Product Description
The Eagles are the bestselling, and arguably the tightest-lipped, American group ever. Now band member and guitarist Don Felder finally breaks the Eagles’ years of public silence to take fans behind the scenes. He shares every part of the band’s wild ride, from the pressure-packed recording studios and trashed hotel rooms to the tension-filled courtrooms, and from the joy of writing powerful new songs to the magic of performing in huge arenas packed with roaring fans.
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Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends
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Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation
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Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me
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Mudcrutch
Mudcrutch
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Too Fat to Fish
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 GET OVER IT!
I love the Eagles' music, always have, always will. I guess I knew they were ALL a bunch of egomaniacs and not very nice people but didn't really care. Don Felder attempts to make himself out to be the good guy of the group but I'm not buying it. He cheats on his wife for years and then gets his feelings all hurt because she finally gets her own life. He obviously despises Henley and Frey (who wouldn't?) but sucks up to them every chance he gets. He is constantly crying like a little girl about how horrible life in the Eagles is but can't seem to get a grip when they kick him out. He just doesn't come off as very sympathetic to me, no better or worse than the rest of them. And if you are looking for any juicy tidbits of gossip, forget it. This book is basically Don Felder patting himself on the back and whining about life in one of the best and most successful bands ever.
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 Here is my Experience with Eagle GREED! ( mallmgr )
I've always been an Eagles fan. Only really came to know them well, well after the Long Run in the mid 80's.
I read TO THE LIMIT years ago and decided to give this book a try. Since Hell Freezes Over my take on the Eagles have changed somewhat. In 1994 I was extremely excited to see them Live, it was like a dream since they always claimed they would never reunite.
So off I went to Giants Stadium and I paid good money to sit in the 12th Row center right on the field! At that point I already owned all their albums and knew well ever song, even the obscure ones, some of which are my favorite (Bitter Creek for example and many others). At the time I was learning photography and Loved taking photos of bands playing, from friends to any show I went to I would always take my camera if allowed. Arriving at the Stadium I had my camera hanging off my shoulder and nobody at the gate gave me trouble,they saw it and I went right in.
The show starts and just about everyone from the front row and around were snapping photos as was I. The only difference was that my camera was bigger (more professional looking) than most of the pocket cameras being used. Somewhere around the 2nd or 3rd song I had taken about 12 photos when a Big Security guard walks up to me and yells "What are you doing you can't take photos here"...my response was "Why not? Everyone else is...look at the flashes popping!"...He didnt want to talk and immediatley said..."Give me the film or we will kick you out". So as Frey sings, there I am debating with some Eagles Security Guard about a few photos I took because I loved the band and photography. I even told him people at the gate saw my camera and said nothing....I also said I simply would not take anymore photos, but he wanted the film. I even told him Im a true Eagles fan and just want to take some nice photos, gimme a break!
I was furious...here I was one of the biggest Eagles fans around just wanting to take photos like everyone else was and I was getting squeezed by the very band I liked so much. I had no choice but to give him the film. But than I did some quick thinking, my friend had a small camera that she had taken some photos in the parking lot and she quickly sacrificed that roll in order to save mine. I handed the guy the film and he left me alone. I put my camera away and watched the rest of the show without taking another frame. Later I thanked my friend by making a collage of the few photos I took.
But ever since than the Eagles had left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Here is a band making a Gazillion Dollars, living in palaces and they were worried about some young guy snapping a few photos, not even caring what my intentions were. That showed me that as a Fan I was nothing more than $$$ signs to them. My suspicion was always that the biggest jerk in the band was Henley. He seems to have this air about him. Not long after that Henly sued some guy online that had a site called [...] , but the guys name WAS also Don Henley! But THE GOD figured he was the only Don Henley worthy of having a site by that name...even if others shared the same name. I couldnt believe it.
So Felder's book only confirms the pettyness that I believe existed. I'll never understand how Multi-Millionaires transform themselves in jacka$$es because of more money. Than again maybe they were always like that. Frey I was shocked as he always seemed like this really nice guy on TV...
The book is good and well written. I dont give it a 5 because I would have liked more details of the working in the studio and songs of On the Border and One Of these nIghts, he kinda jumps through that. I would love to read about how EVERY song was recorded , how and why...but we only get that at certain points.
