Eagles Album and Tour

[coda]

Eagles putting finishing touches on new album

NEW YORK (Billboard) - The Eagles have almost completed

their first studio album since 1979's "The Long Run," and plan

to tour extensively next year, guitarist Joe Walsh says.

"We're just finishing vocals and mixing it. We're all

finally signing off on it," Walsh told Billboard.com

All of the band members -- Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy

B. Schmit and Walsh -- wrote songs for the album, which he said

"go in some really, really new, different directions. It's hard

to compare to anything that I hear out there now."

For his songs, however, Walsh "went rock 'n' roll ... I

didn't want us to be too ballad-y here. We need some stuff we

can play live, so I made sure there was that element in the

record."

.............................

see upcoming show 18OCT in L.A.

http://www.myspace.com/eaglesmusic

[colterphoto1]

Not again? Farewell Vol III arrrgghhhhhh[:@]

[oldbuckster]

Not again? Farewell Vol III arrrgghhhhhh[:@]

My feelings too................Joe Walsh going to get to play guitar again, or just sit on stage? The Eagles were a fine group, but how many re-unions are they going to have?

[Cody_Mack]

Bring back Don Felder; he was the real guitarist of that group. Too bad they had a falling out...

Saw them (post Felder) in Houston a couple years back...tickets pretty pricey, but these guys are a class-act, very professional. Never was impressed with Walsh' playing, but he can rock out a croud. Good show!

Rick

[Arky]

Hey, I like their stuff & new material with todays processing could be pretty cool.

[tom b. 57]

Bring back Don Felder; he was the real guitarist of that group. Too bad they had a falling out...

Saw them (post Felder) in Houston a couple years back...tickets pretty pricey, but these guys are a class-act, very professional. Never was impressed with Walsh' playing, but he can rock out a croud. Good show!

Rick

"Never was impressed with Walsh' playing."

What planet you from? I believe Joe Walsh is one of rock n roll's all time greats. Right there with anyone else I can think of. You are right when you say he can work a crowd.

Tom

[dtel's wife]

Not again? Farewell Vol III arrrgghhhhhh[:@]

My feelings too................Joe Walsh going to get to play guitar again, or just sit on stage? The Eagles were a fine group, but how many re-unions are they going to have?

Apparently....the Eagles are a fine group. This is a new album and another reunion tour. I for one welcome reunion tours....especially when the artisits are as talented as the Eagles. According to the news release there is some new "stuff" on the album.

I sure am glad all of us don't have the same musical interests....wouldn't life be boring!

[WopOnTour]

[

Apparently....the Eagles are a fine group. This is a new album and another reunion tour. I for one welcome reunion tours....especially when the artisits are as talented as the Eagles. According to the news release there is some new "stuff" on the album.

I sure am glad all of us don't have the same musical interests....wouldn't life be boring!

Very good post and I totally agree. Why would someone complain about the Eagles (or any other "vintage" band/ensemble for that matter) touring again? Once they'e gone, they're GONE! Be thankful they continue to generate new fans with each generation. That tells me that we wern't crazy to enjpy them 30 years ago.

I wouldnt want the Stones to stop either!

WopOnTour

[WopOnTour]

Deleted Duplicate Post

[oldbuckster]

But, that's kinda' my point, The Stones never stopped touring, NO re-union tours , Fleetwood Mac is another one, quit, re-union, quit, re-union again. I am sure that many here are happy about the Eagles 3 or 4 or 5, whatever the number is, and that's great, go and enjoy, but to compare them to the Eagles of 30 years ago, I don't think so..............

[Mike Lindsey]

but to compare them to the Eagles of 30 years ago, I don't think so..............

You eveidently haven't heard them in the last 30 years. Their vocals are still fantastic (Frey's lost an octave or so), and they are as tight a band as you will ever see. I wish Felder was still with them though... he sure could play.

