Sorry of this has already been discussed, but the two part Eagles doc from Showtime is on Netflix now. Really well made as expected by Alex Gibney.

I found really compelling, even though I admittedly really don't care for their music at all. Glenn Frey is easily one of the world's great dooushcanoes, while I found Don Henley to be a really down to earth nice guy, considering how much more talented he is than Frey.


Anyone else watch it?

I loved it. I like their music, but I wasn't around in the 70s and didn't know much about the band beyond Henley and Frey. Frey came across as a textbook narcissist, but I found it hard to disagree with him on a lot of things. Henley's ego seems pretty big too, but he at least has enough self-awareness to reign it in as much as he can. Randy Meisner has aged terribly.

Don Henley is a complete communist EXCEPT when it comes to his money.

Like all liberals. He steals from his bandmate.

he is a liberal creep

To invoke the Dude a second time in this thread, yeah Frey wasn't wrong, he was just an ass hole.

No kidding Meisner, he looked super old.

I can recognize their talents as musicians, I just always found their music to be really cheesy and disingenuous. The doc really helped confirm that sense for me. Their lyrics in particular are often super cringeworthy.

Nonetheless, really enjoyed the doc and the mix of current and old interview footage.

I felt when they got sober (like a lot of bands), they got boring. I mean, thankfully it saved Joe Walsh's life, but he seemed like he was a completely different person sober....sort of a boring guy who hasn't created much of anything since. Too bad it has to be that way sometime.

Also thought Frey and Henley were a bit unlikeable.

Some really great music that doesn't seem to have as much influence these days as you would have thought. But then I don't listen to New Country, so I guess I might be wrong. Maybe they're to blame.

This has already been discussed and I have aleady seen it.

Thanks for that, your input is always valuable.

Our resident textbook narcissist is here to let us know how superior they are! This thread delivers!

I have always been a huge eagles fan but after watching that I just find it much harder to listen to their stuff,
Frey came off as a complete a-hole, and not in there traditional rocker way, but a calculated selfish scheming way. Henley did indeed come off as badly, but I think he just lets Frey do the dirty work so he can stay above the fray and still benefit.

Frey-definition of a-hole who thinks the world revolves around him, sucked as a solo career

Henley-huge liberal tree hugging a-hole who actually had success away from Eagles

Meisner-saw the light got out, made his money and royalties, aged horribly

Leadon-seems like a great guy and musician, got tired of Frey's crap

Felder-tremendous talent on guitar, tired of being screwd by Frey & Henley, great book read

Walsh-better when blitzed

Schmidt-just happy to be there and have a job

I liked the show but could easily see that nothing was going to air unless Frey and Henley signed off on it. Walsh saying that "it was best for the Eagles" says he didn't like it but needed the job. Irving Azoff has Napoleon syndrome and was more than happy to help Frey and Henley screw over the rest of the band. Walsh and Schmidt are just hired guns and have no monetary stake in the Eagles

Great summary, plowboy.

Agree about Felder's book. The Eagles as a band died the day they excommunicated him and tried to dissolve their Eagles, LTD. organization. They're too foolish to know they're missing some "Fingers".

I enjoy the Eagles music. I think Henley is great though he does seem to be a huge ******. I find it hard to believe he is from Texas. For whatever reason Frey drove me way crazier, probably b/c he sucks compared to Henley. I like Joe Walsh solo or with the Eagles and think he is a much better talent than Frey though I can understand and appreciate why he gets a smaller piece of the pie than Frey/Henley. Can't remember the high pitch guy but agree, he just seems thrilled to be there.

I love music documentaries.

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I find it hard to believe he is from Texas.

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And not just Texas, but from deep East Texas. Linden's closest "cities" are Texarkana and Longview, and both are about an hour away.

The crazier thing is that Don Henley, T-Bone Walker, and Scott Joplin were all born in that tiny little spot in the road.

That band lost so much after Leadon, and especially Meisner, left. Meisner's songs were always my favorite. Seems like Frey and Henley were hellbent on turning them into a Rock band. Though, they were pretty damn good at that, too.

I disagree with the negative sentiment on Glenn Frey. I'm not a big fan, but he came across to me as the most despised one simply because he thought about the long term interests of the band.

