Discussion of Eagles Documentary "History of the Eagles"

[VAisForEagleLovers]

The bass players were never alpha but what's interesting to me is that Joe calls himself an alpha but he never seems to want to take a leadership role in the band or challenge Don and Glenn. That doesn't seem very 'alpha.'

My personal opinion is that he recognizes who the leaders are and knows it isn't going to change. I bet he does question things, but in a way that won't tear the band apart, and certainly not in a public way.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Thanks. I don't think anyone could read that dialog next to the screenshots and still doubt it was a reenactment.

Why did he do it as a reenactment? He was probably asked to do it that way for dramatic purposes. "What exactly did you say to him?"

To me he definitely seems proud of the way he handled Felder, but that can't be proven. Everybody has to decide that for themselves, it's only my perception. As soon as the reenactment is over he sits back calmly and states that Felder then signed the papers and they toured.

I need to eat the words I posted earlier (or if I didn't I at least thought about posting it) wondering why he 'reenacted' this and not others. Watching again last night I realize he reenacted a lot of things throughout both parts. Maybe it's the actor in him.

I'm not sure he's proud of the way he handled Felder, but I think he is pleased that at least time, the Eagles continued as a band instead of ending it all for good. The previous time, in 1980, things just ended. With this instance, they lost a piece but kept going, which can be viewed as progress. I didn't see his body language as proud so much as bordering on defiant. Like it needed to be handled and he did it the only way he could, it was what it was. I guess because I've handled several situations in my own life in much the same way (one very recently) I don't have the heart to point fingers.

[Houston Debutante]

I need to eat the words I posted earlier (or if I didn't I at least thought about posting it) wondering why he 'reenacted' this and not others. Watching again last night I realize he reenacted a lot of things throughout both parts. Maybe it's the actor in him.

Well if it weren't for the fact that I had watched it over and over again without distraction I may not have noticed it either, nothing to be embarrassed about.

I'm not sure he's proud of the way he handled Felder, but I think he is pleased that at least time, the Eagles continued as a band instead of ending it all for good. The previous time, in 1980, things just ended. With this instance, they lost a piece but kept going, which can be viewed as progress. I didn't see his body language as proud so much as bordering on defiant. Like it needed to be handled and he did it the only way he could, it was what it was. I guess because I've handled several situations in my own life in much the same way (one very recently) I don't have the heart to point fingers.

Defiant ~ that hadn't occured to me. I think you are onto something here. He knows people will be judging him and he wants to show he's not ashamed of what he did. That makes a lot of sense ~ not so much proud as defiant.

[Houston Debutante]

yeah you're right HD...Joe doesn't seem very alpha...but you never know behind the scenes...

That's true although I've also noticed he seems very led by his current wife, all of the sudden he's into Buddhism, dressing differently, releasing albums at her urging, getting work done... Not that there's anything wrong with that ~ I appreciate a man who values his wife's opinion ~ but it's definitely not alpha.

Maybe he was alpha in the past and has changed over time, like after he got sober. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. People who aren't alpha often are much better at handling stressful situations because like VA said he can work more subtly to change things and doesn't always have to have his way.

Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know as much about Joe as many of you, it's just things I've noticed.

[zeldabjr]

I think you may have something there HD...

[UK TimFan]

Living in the UK I haven't seen the documentary yet, but one thing in Glenn's statement has just struck me. 'We're the guys (i.e. Don Henley and himself) who have kept the Eagles name alive on radio, television, and in concert halls.'
I'm not such a hard-core fan as some of you, so I don't know who sang lead on which songs, but how many pre-break up songs had someone other than Don H or Glenn sing lead on them? And how miffed would either of them have been if someone else (e.g. Don F) had started singing 'their' songs?
If the split was acrimonious why would 'the lesser' (for want of a better description) band members feel any need/want to go around promoting the Eagles?
It could be said that the reason Glenn and Don 'kept the Eagles name alive' was because they were trading on their connection as 'previously a member of the successful Eagles band' when appearing in concerts. For example, by singing Eagles' songs.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Living in the UK I haven't seen the documentary yet, but one thing in Glenn's statement has just struck me. 'We're the guys (i.e. Don Henley and himself) who have kept the Eagles name alive on radio, television, and in concert halls.'
I'm not such a hard-core fan as some of you, so I don't know who sang lead on which songs, but how many pre-break up songs had someone other than Don H or Glenn sing lead on them? And how miffed would either of them have been if someone else (e.g. Don F) had started singing 'their' songs?
If the split was acrimonious why would 'the lesser' (for want of a better description) band members feel any need/want to go around promoting the Eagles?
It could be said that the reason Glenn and Don 'kept the Eagles name alive' was because they were trading on their connection as 'previously a member of the successful Eagles band' when appearing in concerts. For example, by singing Eagles' songs.

I kind of agree with you, UKTF. They sang the Eagles songs in concerts and that helped them out. They weren't out 'promoting' the Eagles during their solo careers because as far as they knew, the Eagles were dead. However, as a fan I will say that hearing their voices on the radio and seeing Glenn on TV and movies made me constantly wish the Eagles would get back together, and kept my 'love' for the Eagles from waning.

Joe had a solo career before joining the Eagles. He could have done more solo after the split, but his addictions kept that from happening. He could have just as easily used the Eagles songs to promote himself and in turn promote the Eagles. Same with the others. They didn't.

