RIP Glen Frey

Wow - 67 years old and gone !!!

I was just listening to "Peaceful, Easy Feeling" yesterday, thinking that Glenn Frey sure had a nice voice way back then..

Of course, they decided that Don Henley had a better one and that's what they went with..
After what - 80 million albums and counting...They were still playing concerts !

I have the "Hell Freezes Over" DVD - its still amazing !

Have always, always, Loved "Seven Bridges Road", an exercise they do before every concert in the trailer... This is one beautifully arranged a cappella song that I have never found recorded in a studio... Its always been done Live... Stunning...

Thoughts and prayers to the Frey family...
Dan F
 
I still cant believe this happened.. :(

Well, they cant ask Don Felder to come back because even though he can play a mean guitar that was pivotal in their beginning to become the Eagles, he cannot sing a lick... :)

And they fired him a long time ago anyway... what a mess that was...
Dan F
 
RIP Glen. Love listening to the Eagles songs. It is really interesting how in the very beginning how they all met each other and how the band was formed. I mean talk about the past w/o American Idol, etc. I'm not going to go into it because it is long and I'm going from memory. I am going to google It myself because I remember something about Linda Rhondstat and Glen singing together, and then other interesting things about the night club in L.A. where they all met, Glen and Don sharing an apartment etc.
 
Aceone -
YES !

Glenn Frey (from Michigan) met Don Henley (from Texas), and they shared an apartment in SoCal, while they were there to try to break into the Music Industry..

They would hear the guy who lived below them get up every morning, make some tea, and then practice, practice, practice, songs he was writing on a piano..
That guy was Jackson Browne !

At some point they ran into a very young Linda Ronstadt who was forming a band and she asked them if they wanted to go on the road with her, so they did that for awhile.. It helped them hone their skills playing, singing, and writing..

One day, Jackson Browne, who they had met and were friends with, came up and said he had this song that he just could not finish.
He asked them if they wanted it, because he was just stuck there and couldnt do anymore with it..
They said yes, and finished another Eagles all-time-Classic as "Take it Easy"..... Amazing how life turns out, eh?

All this history happened in the early 70's.....

Here is the way I remember seeing them way back then --

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgur..._l5M&itg=1&usg=__0QUeR47G2lacBqHBSHdB5PtVgS4=

Left to Right - Don Henley, Don Felder, Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon, Randy Meissner

Dan F
 
That's it, Jackson Browne, lived below them. Sooo much interesting history of how all the old bands were formed in clubs, word of mouth, and just pure coincidence, right place right time and pure talent. Time for another road trip and Listening to the Eagles (I'll stick the eight track/cassette/CD right in the dash).
 
pgp said:
Interesting story, I was a bigger fan of Jackson Browne. I did see him a few times in concert.
Click to expand...

Jackson Browne kills it ! He has so many great songs, and he does it alone !

One of my all time favorites - "The Load Out" just perfect words, voice, piano, music...
 
Stokdgs- Thanks for posting that history lesson, seems like a lot of their earlier history is omitted in most of the news blurbs and IMO their pre-Eagles days set the stage for all that was to come.

Sounds like he was caught between a rock and a hard place with his RA affliction...what an awful thing to befall a musician (well, awful for anybody...).

As with Bowie's passing, I *do* wish they'd play some of the more obscure tunes instead of repeating the same four or five though...I really can't take another spin of [pick any one of those few they're playing].
 
That story is true. They lived up in the Silverlake district in Los Angeles. The Eagles were a tour band for Linda R, but not her band on her albums. On her albums she used studio guys known as The Section. Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, etc. I saw Jackson Browne just 2 months ago in AZ. First thing I noticed when I got there is that everyone attending was old. Just like me! My favorite singer / songwriter of all time. Not my favorite performer necessarily, but as a singer / songwriter he was gifted. Speaking of 1970's / 80's in high school our high school garage band who played at or parties was Van Halen. The bass player Michael was at our high school and the Han Halen brothers were over at Pasadena High School about a mile away. Known as Mammoth then, but the same guys basically.
 
Accumulator said:
Stokdgs- Thanks for posting that history lesson, seems like a lot of their earlier history is omitted in most of the news blurbs and IMO their pre-Eagles days set the stage for all that was to come.

Sounds like he was caught between a rock and a hard place with his RA affliction...what an awful thing to befall a musician (well, awful for anybody...).

