The Eagles Have Landed
Author: Gary Graff
Publication: Times-Picayune
Date: July 19, 1994
Abstract: The Eagles discuss the ins and outs of the reunion, and how happy they are that it's working.
The Eagles' "Hell Freezes Over" tour may be named after an old Don Henley quote about the prospects for a reunion, but there's no frost between band members these days.
Their squabbles have become rock 'n' roll legend, filled with harsh words, public backbiting and one of the most dramatic breakups, in 1980, of a group at the top of its game. Now things are genial and gentlemanly, and the individual Eagles don't even try to hide their surprise and glee over how well things are going.
"We see this not as a reunion but a resumption," explains Eagle Glenn Frey, pouring himself a Coke and plopping onto a couch in his dressing room.
"Everybody's head is in the right place for this now. It's very much a one-for-all, all-for-one environment around here. It's really just the guys working together again. That's the way it's got to be; you can't be out there just doing it for you."
In another dressing room, Joe Walsh just shakes his head at how well things are going.
"We're doing this because we want to, not because we have to - there's a difference," 46-year-old Walsh says. "We're looking forward to doing another album and continuing as long as the pace of things is good and the nonmusical components stay together and we keep our perspective with everything."
The Eagles have already decided to add a fifth North American leg onto the tour, which brings them to New Orleans Thursday night. It includes a mid-November jaunt to Japan, Australia and New Zealand. There will be an MTV special in September and a live album out in the fall, featuring up to four newly recorded songs. Frey is even talking about a European concert tour next summer.
"Since the band is up and running, we should give everyone an opportunity to see us perform," says Frey, 45.
Onstage is where the Eagles most convincingly affirm their reunion. The St. Louis Riverport Amphitheater show is like most others the band has staged since the tour began Memorial Day weekend. New Orleans can expect the same 28 songs and almost three hours of nonstop hits from the Eagles' six albums and from individual solo careers - as far back as "Funk 49," Walsh's pre-Eagles hit with the James Gang.
The vocal harmonies soar and the musicianship is stunning; Walsh - who's still a crowd favorite as the Eagles' clown prince - has never sounded better as he trades solos with Don Felder, and the four extra musicians provide sonic depth for each of the songs.
And the capacity crowd just goes nuts for all of it, from the first chiming guitar notes of "Hotel California" to the final twang of "Take it Easy."
"The demographics have really floored us," Frey says. The Eagles' audience is one of those multigenerational wonders, with parents and children singing the lyrics to "Lyin' Eyes" and fans of modern rock enjoying the songs passed down by parents, older siblings and classic rock radio.
In the 15th row, Grant Fitch of the raucous new rock group Paw high-fives his buddy Brad Taylor as the Eagles begin "Desperado." The two drove five hours from Lawrence, Kan., paid $400 for a pair of seats to each of the two St. Louis shows - and also have tickets to see the band when it comes to Kansas City later in the tour.
"I grew up with this," says Fitch, 26, gesturing at the stage. "These songs were staples in my household; my kid brother and I sang this stuff all the time. There's so much talent on that stage and all the great songs and music. . . . I wouldn't have missed this for the world."
Neither would Bob Seger, the Detroit rocker who is friends with each of the Eagles and who cowrote their 1979 hit "Heartache Tonight."
"I hoped (the reunion) would happen, but I had my doubts, knowing the strong personalities," says Seger. "I'm really glad it's happening now. I think people always overlooked how good they were. It's great to see the cream rise back to the top."
It was other musical admirers who helped bring them together. Last fall a batch of country singers recorded Eagles songs for the album "Common Thread"; it sold 3 million copies, hit No. 1 on Billboard charts and, said Walsh, "showed us we were as popular as we ever were." (Proceeds went to the Walden Woods preservation project to protect Henry David Thoreau's old hangout.)
Travis Tritt, who performs "Take it Easy" on "Common Thread," even cajoled Frey, Henley, Walsh, Felder and bassist Timothy B. Schmit to join him in making a video for the song.
"People said that video would never take place," Tritt says. "Not only did it take place, but I saw Glenn Frey and Don Henley hug at the end of the day."
Frey says even then he "didn't walk away from the video saying, 'You know, the band might get back together.' " There were other signs the Eagles' famed squabbles were on the mend, however. Frey and Walsh toured together last summer. "Common Thread's" success prompted former Eagles manager Irving Azoff to begin a new round of lobbying for a reunion, and the musicians began calling each other and meeting for lunch.
The reunion may well have been sealed in mid-February in Aspen, Colo. Henley and Walsh had joined Frey in his annual Art from the Heart benefit concert, and the next day they had lunch to talk things over.
"I kept getting the answers I wanted to get, and I think other people heard what they wanted to hear from me," Frey says. "A lot of things happened that said, 'Maybe this is the time to start again.' "