To Paraphrase William Blake: ''When Thou Hearest An Eagle, Thou Hearest A Portion Of Genius''.......

Glenn Frey had to go to the bathroom. But, it wasn't as convenient as you may think, because he was in the middle of the desert in predawn hours. Now, Glenn might want to sleep with you in this desert, with the stars all around, but, the peaceful, easy feeling he wanted demanded privacy. So, he slid away from his companions--- who were on another planet under the influence of tequila and peyote--- and found a bush to ''go drop the kids off at''. Without going into gory details, Glenn seemed at peace here, going to the bathroom out in the open, like a desperado. Suddenly, over his head, a bird came towards him in a menacing way. Glenn, caught with his pants down, was kinda vulnerable on his exit strategy. The bird came closer, it might look like it was gonna attack. As Glenn started to panic, the bird seemed to regard him as harmless. As if on cue, the bird eyed him, and then, flew away into the great sky above, towards another destination. As Glenn Frey composed himself, he had a sudden vision. He and his bandmates were looking for a name for his new band, something original. Here, in the desert, at the famous Joshua Tree hippie commune, Frey christened in his mind what the band should be called. As the tequila sunrise greeted him, Frey and his partner, Don Henley, would named their band ''Eagles''........ Simple as that; ''Eagles''. In time, the whole world would get the name mixed up and call the band ''The Eagles''. However, this was not the correct name...... Glenn Frey was a Detroit boy. Like millions of other young people his age, Glen caught the bug of rock and roll. He recalls going to see his favorite band in concert, The Beatles. The cute girl in front of him literally fainted in his arms during the show, so in love with the ''Cute Beatle''. Glenn immediately flashed on the idea to form a band. Music surged through him. Plus, there was the bonus of girls!!!! Glenn originally had taken piano lessons as a kid but he switched to guitar as a teenager. Soon, he was playing with local bands at small gigs around Detroit. In this new world, he became friends with another local boy from Detroit, a fast-rising, gusto singer named Bob Seger. Seger, a young man barely in his twenties, mentored Glenn Frey. He encouraged Frey to start writing his own songs, along with playing music. Bob Seger would throw some money gigs Frey's way. When it came time to record the song ''Ramblin Man'', Seger hired Frey to sing background on the chorus of the song. In time, after his 18th birthday, Glenn Frey went west to Los Angeles, where the music business was thriving in the late 60's/ early 70's. Self-confidence, never a stranger, was his ally, his boon companion. Glenn might not be flashy on the guitar, but, he put his personality in his playing, forging a joy of being alive that translated to an audience. Glenn was funny onstage, a natural performer and entertainer.  He knew he would make it sometime. When he showed up on the West Coast, Glenn was penniless, like thousands of other hopefuls.......... Another aspiring musician roaming L.A., equally penniless, was a soft-spoken drummer from Texas named Don Henley. Henley played an average set of drums, no great shakes as a player. But, Don Henley possessed a voice that was his greatest asset. The voice was a mixture of wordly and raw, unusual for someone just above high school age. It sounded like sandpaper, but, in a appealing, poignant way. The voice cried out to those who were the blue-collar, the people who manned trucks late at night, stopping off at a greasy spoon. His voice was the voice of the endless road to heartbreak, a rock and roll version of Sinatra. It was a voice ringing with experience and hard times. Don grew up, not poor, but, without. Texas is all dirt and mean talking men. Don Henley was not of this ilk. He was not the type of boy who dug ditches. Rather, he sung about those who dug ditches. Like Glenn Frey, Don caught the clarion call of The Beatles. Henley dreamed the dreams of the boy who had music running through his soul. He gravitated towards the drums. And, he hooked up with local bands in Texas and other states around him. His singing brought him the attention he craved. He, too, was never short of self-confidence. However, he was still shy. When he did speak his mind, he spoke with conviction bordering on arrogance. He saw his future in California, namely L.A. Soon, he was running towards the Coast, a refugee orphan looking for the Music Home....... Somewhere, in this vast crowd of street musicians in Los Angeles, Glenn Frey and Don Henley met. It was at the famous ''Troubadour'' nightclub. A large bar more than anything else, the ''Troubadour'' enjoyed the reputation as the place to be in the early 1970's. Up and coming stars, either from the stage or movies, mingled freely with the audience. Like many clubs, Monday night was ''Amateur Night'', when you go up on the stage and show your goods as a comic or musician. Henley and Frey played that stage, but, not together. There were so many musicians plying their trade that everyone seemed to know everyone. Glenn and Don became friends in the local scene. Linda Ronstadt was another friend in this crowd. She had made a name for herself fronting the ''Stone Ponies'' a few years earlier. Ronstadt was hot, both professionally and personally. She knew the ropes and when she was looking for a backup band for