New Interview: Don Henley: A pretty fly guy

[Mrs Frey]

Yeah - as much as I love Don - I do wish that he would refrain from making these types of comments in public. It really does make him appear petty and difficult, and certainly must not serve to improve relations with his band members. Seems to me like he's insinuating - hey, if the album is a flop, it's not my fault.

I've only just read this Henley article/interview - thanks for posting, TF - as well as everyone's valid and interesting comments.

Highlighted text: Dreamer, you seem to have got the same impression as I did. I made almost the same comment in another thread in response to yet another Henley put down of the album and his bandmates.

I am a fan of Don's as well, but as I said in the other thread, he should remember that the idea of the interviews he's giving is to encourage people to buy the new album - not only existing fans but new fans, too - and he certainly won't do that by putting it down. I come from a difficult band environment myself, albeit it not on the same level as The Eagles, and I know it can be tough when one doesn't see eye-to-eye with one's bandmates, but a level of discretion and professionalism must be maintained at all times when facing the public. The idea is ALWAYS to promote the band as a unit, and to show a UNITED front. Don is not doing that, and after all the years he has been in this business, surely he has learnt the public relations game. What he is doing is really tactless, I'm sorry to say.

Glenn , on the other hand, ALWAYS exudes positive energy. He ALWAYS heaps praise on ALL his bandmates. Back in 1992, when he was being interviewed by Bob Costas to promote his "Strange Weather" album, he was at pains to point out what a big contribution Don Felder made to The Eagles, despite the history between them. Why can't Don Henley show the same respect towards his bandmates?

Bottom line: it really isn't pleasant for Eagles fans to constantly read such negative comments. We love the band as a whole: we may have our favourites, but The Eagles wouldn't be The Eagles without any one of the guys, and everyone contributes to the music we love so much.

As for Don's comment about "Mr Frey" being the boss - well, he is, isn't he? As far as I know, it was Glenn who approached Don about forming a band in 1971, not the other way around.

There has been much talk about Joe taking a backseat in the band in favour of Steuart Smith. Well, as much as I admire Steuart's skill, I also think Joe is simply brilliant, and should be given more guitar duties, if that is the case on the new album (I'm still waiting for my copy). I would also have preferred seeing Joe perform the "How Long" solo on the CMA's - I thought he did it on the record, seeing that he appeared to be doing so in the video for the song.

I am also of the opinion that Glenn should sing more rockers, as well as play more guitar solos. I simply love him doing both - two of my favourite solo songs of Glenn are "Partytown" and "Love in the 21st Century". His vocals are fantastic and so are his guitar solos. I can barely play those songs enough. It was a tough choice, but "Heartache Tonight" is my favourite Eagles song (Glenn lead vocal on a rocker), and my favourite parts of "Get Over It" are Glenn's blistering guitar intro and solo.

There are many of you who know much more about The Eagles than I do and have seen them live in solo shows and as a group, which I haven't, but on the strength of seeing their DVDs, listening to their albums, and watching the great videos on this site, I have formed my opinions. And they're just my 2c worth.

[Brooke]

JF, yeah, that's true. Maybe he enjoys just sitting back and strumming along when he's with the Eagles and is "saving himself" for more of his own solo shows. I guess I just have always expected that with the Felder dismissal Joe would take over where Felder left off. That does not seem to be the case.

[sodascouts]

JF, yeah, that's true. Maybe he enjoys just sitting back and strumming along when he's with the Eagles and is "saving himself" for more of his own solo shows. I guess I just have always expected that with the Felder dismissal Joe would take over where Felder left off. That does not seem to be the case.

I think most of us expected that. JF, in another thread, you expressed disappointment that Joe wasn't more visible. As Brooke has said, her speculation is just a result of that same disappointment. I think the vast majority of Eagles fans recognize Joe's brilliance on guitar and when it's not utilized, we grope for reasons.

[scottside]

Thanks, Soda, for refreshing my memory. "I'll Come Runnin' Back To You" is the song I was referring to. I'm not familiar with it, but I love it when Glenn does those types of songs. Way back in 1982 right after NFA came out, I got the chance to see him play locally. He was great and one of the highlights of the night was a sublime version of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." My wife and I got a brief moment to speak with him after the show and told him he should record it. He seemed humble about it, but never pursued it unfortunately. Anyway, I wonder the Eagles rejected "I'll Come Runnin'..."--I'd have like to hear him do that one.

