What's up with dissing Don Henley?

I agree - to a degree. Would I refuse to listen to music by the Eagles if Henley's a sourpuss and a jerk? No, but some musicians step over the line. Even if I liked Ted Nugent's music, I'd never contribute a cent to him, and I'd find it really tough to enjoy Gary Glitter's work given his past...

 

It appears to have been edited due to certain comments about Henley and Frey. Felder has mentioned this himself in various interviews. I believe there are actually 2 versions of the book available. UK and US.

 

Plus in any event most of us prefer not to know what each others political affiliations are as it puts up a barrier to socializing we don't need on site.

 

That would make sense. The UK has much stronger libel laws than the US.

 

That's the way I look at things. It only matters to me personally if an artists personal life is intruding on their profession and the enjoyment of others of that.
Stuff like no shows or walk offs in concert or being unable to complete a recording session due to drugs or criminal matters.
I'll add this: Being an artist does not mean you can expect to act outside of the law nor should it be accepted as a excuse.

 

Too bad musicians/artists, for the most part, didn't follow the same rules regarding politics as this forum.

 

I seem to recall reading of a Mojo Nixon gig where Henley himself jumped onstage to sing along with the song's chorus, for what that's worth.

 

Can't be true. It's a scientifically proven fact that Henley has no sense of humor...

 

Actually, he does have sort of a jaundiced sense of humor, which is one thing I like about him.

Once in an interview he was asked, "Don't you wish you had a nickel for every time someone's used the phrase 'life in the fast lane'?" His reply: "I think I do."

 

I think there's plenty of good reasons to not like Don Henley. All of them coming from something else in a person's point of view.

If they don't agree with his politics, he should shut up.
If they're offended by rock stars' behavior, he should fade from existence.
If he's capable of making music that "RAWKS", apparently he should only do that.
If they don't like radio stations ramming some artists down your throat but ignoring others, he doesn't deserve his manufactured status.

People find excuses to inject their own issues into stars, and blame them.

If Mr. & Mrs. Hagar had only known their little boy Sammy would grow to be resented primarily because his name wasn't Roth...

 

Yes. Frey was also the one who had a beer poured over his head by Bernie Leadon when Leadon quit the band. As I said, both Henley and Frey come across as jerks.

 

Don't know about the offstage stuff mentioned here but the guy (allong with the rest of The Eagles) is just BORING!!!

 

That does make sense. The US version I read certainly didn't pull any punches in comments about Frey and Henley, so that is likely uncensored.

Henley did try to stifle the book "To the Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles" by Marc Elliot also. Elliot says that when Henley got wind it was being written he initially tried to make trouble for Elliot with the publisher. Then he changed tactics and offered to give Elliot interviews for the book if Elliot would let him have approval over the final edit. Elliot balked at that but finally they made a deal that Henley would give interviews in exchange for Elliot not going into great detail about the incident with the underage girl OD'ing. In the final copy Elliot did however make a passing reference to the incident with one vague sentence, and this apparently pissed Henley off to the point that when the book was published he made calls to bookstores and tried to get it taken off the shelves, going so far as offering to make in-store appearances at LA-area stores that would not stock it.

 

Actually, Mojo confirmed it hisownself.

 

The Eagles were a great band IMO and DOn Henley no doubt was a big part of all that.

As far as Henley and solo work. Pretty much thumbs down for me. He's not very dynamic on stage at all. I got the sense from the one concert I attended back in the 80's that he was kind of distant from his audience. So if it is true what some folks here are saying about him being all business, then it explains a lot aobut why I was disappointed with the
concert that I attended. He just doesn't come off as a real person on stage IMO.

 

Problem is, our political leanings come out in the text of our posts anyway.

 

He's a smug jack a$$who headed up a mediocre band

what's not to diss?

 

Lots of artists are unpleasant people. At the very least, many are self-absorbed (which is almost a job requirement).

But since I'm not in a relationship with him, I could care less.

The guy's an amazing singer...

 

The original drummer for Phish.

 

Not that I'm a big fan of the man, but he has made no bones about his limitations as a performer, so I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that his lack of stagecraft somehow reveals something more sinister about him.

 

Great! Now we'll need a section for books or printed material. I can just imagine the posts...

"Hey dude, check out the US print, 1st edition. The pages seem a bit brighter than the UK, the font is very natural and the pages turn better."

 

The Eagles in general make me think of groups like The Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. Put together to market their materiel and make money. Though I personally enjoy the "real instrument" aspect of the Eagles more. I do like a good deal of their music, though not much after The Long Run. Wish Felder was around. I try to concern myself with their personals lives too much.

 

I've heard Beethoven was a rather unpleasant fellow as well.

 

Stay tuned for the next thread "Henley and Beethoven, separated at birth".

 

Hey, you ain't heard nothin' until you've heard Henley's Unfinished symphony.