Eagles: Headliners - oh, the irony

[sodascouts]

A Don Henley quote from 1975 that made me chuckle:

"Rock and roll is a business. Rock and roll music is marketed like deodorant or detergent."

And this quote about Joe from Jim Fox really surprised me. It's about Joe leaving the James Gang. Fox states that Joe hadn't been happy, which I knew, but then he adds:

"[Joe] was always unhappy, he was never a happy guy, he was never the kind of guy to come off the stage and say 'That was a good gig!'"

[AlreadyGone95]

Somehow I just can't picture rock n roll being marketed like Axe is today. Although Axe didn't exist then, so maybe Brut would've been a good comparison? ( For those that don't know, Axe is probably the most popular deodorant for people my age(say between 15-30 y/os) )

Interesting to read that about Joe.

[Funk 50]

Every move is choreographed, every note is agonised over, I'm sure there are loads of genuine rock'n'roll bands but they're the bands you never hear about. The top bands work at it, hard.

At the end of a Genesis concert, Phil Collins would listen back to the show on an audio cassette, maybe even view it on dvd once they started using the Jumbotron screens, to see how the show could be improved. That's how you get good. That's why Jim Fox, great drummer that he was, is The Girl From Yesterday hoping for Joe to instigate a James Gang reunion

[NightMistBlue]

F50, I've read (don't know if it's true) that the Eagles have recorded every show they've ever done. I wonder if they listened back to them - as monotonous as that could possibly be! - to judge their performances.

[Glennsallnighter]

Just scanned this thread Soda, thanks for posting those stories. Really cheered me up!

[AlreadyGone95]

F50, I've read (don't know if it's true) that the Eagles have recorded every show they've ever done. I wonder if they listened back to them - as monotonous as that could possibly be! - to judge their performances.

Considering the fact that the always wanted to be perfect, it wouldn't surprise me if they did do that!

[UndertheWire]

It brought to mind something written by Glenn's friend Thomas Sullivan:

I’m always amazed to listen as Glenn and his manager Tommy Nixon (the Lone Star Texan) or Jerry Vaccarino dissect a concert from the night before. What sounded flawless to me at midnight may be the subject of considerable debate the next day, as they parse out every phase of a program. It is always a revelation and a renewal of light on my own creative efforts to realize how nuanced an artist must be in pursuit of perfection.

link

It's not just Glenn. Don Felder writes about asking for copies of the house mix because he wanted to check the new guy was up to the job.

[sodascouts]

Along those lines, here's another interesting quote from Joe from the Jams Gang days:

"I can come off the stage having the worst night I ever had, and if you jump around a lot and play loud you can fool the audience. They're not aware of the fact that you had a bad night. We've come off the stage having the worst night and have a standing ovation and a great reception. Then you might have a good night and nobody gets into it. It really makes you wonder... really shakes you up."

[Funk 50]

Listening back to a concert is one thing, the tricky bit is fixing it. Phil Collins, apparently, would slip a note under the relevant hotel door.

Joe Vitale tells an amusing story about slipping a fancy drum lick into a performance of Those Shoes, causing a stir amongst the guitarists. Initially he thought it was admiration but after being summoned to Henley's room after the show, he realised that the rest of the band knew what was coming to him.

As they gathered for the next night's show, Glenn jokes "So, Joe Bob, remember to play that fill".

If that nice Mr. Felder was listening back to shows, he must've been up for kickin' some ass too!

[sodascouts]

A joke from Joe c. 1975:

"Everyone holds up his own end [in the Eagles]. That's all I ever wanted in a band. In fact, if the Eagles were any happier we would probably break up."

All sunshine and daisies, eh?

This one surprised me - a quote from Henley after the release of Greatest Hits:

"We aren't really advocates of greatest hits albums. They are more or less a ploy by the record company to get free sales. They don't have to spend any money to make them and they get a lot of money back. [...] The record company put it out and we couldn't stop them."

So the record company can put out greatest hits albums without the permission of the band? I wonder how often that happens. I know Don put out two greatest hits packages with essentially the same songs on them, but the first one at least had his participation in that there were some new songs. Certainly he benefited from them. Indeed, in the case of the Eagles Greatest Hits referenced in the quote, the album went on to become the best selling album of the 20th century.