I would have to agree that Don Felder is the 5th Eagle if anyone is. So, then, JD would have to be the 6th Eagle if anyone is.
"They will never forget you 'till somebody new comes along"
1948-2016 Gone but not forgotten
Totally agree Brooke. Don Felder is the 5th Eagle. If anyone should be considered the "6th Eagle" it should probably be JD for his song writing contributions.
That being said, Irving made a huge contribution to making the Eagles what they became. I remember Glenn's quote from an old RS interview where he states that despite all their hard work and constant touring, they each only had $2,500.00 in the bank before Irving became their manager in 1973. There was the one tour they did for Christmas money and wound up with nothing. Geffen claimed after expenses there was no money to pay them. Irving really fought for them, made sure they got what they deserved, and like FP said, got back their publishing rights.
There is that famous quote from John Boylan - "The Eagles were made to make a million dollars". Glenn had studied why other bands failed, picked three other extremely talented guys who were just as ambitious as he was who, after being in failed bands, were willing to put the time and effort to succeed. They were also in the right place at the right time, and knew the right people to help make them successful. So many people were instrumental in their success.
I’m in the group that thinks Steuart Smith would be in line for the 6th Eagle. Felder to me is clearly the 5th but I think smith comes before JD because he too has writing credits not as many or important as JD’s but he has been playing with them for over a decade and has essentially replaced Felder who I regard as the 5th eagle in that role
I thought JD Souther was referred to as the "Fifth Eagle" when they were still a 4-piece (and before Azoff was involved). JD even rehearsed with them with the idea he might join. Of course, when Felder joined, he became the official fifth Eagle.
Interesting thread. Irving Azoff certainly deserves credit for the part he played in their success and, to me, it seems that he was given it by Henley and Frey. If you consider the documentary, Azoff gets more time than some of the band members. I see him as one of the Power Trio.
Peneumbra, who else do you think of as being a good manager, at least as far as the people he/she is representing?
I can think of so many groups or artists who had their moment and then it went wrong and often the manager gets blamed. Humble Pie, Peter Fra,pton, Wishbone Ash are a few that come to mind.
I can kind of see an argument for Smith. He's co-written 5 songs, which puts him on par with Timothy (and Jack Tempchin, incidentally). They're second only to Souther (who wrote or co-wrote 12 songs). The problem is that his involvement musically is limited to one album, their final and least iconic, which does pale when you compare it to Souther who contributed so much more to the albums that established them and who was contributing to their sound right up until the end.
As for touring, I'm not as keen on taking that into consideration. Touring with the Eagles isn't all that musically significant in terms of creative contribution. Several guys have toured with them for years (Crago goes back to HFO; Hollis joined them in 2001), and they're simply meticulously recreating the parts others have written. Smith's talent is undeniable but in terms of contributing to the Eagles' sound on a creative level as part of the touring band, he's handicapped by the dictum to "make it sound just like the album / just like Felder."
Dawn had asked me if I'd ever met Judee Sill - a former girlfriend of Souther's, and a singer-songwriter in L.A. in the early '70s - and the answer is, I don't think so.
But I vaguely recall seeing her play at the old Ash Grove, maybe opening for somebody. Really sad story here: she got into (heavy) dope early on, got involved in some serious crime, was repped and then dropped by David Geffen… apparently she went to the same high school I did, albeit a decade earlier.
I looked on that Google thing and it states that she died of an O.D. in North Hollywood in 1979.
It is still amazing to me that so many people in our little industry end up sticking a rig (needle) in their arm, or whatever body part they have left to shoot in. Many, if not most, artists are very sensitive, and A LOT of them get very depressed (Talkin' to you, Vincent. Talkin' to you, Janis.)
Personally, I don't think I could do that. When I get depressed, I just chug a bottle of NyQuil, and I feel much better. And way more decongested...
Thanks so much for your reply, I wish things had turnd out differently for Judee. I would have liked to have seen a documentary on her life, troubled as she was, she had such potential and was a gifted songwriter and musician. Her song Jesus Was A Crossmaker was written for JD. Here's a short clip of an interview with JD several years ago. "I loved her."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0261c9b
Rare video of Judee performing her beautiful song The Kiss.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0feFedDW_iQ
"Let's burn our long johns and head west" - Glenn Frey 1948-2016