Sweetwater interview with Don Felder

  • Thread starter Thread starter TrueTone500
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Cool! Thanks for posting. One of my favorite bands ever, the Eagles..and he was a major contributor. And is a very tasteful player..
 
Here, Don goes in-depth on the writing process of Hotel California. He also goes into the conceptual idea behind the HC album... Very cool interview!

 
Yeah..I remember watching "The history of the Eagles" last year and they talked about Don writing that chord progression, and him sending tapes off to Henley/Frey and then they would write lyrics. Its a great documentary..when Frey moved to LA he lived above Jackson Browne...and then Frey met Henley when they were a part of Linda Ronstad's band. Pretty cool stuff.
 
I read his book, a very good read. Among a lot of things he says is that lengthy recording sessions and obsession over minor details sucked a lot of life out of the songs. They would to hundreds of re takes. Learned a lot about struggles for power and money within rock bands in general. It seems to me that he wasn't getting all the credit he deserved, especially for the song Hotel California, where he is finally credited (on the greatest hits album) behind both Henley and Frey. He wrote the cord progression, bass notes and both solos, everything but the lyrics and melody line. What Frey did, I don't know.
 
Interesting that "Heavy Metal (Takin' A Ride)" was originally composed for the Long Run album, but was later rejected. I guess that worked out better for Don Felder. The vocals are wet, but they sound fine in context... It would have made The Long Run a better album IMO, but what do I know?

I still get goose bumps! :thumbsup:

 
I don't care for his singing but he's a great player. I wish he was still in the band.
 
FrankieVA":2wqww9p0 said:
I don't care for his singing but he's a great player. I wish he was still in the band.
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I agree.

What I don't get, is Joe Walsh saying; "I was so in-awe of Don and Glenn..." :dunno:
 
Hahaha I know. I actually prefer Felder's playing/tone to Walsh. That being said, I do like Joe Walsh too.
 
TrueTone500":1elruiwi said:
FrankieVA":1elruiwi said:
I don't care for his singing but he's a great player. I wish he was still in the band.
Click to expand...
I agree.

What I don't get, is Joe Walsh saying; "I was so in-awe of Don and Glenn..." WTF? :dunno:
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He was referring to Henley & Frey as songwriters & leaders, IIRC.
 
FrankieVA":12fg9rm0 said:
Hahaha I know. I actually prefer Felder's playing/tone to Walsh. That being said, I do like Joe Walsh too.
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Don has written some good material, but nothing that comes close to Joe Walsh. I can't say that there's such a thing as a "Don Felder tone". Joe Walsh on the other hand... You know it's Joe from the first bar.

I'll tell you, like I tell everyone else... Don't ever doubt my ear! ;)
 
memberzonly":1p2otpwk said:
TrueTone500":1p2otpwk said:
FrankieVA":1p2otpwk said:
I don't care for his singing but he's a great player. I wish he was still in the band.
Click to expand...
I agree.

What I don't get, is Joe Walsh saying; "I was so in-awe of Don and Glenn..." WTF? :dunno:
Click to expand...

He was referring to Henley & Frey as songwriters & leaders, IIRC.
Click to expand...
If Don and Glenn want to put Take It Easy and Witchy Woman up against Funk #49... Well, nuff said.
 
TrueTone500":4ia9as5l said:
If Don and Glenn want to put Take It Easy and Witchy Woman up against Funk #49... Well, nuff said.
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I love them all so meh

having being into the eagles for the better part of 30yrs and having read dons book and seen the history doco I have to say Don and Glenn are assholes and felder is a wining bitch ... all great bands have the internal issues :lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL: helps with the song writing :doh:

If you have seen the behind the music:Ratt it is amazing they ever recorded anything with the disfunction in that band
 
sytharnia1560":2pai7t58 said:
TrueTone500":2pai7t58 said:
If Don and Glenn want to put Take It Easy and Witchy Woman up against Funk #49... Well, nuff said.
Click to expand...

I love them all so meh

having being into the eagles for the better part of 30yrs and having read dons book and seen the history doco I have to say Don and Glenn are assholes and felder is a wining bitch ... all great bands have the internal issues :lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL: helps with the song writing :doh:

If you have seen the behind the music:Ratt it is amazing they ever recorded anything with the disfunction in that band
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I agree with you on the drama in the Eagles, but who is this RATT band that you speak of?
 
I guess I'm saying the classic Eagles stuff was Leadon and Felder with Felder providing most of the ear candy solos and licks. I'm a Joe Walsh fan but I prefer Don's playing. Joe changed the sound of the band when he came in. I'm not saying it was for better or worse but it was definitely different.
 
As for him being a whiner......from what I've read he was a full partner and all he asked for was to see where the money was going. When he presses the issue, the fired him. I don't think it's unreasonable in any corporation to ask for an accounting of the funds.
 
I don't think he was whining at all. Don Felder was CFO of the corporation. If anyone had the authorization to cover financial dealings, it was Don Felder. What Don and Glenn did was incredibly stupid (or smart, depending), but they got what they wanted... Absolute control!

Notice how Don Henley refuses to lock arms with Joe Walsh on-stage at the end of the show. Check-out the look Joe Walsh is giving Don Henley... :boxer:

"The band (Eagles) is a democracy run by two dictators..."
- Joe Walsh
 
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