...by the way, I was at the Mn State Fair last Monday and Don Felder played a free show. He opens with Hotel California then Already Gone. Other songs included, Witchy Woman, Life in the Fast Lane, Those Shoes, Heavy Metal, Seven Bridges Road (highlight of the night in my opinion), finishing the night with Take it Easy..other tunes scattered in there too - show lasted an hour fifteen. Fabulous concert, sound was a bit rough in the beginning and Don's voice was a bit worn but hey, it was free!!! I had no clue that he was going to be there and just stumbled on the performance at the Leinenkugel Stage. It was a great show....just wanted to share.

Beaubs

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I Can't Explain

My guitar instructor was there! He played again for free on Tuesday!

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"I'll get up there and do my guitar solos in one of those space outfits." ~ Ace Frehley
My YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/fenderflamestrat?

cool

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Don Felder is also the Saturday night entertainment at this years Corvette Funfest in Effingham Il...if he plays those tunes, it will be a good night!

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

That was agreat surprise for Fair attendees and good of Don to play a free concert.You certainly were in the right place at the right time.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Been wondering what happened to him!
What was the story on the split anyway?

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Awesome!

Check out his book called "Heaven and Hell (my life in The Eagles)"
for some informative details.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

I did read it .....I think last winter?? Good book with great insights....if true, Henley and Frey are a bit full of themselves..but you never really know the true story do you????

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I Can't Explain

It is all pretty well documented elsewhere. It had to do with money and contracts. Mostly money. When Don Felder first joined the Eagles in 1974 he became an equal partner in Eagles, LTD. From that point Felder, Don Henley, Glen Frey, Bernie Leadon and Randy Mesiner were all equal partners and got an equal share of all income from The Eagles.

When Leadon left Joe Walsh came in the picture, but he didn't want to be involved in business decisions as he had his own solo career to handle so he didn't want to do anything but gig and record. He took a smaller cut than the rest of the Eagles and instead of an Eagles, LTD partner he became an employee of Eagles, LTD. This made the take for the remaining Eagles, LTD partners (Henley, Frey, Mesiner and Felder) bigger and Walsh didn't have to make any decisions which was fine with him. It made everyone happy.

Then when Meisner left Eagles, LTD hired Timothy B. Schmit in a deal identical to Walsh's since they had learned they could do that. That meant Henley, Frey and Felder were again getting more money than before because they were the only three remaining partners in Eagles, LTD. They were paying Schmit and Walsh less than if they had made them partners.

By 1980 Henley and Frey simply could no longer work together, so the Eagles broke up. When asked if the Eagles would ever get back together, Henley's often quoted response was almost always, "Sure! When hell freezes over."

After the 1980 split Don Henley and Glenn Frey had somewhat decent solo careers but never sold anywhere near as many records as the Eagles did. Frey even did some TV roles.

One thing could not be ignored. The Eagles LP's continued to sell well decades after the hits dropped off the charts while Henley's and Frey's solo projects didn't fare well at all once their solo singles became seldom heard "golden oldies." So the smartest business move would be to cash in on the Eagles evergreen catalog that still sold very well and still got heavy airplay on classic rock stations. To do this the Eagles had to "reunite" or they would miss out on what has turned out to be some of the highest grossing tours in music history. First came what many thought would be a one time world tour called "Hell Freezes Over." I say "one time" because many predicted that either Henley or Frey would never finish the tour due the perpetual personality conflicts between the two. Somehow they managed to pull it off, and musically it was a triumph. To this day I find that "HFO" DVD simultaneously hypnotic and jaw dropping and consider it the best mixed DTS Concert DVD ever and the standard I judge other concert DVD's against.

When it came time to put the Eagles back together for "Hell Freezes Over" Henley and Frey offered Walsh and Schmit the same deal they had before. They were fine with that. Then they also offered the same deal to Felder that Walsh and Schmit were accepting but they made it with a "take it or leave it" approach. Felder had no choice but to accept a pay cut or be left out entirely.

The fact Felder took a smaller percentage to play "HFO" and any subsequent Eagles tours is not all that was contested by Felder, but rather he felt he was being slighted on his fair share of the record sales which should have been the same as Frey and Henley were getting because of his still valid partnership in Eagles, LTD. Ultimately, Felder asked to see the books where all Eagles income including record sales would be posted. He had a right to see the books because he was a partner. So, instead of showing him the books Eagles, LTD sent him a letter in February 2001 notifying him that he had been voted out as an Eagles, LTD partner and it included his separation check. He never did see the books.

The original 1974 Eagles, LTD contract had a separation section which stated that when one of the Eagles, LTD members voluntarily left or was voted out by a majority of other partners that the former partner would get separation pay equal to each partner's investment in sound gear they bought in 1974, which would be roughly $1,300 per member. Felder got his letter with his separation check for about $1,300 in February 2001. (I can't remember the exact amount, this was a while back you know, but I'm pretty sure it was around $1,300.) That check was all Felder got though. And that was the end of his checks from Eagles, LTD. He was out.

Felder lawyered up and in short order filed two suits against Eagles, LTD for something like $50 Million. Henley & Frey counter-sued over the tell-all book Felder was writing. These suits dragged on till 2007 when Eagles, LTD (which now is just Henley & Frey) settled out of court and paid Felder an undisclosed figure. The lawsuit against Felder by Eagles, LTD was dismissed but did delay the publication of his book because in the face of the lawsuit the first publisher backed out. Felder eventually did get his book published but had to go to the UK to do it. It eventually later did get published in the USA.

So, it was all about the money. In my opinion since The Eagles reunited for the HFO tour, money is all the Eagles have been about. Henley and Frey don't get along well and tolerate each other only to play concerts, which routinely sell out to affluent aging boomers that can afford $400 per ticket for great seats and $100 for the rafters. Henley and Frey associate just long enough to play the gig and consider everyone else involved merely a hired hand.

Don Felder is a fantastic player and songwriter. It is a shame he got left out, but it seems Eagles, LTD wasn't big enough for three partners.

brotherdave, couldn't have said it better myself.

The Hell Freezes Over version of Hotel California is still, in my opinion, one of the best Eagles' songs ever. Love playing it, love listening to it, love seeing it... nice to see Felder can actually play classical properly!

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

Thanks brotherdave .
That was a great post on the demise of a great band.
I saw the Band in its early days and enjoyed them a lot! When ticket prices became the same as my monthly mortgage I got turned off by them. Could never see how they could justify the prices they were asking and saw it as a purely money-grabbing motive. I knew Henley and Fry were at each others throats but didn't know what they had done to Felder.
Very sad but not the first time partners in a band have turned on one another.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield