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The History of the Eagles on Showtime (1 Viewer)

Smack Tripper

Footballguy
Simply amazing. I had a passing interest in the band, knew some of the famous acrimony and also knew they had reached somewhat of a detente to tour, but m goodness, what an amazing piece. For whatever reason, they had a tremendous amount of film footage with audio of backstage life, I guess being rich affords you that, and its all new to me footage. That really lends some interesting texture to the otherwise fascinating story of these guys who you'll find yourself loving and occasionally to often hating as you watch this thing. Its a pretty raw, naked, assessment with viewpoints from all the major players. Easily one of the best roc docs I've ever seen. And as I sit here, I can't think of a better one. Highly recommend it to any music/rock fans out there.

 
Saw them for the first time last year at NO Jazz Fest. Have to check this out (it's on the DVR, but haven't watched it yet).

 
Great documentary :thumbup: I didn't realize there was such acrimony between Fry and Felder :boxing:
Yeah, they really hate each other. Felder's book is an interesting read if you're inclined to hear more.
They are both pretty unlikable :lmao:They both probably contributed mightily to what thy did and they both think they were more important than the other. Meanwhile they were zilches outside of the band apart from smugglers blues
 
Just caught this a couple of nights ago. :thumbup: The amount of cool "behind the scenes" footage they had really was amazing.I had always heard that Don Henley was pretty difficult to deal with, but he seemed like the most rational guy in the group.

 
Just caught this a couple of nights ago. :thumbup: The amount of cool "behind the scenes" footage they had really was amazing.I had always heard that Don Henley was pretty difficult to deal with, but he seemed like the most rational guy in the group.
That footage looks like it was a template for almost famous, right down to the shot selection. The stuff on stage and in the airplane in particular. I'm sure Crowe or their art department HAD to have access to this stuff. I wonder if it had ever seen the light of day. It was obviously common in the "video" era but to have it on film, unreal.
 
I turned it on the other night because I thought it was about eagles. :bag: Ended up watching it and enjoyed it anyway. Was interesting to see glen frye basically admit that he is a #### at the end.

 
Just caught this a couple of nights ago. :thumbup: The amount of cool "behind the scenes" footage they had really was amazing.I had always heard that Don Henley was pretty difficult to deal with, but he seemed like the most rational guy in the group.
That footage looks like it was a template for almost famous, right down to the shot selection. The stuff on stage and in the airplane in particular. I'm sure Crowe or their art department HAD to have access to this stuff. I wonder if it had ever seen the light of day. It was obviously common in the "video" era but to have it on film, unreal.
Whoever thought of doing that (and preserving it all) was a genius. I noticed that they "tagged" some of the footage with a catchphrase, something like "...another edition of Eagles Nest" -- can't remember the exact wording, but it seemed like they were filming it for distribution to their fan club. And Bill Szymczyk talked about just keeping a two-track reel running whenever they were in the studio to record all the creative horseplay going on between songs. I'm glad they were thinking ahead.I thought one of the coolest lines was Henley explaining "Hotel California": "My simple explanation is that it’s a song about a journey from innocence to experience, that’s all."
 
wiki trivia: On December 7, 1999, the Recording Industry of America honored the group with the Best Selling Album of the Century for Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

 
Did they show them rolling in piles of cash while laughing?
Only Henley and Frey. Walsh and Schmit seemed like they were just happy to be there. They talked about Frey and Henley negotiating a higher rate than Walsh, Schmit, and (at the time) Felder when the reunion happened based on their solo success relative to the others. Felder seemed to be pretty upset about that.
 
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They talked about Frey and Henley negotiating a higher rate than Walsh, Schmit, and (at the time) Felder when the reunion happened based on their solo success relative to the others.
Did they mention who had the biggest solo song?I would guess "Boys of Summer", but then again Beverly Hills Cop made the inferior "The Heat Is On" a huge hit."Life's Been Good" was made before Walsh joined, so I don't know if that counts.
 
They talked about Frey and Henley negotiating a higher rate than Walsh, Schmit, and (at the time) Felder when the reunion happened based on their solo success relative to the others.
Did they mention who had the biggest solo song?I would guess "Boys of Summer", but then again Beverly Hills Cop made the inferior "The Heat Is On" a huge hit."Life's Been Good" was made before Walsh joined, so I don't know if that counts.
Frey started off with better songs in the 80's but then Frey just started blowing him out of the water. His solo work is very impressive.
 