[Topkat]

When Don & Glenn sang Eagles songs at their solo shows, there was no intent for them to get back together at that time, so to say they kept the Eagles name alive, it was not to promote the Eagles, it was to promote themselves. People already knew them as Eagles, so it was doing songs from their pasts. I mean that was how people knew their names, but they were doing solo stuff at that point,& trying to build solo careers.
I don't recall seeing Glenn's solo show, but it seems he was doing his own thing.
As someone said in the interview, that was when 'Classic Rock" stations came out, so the Eagles songs were out there from those stations

I did see Don Henley at a few solo shows, but he was mostly promoting his own solo albums & didn't do that much Eagles stuff.
I am talking about in the 80's here, not any recent concerts. I don't think I even associated him with the Eagles at that point, but as a solo artist.

[sodascouts]

That's true although I've also noticed he seems very led by his current wife, all of the sudden he's into Buddhism, dressing differently, releasing albums at her urging, getting work done... Not that there's anything wrong with that ~ I appreciate a man who values his wife's opinion ~ but it's definitely not alpha.

Maybe he was alpha in the past and has changed over time, like after he got sober. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. People who aren't alpha often are much better at handling stressful situations because like VA said he can work more subtly to change things and doesn't always have to have his way.

Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know as much about Joe as many of you, it's just things I've noticed.

I'm not sure it started after sobriety. Even back in the 70s, Joe has said he hated being his own boss and wanted to be a part of a band, which is why he joined the Eagles. He was led into alcoholism and over-the-top vandalism/partying by Keith Moon. Glenn has said he was surrounded by enablers. Joe also said Stevie Nicks had to push him for him to finish The Confessor. I think he is an alpha only in his own mind!

[sodascouts]

Living in the UK I haven't seen the documentary yet, but one thing in Glenn's statement has just struck me. 'We're the guys (i.e. Don Henley and himself) who have kept the Eagles name alive on radio, television, and in concert halls.'
I'm not such a hard-core fan as some of you, so I don't know who sang lead on which songs, but how many pre-break up songs had someone other than Don H or Glenn sing lead on them? And how miffed would either of them have been if someone else (e.g. Don F) had started singing 'their' songs?
If the split was acrimonious why would 'the lesser' (for want of a better description) band members feel any need/want to go around promoting the Eagles?
It could be said that the reason Glenn and Don 'kept the Eagles name alive' was because they were trading on their connection as 'previously a member of the successful Eagles band' when appearing in concerts. For example, by singing Eagles' songs.

Glenn and Don played Eagles songs in their sets, although they didn't dominate. They knew the crowd expected to hear some Eagles and they gave them what they wanted. Plus, those are some darn good songs and they wrote 'em... why shouldn't they still play 'em?

However, I think Glenn is talking here more in terms of visibility, not in terms of how much Eagle-talk they were doing. Heck, Glenn was telling everyone and their dog that the Eagles would NEVER EVER EVER get back together. The point is that they were the only ones who found any success at all in the eighties, and thus were the ones who were still on the radar of the public, so to speak. I can tell you that speaking for myself as a child of the 80s, I only knew their names from their solo careers, and had never heard of any of the other Eagles.

Between 1980-1994, Joe actually did actively promote the Eagles in interviews by saying he hoped they got back together again. During that time, he also played Eagles songs during his set, released more solo albums than Glenn and Don did, and gigged just as much if not more. Therefore, if you're talking simply in terms of output, he actually surpassed Don and Glenn. The problem is that he found almost no success as a solo act post-Eagles and his gigs were generally as an opening act, part of "Ringo's All-Starr Band," playing at a mall or guitar store opening, that kind of thing. Thus, he didn't have the kind of visibility to keep the Eagles in people's minds like Glenn and Don did.

Poor Timothy's albums were so unsuccessful he didn't even tour at all.

Don Felder's lone solo album found no more success than Timothy's and thus Felder stayed off the road as well. Therefore, you can't really attribute him not playing Eagles songs to animosity or lack of leads... he didn't play anything! Now that he is doing solo shows, not only does he play Eagles songs, he also bills his show as "An Evening at the Hotel California." Obviously, whether or not things ended well with the Eagles has no bearing on his choice of setlist. I say, more power to him. He has every right to play songs he co-wrote with the Eagles regardless of whether or not he sang lead on them initially. Now, the ones he didn't co-write... well, that's another matter. At any rate, one cannot pretend that he doesn't trade on the Eagles name - and I personally have no problem with that. He deserves to get mileage out of his time with the Eagles. They all do.

All that said, I think the Eagles reunion would have been phenomenally successful even if neither Glenn nor Don had ever scored a hit. The Eagles were one of, if not THE, biggest bands of the seventies with excellent music that was being played constantly on classic radio.

However, it would NOT have been phenomenally successful if either Glenn or Don Henley were missing. In the end, that's why Glenn and Don Henley were able to negotiate for more money while Don Felder was not. They had the leverage as the big names, the lead singers, and the only remaining original members. As the only two men who were absolutely essential to a successful Eagles reunion, Frey and Henley could and did command more money, just like the bigger stars in the movies get paid more than the lesser known ones. By contrast, as the Eagles have shown, Felder is no longer essential to their success. Thus, he did not have the kind of leverage necessary to demand more money. If Frey or Henley walked out, it was over for everybody. If Felder walked out (or was pushed out), it was only over for him.

You may or may not agree, but the logic is sound if you look at it in business terms instead of emotional ones.