservation efforts regarding Caddo Lake? He started by giving some background info for Caddo Lake for those not from around Texas, which prompted him to ask who in the room was out of state. Nearly the entire room raised their hands, which seemed to surprise him, and the look on his face was rather comical. People then shouted out where they were from, mostly people from out of the US. There were folks from Japan, Norway, England, Scotland (so Don mentioned his mother’s ancestors came from SW Scotland). Then he started talking about Caddo Lake. It’s on the border of LA and TX, but the watershed comes from TX. The only (semi)natural lake in TX. It was a series of natural lakes at one time. Once oil was discovered, they wanted to build oil platforms over water, and they needed to get out to the platforms without going through mud. So they built a small dam at one end to fill it. Caddo Lake was the place where they first learned to drill for oil over water, and Howard Hughes was instrumental in making that happen. There are more species of fish than any other lake in TX. There are several endangered species and has bald eagles, alligator snapping turtles, and an ancient prehistoric fish called ‘paddlefish’, which his outfit is in the process of replenishing. It was declared a wetland of international importance by the Ramsar Treaty not too many years ago. It is 2700 acres of wetland. There are Cypress trees that are over 400 years old, and it’s a great place to fish. He encouraged people to go there, you can kayak, canoe, go fishing. You can get a fishing guide. There are cabins for rent. He caught his first fish there in 1957 with his dad.
    2nd question: A lady from Cambridge, England. She mentioned a lot of artists are doing tours where they sing an album start to finish, and she wondered if he was considering doing the same for the 30th anniversary of End Of The Innocence. He seemed surprised it had been 30 years, and laughed said he was glad that we kept track of these things (implying that he doesn’t). He said he was sure he’d be back in the UK either as a solo artist or with the Eagles. He said the UK was one of their favorite places to play. Last year was the 40th anniversary of Hotel California album, and they are getting out a 40th anniversary edition of it soon. It will include some live tracks from the 1976/77 tour. He explained he’s been doing the mixes of it remotely with a guy in Austin. He said he has a lot of things going on and mentioned the show in LA. He said he didn’t feel he’d had a good night, but it seemed the audience didn’t notice. He said that Deacon Frey did a wonderful job, and so did Vince Gill.
    3rd question: A lady from Connecticut. She scratched an item off her bucketlist over the weekend (seeing Don live), and wondered if he had a bucket list, and if so, what was on it, and what has already been scratched off? He said there were several things scratched off. He wants to travel more with his children. He’s been gone a lot and missed a few things. He tries to be home for the really important things, but when he’s gone he’s gone, when he’s home he’s home. He would like to show them the world while it still exists. He talked about a huge cornfield that his dad had, and that it was a magical place for him (I think that only people who have been in a cornfield, especially as a kid, can really understand what he was talking about here). A place to hide, a place to dream, a place to lay on your back and look at the sky and clouds. This kind of thing, dream time, is missing today. He wants to do more of that kind of thing with his kids. He wants to fish more with them. He wants to travel more. He’s been to a lot of places, has seen a lot of places from the inside of a hotel room or airport. You see the roads between the airport, room, and venue. He doesn’t go out much on tour, even to restaurants as he can’t talk over loud restaurants without tearing his voice up. He wants to see the places he’s traveled to, but hasn’t really seen. He would like to eat his way through Italy. He’d like to go to the Galapagos Islands, Antarctica, Iceland. He’d like to spend more time in Great Britian tracing his family’s roots. He wants to live a really long time so he has time to do all these things. It’s important to him to do these things with his kids. He has a really long list of things he wants to do, and parachuting is not on it.
    4th question: A lady from Georgia. She said that the song The End of the Innocence has really meant a lot to her over the course of her life, and she wondered if there was one song or lines of a song that he’s written that still really touches him. He said TEOTI has taken on a whole new meaning since the November election. The Heart of the Matter still resonates because we always need forgiveness from somebody. He enjoys singing The Last Resort. On Cass County, the song with Merle Haggard, The Cost of Living, moves him and especially because he was honored to have sung with Merle. He said he was moved by the concert Saturday night, it was a special occasion, some nights it’s just a job. It depends on how drunk the audience is and how many cellphone cameras with the white lights that make him feel like a deer being hunted. There are still songs and concerts that move him.
    5th question: A man from New York City. Said Don’s lyrics often have a clever turn of phrase. His favorite is from If Dirt Were Dollars, “She just looks at me uncomprehendingly, like cows at a passing train.” He wanted to know if Don made it up or if it was an old Texas saying. The look on Don’s face was comical. Don replied that it was neither. He said he paraphrased it from a British saying, he thinks. He said no one ever talks about that song. He said that sometimes you say something to someone and you can tell they didn’t understand a word you said, so it was a great image. He said he likes the cartoon by Gary Larson where cows are standing in a field talking to each other and one yells ‘car’, then they get back down on all four legs and pretend to eat grass, then the car goes by and they all stand back up again.
    6th question: A man from Cass County Illinois. He asked how they met Steuart Smith and how they got together, that when he sees him play he can’t take his eyes off watching him play. Don said he is an absolute master, then went back to the fact the man was from Cass County. He mentioned there are nine of them in the US, all named after the senator from Michigan, Louis Cass. Promoted to be Secretary of War. Back to Steuart, he met him at a concert in the early 2000’s, after Felder’s exit. The concert was Shawn Colvin, and he said he was a big Shawn Colvin fan. He said he was very impressed with Steuart’s ability, so he met up with him and mentioned the Eagles and that they needed someone who could play both Bernie’s Bendilick and in Felder’s style, and there weren’t many in the US or even in the world who could do that. Steuart said he liked playing with Shawn. Don told him “Listen, I’m talking about serious employment here.” He had a couple meetings with him, then it was time to take him to meet Glenn. They went to Glenn’s studio in West LA and ran through three or four songs, when finished, Steuart left so that Don and Glenn could discuss it. Once Steuart left, Don asked Glenn what he thought and Glenn replied, “Bingo.” Then, “That’s the guy.” Don then said that Steuart is not the kind of guy who can sit still. If the Eagles or Don aren’t doing anything, he finds side projects to do, that he loves to play. Don said that if they hadn’t found him, he’s not sure they could have continued on.