I also don't understand Felder in a way. He was not happy in the band but than was almost suicidal when they fired him. He seems to have acted like a "puppy" early on with the Eagles and is partially to blame for allowing the situation to get where it did. He was obviously afraid to lose the job and the fame and fortune that came with it, so as Bernie , randy, Tim and Joe did you have to pick sides...either fight back and get out like Bernie and Randy did OR bite the bullet and collect a check like Joe and Tim did. In fairness Felder was the middleman literally becoming an Eagle after the start (unlike Bernie and Randy) but well before the end (unlike Joe and Tim)...so he was always in no mans land. But I wish he had been more decissive as to either have told The Gods Off or sit quietly and collect the check. What he did ends up giving me a feel that ended up being an anoyance to the rest like "Oh here come Felder again....".
That said, I do believe most of what Felder writes and enjoyed the book. Oh and one more thing, I also slightly feel that he held back a little on "The Gods"...he wasnt as harsh as I though he would be.
DON if you read this here is one suggestion. Call Bernie and Randy up and form a new band where you guys do the Eagle Songs you guys wrote. I WOULD PAY FOR THAT and would be up there in the front row.....with my camera! Just don't kick me out afterall I did buy Airbourne on Tape many years ago.
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 Felder is a class act ( quasarmn )
A lot of people probably aren't even aware that Felder wrote the Eagles biggest hit, Hotel California.
Dealing with "the Gods" Henley and Frey for so many years sounds like it was torturous at best but Felder refrains from unnecessary mudslinging and reports the facts more like a journalist than an embittered ex-bandmate.
I bought it immediately after hearing Felder on the Howard Stern show performing a beautiful acoustic rendition of Hotel California. He came across as down to earth and thoroughly entertaining. The same can be said for this book. Highly recommended.
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Wonderful Perspective, Best "Eagles" information yet to Surface! ( zackariah )
This book is well written, in that it flows well, and is informative as it keeps the reader interested from beginning to end. It is a good book for someone with little knowledge about the band, but for a fan, this is a revelation of answers. It even provides some interesting facts that I had not thought about pertaining to the group's history. I have always thought Felder was a very good instrumentalist, though somewhat "mysterious." Before reading this book, I had never found any text concerning his professional career prior to playing with the Eagles. American players historically do not seem to get the same level of media coverage that the English guitarists seem to receive. Felder was so "regal" in his demeanor on stage, ..like a male lion moving slow off in the outer perimeters. He never seemed to say much during his time with the Eagles. He just played impecable lead guitar lines on top of those magnificent songs, album after album.
But, all seven of the Eagles are great, and each one contributed greatly to the output, and performance of the band. To my perception, the guy standing on the corner of Winslow, Arizona will always be Glenn Frey. Also, Don Henley did not have to agree to reform the Eagles, but he did, and that permited them to be "new", with a great new album for the new century. It is great to listen to the wonderful harmonies in songs that I didn't listen to during high school! But, back to this book, it is very good, and I could not put it down for the time it took me to read it. I will miss Felder, but Stewart Smith is the same guy that played on that masterpeice by Rosanne Cash a few years ago, .."Kings Record Shop" I think. The playing he did on that albumKing's Record Shop was amazing, so I am glad to finally hear from him again! I would also like to comment about the image portrayed in the book of the band's manager. The writing is not very comprimentary in reference to this man. All the writing in the book reads in such a way as to "feel" as if it is honest, so this guy may indeed be a tough fellow. But, before deciding what really makes a band manager "bad", I suggest that one should read another book entitled "The Tragic Story of Badfinger"Without You : The Tragic Story of Badfinger (with 72 minute cd)
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 A diatribe against Don Henley and Glen Frey
What could have been a fascinating look into life in the Eagles band during the 70s, turned out to be a long diatribe against Don Henley and Glenn Frey. Did you know that they didn't give Felder a Christmass present one year? Well you do now!
If you're looking for salacious stories about drugs and groopies, look elsewhere. Felder glosses over all this material. He hints at things, but doesn't follow up with the details.
For example, Felder reveals that he drove Joe Walsh to rehab. I thought ok, this should be an interesting story. But no. Felder just uses this incident to highlight what a jerk Walsh was in not sticking up for Felder when he got fired.
Felder also seems very naive. When the Eagles reformed to tour in the '90s. Felder is shocked. Shocked! To find that he's not going to be paid as much as Frey and Henley. Well he agrees to the deal any way and spends much of the book bemoaning his status. If all he did was count the money in my wallet, like he did to Frey and Henley, I would have fired him as well.
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