For Those Saying Glenn Frey is Necessary to the Eagles; no Glenn, no legit Eagles

[Dawn]

My takeaway is Glenn cared alot about touring behind new material whether it was a song, a DVD, an album or a documentary and his family provided alot of comfort, stability and support which he clearly needed and appreciated. That being said I can't help but wish he had cut the last tour in half.

[Freypower]

He was ill when the HFO dvd was being made, he had collapsed on stage one night

He collapsed when they were leaving the stage in Philadelphia.

If you read Bob Seger's recent statements he says he was the one pushing Glenn to do the reunion, saying he would have fun doing it.

He was my oldest friend in music. I met him in 1966, and we recorded "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" that year. We were just a couple of knuckleheads starting out – he was from Royal Oak [Michigan], and I was from Detroit. He was such a positive influence in my life. We'd always call each other for advice. I pushed him to do that Eagles reunion [in 1994]. He was the only one that didn't want to do it for years. I said to him, "I think you'd have fun."

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/f...-album-w514860

But the whole HFO thing, where he sang three songs, could perhaps suggest that he still wasn't entirely convinced about it until they actually started touring again. I don't know this. But to this day as a Frey fan it was one of my biggest disappointments to see them reunited & his role being so downplayed.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Glenn had told Irving that anything was possible in the 90’s so he had, obviously, been considering a reunion and was keeping an open mind about it even after he backed out in 1990. After the TIE video shoot in December, 1993, Irving moved swiftly. Once Glenn came on board in February ’94, I don’t think Irving wasted a second in inking the deal to ensure there was no change of heart this time around. Things moved so quickly that the taping of the MTV shows was scheduled for April. Poor Joe pretty much walked out of rehab right on to the rehearsal stage. So, my guess is that if Joe’s rehab had failed, the band would have still been contractually obligated at that point to do the MTV shows with or without him. Thank goodness it worked. Given their history, it is actually quite amazing that the band was able to come up with 4 new songs for the taping, including the Henley/Frey co-write.

Initially, the HFO tour was kind of a trial or as Glenn put it, they decided that they could go out and “blitz” a few baseball stadiums over the summer. The tour was extended, had to be postponed due to Glenn’s surgery, but then resumed in early 1995. (Incidently, I believe that the reason Glenn wasn't interviewed for the HFO video was probably because there was a deadline on completing it and he was too ill at the time.) The band was never into writing songs while touring and by the time the tour ended, Don, and later Joe, were busy getting married and starting families. After about 1996, they took a long break from touring to decide where they would go from there. There was still tension and things were at an impasse with recording new material, and, of course, the issues with Felder. They did perform the Millennium shows, but I think Glenn was, again, at the point where he was unwilling to continue the band with Felder and without new music. After Felder was dismissed, they ended up resuming for the Millennium and Farewell I tours and although it took several years, they recorded a double album of all new original material. Glenn told us at Pebble Beach in 2007 that band morale was at an ‘all-time high’ and joked that he could give us 6 million reasons why (6M = # of LROOE albums sold). So although I’m sure things didn’t always go as smooth as silk, and they took things one year at a time, the band remained pretty functional through the end of the HOTE tour.

Wow – please pardon me for getting carried away. I just realized that I unintentionally wrote a HOTE, Part II recap.

But, in any event, I went through all of this for the purpose of showing that Glenn actually remained fairly consistent about his feelings as far as I can tell. The larger question that I would like answered is what happened between 2016 and 2017 to cause such a total about face with Irving, Don, Joe, and Tim? I’m sure if you scroll though the discussions in threads on this board after Glenn’s death, you’ll find that the overwhelming assumption by both the band and fans alike was that the Eagles were over.

(And OBTW - that is a rhetorical question and I'm not really looking for answers. I think I know what most folks posting this thread would say. )

[New Kid In Town]

Dreamer - That pretty much sums it all up.
Dawn - I too think things might have been different if the History tour was cut short. I think those May to July concerts took a lot out of Glenn. Bob talked about how exhausted Glenn looked when he saw him in July.

