Welcome Back to the Hotel California
Author: Charles Passy
Publication: Palm Beach Post (Florida)
Date: May 11, 2003
Abstract: Henley discusses such topics as ticket prices, politics, and the progress of the new album.
For all those who think Don Henley is the most serious man in rock 'n' roll, the singer-songwriter-drummer-political activist and Eagles star has a message: You're only half right.
"I have a very strong sense of injustice, even though my close friends will tell you I have a great sense of humor," Henley says. "I take my work seriously, and I take my causes seriously, but I don't take myself that seriously . . . In fact, the older I get, the more I'm able to accept defeat and the more I'm able to laugh about it."
And then, as if to underscore that point, the 55-year-old Henley, speaking from his home in Texas, finds a devilish way to deflect a question about ticket prices for the Eagles' latest reunion tour at the Office Depot Center on Friday and Saturday.
With seats as high as $176.50, it does make the aging rocker, who in recent years has railed against record labels, radio stations and just about any conglomerate that has put profits over people, seem a bit two-faced. Doesn't it?
Henley's defense: "I say antiques cost more," he replies with a laugh.
Of course, it's hard to think of Henley - or the Eagles - as the musical equivalent of period furniture from a distant era. The band's commercial heyday is a mere three decades ago, and Henley's solo career has continued to gather steam all the way through his 2000 release, Inside Job, which earned him three Grammy nominations.
But you get his point: With a '60s-style penchant for politics, Henley can hardly be called a man of these times.
And the Eagles are one of the quintessential Boomer-era nostalgia acts. Their 1994 reunion tour was a return to the era of Hotel California, a celebration of the days when rock really mattered, particularly the easy-on-the-ears, country-flavored variety the group championed.
Now, nine years later, they're back again. And Henley, the musician who's never afraid to speak his mind, is happy to serve as their spokesman.
Do you expect any less from a guy who writes letters to the editor about environmental issues, who lobbies Congress to keep corporate evildoers in check and who is famous for sending music critics copies of books about public policy to get them reading something other than the backs of CD covers?
Band may stay together
And yet, in a freewheeling, half-hour conversation interrupted by the occasional need to keep an eye on his 5-year-old daughter - he has three children by his wife, the former Sharon Summerall - Henley is content to keep the focus on the music.
Especially because the Eagles, with a current lineup that includes co-founder Glenn Frey (guitar and vocals) and longtime members Joe Walsh (guitar) and Timothy B. Schmit (bass), appear ready to make more of a long-term commitment to playing together.
The '94 reunion, dubbed the "Hell Freezes Over" tour because the group doubted it would ever happen, seemed more like a fluke. But now, as the Eagles criss-cross the country for the second year in a row and stay busy on a new studio album that's likely to be released in 2004, it's quite possible the group, a la Fleetwood Mac or Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, is reunited for good.
That's probably why they've anointed this the "Farewell I" tour, implying there are more "farewells" to come.
"There's less conflict in the band, so we're pretty excited about this," says Henley, speaking just days before the group launched its 80-date tour on Friday.
The show is expected to concentrate on favorites from the band's heyday, the songs that have helped them sell more than 120 million albums. At a recent dress rehearsal, the group played Take It Easy, Desperado and, of course, Hotel California. (When it came time to do Take It to the Limit, Frey joked that his wife thought the tune referred to credit cards.)
Also on the set list: some of the members' post-Eagles solo material, including Henley's The Boys of Summer.
As far as the issue of "less conflict," Henley may be referring to his past battles with Frey as well as tensions with longtime Eagles guitarist Don Felder, who is no longer with the band and recently sued Henley and Frey, claiming he was not paid a fair share for his work.
Because of the ongoing legal battle, Henley is forced to stay silent. "We haven't settled the lawsuit yet, and until we do, I'm not at liberty to talk about it," he says.
But he will talk - at length - about the new music the group is making, even though they plan to play only one new song on tour, an upcoming single called Hole in the World. The number has been described by one music publication as being "about a lack of love and understanding among people these days." (Sample lyric: "There's a hole in the world tonight. Don't let there be a hole tomorrow.")
"So far, it's kind of all over the place," Henley says of the the 17 songs already recorded for the album. "The new guitar player, Steuart Smith (who replaced Felder), has been very involved in the songwriting process, and he brings a lot of new texture and flavor . . . The single is really about singing. It's got five-part harmony on it, and it showcases the Eagles' vocals. There are no guitar solos or pyrotechnics. It's just a lot of vocals."