They talked about Frey and Henley negotiating a higher rate than Walsh, Schmit, and (at the time) Felder when the reunion happened based on their solo success relative to the others.
Did they mention who had the biggest solo song?I would guess "Boys of Summer", but then again Beverly Hills Cop made the inferior "The Heat Is On" a huge hit."Life's Been Good" was made before Walsh joined, so I don't know if that counts.
Yeah, Fielder was a little upset. He quit the band over it. Frye is an ### and while he was right to say that he and Henley actually had solo careers, it wasn't like he was a big deal. He apparently had 20+ top 100 songs released but the only ones anyone knows are from movie soundtracks. He hadnt had a top 40 record in over a decade when the reunion came together. Alternately, Henley spent the 90's being a big name on the road and on tv through his causes. His biggest hit was actually "dirty laundry" which chatted as high as #3 while boys of summer chatted at 5 and end of the innocence charted at 8. Regardless, when an eagles reunion came around the main component was Henley. Yes, Frey was the next biggest success but his acting like another member needed to earn less than him to the extent that the guy quit was ridiculous.
 
They talked about Frey and Henley negotiating a higher rate than Walsh, Schmit, and (at the time) Felder when the reunion happened based on their solo success relative to the others.
Did they mention who had the biggest solo song?I would guess "Boys of Summer", but then again Beverly Hills Cop made the inferior "The Heat Is On" a huge hit.

"Life's Been Good" was made before Walsh joined, so I don't know if that counts.
They showed the charts in the background when discussing the solo careers. The way they characterized this (and I think it's fair) is that Frey had the most success as a solo act because he focused on doing soundtracks, which turned into some guest starring roles in front of the camera. Abe's right that he didn't have a lot of success once Miami Vice faded out, though.
 
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Don Felder claims the documentary isn't exactly accurate.

Don Felder on "History of Eagles"

I still think it was an awesome doc, but I walked away knowing Glenn Frey and to a lesser extent Don Henley are complete douches. I was surprised to find they produced the doc which makes them look like a-holes.

 
'identikit said:
Got this set up on my DVR.Thanks for the heads-up.
Yep thx! I despise the eagles. I could be wrong but that reunion tour seems to be the main reason we pay asinine amounts of money for concert tickets now. Regardless I am a total rock doc slut. Can't get enough.
 
'Memphis Foundry said:
The way they characterized this (and I think it's fair) is that Frey had the most success as a solo act because he focused on doing soundtracks, which turned into some guest starring roles in front of the camera. Abe's right that he didn't have a lot of success once Miami Vice faded out, though.
Last time I saw him he was GM of the Arizona Cardinals.
 
'Encyclopedia Brown said:
'Memphis Foundry said:
They talked about Frey and Henley negotiating a higher rate than Walsh, Schmit, and (at the time) Felder when the reunion happened based on their solo success relative to the others.
Did they mention who had the biggest solo song?I would guess "Boys of Summer", but then again Beverly Hills Cop made the inferior "The Heat Is On" a huge hit."Life's Been Good" was made before Walsh joined, so I don't know if that counts.
"End of the Innocence," I thought, did better than "Boys of Summer," but maybe not. VERY surprised to learn that Frey made more money than Henley from solo stuff. Thanks for the notification. I'm searching Showtime now to DVR this. And found it, though not until Tuesday. Something to look forward to; thanks.
 
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I was surprised to find they produced the doc which makes them look like a-holes.
I haven't seen this documentary yet, but I had the exact same question about the Ozzy Osbourne documentary that came out last year.It wasn't the MTV version, not the lovable, well-meaning, drug-addled Ozzy. They showed without filter many of the bad things Ozzy had done over the years, most notably his abysmal failure as a father and utter disloyalty to his Black Sabbath bandmates, and just an overall picture of a selfish, needy, dominating person.
 
I was surprised to find they produced the doc which makes them look like a-holes.
I haven't seen this documentary yet, but I had the exact same question about the Ozzy Osbourne documentary that came out last year.It wasn't the MTV version, not the lovable, well-meaning, drug-addled Ozzy. They showed without filter many of the bad things Ozzy had done over the years, most notably his abysmal failure as a father and utter disloyalty to his Black Sabbath bandmates, and just an overall picture of a selfish, needy, dominating person.
well that was produced by Jack Osborne, who conceivibly was looking for things to do. The Doc follows the template of a rather incredible rock doc called "Don't Blame Me'. All other Oz docs have been retreads in the wake of that. Oz is ultimately a flawed guy, but not absent self awareness, which puts him a leg up over most of his peers. He seems to know he did wrong, and geniuenly repentant about it. As bad a father/husband as he was, his entire family apart from Aimee has mooched off his name in one form or fashion. Hell, the guy looks like he should be home resting and Sharon pushes him out there like a circus seal, espeially after that ATV accident.Don't get the disloyalty to Sab, they kicked HIM out of the band, what exactly is he supposed to owe them?
 