[Freypower]

What caused the about face?

If you look at the 3.0 thread a lot of the supporters were saying that when they made the statements about how they would not continue they were 'in shock' or 'grieving', so when their 'grieving' ceased it was quite OK for them to turn around and say 'well that's done with, let's continue' or however you wish to phrase it. Nothing is true any more; people just change their minds without any concern for consequences or perceptions.

[New Kid In Town]

What caused the about face?

If you look at the 3.0 thread a lot of the supporters were saying that when they made the statements about how they would not continue they were 'in shock' or 'grieving', so when their 'grieving' ceased it was quite OK for them to turn around and say 'well that's done with, let's continue' or however you wish to phrase it. Nothing is true any more; people just change their minds without any concern for consequences or perceptions.

FP - Last year, in either February or March Tim gave an interview(Tim and the press thread I think) that I remember being shocked by when I read it. IMHO, it sounded cold and very matter-of-fact. I remember posting about how shocked I was. That's why I personally believe they had been planning on continuing as far back as Sept.2016. But, with Don and Joe touring and Tim working on his album it could not come together until March 2017. Also, I feel they wanted to wait until the one year anniv. of Glenn's death passed.

[Dawn]

FP - Last year, in either February or March Tim gave an interview(Tim and the press thread I think) that I remember being shocked by when I read it. IMHO, it sounded cold and very matter-of-fact. I remember posting about how shocked I was. That's why I personally believe they had been planning on continuing as far back as Sept.2016. But, with Don and Joe touring and Tim working on his album it could not come together until March 2017. Also, I feel they wanted to wait until the one year anniv. of Glenn's death passed.

Yes, I do remember how shocked you were. I also question when the discussions began about reforming and hiring Vince Gill and Deacon Frey in order to capitalize on co-headlining Azoff's Classic East West concerts. The concerts happened in summer 2017.

[BillBailey1976]

He collapsed when they were leaving the stage in Philadelphia.

If you read Bob Seger's recent statements he says he was the one pushing Glenn to do the reunion, saying he would have fun doing it.

He was my oldest friend in music. I met him in 1966, and we recorded "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" that year. We were just a couple of knuckleheads starting out – he was from Royal Oak [Michigan], and I was from Detroit. He was such a positive influence in my life. We'd always call each other for advice. I pushed him to do that Eagles reunion [in 1994]. He was the only one that didn't want to do it for years. I said to him, "I think you'd have fun."

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/f...-album-w514860

But the whole HFO thing, where he sang three songs, could perhaps suggest that he still wasn't entirely convinced about it until they actually started touring again. I don't know this. But to this day as a Frey fan it was one of my biggest disappointments to see them reunited & his role being so downplayed.

But, he really did sing more than 3 songs though. He actually sang 6 songs. We know that from the 2nd night bootleg. The big question is why he had 3 of his cut from the video. Who made that decision? That's the real question. It looks like the set was fairly close to the sets they'd perform in live concerts, with some notable exceptions being a lot of the solo stuff.
The thing that's really puzzling to me is why does Glenn get 3 or 6 depending on how you view the set (DVD vs. Actual), and Don get to do 2 solo songs? I understand it somewhat in concert. You are filling out a 2 1/2 hour set list. But in this controlled DVD setting, why not add a couple more Glenn songs? Already Gone, and Peaceful Easy Feeling would have fit in great. PEF in the first part on the stools, and AG in the last few around LITFL.

[Dawn]

CoreStates Spectrum, Philadelphia Setlist
September 16, 1994


https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/eagle...-4bdd6bca.html

[Dawn]

Setlist for March 6, 1995. Note: This concert replaced the September 17, 1994 concert that was cancelled due to Glenn's illness.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/eagle...-13dbd50d.html

Looks like they took out Silent Spring (a Glenn Frey song) from Set 2

Archive of LA Times news article announcing cancellation of HFO tour

https://news.google.com/newspapers?n...,1039001&hl=en