    TO BE CONTINUED.....

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    Stuck on the Border shunlvswx's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don Henley at American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX - 22 July 2017

    Thanks for some of the recap, HB. Aww. A father and son moment. I remembered reading at last year's Runaway Tour that he had to get home and helped Will with his homework and that he was mad at him. LOL

    I didn't know it was Don who suggested Steuart to Glenn or found Steuart. I always thought it was the opposite. I can't believe Steuart was about turn down the Eagles. Thank goodness he didn't.

    Don is right about Steuart not sitting still. He still plays with his old boss Rodney Crowell when they are not touring.

    I don't know when Don started going to the vocal coach after that first meeting, but from what I hear and saw in the videos, he sounded amazing especially on Patty and Stevie's songs he hasn't sung in years.

    I can't wait to hear more.

    Brothers for life. RIP Glenn

    I'm not sure I believe in fate, but I know that crossing paths with Glenn Lewis Frey in 1970 changed my life forever, and it eventually had an impact on the lives of millions of other people all over the planet. It will be very strange going forward in a world without him in it. But, I will be grateful, every day, that he was in my life. Rest in peace, my brother. You did what you set out to do, and then some." -Don Henley

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    Default Re: Don Henley at American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX - 22 July 2017

    Moderators - it just dawned on me that maybe I should have created a new thread for the Don Henley Runaway Tour stop in Dallas 07/23/17?
    If one of you get a chance would you be able to do that and then I will continue with the recap tonight. Thank you!!

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    Default Don Henley Runaway Tour in Dallas, TX - July 23, 2017.

