Discussion of Eagles Documentary "History of the Eagles"

[Houston Debutante]

They sing it a lower key now and they don't even try to do the ending part with the "Wee-hees" and "aaah-aaaahs." They just end it before that would have gotten to that part.

I think Randy might have been having a hard time not just with that but with the "Take it" part. When you watch live footage you can see him grimace and back away from the mike every time he has to sing the chorus's "Take it" part ~ which is a lot!

[Prettymaid]

Any song can be re-keyed to suit the singer's voice, as long as he can hit the low notes and the high notes both. I used to face this problem all the time when I would karaoke. Many times the song I wanted to sing was not recorded in a key I could reach. But with live musicians this would not be an issue, of course.

[sodascouts]

Any song can be re-keyed to suit the singer's voice, as long as he can hit the low notes and the high notes both. I used to face this problem all the time when I would karaoke. Many times the song I wanted to sing was not recorded in a key I could reach. But with live musicians this would not be an issue, of course.

This is why I've always wondered why they dropped "New Kid in Town." Couldn't they just drop the key or fiddle with the arrangement if it's too hard to sing as is?

Anyway, regarding the amount of creative control they had over the doc... maybe they weren't so much hands-on during the process, but afterwards, they reviewed it to make sure there was nothing too embarrassing on it. After all, we know for a fact Don Henley made them remove something. That was reported prior to its release.

I would hate to think both the Eagles and the filmmakers would bald-faced lie about the amount of control they had, so I figure the Eagles didn't exercise control so much as maintain "veto power" over whether or not something would be included.

I wouldn't be surprised if the filmmakers didn't do much research outside of Eagle testimonials for Part 2. That part seemed rushed and ended abruptly; it was obviously not given the kind of time and care Part 1 was. The fact that it was initially only intended to be an "extra" is evident in many ways. I'm not saying Part 2 is bad; I enjoyed it. I'm just saying that it's not as thorough as Part 1 by any means.

[Prettymaid]

I haven't seen the documentary yet, but I could just tell when I read the reactions here that Part one was very well received, whereas Part two had mixed reviews. No one has come out and said they didn't like part two, just getting a vibe that part two was controversial and not as thorough as part one. Am I right?

[sodascouts]

That's right. Part 1 was very predictable, and we all knew the story. No one was scandalized by the sex and drugs or shocked that the band imploded after the success of HC. The real prizes of the first part for hardcores were the rare footage, photos, and interviews (even the ex-band members). That's what made it wonderful.

Part 2 included the Felder issue, which is pretty much the most inflammatory issue to ever hit Eagle fandom, and didn't have the amount of research done for it that Part 1 had, IMHO. It had several obvious omissions. It was also shorter, of course, which made thoroughness even more difficult if not impossible.

Still, it was good... just not as good.

[tjrrockandrollmaster]

We don't have to just take Glenn's word for it, everybody else in the band says he quit, too, even Randy himself.

Sorry tjr, if you're going to call someone a liar ~ in this case Glenn ~ you should make sure you have your facts straight. Not trying to be rude, you're new here and I haven't been here very long either, it's just a pet peeve of mine.

My fault and I accept it (I hope I am not seen as stupid for my comment, it was for lesser quotes that got me banished from other forums but you Eagles fans helped me set the record straight).

Anyhoo, I just assumed he was forced out from the tone of how his departure happened on the documentary described by Glenn Frey. I just re-listened to my copy of the 20th Anniversary of Hotel California on In the Studio and ITS host Redbeard said (what you all were right about) "Feeling a bit left in the shadows due to Henley and Frey's creative output and also having his problems dealing with the band's "life in the fast lane", Randy Meisner left the band on his own accord at the end of the Hotel California Tour".

[tjrrockandrollmaster]

Any song can be re-keyed to suit the singer's voice, as long as he can hit the low notes and the high notes both. I used to face this problem all the time when I would karaoke. Many times the song I wanted to sing was not recorded in a key I could reach. But with live musicians this would not be an issue, of course.

Many bands do that for certain things these days (unless you are David Gilmour and Dennis DeYoung who can still sing songs in the keys they were written)

[Brooke]

I liked Part 2 as well, but sure wish it would have been 2 hours instead of just 1. There was so much more they could have done. And I particularly wish they would have had a bit more from the LROOE tour. It seemed to me they used a lot of Farewell 1 footage and could have had more from it instead.

And from Part 1, they could have left out the full frontal of the nude fan on stage. OMG! That was a bit much! Don't you wonder where she is today and if she might have seen that?

[sodascouts]

Yes, that was completely gratuitous . I would rather have seen Eagles without shirts than groupies without undies.

[WalshFan88]

Don't you wonder where she is today and if she might have seen that?

Well, now that you mention it.....