'Encyclopedia Brown said:
'Memphis Foundry said:
They talked about Frey and Henley negotiating a higher rate than Walsh, Schmit, and (at the time) Felder when the reunion happened based on their solo success relative to the others.
Did they mention who had the biggest solo song?I would guess "Boys of Summer", but then again Beverly Hills Cop made the inferior "The Heat Is On" a huge hit."Life's Been Good" was made before Walsh joined, so I don't know if that counts.
"End of the Innocence," I thought, did better than "Boys of Summer," but maybe not. VERY surprised to learn that Frey made more money than Henley from solo stuff. Thanks for the notification. I'm searching Showtime now to DVR this. And found it, though not until Tuesday. Something to look forward to; thanks.
Henley had some tours in the early nineties that no doubt made him a mint. As for solo records, he likely sold a lot more copies than Frey mostly because freys biggest hits were on soundtracks.
 
'Encyclopedia Brown said:
'Memphis Foundry said:
They talked about Frey and Henley negotiating a higher rate than Walsh, Schmit, and (at the time) Felder when the reunion happened based on their solo success relative to the others.
Did they mention who had the biggest solo song?I would guess "Boys of Summer", but then again Beverly Hills Cop made the inferior "The Heat Is On" a huge hit."Life's Been Good" was made before Walsh joined, so I don't know if that counts.
"End of the Innocence," I thought, did better than "Boys of Summer," but maybe not. VERY surprised to learn that Frey made more money than Henley from solo stuff. Thanks for the notification. I'm searching Showtime now to DVR this. And found it, though not until Tuesday. Something to look forward to; thanks.
Henley had some tours in the early nineties that no doubt made him a mint. As for solo records, he likely sold a lot more copies than Frey mostly because freys biggest hits were on soundtracks.
Right. But Frey made more $$ than Henley did solo? Is this confirmed?
 
As for solo records, he likely sold a lot more copies than Frey mostly because freys biggest hits were on soundtracks.
It seems like that theory would flow in the opposite direction.Kenny Loggins, for instance. He had a bunch of hits, but his mega-hits were all from soundtracks.

Joe Cocker is another one.

 
It was pretty good but it got a little sad once they started writing songs again and the songs are just awful. Turned it off a half hour into the second part. Frey and Henley aren't very likable and everyone is boring, even Joe Walsh now.

Seems like they were pretty crummy businessmen. Especially Henley, even David Geffen was like, "I don't know why he let me #### him twice."

Glenn Frey may have made more money but he got curb stomped by Don in the solo career dept. One of the more striking things to me was that the whole time they were split up Don Henley was pretty much ready to get it back together.. it was Frey they were all waiting for.

If the Eagles had stuck around and just maintained success on par with those two guys' solo acts, they might be the consensus greatest American rock band. To me, some of their stuff sounds phony and they are overrated but they made a handful of great 70's jams.

 
It was pretty good but it got a little sad once they started writing songs again and the songs are just awful. Turned it off a half hour into the second part. Frey and Henley aren't very likable and everyone is boring, even Joe Walsh now.Seems like they were pretty crummy businessmen. Especially Henley, even David Geffen was like, "I don't know why he let me #### him twice."Glenn Frey may have made more money but he got curb stomped by Don in the solo career dept. One of the more striking things to me was that the whole time they were split up Don Henley was pretty much ready to get it back together.. it was Frey they were all waiting for.If the Eagles had stuck around and just maintained success on par with those two guys' solo acts, they might be the consensus greatest American rock band. To me, some of their stuff sounds phony and they are overrated but they made a handful of great 70's jams.
Who is the greatest American band? You probably have to go Pearl Jam and if they're not they will be, but the Eagles may be leading. Long Road Out of Eden was a wonderful career coda. Maybe Metallica? The only others in the discussion are the Doors, the Allman Brothers, the Dead.And yes, "greatest" is quite subjective. I'm not a huge Pearl Jam or Dead fan but to me its some mix of artistic achievement, influence, commercial sales and concert sales/folllowing.
 
