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TwitterDon Felder on life with the Eagles: sex, drugs and ... hissy fits?
Howard Stern spoke to ex-Eagles Don Felder this morning about his book, ''Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001).''
Apparently, Felder contends that his bandmates were angry, competitive and egomaniacal, and everyone did a lot of drugs and banged a lot of you-know-whats.
Drums, yeah, drums. That's the ticket. And he once thought Keith Richards was dead. Well, who hasn't?
How is this news?
And yes, the band did try to stop the book from being published. But why bother?
Anyway, here are snippets of the on-air conversation taken from the transcribed interview on MarksFrigging.com, a Howard Stern fan website (click here for the full transcript).
"Howard told Don that he remembers Don telling Joe Walsh something at a concert one time that made him crack up. Don said that they used to do drugs back then and if they had a little crystal meth on your nose you'd say ''you're showing.''
"Howard asked Don if he was out on the road cheating while his wife was home with their kid.:
"Don said that he had a really religious upbringing and he was dragged into drugs and promiscuity. He said that he didn't get addicted to drugs but did his fair share of them. He did cocaine and some other stuff like that. He said that everyone was high back then though."
Want more about Don's wild Eagle days? And see what Felder used to look like back then? Keep reading...
"Howard said that it must have been wild being in the Eagles. Don said that when he joined they weren't that big, but things went crazy after ''Hotel California'' came out. Don wrote the music for the song and some of the lyrics. He said that he was out on the beach just messing around and came up with the song."
" Don said that the other guys became demons and took away the fun from the band. Don said that even Glenn Frey and Don Henley were fighting with each other. They were concealing a lot of anger and hate for each other."
"Howard asked how long he resisted that stuff. Don said he had a lot of guilt when he was doing it and it was very tough for him. He said that they had nothing to do when they weren't on stage so they were doing drugs, drinking and stuff like that."
"Don said that he was going through a divorce, so he was going through some meditation and stuff and thought a lot about what he had been through in his life. He started writing it all down but not with the intent of writing a book. He was just doing it for therapy. He came up with hundreds of pages of stuff and his fiancee told him he should write a book about it. He said that he didn't do it to get back at anyone or anything."
"Don said that he hasn't heard from Henley or Frey about this stuff, only their lawyers. Howard told Don that he looks amazingly well for his age and doing all the drugs. Don said that he's turning 60 in September. He said that his fiancee is 42 and she's going to kill him for saying that on the air."
Pretty exciting stuff, huh? Maybe the book has some never-before-seen band photos?
Cause, otherwise....
Photo: Felder at a bodog.com event in 2006. Felder back in the '70s.
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The interview couldn't be as boring or uninformative as this summary was. I hope to catch it on sirius replay!
Ms. Snead must have little interest in rock music history . . .
Hey Elizabeth, you obviously don't know anything about Felder or the Eagles history. And what lazy journalism to lift VERBATIM the interview summary off marksfriggin.com with no credit (and no,he's not an "official transcriber"). If you "don't care" so much, why even bother to blog about this?
You pretty much plagerized this from marksfriggin.com
There are about 2 sentences in this rip-off piece that are yours. Give credit when you quote a source instead of posting it almost word for work and stealing someone else's work.
Wow, this is a poorly written article. Even more than usual. And it's fraught with errors, not least of which is that "Mark's Friggin" is a fan site, not an "official" Stern Show site.
Yawn.
It's true that, after a while, all band history starts to sound the same. It doesn't sound that interesting, but then again, I guess I never cared much about the Eagles.
While I didn't hear the Stern interview (nor do I care to), I would like to comment that, as a long-time Eagles fan, I enjoyed Don Felder's book very much. Most of popular music's best bands have emerged from artistically contentious situations, and the Eagles' story is fascinating within that context.
If what Felder says in the book is true, his portrayal of Frey and Henley as greedy as$h0les is astonishing.
If Felder is to be believed, he was summarily dismissed from the band for inquiring into business arrangements that he was not aware of. For Henley and Frey to think that they deserved more money than Felder is ludicrous - Felder wrote the music for "Hotel California", their most famous song by far and without which a mere fraction of their success would have been earned.
I was a huge Eagles fan for years and still enjoy the music. However, after having met Don Henley and learning of the firing of Felder I will never spend a dime on anything the Eagles sell. Henley was a jack!@# when I met him in Galveston, Texas. Henley and Frey would be nothing without Felders writing and guitar playing. The breakthrough opening arpeggio to Hotel California is one of the ost significant guitar solos in history and launched the Eagles to new heights. I hope Mr. Felder is taking his share of the money and putting it in the bank.
The "Eagles Re-Union" tours were said to be a way to get back together to make money as stated by Henley. Don Henley is an egomaniac and a total sellout. After bashing the Eagles for years after his famous "Hell Freezes Over" quote he now uses the Eagles for income. What a joke.
Can't put this book down, yet don't want it to end!!! I have been following these guys since the early 70's when we would see the Doobies open for the Eagles for $5.00. I respect Don and applaude him for telling the truth. He made all the right moves and is a musicain to be the most respected!!! Go, Don...
Thank you Don for the beautiful guitar work.