Discussion of Eagles Documentary "History of the Eagles"

[Troubadour]

I'm pretty sure this sums up FP's thoughts on Glenn:

Finally can I just say this:

I, too, would like to read your thoughts on the topic though, FP. We've all had our say... now it's your turn!

[Freypower]

What did I think? That was what was about.

I may as well be honest. He dominated it. He's never done that in such an emphatic way before. At the end, he actually said the words 'I was proud' or words to that effect 'to be the leader of the Eagles'. I have been waiting for decades for those words to actually come from his mouth. Although he then said 'I kept the band together' & 'I kept people happy'. Even I would possibly have to quibble with that last statement. He possibly did not have the 'people skills' that he should have had to deal with the Leadon & Meisner problems. By the time the Felder problem arose I think he was past caring. I thought it was telling that he said 'Felder was never happy'.

His sense of humour is extremely acute & razor sharp. I know he probably sometimes rehearses what he intends to say but he manages to put a different spin on it & keep it interesting. He didn't say very much about himself or his own feelings except when he talked about telling Cindy & the kids to hang in there with him during the HFO period.

The parts that seemed to shock some people didn't shock me at all. He is brutally honest. He said what he had to say. I actually thought it was less confronting than I had been led to expect so in a way I was relieved.

All the old footage showed him leading the way. The look in his eyes & the way he moved, even back in the 70s - I couldn't take my eyes off him. While it was good to also see that during the HFO footage I would have liked more recent stuff, as I said.

I don't think his solo career or his acting was made to seem more successful than it was as somebody claimed.

I suppose many people prefer the other members, particularly Don Henley, because they come across as 'warmer', easier to get to know, less 'intimidating'. I understand where they are coming from. For me part of Glenn's fascination is just that; that he seems very distant. At first . But his voice isn't. And you have to start somewhere.

He fascinates me & he will always do so. I hope I have not gushed too much.

[Troubadour]

Thanks, FP! I really enjoyed reading your thoughts. I'm so glad you enjoyed the DVD as much as I did.

[Outlawman13]

I, too, love reading your thoughts about the documentary FP!!!

[VAisForEagleLovers]

I was however disappointed that of all the major songs that were featured, some at greater length than others, once again New Kid In Town was totally ignored.

FP, I'm glad you finally had a chance to watch it! I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it.

For the part I quoted above, I was thinking about this on the trip back this evening, so it's kind of ironic that you mentioned it now. Maybe it's the way it's edited, maybe it's a lot of things, but the intro to NKIT on the concert DVD gets a lot of applause as people in the audience recognized it. Being the young teen that I was, I had a habit of adoring certain rock stars and then tossing them aside like a broken toy when the next hit came along. I even had a big crush on Henley when BOML was popular. NKIT ended all that and I still adore the man. It was a very popular song, and as I believe I said before, easier for all the people I knew to relate to than some of the others off the HC album.

Another thing I thought of is that Long Run, the entire album, is made out to be one horrendous nightmare for the band from start to finish. It's success was downplayed, and for the three people on earth who aren't familiar with it, watching the documentary would have them thinking it flopped miserably and that was the reason the band had tensions that led to breaking up. There was no 'positive' footage of them singing anything from it, unless I'm not remembering correctly. The directors obviously were creating the big final scene in a dramatic way, and while it worked and then some, it wasn't really fair to the album or even the band, IMO. Putting out that album was a lot of work and probably one of the most painful things they'd done, yet they did it. It deserved more from the movie. I shudder to think what the directors would have done with it if they hadn't featured ICTYW and Timothy being added to the band.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I suppose many people prefer the other members, particularly Don Henley, because they come across as 'warmer', easier to get to know, less 'intimidating'. I understand where they are coming from. For me part of Glenn's fascination is just that; that he seems very distant. At first . But his voice isn't. And you have to start somewhere.

FP - I have to say, I thought your perspective about Glenn was very interesting to read, and I found this part of your post somewhat surprising. I really had to think about this when I read it because I didn't perceive Glenn as being intimidating or distant like some others do. After giving this some thought, I really think this may be because I have had the privilege of meeting him. I can tell you that whenever I've had a chance to talk to him in person, he struck me as being very approachable, friendly, kind-hearted, and charismatic. Now, of course, I don't claim to know him well, but I just wanted to make the point that he does come across much warmer in person.

[Troubadour]

I also found that part interesting, Dreamer. It made me think, too. Not that you're wrong at all, FP... but I've always thought of Glenn as being warmer and more personable than Don in public (I've heard lots of other people say the same, and that is why they like him better.) My experience during shows is that Glenn is very much the one who makes the links with the audience, makes eye contact and smiles etc, whereas Don doesn't tend to do too much of that stuff. It's interesting that some people think that Don comes across as warmer in this documentary than Glenn; I wonder how many people were surprised by that. I guess it's just the fact that Glenn talked so unashamedly about the business side of things in the doc and it was clear how much he led, and still leads, the band. I don't necessarily think of him as being distant or cold, though... Just my two cents.

[cbecrad]

First let me applaud you FP for giving your intelligent thoughts. I really enjoyed reading them. Second, I'm very excited someone gave their opinion "late in the game" so to speak. I was hesitant to post anything here since I really only watched the DVD for the first time right before joining The Border. So I wasn't sure what all had been discussed already (nor did I have the time to go through the entire thread ).
I pretty much agree with all you said. It was interesting though to hear it from a fan's perspective who already probably knew most of the stuff. Aside from knowing their music, I knew next to nothing about the Eagles before watching it. So I had not really heard the story of the breakup. And because of that I really have no opinion about Don Felder. I did find it weird though that they failed to mention he was the first Eagle to have a solo hit afterwards...
I also found the omission of NKIT strange. There was that one little scene when Glenn and Don are discussing the setlist or something and mention New Kid, and my husband and I were like "hey they didn't talk about that song at all!"
As for the Glenn thing...I'm not sure why he seems to get such a bad rep. I didn't find him to be cold in the DVD. He seems very personable to me. Don Henley seems to be quiet and reserved, intelligent and kind. I like all the guys really. I think the only person in the entire DVD that came off as an asshole was David Geffen.

[Troubadour]

I loved reading your thoughts too, CC! Very insightful.

Don Henley seems to be quiet and reserved, intelligent and kind.

I know this might seem silly, but this part made me all warm and fuzzy. I don't often hear Don described this way.

I think the only person in the entire DVD that came off as an asshole was David Geffen.

Haha. Yeah. The part about the Eagles LP was both irritating and funny - I had to laugh at his shrug when they're talking about how he messed up the sleeve design. Those two photographers seem like such cool guys. I would love to sit down with them and have a chat (probably out in the desert somewhere!)

[cbecrad]

Haha. Yeah. The part about the Eagles LP was both irritating and funny - I had to laugh at his shrug when they're talking about how he messed up the sleeve design. Those two photographers seem like such cool guys. I would love to sit down with them and have a chat (probably out in the desert somewhere!)

LOL I know. It makes me so mad but makes me laugh too. He was like "yeah I got nothin'." And I'm like "you dick." I used to have great respect for him.