Timothy in the Press/Blogs/etc.

[SilverMoon]

There’s a stereotype that Timothy’s voice and songs only appeal to women, but I've read a lot of comments and reviews from men saying they like Timothy. Here are two old reviews of Eagles concerts as examples. Both reviewers are men.

This one is a review of the March 27, 1995 concert in Vancouver, Canada. It was originally published in The Georgia Straight, a Vancouver weekly newspaper. The reviewer thinks that Timothy is the best singer in the band.

http://earofnewt.com/2014/05/24/joe-...-in-vancouver/

This is the part of the review about Timothy:

Glenn Frey dedicated the show’s third selection, “New Kid in Town”, to “anyone who’s had a martini at Delilah’s”, referring to the popular West End eatery he frequented during a previous three-month stay here. That pretty little ditty benefited from the gorgeous backup vocals of bassist Timothy B. Schmidt, who is far and away the best singer in the band.

Schmidt’s vocal prominence became easily apparent when he took the lead on “I Can’t Tell You Why”, my personal fave Eagles ballad.

And this other one is a review of the June 4, 2002 concert in Albuquerque, NM. The review is from The Albuquerque Tribune. I put the parts about Timothy in bold to make them easier to find. The reviewer feels that Timothy is underused in the band.

http://www.thehighwaystar.com/review...uquerque02.htm

The crowd noise, deafening after almost every song, tells me I shouldn't say anything bad about this show. So does the news that it pulled in $1,011,391 at the gate, the most ever for a University Arena concert.

So I'll start off nice. Don Henley is magnificent, worth the admission by himself. His lyrics are among the best in rock'n'roll history. His ballads, particularly Wasted Time and Desperado, and his rockers, Dirty Laundry above all, were the best things about a great show. The Eagles played a three-hour, 29-song set that was safe in its selection and flawless in its execution. Their classics were played, and played well. Still...

I had the nagging feeling that I was watching the Egos as much as the Eagles. Henley and guitarist Joe Walsh dominated the show, and only Henley deserved to. Walsh even hogged the spotlight from founding Eagle Glenn Frey, who wasn't even on stage for one of the encore songs.

Bassist Tim Schmidt clearly has been made a sub-Eagle. He sang just two songs, and the band never even bothered to introduce him. Walsh, who has aged a great deal in the two years since I saw the band, performed four like-sounding songs from his solo days. Rocky Mountain Way in the encore wasn't necessary. One from Schmidt's days with Poco, and one less from Walsh, would have been great.

Instead, Schmidt is heading down the path of Don Felder, the Eagles guitarist who was plucked and deposed in 2001 after losing a power struggle with Henley and Frey. Stewart Smith - an unofficial Eagle, I suppose - is replacing Felder on this tour. On Felder's two signature songs - I Can't Tell You Why and Hotel California - Smith wasn't up to the task.

The verdict: Good to excellent show, but Schmidt should go back to Poco, where he's appreciated.

[bluefeather]

the best singer in the band? very nicely said about Timothy in the first but I don't appreciate telling Tim to go back to Poco in the other, it's great that he appreciates Timothy enough to feel bad for him though

[tjh532]

Thanks for finding and sharing those SilverMoon! I think you are right about the stereotype that Timothy's voice only appealing to women, and it's nice to see otherwise. I agree whole heartedly that he has been under used.

I do have to disagree with the writer of the second article though - he was obviously not headed down the Felder path, as that article was written 12 years ago. It's interesting to me that because Timothy is happy not being the center of attention, that somehow translates to him being pushed around or being pushed out. And maybe he was out getting a beer when they introduced Timothy? Please correct me if I'm wrong, but Timothy is always Introduced.

Anyway, nice to see some Timothy love
And I doubt he'll ever go back to Poco. I don't think Timothy is the sort to look backwards.

[cynd1231]

I was living in Albuquerque and AT The Pit on June 4, 2002 and I can tell you that the review was totally off the mark. In fact, when it hit the newsstand I wrote O'Rourke a not-too-pleasant letter suggesting that he was either drunk or sleeping during most of the show - or possibly he only THOUGHT he was at The Pit! Having been at that concert, I took particular exception to almost everything he wrote! His derogatory remarks about Timothy, especially that he was "heading down the path of Don Felder" really raised my hackles. The suggestion that Timothy would engage in a 'power struggle' was beyond my comprehension and I remember telling O'Rourke in no uncertain terms that if he was going to comment on behind-the-scenes issues among the band members, he'd better do his homework and be darned sure of his facts before committing a statement like that to print.