Mike

[Chicago_Pete]

Anyone who thinks Joe Walsh cant play has obviously never picked up a guitar and tried it.

[JJkizak]

Gees, I thought Joe Walsh played pretty good.

JJK

[oldbuckster]

but to compare them to the Eagles of 30 years ago, I don't think so..............

You eveidently haven't heard them in the last 30 years. Their vocals are still fantastic (Frey's lost an octave or so), and they are as tight a band as you will ever see. I wish Felder was still with them though... he sure could play.

Mike

I have heard them, seen them, they are tame,and play sweet songs,............What happened to the Old Eagles, the chainsaw guitars, the gritty look at life, Don Henley has way too much control..........He sounds like Vince Gill............Just one man's opinion, doesn't mean I'm right, just means I don't like the direction they have taken in the re-union years...........By all means, Eagle fans enjoy.........they lost me after The Long Run !!!!!!!!

[Cody_Mack]

Yeah, Walsh is pretty good, evidenced by his success. I have several of his records and enjoy them very much. But one of the greatest guitarists of all time? Nah. He is a good musician, composer and entertainer. Reminds me of that recent Rolling Stones' top guitarists of all time; just one man's (or group's) opinion, that many music fans disagreed with wholeheartedly.

This video reflects what I said in my first post. You can clearly see/hear who is the lead guitarist and who is the back-up guitarist. That's all I was trying to say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAD58YH2KdY

Rick

[Audio Flynn]

Anyone who thinks Joe Walsh cant play has obviously never picked up a guitar and tried it.

I saw Joe and Felder on The Long Run tour from row 17. Both were very competent. I remember Joe being the superior player. I saw Joe 2 other times solo.

The most amazing Walsh solos were experienced during a Neil Young encore playing slide on Tonights the Night for well over 10 minutes. It was about 10 years ago. I have seen NY over 15 times so I cannot remmber what tour it was. Saw the James Gang tour bus parked outside and just figured NY borrowed it for the tour. I was very surprised to see Joe stroll onstage for the encore.

Joe is not an "ordinary average guy".

[WopOnTour]

But, that's kinda' my point, The Stones never stopped touring, NO re-union tours , Fleetwood Mac is another one, quit, re-union, quit, re-union again. I am sure that many here are happy about the Eagles 3 or 4 or 5, whatever the number is, and that's great, go and enjoy, but to compare them to the Eagles of 30 years ago, I don't think so..............

No, I know what you're saying Buck. But they pretty much treat the "Farewell Tour" thing as a bit of an inside joke. (i.e. Hell Freezes Over Tour) They make that pretty obvious with "tongue-in-cheek" remarks during their performances as well. I mean I guess it is getting a little old but I sure dont care. I wait in anticipation for each "Reunion" tour as they seem to get better and better. If you havnt seen them since Long Run , you've been missing out IMHO.

JMO

WopOnTour

[oldbuckster]

Again, I have seen the Video's...........just not what I'm looking for.......Eagles fans should be happy, Old Eagles Fans are not, I thought the sky was the limit when Joe Walsh came aboard, short lived glory, now he just sits there and strums, while some one with 1/5th of his talent plays leads, I don't understand that at all............too much Don Henley, not enough Joe Walsh............It's almost like AC/DC singing a Ballad........Not !!!!!!!! I know I'll take flack for my view, but it's my view, none the less................Enjoy them, remember the saying, "Different Strokes for Different Folks".........You gotta' love that fact that music holds something for everybody....................EH!!!!!!!!!!

[IndyKlipschFan]

Just a thought here too. What are old rockers supposed to do?

Some of the greats died well before they got too old... Even ELVIS had a lot of bad press in the final years before he passed away on the throne. I often wonder if many of those artists who we tend ot hold such sweet parts in our hearts did not die would we feel the same today?