herself to go out on the road, she picked Henley and Frey. They went eagerly to back Linda up, a big first step towards their ultimate goal. While on the road, Frey and Henley struck up a friendship. They both had similar tastes in music and the world. Both were not afraid to speak up, and this would cause some friction between them. But, for the most part, Glenn and Don got along. They soon left Linda Ronstadt and decided to form a band. Encouraged by their friend, Jackson Browne, they also began writing original songs together. At first, it was hard going. They both leaned towards the rock and roll they loved, but, they also had a fondness for country music. They seemed torn which way the band would go. And, the players they picked to be in their band seemed to add to the confusion. Bernie Leadon was picked to play lead guitar [along with banjo] and Randy Meisner was selected to play bass. Both Leadon and Meisner shared different tastes, with Leadon more into country and Meisner more into ballads. Finally, it was decided by the leaders of the band, Glenn and Don, to just play whatever they wanted and see which way the band drifted. The only thing missing was a name. So, they went to Joshua Tree to think things out......... Back in town, with a new name to call themselves, the ''Eagles'' went looking for gigs and a manager. They clicked immediately with audiences and were soon on the forefront of what later became known as the ''California Sound'' of the 70's. Meaning, soft, easy listening rock and country. Playing one night, they came across a little man who would become their manager, Irving Azoff. Azoff, no marshmellow he, became the band's most valuable weapon to use when fighting the octopuses in the music industry. Azoff had the ''little man'' complex, that is, he compensated for his short height by becoming a tough ballbuster. He brashly got a band a record deal with David Geffen, a mean son of a bitch himself. Soon, there would be epic industry battles between Azoff and Geffen over royalties and the marketing of the band. Still, for how brutal he could be in battle, Azoff was the right manager for the band because he possessed the right combination of drive and guts to elevate the new band to stardom. You need a powertripper to lead you to success. Irving Azoff was it. Don Henley would affectionately refer to him as ''Our Satan''......... The band would record their first album, ''Eagles'' in 1972. It was a damn strong first album, with the hits ''Take It Easy'', ''Witchy Woman''. and ''Peaceful Easy Feeling'' jumping into the charts and making them all stars. The critical response was mixed, with some reviewers applauding the fresh California sounds and others disdaining it. But for the band, it was the fulfillment of a life's dream. They were stars in music. With the fame came the money. And, the women. Like most bands that suit up onstage, the ''Eagles'' romped backstage with the drugs and the women. Orgies were commonplace. The, ahem, drill was simple: the roadies would canvass the crowd looking for attractive women. These women, knowing full well what would happen, would be invited backstage for a party with the band. And, the party was not the type of party you told your parents about. Sex and drugs and rock and roll was the call of the day  and the boys in the band indulged.......... With stardom came ego. Glenn Frey and Don Henley, never accused of modesty, had their egos inflated by stardom TNT. The fights backstage became more pronounced. This is not unusual, for all bands have these spats. But, stardom plays tricks, not all of them good. Cracks had already appeared in the band, with Bernie Leadon becoming increasingly more unhappy with the band's more rock sound. Leadon wanted the band straight country. He was overruled, though, by Glenn and Don, the group leaders and principal songwriters. By the time of the ''Eagles'' second album, the bizarre, ''Desperado''. Leadon was quite the unhappy guitarist. The album, somewhat of a concept album, took the theme of the Old West and ran songs around this theme. While they did score with the songs, ''Tequila Sunrise'', and the title track, the album failed to resonant with the public. By no means a failure, it was a sharp disappointment, the legendary sophomore jinx album. Internally, it divided the band. Frey and Henley were at odds over who's fault it was. And, Leadon blamed them both. Bernie was still pushing for the band to go full country. On the band's third album, ''On The Border'', the harder rock sound remained. With this third album, which spanned the hits, ''Already Gone'' and ''Best Of My Love'', came new blood in the form of guitarist Don Felder. Felder, much more accomplished at playing lead than Leadon, was the go-to guy for a hot solo. He blistered the guitar with his playing. The album rejuvenated the ''Eagles'' popularity. However, Bernie Leadon had seen enough. He knew the band was not going into the direction he wanted it to go, so, he quietly resigned the group......... And, then there were four ''Eagles''. Henley and Frey knew that they needed new blood in the group, someone to shake off the cobwebs that had gathered. An old friend was approached, a rock and roll fellow traveler who had a wild spin on life. His nickname was ''The Bomber'', for he liked smoking his green. Every night was a party for guitar great, Joe Walsh. And, he brought that party to the ''Eagles''......... Joe Walsh lived life in the fast lane. He drank and drugged