Dreamer, I imagine the detailed credits for each song were omitted because in most cases, the music wasn't made as the Eagles. I think both Don and Glenn did a lot of the songs individually in their own studios using the hired hands primarily. Particularly on Glenn's songs, I get the impression he did a lot of the work himself as he was prone to do on his solo albums. Don appears to have teamed up with Stu and they played much of the music on the songs he brought in. The Henley/Smith partnership seems to have taken precedence over the Henley/Frey one. I really believe that there are only Henley/Frey songs on the cds because they felt they needed to do that, not because that's what they would've preferred.

One other thing: I think it's great that Glenn has the same number of songs as Don this time around. It should've been that way all along, but I can't help thinking that part of Glenn's increased productivity is the result of him not having any plans to release another solo album any time soon and he wanted an outlet for some of the things he's accumulated the past several years. Just a hunch...

[sodascouts]

With regard to MF's post, I was trying to figure out Don's behavior - I do think Don's comments come across badly, but maybe he doesn't think it will discourage people from buying the album. He does say some nice things about the album, he just qualifies them. Maybe he feels he owes it to the fans to warn them? (OK, I guess I'm reaching there). Anyway, I really admire Don and so I like to think there must be more to it than just chafed ego because "Mr. Frey" always gets his way - but to be fair, that can't be fun for someone like Don who's used to being the one in charge in his own solo career.

[sodascouts]

One other thing: I think it's great that Glenn has the same number of songs as Don this time around. It should've been that way all along, but I can't help thinking that part of Glenn's increased productivity is the result of him not having any plans to release another solo album any time soon and he wanted an outlet for some of the things he's accumulated the past several years. Just a hunch...

I hate to think that, but I did wonder about it. I was encouraged by the talk of the big band album, but I have to admit that it's something that sounds like a big "Maybe" rather than a definite.

I agree that Dreamer is probably right in her speculation about the album credits. I think they realize that it would look bad.

[Brooke]

Dreamer, I imagine the detailed credits for each song were omitted because in most cases, the music wasn't made as the Eagles.

I was thinking about this also.

I think both Don and Glenn did a lot of the songs individually in their own studios using the hired hands primarily. Particularly on Glenn's songs, I get the impression he did a lot of the work himself as he was prone to do on his solo albums. Don appears to have teamed up with Stu and they played much of the music on the songs he brought in. The Henley/Smith partnership seems to have taken precedence over the Henley/Frey one. I really believe that there are only Henley/Frey songs on the cds because they felt they needed to do that, not because that's what they would've preferred.

I think you're right and it makes me sad that that's the only way they could manage to get an album out. But I know that with their family commitments as well as other obstacles it would be very hard to get it done any other way. I can't imagine the life of a musician myself!

[katherine5832]

Many critics have suggested that the new record would have worked better as single album. Interestingly, Henley agrees: "I strongly opposed a double album", he goes on, "but Mr Frey wanted a double record and he's the boss. Everybody thinks I'm the boss, but I'm not. Part of it was band politics, of course. When you have four lead singers you want everybody to be represented. I wrote 'Do Something' with Timothy, and Joe sings a Frankie Miller song ['Guilty of the Crime'], and he wrote 'Last Good Time in Town' with J D Souther. Frankly, Joe and Timothy didn't bring in a lot of stuff. We were waiting for it, but it never came."

I've been reading some of the comments about Don's "negativity" in this article presumably mainly from the passage above. Well, I'll admit upfront that I'm very biased toward Don so I might not be very objective about this, but am I the only one who finds nothing wrong with his statements here? He sounds like the perfectionist that he's always been. If he thought that the album would've been better off as a single album, well that's his prerogative to say that. Evidently, Glenn thought otherwise and it looks like he got his way (and aside from one or two songs, I'm glad he insisted on the double album). I don't see how Don is being negative about anything. He's just expressing his feelings. As far as the dearth of songs from Joe and Timothy, well, with all due respect to Joe and Timothy, Don and Glenn have always been the primary songwriters and lead singers going back to their first album, so what would be different nowadays? I think by now, Joe and Timothy get that! If they don't, well, then they are pretty obtuse. And don't get me wrong, I enjoy hearing Joe's and Timothy's songs, but if they didn't deliver, they didn't deliver. To me, Don's just stating facts, not necessarily opinions on their songwriting skills. Okay, I'm stepping down from my soapbox now...

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Katherine - IMO, the issue here was not whether or not Don was right or wrong. The bottom line to me is that it was unprofessional and unclassy of Don to publically diss his bandmates. Thankfully, he seems to have mellowed considerably in his more recent interviews.