Speaking of that, I just watched the movie "Dreamgirls" the other day. Good movie... Eddie Murphy was fantastic.. The movie is a little long, some songs just not quite that good.. for me, too. There was something that bothered me about a comment Eddie Muphy said about ELVIS.. I looked it up and you know.. He was wrong too. ELVIS it is true.. did not write Hound Dog.. BUT neither did Big Mamma Thorton.. (Which was the lie.)

No Rhythm, No Blues: Must White Guys Always Finish Last?

by Gary North

Once again, a person of presumed victimization reminds us white guys that we just don't have natural rhythm. This does seem to be our burden in life: to live on the sidelines of toe-tapping civilization, stealing occasional musical crumbs from blacks and calling them our own. Helen Kolawole, a former music editor of a magazine called Pride, informs us of the following:

As another celebration of a dead white hero winds up, in this hallowed Week of Elvis, shouldn't the entertainment industry hold its own truth and reconciliation commission? It needn't be a vehicle for retribution, just somewhere where tales of white appropriation of black culture, not to mention outright theft, can finally be laid to rest. Following Michael Jackson's recent outburst accusing Sony chief, Tony Mottola, of racism, perhaps he could officiate and champion all black musicians who have been ripped off by nasty white music business CEOs. . . .

Putting Parsons's vision into practice, let's imagine that instead of Elvis mania, Big Mama Thornton author of Hound Dog reigns supreme with her ode to no-good men. Big Mama's cultural conquest gives birth to a radical white teen culture and a complete and lasting overhaul of America's putrid racial politics. White teens frighten their parents silly with their extreme bids not to become Elvis's pale imitation of the black performers he witnessed, but the very image of Big Mama. Sounds outlandish? Any more audacious than stubbornly maintaining that this talented but more importantly white man deserves to be king of a genre created by black people?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/elvis/story/0,12333,774842,00.html

Well, I guess that puts us in our place, as usual, except for one seemingly inconvenient fact: "Hound Dog" was written Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was recorded by Big Mama in 1953. Lieber and Stoller were a couple of Jewish boys, both born in 1933. They were 20 years old when they wrote "Hound Dog."

Lieber attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. In my day (1955-59), Fairfax High, which I did not attend, was the only high school in southern California to close on Yom Kippur. Maybe eight people would have showed up if it had stayed open, half of them physical education teachers. I have no reason to believe that this wasn't also the case in Lieber's day.

So, what we have here is a premier black entertainer, Big Mama Thornton, one of the unsung founders of early rock and roll, who made her big entry with a song written by a couple of white guys.

She wasn't the only one. Lieber and Stoller wrote the following: "Love Potion #9" (The Clovers), "Kansas City" (Wilbert Harrison), "On Broadway" (The Drifters), "Stand by Me" (Ben E. King). And then the all-time jackpot, a string of hits recorded by the hippest, funniest group of the 'fifties, The Coasters: "Searchin'," "Young Blood," "Along Came Jones," "Charlie Brown," "Yakety Yak (Don't Talk Back)," "Poison Ivy." They also wrote, "I'm a Hog for You, Baby," so I guess they weren't Orthodox Jews. This had to be the greatest string of hit rock & roll songs written by non-performing song writers during the 'fifties, and I would contend, ever.

In 1957, they wrote "Jailhouse Rock" for Elvis as the title song for his movie. Then they started their own music company. They produced records for black performers.

As music journalist Robert Palmer has noted, "They didn't just perform songs for these artists; they arranged the songs, picked the backing musicians, supervised the recording sessions." The pair added, "We didn't write songs, we wrote records." And they yet again unwittingly furthering the evolution of rock by taking under their wings a young producer, Phil Spector, attracted by this sort of acoustic innovation.

http://www.there1.com/leiber.html

They were inducted into the Rock and Toll Hall of Fame in 1987.

But I'm supposed to feel guilty for being an accomplice of a white heist of black culture.

Victimization is in high gear these days.