The bit about begging Meisner to get his ass out on stage and sing Take it to the Limit, despite being tired of it, was telling. "You don't think I get tired of singing Take it Easy and Lyin' Eyes every ****ing night? People drive hours and wait years to hear you hit those high notes, man." Frey came across to me as a necessary evil. I actually have new found respect for the guy.

Oh yeah, David Geffen came across as pretty bitter, too. Kind of funny.

Great documentary.

Huge Eagles fan. Enjoyed the documentary because it seemed honest, I was surprised Frey allowed himself to come across as such a jerk. Henley is just a head in the clouds liberal.

Say what you will but the band put out some pretty amazing music with tremendous variety. I agree with the point about Frey and how he may be a jerk but he understands his fans and giving them what they want. I'd prefer to go to a show and be entertained with what I want to hear rather than so many older bands that refuse to play their hits anymore or if they play it it has to be in some montage or remixed version. I mean I get that they are tired of doing it but they have typically made MILLIONS on those songs. Frey was at least honest as well in terms of why he felt he should make more. I also appreciated when he came out and talked about how as the band got older more and more of the singing was done by Henley because "We have Don Henley". He may be an ass but at least he was honest about it and didn't seem to care if people see him that way. He also understands that in the end it is about taking care of the fans/customers and not about personal ego.

A lot of it to me is the realization that very few entertainers or athletes are really people I would like personally. You have to separate their personality from their talent as much as you can.

One of the guys I work with is married to a gal that was the Eagles accountant back in the day and she has a lot of stories. The book and documentary are pretty spot on. She said that if you had a hotel room next to Walsh he would usually chainsaw a door between the rooms and he truly was crazy when it came to destroying hotels.

I was going to go to "History of the Eagles" in San Antonio but the prices were just insane, especially because I hate basketball arenas for concerts because unless you are really close it feels like you are just watching it on TV.

There's an Aggie that leads a pretty successful Eagles Tribute band - Seven Bridges - and they play lots of festivals around the country.

Anyone read Felder's book?

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Oh yeah, David Geffen came across as pretty bitter, too. Kind of funny.

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Henley and Frey came off as super bitter towards Geffen to me. Geffen came across no worse than Frey (as far as the things that he did.) It was business to him. All three of them are still filthy rich. The personal stuff doesn't really matter.

The number of times that something accusatory was said by Frey or Henley and they cut to Geffen shrugging his shoulders like "yep, I did that" made it seem like Geffen had let go years before but Henley and Frey were still fired up.

Felder's book is a great read, although the first part detailing his childhood is slow. Once I got past that I had a hard time putting it down.

+2 on the great read. Totally different perspective on the break up and fighting between Frey and Henley

I had always heard what most of you have said - that Frey is the bigger a-hole.

However, saw them in concert last year and Henley just came across as a grumpy old man. In between songs when talking, he was just cranky - made snide remarks a few times to audience members who weren't doing what he wanted them to o do, or listening to him well enough or whatever.

Frey, on the other hand, seemed to go out of his way to give people what they came to see. Came across as a real entertainer, and was self-deprecating. He also jumped in to smooth over some of irritable paw-paw Henley's snipes a couple of times.

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Felder's book is a great read, although the first part detailing his childhood is slow. Once I got past that I had a hard time putting it down.

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I skip the childhood part for almost rock bios....though I must say I read the "little Joe Perry" part and it was really interesting. The whole Joe Perry book was good, IMO.

Had to turn Felder's book around backwards on my shelf to keep from reading 2-3 chapters every time I noticed it. I think I've read it completely through at least 4 times. Always fascinating to me how many times exceptionally talented musicians allow personal issues and greed to ruin a successful formula, and yet it happens all the time.

Off thread subject, but another great book like this is Sammy Hagar's "Red"; even has a compelling childhood story. The guy is an absolute entrepreneurial success. People who roll their eyes and call him a one-hit wonder for "I Can't Drive 55" have terribly short memories; I had forgotten how many great songs he'd penned during my high school years. Same "bandmates with personal issues ruin successful formula" tale.

I'm glad that you commened on Sammy's book, as I've been thinking of picking that one up after I'm done with each KSS member's book.
Sammy was always much more than a 'one hit wonder', I think. From his Red Rocker era to Van Halen, to some of his post-VH solo stuff, his Cabo Wabo businesses, etc. Looking forward to it, thanks for sharing.