It was pretty good but it got a little sad once they started writing songs again and the songs are just awful. Turned it off a half hour into the second part. Frey and Henley aren't very likable and everyone is boring, even Joe Walsh now.Seems like they were pretty crummy businessmen. Especially Henley, even David Geffen was like, "I don't know why he let me #### him twice."Glenn Frey may have made more money but he got curb stomped by Don in the solo career dept. One of the more striking things to me was that the whole time they were split up Don Henley was pretty much ready to get it back together.. it was Frey they were all waiting for.If the Eagles had stuck around and just maintained success on par with those two guys' solo acts, they might be the consensus greatest American rock band. To me, some of their stuff sounds phony and they are overrated but they made a handful of great 70's jams.
Who is the greatest American band? You probably have to go Pearl Jam and if they're not they will be, but the Eagles may be leading. Long Road Out of Eden was a wonderful career coda. Maybe Metallica? The only others in the discussion are the Doors, the Allman Brothers, the Dead.And yes, "greatest" is quite subjective. I'm not a huge Pearl Jam or Dead fan but to me its some mix of artistic achievement, influence, commercial sales and concert sales/folllowing.
Yeah that's why I'd go with Pearl Jam. I don't think the Eagles (or Doors) hung around long enough. Kind of a sad state of affairs when you compare with the top Brits.Some would argue Metallica. I give Pearl Jam the live edge there if nothing else. I used to argue Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers just for a different view. I think PJ has taken this crown in the past two albums, 6-7 years of touring though.
 
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Nice career move by Randy Meisner.

He quits the band because he's tired of having to sing the same ONE song at every gig, and is surprised that Frey and Henley--who have to sing a half dozen each of the same songs--aren't real sympathetic.

I thought their manager was a hilarious little dude. He really cared about and watched out for them. He had great stories, too.

 
Meisner got the yips. I imagine it was a pressure cooker for a role guy like that.

All the "alpha" talk from Frey and Henley was a nice way to say cokehead #######.

We could learn a lot from Glenn Frey, like how to hide a bag of coke in our rectums. Talk about your smuggler's blues.

That cool manager was good with sticky situations but he let the band unravel, which probably lost everybody millions.

 
Watched it for a second time. Really enjoyed it.

I was surprised how much film footage they had, especially of the early days of them just clowning around or practicing. That was quite a commitment to equipment and film for a group of guys without much money.

Didn't feel sorry for Felder, you had the best gunslinger gig in the world, you didn't sing, you didn't do much of the writing, don't expect an equal share. Henley and especially Frey did come off a little bit like arrogant #######s, but I didn't blame them. This was their baby from the beginning, and they are the Eagles.

I did feel sorry for Schmit. Guy busting his ### for years, gets a chance in one of the biggest bands ever, and three years later, they break up. You could really tell out of all the members, he most wanted the band to continue.

 
Made the time to catch this in one sitting last night; it was thoroughly enjoyable. Thanks to this thread, I went in knowing that it was going to Frey and Henley's perspective that would rule, so I was able to watch with skepticism.

I felt sorry for Felder, who pretty much came off as a nice guy (e.g., directly intervening to get Joe Walsh into rehab). Now, although the doc didn't mention this, right after Frey/Henley fired him, he sued them for tens of millions and the case settled out of court, so he's probably doing fine financially and he wasn't totally screwed over or anything.

As far as the firing, I thought Felder had a case. He had formed a corporation with Frey, Henley, and Meisner, and with Meisner gone, he thought he should get 1/3, the same share as Frey and Henley. In fact, I think he thought everyone should divide the profits from the reunion tour equally. Frey's angry position in response was entertaining but ridiculous. True, Henley and Frey were the main songwriters, but (as the doc glossed over) they were talking about tour revenues here, not songwriting royalties. And even in the songwriting department, Felder wrote the music for "Hotel California," which pretty much ends any discussion of whether he had a significant contribution to the group's music.

Frey was dooshy and Henley was smug, but neither came off as horrible human beings. I did find it ironic, though, that Frey belittled Felder's musical talent and ran Meisner off for not wanting to sing "Take It to the Limit" live . . . and Felder runs circles around Frey as a guitarist, and near the end, there was live footage of Frey just butchering the lead vocals on TITTL.

Good stuff, though. Showed how cutthroat the music business is and had some great musical footage in it.

 

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