    I started a new thread for yesterday's event.

    Brothers for life. RIP Glenn

    I'm not sure I believe in fate, but I know that crossing paths with Glenn Lewis Frey in 1970 changed my life forever, and it eventually had an impact on the lives of millions of other people all over the planet. It will be very strange going forward in a world without him in it. But, I will be grateful, every day, that he was in my life. Rest in peace, my brother. You did what you set out to do, and then some." -Don Henley

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    Default Re: Don Henley at American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX - 22 July 2017

    7th question: A lady who did not say where she was from. She asked about his collaborations on Cass County especially regarding lyrics. How does it work? He said that the process is different than it used to be. In the beginning, he and Glenn used to be in a room together sitting across from each other with a couple of acoustic guitars. Then it evolved to working separately, and getting together to show what each had done. Then from there to completely separately and sending each other tapes or CDs. With Steuart, they never work together, they work separately. There is no set way now, via phone or computer, rarely work together in the same room. What he likes now is someone to send or work with him on music, he prefers to work on lyrics on his own, he doesn’t like to share it. Being that he doesn’t like to criticize or reject people’s ideas he said. Songwriting is like acting, a lot of rejection. You need to learn to reject or criticize in a very inoffensive way. He said it was why he and Glenn worked so well together, they could say anything to each other. They could say “that *&%$ stinks” and not have their feelings hurt.
    8th question: A man from Littleton, CO. He wanted to know what Don’s favorite song was, and some (most? Could not hear well) of his songs were sad, so who hurt him? Again, there was a priceless look on Don’s face. Don said he thought the best songs were sad songs. He said he didn’t like happy songs. I think. (The lady beside us seemed to think his answers were interactive and commented on nearly everything he said, and sometimes quite loudly, and she was speaking at the same time as this statement). Happy songs are harder to write, you need to be happy at the beginning, happy all through the song, and happy at the end. He prefers the sad songs, you can only hear You Are My Sunshine but so many times, but he can listen to Yesterday by Paul McCartney again and again. We’ve all been hurt at one time or another. Joni Mitchell once said you take all your pain and turn it into art. He said it’s easier to work from tragedy. Not just individuals, but everything on the planet can hurt you. Randy Newman has a new album coming out. Randy, Leonard Cohen, and Paul Simon were ‘it’ when it came to songwriting as far as he was concerned. Randy’s new album is coming out Aug 4 and is titled Dark Matter. He then talked about a blog/interview with Randy about happy songs vs. sad songs.
    9th question: A man from Arkansas. He said a lot of Don’s songs spoke to them (he and his wife) and some spoke for them. He said some of Don’s songs had a unique twist or turn of phrase. Examples were TBOS sunglasses/Wayfarers on, in WITW Don talked about the egg and dart. He wondered where they came from. Don explained that Wayfarers were sunglasses, and that Ray Ban should have sponsored his tour, they got a lot of free advertising (he laughed as he said this). When explaining the egg and dart, he mentioned that he’s seen it misquoted so many times, the lyric sites are never right. (Then he went on a tangent about the different lyric sites and their mistakes) But back to ‘Egg and dart’ which is an architectural term. You see them in older houses. It’s a design used for moldings on the ceiling. The egg is a little round thing that’s an egg shape. The darts, or arrows, are on either side. I will add that it’s also called ‘egg and tongue’, and that it dates back to ancient times, so more than ‘old’. Don mentioned the egg means life, the dart means death, so….he just threw that in the song. He said WITW is one of his favorite songs that he’s written, which got much applause (he got a lot of applause on nearly everything, he got more on this.) Someone randomly asked him if he’d play it live, I think, based on his answer. He said it was very hard to do, hard to sing, but that he’d give it a shot. He said he’s often accused of being too serious and too morbid in his songs, but that some of his songs have humor in them. He said Randy Newman talked about that the other day when talking about songs with satire in them, that Don was one of the few who did that, but nobody notices.
    10th question: A lady from Cleveland, OH. Wanted to know when he was coming to Cleveland. Rock and Roll city (Hall of Fame and all that). He tried to tell her he was just there, then realized it had been Cincinnati. He said he’d get there.
    11th question: A lady from Phoenix, Arizona. Wanted to know if he liked to sing in the shower, and if so, what did he sing? He said he never sings in the shower. Sometimes his kids do, but he does not. The water is too loud (with a laugh).
    12th question: A man from Boston. He said he appreciated Don’s involvement with Walden Woods and asked about how he got involved. Don gave a good, lengthy reply. He said it’s been 27 years. He talked about an early appreciation for nature, then an old teacher that got him on the path to reading. Then a class in college where he may or may not have read Emerson. Then later in life (not much later), when his dad got ill, he left college in 1968 to help his mother take care of his dad. He said he and his mom were members of a Southern Baptist church, and he wasn’t getting what he needed there. It was a lot of hellfire and brimstone. It didn’t help with his dad, so he turned to the philosophers, including Thoreau. ( VA - As an aside, while you would seldom, if ever, hear about hellfire and brimstone in a Lutheran church, I often wonder how often my little church fails its members in such a way.) He talked about relearning an appreciation for nature while at home, and it sometimes included the use of ‘substances’, and jokingly said it would make a tree to be a great tree. Don really got amused reflecting back on his and his friends’ experiences with a substance and enjoying the woods around Linden. One time during a trek thru the woods one of his friends (I forgot what Don said his name was) stopped, pointed to a tree and then exclaimed ‘now that is a tree’. Fast forward to 1980, he was in LA in the kitchen with CNN on the tv and he hears the name Walden Woods, said up to then he hadn’t realized it was a real place. He always thought of it as some mystical, magical place. So he called the guy and offered to help out. A couple of months later, he went to walk through it (crunching thru the snow the whole time with the wrong type of shoes on) and realized that the Woods really needed to be saved and this guy was not going to be able to do it. Don went to Senator Ted Kennedy’s office since he knew him to ask for assistance. Senator Kennedy’s legislative aide for many years Kathi Anderson told Don that he would need to start a non profit foundation and raise millions in order to save Walden Woods. Ms. Anderson also told Don that she would be willing to quit working for Sen. Kennedy and run the organization for Don. She did not think Sen. Kennedy would have a problem with her doing this since his mother used to take him and his brothers there to swim. In fact Sen. Kennedy learned to swim in Walden Pond so it had a special place in his heart. And today Ms Anderson is still running it. He talked about what all they’ve done, and mentioned they still need money so to feel free to donate.

