Last edited by Freypower; 01-04-2017 at 06:03 PM.
You know nothing about me, so I might have been your instructor for all you know. Regardless, being a guitar player does not validate your opinion over others who would disagree with you about Smith being better than Felder.
Is Hendrix really better than Page, or Page that much better than Clapton?
Heck, are any of them really better than Satriani?
Who is the best or better is really far too subjective.
Still Let me give you a quick question to see how astute you are (or think you are).
Out of all the Eagles guitar players, how do you rank them?
In order of their membership in the band;
1) Frey
2) Leadon
3) Felder
4) Walsh
5) Smith
Please don't hit me with the various styles being too different to compare, as part of me would agree with you.
But that is not the point of the exercise. Nor will we include their talents at writing musical scores/riffs. Just straight up talent with the strings.
In answer to your question, the answer is no. The only guys who got the boot so to speak over the years were the co-owners of Eagles Ltd., whether it be fired like Felder, or driven out. Note that after Leadon was disgusted enough to quit, Walsh was hired, not brought in as a partner. Meisner was bullied enough to quit, and again Schmit was hired, not made an equal partner.
Heck poor Smith was also hired, and cannot even call himself an Eagle even though he has toured with them for 15+ years.
So if any of the aforementioned guys tried to exert themselves, they would have been fired.
Instead, they know their place (including Joe & Tim), so the sole owners of the Eagles were content. Their days of empathizing with hired hands was overridden by their desire for control and greed.
Smith is a good little apparatchik within the dynamics of the Eagles, so he has not face the boot.
Don't get me wrong, I think he is a very good guitarist, and said so before our disagreement.
So he was not going to be fired since he is capable of playing their sets well.
Lastly, I didn't imply Walsh was stoned/fried, hence his comment. I was merely pointing out how he was not going to say something disrespectful of Smith to cause a rift within the group. Thus his comment must be taken as cordial respect without necessarily getting to his true feelings about how much Smith was capable of pushing him like Felder did.
Fair enough?
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I missed your comment when ready the other.
Yes I know Smith was not a member of the Eagles, and yet that is part of my point.
Here you have a guy talented enough to be hired by the Eagles to play Felder's parts. Had it been for a one off tour or something fine. But this guy was a trooper, and has essentially played some of their iconic music/riffs for over 15 years. Yet he does not even get to call himself part of the Eagles. This is taking a hired gun to a new definition well beyond what it was ever intended.
Technically Walsh & Schmit are only considered part of the Eagles, because both Frey & Henley had control over who was, and was not an Eagle. They have no legal say into anything, being just hired hands, not owners. Rest assured when the rubber meets the road, that is what mattered with Frey & Henley.
This of course comes full circle to the fact Henley, and Henley alone, made the decision as to whom would be receiving the Kennedy award since he is the sole owner now. Sure Azoff had influence via access and being the manager. But if push came to shove, Henley could have decreed anyone he wanted to be an Eagle, and no one could say anything different.
Having Smith play as part of the tribute was cheesy, but not surprising considering the aforementioned malcontent.
I'd like to think that if Frey had recovered from his near death experience, he would have seen the light (so to speak), and been more magnanimous than Henley is capable of.
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What blind bit of difference does it make NOW? Seriously, what is the point of being outraged about Smith not becoming a part of the band now the band no longer exists?
I do not presume to know what Frey would or would not have done but if I had to hazard a guess, I believe he would have had the same beliefs about who was to be included in this honour* as Henley (presumably) did, so I cannot agree that Henley should take the (alleged) 'blame' for it.
I say again, and I will use a good old Anglo Saxon expression, what bloody difference does it make.
* The topic is about the Kennedy Centre Honours, not the structure of the band.
Last edited by Freypower; 01-04-2017 at 10:04 PM.
I can appreciate what you say, probably more than you might imagine. Being an Aussie, you might very well be of Irish decent, or at least penal colony decent. That certainly adds a bit of flavor to your perspective.
Regardless, if one wants to take a Hillary view of "what difference does it make", then why even have a forum for discussions?
My thread
https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/...ead.php?t=4257
has often been derided with similar sentiments. Yet other threads regarding the members looks (which obviously have changed significantly over the last 40 years) do not get the same scurrility.
Yet the same phrase could be used since it makes little difference who was the "hottest" then, now, or in the future. That is sadly and especially true since Frey's passing.
Right?
So don't be so dismissive of subjects that might not be flattering, yet jettison the same standards for opinions on pleasant adulation toward the members.
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I just assumed that the Eagles/Irving asked Steuart to be the "band leader" and maybe even the arranger for that performance of that version of HC, specifically the outro. Obviously musicians as talented as Juanes and his band would know how to play the song, but Steuart would be a good leader, and it was a nice way for him to be included in the ceremony. It was a gesture by the band to include him. They wanted him to be included.
That's a pretty good reason for Steuart to be on stage MaryCalifornia but I believe the organizers, rather than the honorees are responsible for the stage show.
Steuart isn't the longest surviving support musician. Drummer, Scott Crago has been with the band since HFO (1994), much, much longer than Bernie and Randy's tenure with the band and nearly as long as bassist, Darryl Jones's stint with The Rolling Stones.