As with Bowie's passing, I *do* wish they'd play some of the more obscure tunes instead of repeating the same four or five though...I really can't take another spin of [pick any one of those few they're playing].
Click to expand...

Accumulator -

I read that this poor guy was in the hospital since November --- :(
Rheumatoid Arthritis - a terrible autoimmune disease - is something he had that I'm reading, for years..

If you get a chance to see the Hell Freezes Over DVD they made when the finally got back together after a "14-year vacation" as Glenn described it, it will tell you a lot more about them.. There are lots of interviews with him and the other band members, and of course, some incredible sets they did at that Concert..
On good equipment, its incredible to see and hear..
Dan F
 
If you have Showtime, they are doing a 3+ hour History of the Eagles program, and it looks like it is airing again this Saturday...

Lots of amazing footage of the two main members, Glenn Frey and Don Henley, and you can see how they were just kids, and grew up and older over all those years..

They even show them all coming back after their little 14-year vacation..

I just read that their 2013 Tour made them $100 million in those 12 months...:)

I forgot that when they took that 14 year vacation, Glenn and Don went out solo and did a lot of good music on their own too...
Believe Glenn even did a Miami Vice episode and was also in Jerry McGuire with Tom Cruise..
Dan F
 
I am still sad about this -- :(

Here something from their facebook written by Bernie Leadon, one of the original Eagles, way, way, back when...

Eagles Fastlane
January 21 at 8:01pm ·
Bob Lefsetz has posted some of the responses to his Glenn Frey tribute. We thought everyone would be interested in what Bernie Leadon had to say (get the tissues ready)......
hey bob-
Nice tribute to Glenn and the band. I am bummed, but very grateful that I got the privilege of participating in the History Of tour for the last two years, and play the music again, with Glenn and Don, Timothy and Joe. And I have stayed in touch with Randy Meisner and Don Felder as well.
There is a song that Glenn wrote before the band started, which he played for us at the very first rehearsal at S.I.R in L.A in late summer 1971, when the original four Eagles first strapped on instruments and played together as a band. The song was "Most of Us Are Sad", which the band recorded on the first album, titled simply "Eagles".
Randy sang the song on the album, and very well indeed. But it was Glenn's song, and when I first heard it, I thought it was a very good and insightful song, as this was a guy saying that, back when guys didn't admit weakness much, or vulnerability. That song was an album cut, never got airplay, and we didn't play it on stage, since we already played several waltzes, and couldn't do more mellow songs in the show. But listen to it now, and it might make you feel better, knowing that we're not the only ones sad today.
One thing I learned over the years about a songwriter expressing very personal feelings, is that it turns out that since all humans feel essentially the same feelings, but that most folks don't know how to express them, that when a songwriter talks about something very personal, it turns out to have universal appeal, because everyone can say "yeah! That's how I feel! He understands me like no one else!" So in a very counterintuitive way, its not the large general statement which has universal appeal, but rather the most intimate and personal which does.
I am very proud of what the band achieved, and grateful for the opportunity to be part of it, both from the first rehearsals and show, to the very last one on July 29 in the Shreveport suburb of Bossier City (with a 38 year gap in the middle.....). At the end of that last show, after the first encore Hotel California, as we were preparing to return to the stage for the last three encores (Take It Easy, Rocky Mt. Way, and Desperado), Glenn gave me a big hug, said "This isn't the end", and another big hug. We hit the stage, took our bows, went out the back to our vehicles, and off into our separate lives again. So I am very grateful today that this was my last interaction with Glenn, and that we did achieve what he said he was aiming for, to "go out on a high note".
None of us could quite hit the same high notes that we could in the 70's (except maybe Henley still can.....), but it was only down about a half step, which is pretty good. Glenn was such a trouper during the History tour, as I fully realize now with my better understanding of the physical challenges he was battling every day out there. Like you said in your commentary, "they hit the stage with no delay". The only delay there ever was on the History tour, was to maybe hold the curtain for 5 or 10 minutes, to allow more of the audience time to get seated. Then we promptly started the show, which lasted 3 and a half hours, every night.
The truth is, as you said, that Glenn was the primary energy behind the Eagles success, as he was relentless. We all had a lot of energy and drive, but Glenn was pushing it and us all the time. So hat's off, Glenn. Job extremely well done. Millions of people have been positively affected, cheered up, supported. May your wife Cindy and your kids take comfort in that realization, and may we all be grateful as we continue to live our lives, accompanied by your soundtrack.
Vaya Con Dios
bernie leadon

Dan F
 
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