Even then, Henley explains, Hole in the World doesn't typify what's on the album. "We're all over the place. There are some love songs. There are some songs that have to do with current events. We still have some songwriting to do. Even though we've got 17 things, I'm sure we're going to write eight or 10 more because we really want this to be good."
In that regard, Henley sees a link between the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, which just released a new album and also is touring this summer (including a date at Office Depot Center on June 7).
"There's still a great demand to see us, and there's a great demand to see Fleetwood Mac, and none of the people in either one of these bands wants to just keep recycling the same old material. We've done that to the max already," he says. "We want to remain as vital and dynamic as we can be until we quit."
But unlike Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles' new album, originally planned for a 2002 release, has been delayed. "It took us almost a year to feel comfortable working in the studio with one another again, to find our respective niches. We've kind of got it down now," says Henley.
Henley works for his causes
But he also notes that band members aren't in the same place in their lives: Time has become a more precious commodity.
"When we were young men, it was a little easier to put one of these things together," he says. "Now, we're all married, we have small children, we have aging parents we have to take care of, we've all got our charities. Our time is not all our own anymore."
In Henley's case, his time away from family and music is particularly devoted to two causes. As a key supporter of the Walden Woods Project, he has raised money for the Massachusetts reserve connected to the author Henry David Thoreau. And as head of the Recording Artists Coalition, he has challenged the recording industry on a number of issues, particularly the disbursement of royalties and the question of who owns the rights to original recordings.
As Henley sees it, there's an industry tradition going back 60 years of shortchanging the artist. Ask him why the system has proliferated for so long and he gives you an earful.
"Because artists are artists," he says matter-of-factly. "Because artists don't have any business sense and because the lawyers who are supposed to be protecting the artists haven't really stood up to the labels."
Plus, Henley argues, the system is designed to take advantage of newer artists. "All a young kid wants to do is make a record and hear it on the radio and maybe get a little money and get some girls and get some popularity," he says. "They don't think about the long-term consequences. They don't think about the fine print in the contract. You can try and explain it to them and they still don't hear you . . . They just want to be in the game."
Of course, you could argue that Henley has chosen a bad time to pick a fight with the record companies, who have suffered declining sales in recent years and have struggled against the advent of online music downloading. But that's precisely the point.
"Get 'em when they're down," Henley says. "They certainly won't listen to us when times are good, they'll laugh and brush us aside. So this is actually the best time . . . They need our help to fight piracy. They need our help to fight a lot of things. We're saying, 'We'll help you if you treat us fairly.' "
Given Henley's strong anti-corporate views, it may be no surprise that he supports the Democrats. He's reportedly given money to Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign, although Henley notes that's not the only candidate he's contributed to in the 2004 race. Nonetheless, he expresses concern that the field, which includes Florida Sen. Bob Graham, is too crowded.
"You know the old political joke -- when the Democrats form a firing squad, they form it in a circle," he quips. "Some of these people ought to get out (of the presidential race). They're wasting their time."
And speaking of politics, he's quick to offer a few kind words for the embattled Dixie Chicks, particularly lead singer Natalie Maines, whose recent antiwar comment about President Bush resulted in the group being all but banned from country radio.
"The shameful part is that certain radio stations used this to promote (themselves). Controversy, as Howard Stern will tell you, is a big seller these days. If you stir up some trouble, you can get a lot of people to listen," Henley says. "It reminded me of what happened to The Beatles when John Lennon made that remark about Jesus Christ. And then it reminded me of McCarthyism. I thought it was ridiculous."
He won't be stifled
Adding to his sense of outrage, Henley says, is that Maines probably got singled out because she's a woman and a country artist. "I might have said that and gotten away with it," he says about her remark of being ashamed that Bush is from Texas, her home state (and Henley's). "All I can say is these are strange times."
But the strangeness of it all won't stop Henley from speaking out - on the concert stage or in the political arena.
"I think it's the duty of every citizen in the country, especially people who have done as well and been as fortunate as I have, to try to make things better, to put something back in the pot, so to speak," he says.
And if that means that Henley will have to bear the brunt of being labeled such a serious guy, so be it.
"There are too many people who aren't pulling their weight, who aren't carrying their share of the load, who aren't doing anything to make things better on any front," he concludes. "Those are the people who usually complain about people like me."
