Discussion of Eagles Documentary "History of the Eagles"

[Troubadour]

Yeah... I still sort of like him (or at least some of the stuff he did) because he really represented most of the artists I love. He was so instrumental during that whole Troubadour club movement, especially with Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell.

I always think of the part in School of Rock (best silly, feelgood movie ever!) where one of the mums says: "And why is my daughter suddenly obsessed with David Geffen?" LOL.

I have to say, I think Irving came across really well. I don't really know too much about him personally, but I liked him at face value and I could totally understand what he said about having to be a shark when you're managing a band at that level. He had to do his job and support his artists, but he didn't come off as an a**hole at all in the interviews. I also like how well he took Don's "he's our Satan" comment. Too funny. It shows the kind of relationship they have; I think there's a huge mutual respect there.

[cbecrad]

Yeah... I still sort of like him (or at least some of the stuff he did) because he really represented most of the artists I love. He was so instrumental during that whole Troubadour club movement, especially with Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell.

That's true.

I always think of the part in School of Rock (best silly, feelgood movie ever!) where one of the mums says: "And why is my daughter suddenly obsessed with David Geffen?" LOL.

LMAO me too! I love that movie!

I have to say, I think Irving came across really well. I don't really know too much about him personally, but I liked him at face value and I could totally understand what he said about having to be a shark when you're managing a band at that level. He had to do his job and support his artists, but he didn't come off as an a**hole at all in the interviews. I also like how well he took Don's "he's our Satan" comment. Too funny. It shows the kind of relationship they have; I think there's a huge mutual respect there.

I agree. He seems like a very likable guy. It must be very hard to play such a major role in the music industry and try to make everybody happy while still keeping some integrity.

[SteveJoburg]

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



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



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!)

If you can find a documentary, which my brother has on DVD, called 'Under The Covers' (awful title I know) it is actually a full length movie about Henry Diltz's and Gary Burden's album covers from the 60's and 70's. It's the first place I saw some of the 'desert peyote' footage... Don Henley is even interviewed in it. They also obviously cover other bands and artists like CSN and Jackson Browne but for most people on this board I reckon they would find it really fascinating.

Also, out of interest, if you get a copy of the band America's Live in Chicago DVD/Blu Ray, Henry Diltz is a guest artist, playing guitar and singing with the band on a song or two.

[VAisForEagleLovers]

Thanks for the info, Steve!

I've been meaning to make a comment on this and kept forgetting. I think the documentary on Geffen was the last documentary on anything that I'd watched before HOTE. Glenn and Don said neutral and positive things about Geffen in his doc, I'm betting they either weren't 'allowed' to say what they really thought or it was edited out. I'm wondering if the fact they were in it at all was an agreement that if they were in Geffen's, he'd be in HOTE? Maybe not, but regardless, whether Don restrained himself in Geffen's documentary or was edited to be 'nice', for Geffen to so strongly say that Don was a malcontent in HOTE shows me what I need to know about the man.

[AEW21]

Yeah... I still sort of like him (or at least some of the stuff he did) because he really represented most of the artists I love. He was so instrumental during that whole Troubadour club movement, especially with Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell.

I always think of the part in School of Rock (best silly, feelgood movie ever!) where one of the mums says: "And why is my daughter suddenly obsessed with David Geffen?" LOL.

I have to say, I think Irving came across really well. I don't really know too much about him personally, but I liked him at face value and I could totally understand what he said about having to be a shark when you're managing a band at that level. He had to do his job and support his artists, but he didn't come off as an a**hole at all in the interviews. I also like how well he took Don's "he's our Satan" comment. Too funny. It shows the kind of relationship they have; I think there's a huge mutual respect there.

I think the best examination of the mutual admiration between the Eagles and Irving is still Cameron Crowe's profile of IA from like '78 or so. Despite being 35 years old, I think the basic tenets of it still remain. Really great quotes from Don, Glenn and Joe, and the infamous "Bahamas" story is told in detail.

ARTICLE

Fave Quotes:

Last January, Azoff won an unprecedented settlement to retrieve the Eagles publishing back from Warner Communications, the enormous conglomerate that owns Warner/Elektra/Asylum records. With typical zeal, he sued them for $10 million (“my scariest adventure in the business”) and hung on, bit and scratched, as one executive put it, and Warner Communications gave up after two years. “They legally owned our songs,” admits Frey, “but it just wasn’t fair. Nobody has that right. Those songs are our birthright and part of our children’s heritage. Besides . . . it also means I don’t have to hear ‘Take It to the Limit’ as a tire commercial. I thank Irving Azoff every night for that.”