    TO BE CONTINUED.....

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    Stuck on the Border Delilah's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don Henley at American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX - 22 July 2017

    Thanks, Houston Baby, this is great! (too bad about the "interactive" lady).

    Right or wrong, what’s done is done
    It’s only moments that you borrow...

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    Default Re: Don Henley Runaway Tour in Dallas, TX - July 23, 2017.

    HB - OMG - This is wonderful ! Keep going with the story. Thank You.

    Did he discuss Glenn or tell any funny stories about their times together? Hope I'm not jumping the gun. I know last year from the Fast Lane post he had a very difficult time and could barely talk about Glenn.

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    Default Re: Don Henley Runaway Tour in Dallas, TX - July 23, 2017.

    Thank you so much for typing all this out!

    Always in our hearts, Never forgotten

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    Default Re: Don Henley Runaway Tour in Dallas, TX - July 23, 2017.

    Thank you everyone! This is a joint effort between VA and I and she gets a lot of the credit as she is doing the majority of the work. But you can blame the spelling and grammar errors on me. I am just trying to get this online as fast as I can.
    So excuse the errors and hopefully our fearless leader, Soda and other educators here are not grading me.

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    Default Re: Don Henley Runaway Tour in Dallas, TX - July 23, 2017.

    You and Verna both get A+!

    Always in our hearts, Never forgotten

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