[MaryCalifornia]

Cynd, that is a crazy story - what a coincidence that SM pulled that review. SM, thanks for those two reviews and the snippets of the TBS comments! The second reviewer is a tool. And what is that comment about Joe aging? No respect for this reviewer.

Agree with the first reviewer about Tim's backing vocals...sometimes, in the videos of recent shows, his voice will come through louder/higher than the others' and I'm like, OMG, it is so outstanding and strong, I wish I could have the isolated feed from his mic! I've said before in these threads that he carries a heavy load to consistently achieve the Eagles iconic harmonies that all of the reviewers praise. I feel like all you need is Timothy and Don, or Timothy and Glenn, and the harmonies sound beautiful. (The addition of Bernie to backing vocals does result in a very cool sound.)

There is no denying that Timothy appeals to men as well as women in all facets of his professional life, in his songs, voice and LOOKS! I remember reading a review of an outdoor Poco show and the reviewer said that all of the women and many of the men couldn't take their eyes off of him!! When you combine that sweet voice with the recognizable/iconic look (disregarding 1982-90), you get a performer who is universally respected and admired.

[Roey]

Lucky for us that Timothy's focus is his music. As a fan, I respect and admire his talent. To me he has the whole package, the talent, personality and looks. To see how many accomplished musicians respect and admire him says alot. Just look at the list of the aritists that included him on their projects.

[cynd1231]

MC. I think I may have told O'Rourke that he was a dweeb -- or something to that effect (whatever the equivalent slang term was at the time). Wish I could find the copy of the letter I sent him because I think I also told him that as a former journalist myself I found him to be an insult to the profession. He violated a few rules of journalism in that piece and I took him to task for it! For the record, I also don't recall Glenn being absent from the stage during ANY of their numbers let alone an encore song!

By the way, the Tribune was Albuquerque's afternoon publication and had low readership even in '02. The went under in '08 and I don't recall whatever became of O'Rourke or how long he even remained with the Trib. But I was very upset by his article and very vocal about my stance. NOBODY insults the Eagles to that extent in my book and gets away with it without a few choice words from me. I was livid for days!

[Freypower]

There is so much wrong with that review that I am glad others have commented on it; but I feel I should say that describing ICTYW as Felder's 'signature' song because he played the solo live, presumably, is extremely misleading. Most of the rest of what was quoted was insulting at best. Let's not even talk about the spelling error. Speaking as a Glenn Frey fan, it is without any value at all.

I would have thought the majority of TBS fans on this board prefer him as an Eagle (NOT a 'sub-Eagle') and would not like to see him back with Poco. The responses here prove that while his fans appreciate him receiving some deserved praise, most of them don't appreciate distortion of fact & wild speculation.

I don't know how many of Tim's fans agree with the 'best singer in the band' part. Everyone has different opinions & that includes reviewers.

[cynd1231]

Two cardinal rules of journalism were broken in that article (aside from his spelling error). First of all, he was obviously very biased against the band from the get-go and made no bones about it ("The crowd noise, deafening after almost every song, tells me I shouldn't say anything bad about this show.") He should have followed his gut! There are always two sides to every story and a truly good reporter will always go the distance to tell both sides. Secondly, nowhere does he interject the phrase "in this reporters opinion" and nowhere did the paper itself interject the disclaimer that 'the opinions stated are those of the reporter and not that of The Journal'. The editors had an obligation to review the material before it was published and add the disclaimer if they were going to print his submission word-for-word. They couldn't even use the argument that they were on a tight deadline since the concert was over well before the paper went to press for a 4 p.m. distribution the following day! Shoddy journalism on all counts!

[cynd1231]

I don't know how many of Tim's fans agree with the 'best singer in the band' part. Everyone has different opinions & that includes reviewers.

As a huge fan of Timothy, I feel that he IS the best singer in the band -- on the songs where he has the lead! They all are when they have lead vocals on specific songs. But without their harmonies there is no complete package and (IMO) that is what makes it such an incredible experience.

That being said, I would still love to hear Timothy sing TITTL just once!