'TIS PASSING STRANGE

It is worth mentioning that Big Mama Thornton was discovered by Johnny Otis, the blues and rock band leader in Los Angeles. So was Etta James. He was a pioneer in rhythm & blues. In 1950, he had 10 songs that made the Top-10 in Billboard's Rhythm & Blues list. He has been described as the Godfather of rhythm and blues. What none of us knew until more than four decades later was that Johnny Otis was "passing" a Greek guy who decided to become an honorary black. He did it really well. An Otis Web site says:

Johnny Otis discovered many legendary Rhythm and Blues singers such as Esther Phillips, Willie Mae "Big Momma" Thornton, Etta James, and the Robins (who later evolved into the Coasters), all of whom were at one time featured vocalists in his band. He also discovered Sugar Pie DeSanto, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Jackie Wilson, and Little Willie John. He produced, and with his band played on the original recording of "Hound Dog" with "Big Momma" Thornton. He produced and played on Johnny Ace's "Pledging My Love", and produced some of Little Richard's earliest recordings. On his own Blues Spectrum lable, Johnny has recorded and played with Rhythm & Blues pioneers such as Big Joe Turner, Gatemouth Moore, Amos Milburne, Richard Berry, Joe Liggins, Roy Milton, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Charles Brown, and Louis Jordan. Johnny played the drums on Charles Brown's first major hit "Driftin' Blues" in 1946. He also recorded with Illinois Jacquet, and Lester Young. One of the many highlights of his long career was when he performed as a drummer with the great Count Basie Orchestra.

In the 1960's Johnny served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Mervin Dymally [black], whose career he followed from the State Assembly, State Senate, Lieutenant Governorship of California, to the U.S. Congress. His first book "Listen To The Lambs", which addressed the 1965 race riots was published in 1968. His next book, "Upside Your Head! Rhythm & Blues on Central Avenue" was published in 1993. Many of his paintings, sculptures, and wood carvings are displayed in "Colors and Chords The Art of Johnny Otis" which was published in 1995. His most recent book, "Johnny Otis Red Beans & Rice and Other Rock 'n' Roll Recipes" was published in 1997.

Johnny Otis's song writing credits include "Every Beat of My Heart", (a song he wrote originally for Jackie Wilson, but was made a hit by Gladys Knight and the Pips), "Roll With Me Henry", (also known as "The Wallflower"), "So Fine", "Willie and the Hand Jive" (which sold over 1.5 million copies), and many, many others.

Johnny has been inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, and into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Archives of African American Music and Culture at the University of Indiana has cataloged hundreds of hours of his past radio shows for his interviews, comments, insights, and historical significance. Today he teaches a course for the University of California at Berkeley exploring the history of African American music titled "Jazz, Blues, & Popular Music in American Culture".

http://www.johnnyotisworld.com/biography

If you would like to read about his cooking, and get his recipe for Greek egg-lemon soup, click here.

I am not sure how guilty I should feel about all this. I used to watch Johnny's local TV show in Los Angeles. "Johnny Otis, Johnny Otis . . . boom, boom . . . Johnny Otis, Johnny Otis!" Was I an accomplice of an unconscionable white guy who stole black culture and delivered it to us white guys? Or was I an accomplice to a Greek bearing gifts to black performers who needed radio and TV exposure? I'm not sure. But I know I'm supposed to feel guilty. As Ms. Kolawole says:

But the reality is, black music never stays underground. White people always seek it out, dilute it and eventually claim it as their own.

In Johnny's case, blacks claimed him as their own, and more than a few of them prayed for some air time on his TV show.

[oldbuckster]

Elvis and the British Invasion, all they did was bring Black Music back to the American public. Racism prevented white people from listening to so-called Black music.................Kinda' Stupid wasn't it ? It wasn't all that long ago..............Black Music, Devil Music, you know the names.....Music has NO COLOR..............Music is the Universal Language we all understand..........Not sure what this has to do with the Eagles...........