THE ULTIMATE DON HENLEY ESSENTIAL BOX SET

[Troubadour]

Absolutely. I have seen plenty of great clips on the net of Don performing solo, or with other artists, and being interviewed. Many of them are old TV shows that most fans would not own - if they did, it would be a VHS recording, so it would be fantastic to have them updated and released on DVD! I'm thinking of things like the Old Grey Whistle Test and the MTV show. Willie listed some good examples, too. Like FP, I doubt this would happen because quality is obviously (understandably) a big issue for Don but, in an ideal world, this box set would exist and I, for one, would whip it off the shelf! I love interviews and old, funny, candid tidbits. I would also love to own a CD compilation of some of Don's old radio interviews. There are some gems out there and I really think that plenty of fans would be thrilled to have all this rare stuff in one place.

As for music, I'm not sure there's much point in compiling album tracks - in all honesty, I probably wouldn't buy it because I already own all of the songs - but I would love to have a CD of Don's rare, live tracks from over the years. I've heard some beautiful live versions of different songs. Again, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't go for it, but I'd pick things like Boys of Summer (the Storytellers version), Come Rain or Come Shine, Too Far Gone, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, It Don't Matter to the Sun, The Heart of the Matter (Christchurch)... and perhaps some great live versions of The End of the Innocence and Talking to the Moon. In fact, I'd love it if he released a whole live show, as JD Souther did recently with Midnight in Tokyo. Having a whole show recorded really captures the mood of a particular night and creates a sultry evening vibe. Don could definitely do the same.

[Freypower]

Absolutely. I have seen plenty of great clips on the net of Don performing solo, or with other artists, and being interviewed. Many of them are old TV shows that most fans would not own - if they did, it would be a VHS recording, so it would be fantastic to have them updated and released on DVD! I'm thinking of things like the Old Grey Whistle Test and the MTV show. Willie listed some good examples, too. Like FP, I doubt this would happen because quality is obviously (understandably) a big issue for Don but, in an ideal world, this box set would exist and I, for one, would whip it off the shelf! I love interviews and old, funny, candid tidbits. I would also love to own a CD compilation of some of Don's old radio interviews. There are some gems out there and I really think that plenty of fans would be thrilled to have all this rare stuff in one place.

As for music, I'm not sure there's much point in compiling album tracks - in all honesty, I probably wouldn't buy it because I already own all of the songs - but I would love to have a CD of Don's rare, live tracks from over the years. I've heard some beautiful live versions of different songs. Again, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't go for it, but I'd pick things like Boys of Summer (the Storytellers version), Come Rain or Come Shine, Too Far Gone, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, It Don't Matter to the Sun, The Heart of the Matter (Christchurch)... and perhaps some great live versions of The End of the Innocence and Talking to the Moon. In fact, I'd love it if he released a whole live show, as JD Souther did recently with Midnight in Tokyo. Having a whole show recorded really captures the mood of a particular night and creates a sultry evening vibe. Don could definitely do the same.

OK, I know I'm not supposed to say so but I think the same thing could be done for Don's colleague (runs & hides).

[Troubadour]

I completely agree! I would buy a Glenn box set like this, for sure.

[Houston Debutante]

OK, I know I'm not supposed to say so but I think the same thing could be done for Don's colleague (runs & hides).

Well it is a little out of place to start talking about a Glenn box set in this thread. Maybe somebody could go start a thread in Glenn's forum about that.

[Freypower]

Well it is a little out of place to start talking about a Glenn box set in this thread. Maybe somebody could go start a thread in Glenn's forum about that.

Well, I did metaphorically 'run & hide'. Apologies. It was just a very brief aside.

[gibsonmartin]

What about performances at other events? e.g. Don performed at an Inauguration event for President Clinton, and has performed at Farm Aid... those are just the ones I know about. Clips from his live shows perhaps? I would personally love to see him performing "It Don't Matter To The Sun" (I'm still holding out hope it will be on his new album if and when that's released...) and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World".

Agree, EaglesKiwi. "It Don't Matter to the Sun" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" are great cover songs made even better by Henley's singing.

[gibsonmartin]

Box sets are supposed to be about music. That is why DVDs (which presumably includes video interviews) should not be included. If you want to release a DVD, you do it separately. The music DVDs were already released as part of the Very Best Of. What was wrong with that was that a couple of movie soundtrack songs were included, but they were in video format & I could not transfer them into mp3 format, which I found beyond annoying.

This goes to prove that in my opinion there is insufficient material from Henley's solo career to justify a box set. His hardcore fans would already have all this & I don't know how much it would appeal to others. The tracks that GM listed in his opening post , apart from the 'best of solo albums' (which has already been done) you would be lucky if you got 45 minutes per disc. Even if you narrowed it down to four, I don't know that it is justified. You could perhaps put the movie soundtrack & compilation songs one one disc. I still think that is stretching it a very long way.

I suspect this will be an extremely unpopular opinion but there you are.

Well that's the beauty of this messageboard. You get various vantage points and perspectives.

[gibsonmartin]

We are talking about Don Henley here. For a start, as with the Eagles, there is probably not much that has not been released. We are also not talking about someone who is willing to take risks with this type of release (unless you count releasing songs in video format a 'risk').

No, there are no 'rules' about box sets but generally if it is a box set about music, then that is what it will be. If there are examples of box sets which include vidoes I would be interested to know what they are. I haven't heard of any. In any case the official videos have already been released. Unless the Very Best Of is withdrawn from sale why release them again?

As for interviews how often would you actually listen to them?

Sting's 25 Years box set has 3 CDs and 1 DVD of a New York concert featuring rarely performed songs from his career.

[gibsonmartin]

Well, of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but, I, obviously, have a different viewpoint about this. First of all, I definitely have to disagree that "box sets are supposed to be about music"??? There are all sorts of box sets available from music, TV shows, movies, books, etc., etc., etc., and all sorts of combinations of things.

The one thing I do agree with is that Henley hardcores already have most of his music that has been released. That is all the more reason to include other things that are highlights in his career. I'd bet there are a lot of things that have never been officially released that his fans would love to hear or see. Of course, this is all hypothetical anyway, but, I'm not aware of any 'rules' about what can or cannot be included in a boxset. In fact, I enjoy it when artists think outside the box (pun intended) and get creative with this kind of stuff.

A good example is ACHTUNG BABY 20th ANNIVERSARY which features B sides, remixes and cuts that almost made it to the original recording. Even more impressive is NEIL YOUNG's GREATEST HITS which supposedly only contains 2 33RPM discs. But as I was about to play the second disc, guess what comes out of the jacket? A 45 bonus single featuring Sugar Mountain back to back with The Loner.

[gibsonmartin]

We are talking about Don Henley here. For a start, as with the Eagles, there is probably not much that has not been released. We are also not talking about someone who is willing to take risks with this type of release (unless you count releasing songs in video format a 'risk').

No, there are no 'rules' about box sets but generally if it is a box set about music, then that is what it will be. If there are examples of box sets which include vidoes I would be interested to know what they are. I haven't heard of any. In any case the official videos have already been released. Unless the Very Best Of is withdrawn from sale why release them again?

As for interviews how often would you actually listen to them?

The downside of not doing this rarities release/box set now is that you leave it up to your estate and its executors to release your material after you're gone. Check out what they did with the unfinished work of Michael Jackson. The 1988 Wembley concert was released recently and fans are not that happy with the quality of the DVD. Would MJ have approved it to be released with such quality were he alive today?