"What wedding present do you get for the guy who’s already taken everything he wanted?” Glenn Frey, guitarist/composer and mainstay of the Eagles, Azoff’s biggest clients, sits in his Coldwater Canyon home several days later and contemplates his managers two newest-by-now-official surprises. Not only has Irving set the marriage date with Rochelle Cumsky, his girlfriend of two years, but he has ordered his name taken off FM. He will still keep his percentage. “You know,” says Frey, “the man bears striking similarities to a Jewish Dennis the Menace.”

“He’s Napoleon with a heart,” says Eagle singer/writer/drummer Don Henley, perhaps Azoff’s closest friend. “But I’m always awed because he’s screaming at some guy twice his size and never gets his face crushed for it. I think it helps that people are shocked at this short, deceptively cute-looking guy who goes to the top floor of a building and just explodes on some guy for his incompetence.”

Back to Geffen: Was that the PBS "American Masters" profile on him? Don and Glenn were interviewed on-camera for it? Now I really wish I had watched it. had it in the DVR for weeks...

[bluefox4000]

Latly i've taken to watching just part 1.....part 2 the more I watch is too damn rushed.

Mick

[Freypower]

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.

Thank you Dreamer.

One of the reasons I wrote it like that was because I didn't want to come acrosss as the starstruck 'fangirl' to use Soda's word who was incapable of criticism or seeing anything 'dark'. I felt that I had to acknowledge that I didn't miss what other people saw.

The fact is (you can all run away now) that I am still recovering from my Moment in February when Glenn was indeed approachable, friendly, kind-hearted (charismatic goes without saying). All this is true & I am immensely privileged to know it; but I was trying to convey what he was like in HOTE. I've only seen it once & there may be more warmth in there than I noticed. As I said I could not take my eyes off him & I am even more fascinated by him than I was before.

He is certainly warmer than Don Henley on stage because that is part of his role as the leader/frontman. I have my own particular memory of Don after one of the 2010 shows. I made it blndingly obvious throughout the night that I was focusing on Glenn but Don gave me a really warm, engaging, almost appraising stare after the first encore. That was a great moment.

Regarding Irving I have always admired him & I still do. I thought he was very open & candid. I liked the part after the Bahamas incident when Glenn said 'it was then I decided I would never do anything without Irving by my side'! As it happened, for a large part of his solo career after he went to MCA (where Irving was label president) Irving ceased to be his personal manager while remaining Don's. But I think Irving was there for Glenn as well (although if you read Eliot, Don was Irving's 'baby' & Glenn.... wasn't). I was told that Irving walked right past me at the LA show & I didn't see him.

[Freypower]

If you can find a documentary, which my brother has on DVD, called 'Under The Covers' (awful title I know) it is actually a full length movie about Henry Diltz's and Gary Burden's album covers from the 60's and 70's. It's the first place I saw some of the 'desert peyote' footage... Don Henley is even interviewed in it. They also obviously cover other bands and artists like CSN and Jackson Browne but for most people on this board I reckon they would find it really fascinating.

Also, out of interest, if you get a copy of the band America's Live in Chicago DVD/Blu Ray, Henry Diltz is a guest artist, playing guitar and singing with the band on a song or two.

Glenn Frey is in it as well.

[Freypower]

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.

I know NKIT is in the concert. It needed to be to make up for the fact that it was left out of the documentary.

I wasn't left with the impression that TLR flopped, just that it was very difficult for them to record. I thought that was fair enough.

[Thirsty&Hot]

If you can find a documentary, which my brother has on DVD, called 'Under The Covers' (awful title I know) it is actually a full length movie about Henry Diltz's and Gary Burden's album covers from the 60's and 70's. It's the first place I saw some of the 'desert peyote' footage... Don Henley is even interviewed in it. They also obviously cover other bands and artists like CSN and Jackson Browne but for most people on this board I reckon they would find it really fascinating.

Also, out of interest, if you get a copy of the band America's Live in Chicago DVD/Blu Ray, Henry Diltz is a guest artist, playing guitar and singing with the band on a song or two.

I've been looking for this! They have it available to "SAVE" to your queue on Netflix, but the dvd is not actually available for rental at this time. I really wanna see it!