to excessiveness. He always said that his three best friends in life were, Vodka, ''The Who's'' Keith Moon, and John Belushi. All three, in their own ways, were the stimulants that drove Joe Walsh. He lined up a very impressive reputation as one of the wild men of rock. Hotel rooms did not stand a chance against him, as TV's and furniture came crashing down. But, Walsh was a genuinely nice man and one of the most respected guitarists in the rock and roll game. His invite into the band surprised his many friends and followers. Neil Young, upon hearing that Joe was gonna be an ''Eagle'' said, ''Why do you want to join all of those assholes?'' Joe knew why. His solo career, while attaining cult status, never reached the superstardom heights of his many friends. Joe wanted to grab the brass ring, and the call from Henley and Frey put that ring on his finger, asking for a rock and roll union of hard rock and the ''Eagles'' sound. In 1976, Joe married in the ''Eagles''......... The first album of the new ''Eagles'' band would be their seminal masterpiece ''Hotel California''. This album, wildly popular to this day, made the ''Eagles'' into music legends. The combination of their old sound---- that glorious description of Southern California country and western mixed with pop---- became a sidekick to the raw electric power of Joe Walsh and his rock and roll influence. The songs were harder edged, more in-your-face, take charge, impatient in its demands for satisfaction. There still was a peaceful feeling to them but there was also a darker side, as if the band---- and its audience----- were growing up and growing darker in nature. This sneer-on -the-lip mentality was ripe for the times, for the 70's had turned more cynical, with Flower Power and the whole ''Hippie'' movement now dead and buried and crass commercialism rearing its head. All great music reflects its times and ''Hotel California'' certainly captured the mood of the times......... The overwhelming success of ''Hotel California'' was a double-edged sword for the band. The money rolled in by the truckloads, along with the groupies and the drugs. But, it also spelled the start of the end for the band. Egotistical behavior, never a stranger for this band, soared along with its record sales. Suddenly, everyone was a genius. Or, so they thought. No one said ''No'' to them, even when they needed to hear it. The members drifted in the rare atmosphere of untouchable stardom. The air was rare in this world and only fellow geniuses were invited in their orbit. But, when you drift in this world, you drift away from reality. When the cocoon is too thick to penetrate, the enemies in human nature start swirling, just awaiting the first hole to penetrate......... That hole came with their follow-up album, ''The Long Run.'' This album, released in 1979, had a slightly new lineup. Gone was original bass player, Randy Meisner. He had grown tired of the by-now constant arguing among Henley and Frey and Felder. Sides were always taken with no one yielding their ground or their ego. Meisner beat a hasty retreat from the group and he was replaced by Timothy B. Schmidt, a good bass player with a wonderful high falsetto voice that mingled nicely with their already famous harmonies. If there was a bright spot around the band during this time, it was Schmidt because the rest of the members were at dagger points with each other. The album took forever to do because the band could not stomach being around each other much. when they did perform, there were constant fights going, with no one giving any ground. The friendship of the band, so important during the previous years, was gone. All that was left was going through their paces, like a job. The album that arose from this nadir was good but not classic ''Eagles''. It showed, in their songs, the inertia that they were slogging through. It was world-weary, bitter, joyless, with no heart. Some good songs came from it but the good times were over. The band was on life-support, just waiting for the plug to be pulled........ That plug was finally pulled on July 31, 1980 onstage. It was a typical night's concert for the band just going through their paces. For some reason, an onstage row began between Glenn Frey and Don Felder. The bad feelings had been growing for years between these two [and Henley] but it came to the surface on this night. Nobody knows exactly why but there were threats going back and forth of violence, with Frey saying he was going to beat Felder's ass after the show. This exchange was caught on film and recorded. After the show, there was a fistfight but it was broken up fairly quickly. Don Felder, in the following days, had said he had enough of them all. He quit. Don Henley and Glenn Frey also had enough of each other. By the end of the year, the ''Eagles'' formally announced they were disbanding. Not with rock and roll bang of noise, but, with a wistful whimper in the desert tonight.......... Throughout the 1980's, the band would reject offers to regroup. Partly, it was because the wounds were still too raw. And, also partly, the solo careers of Don Henley and Glenn Frey were going strong. Frey had a few hits and began an acting career. Henley achieved stardom of his own with several best-selling albums. As solo artists, however, Joe Walsh, Don Felder, and Timothy B. Schmidt all floundered. They each found extensive work as studio musicians to top names. Relations between the members still were strained, though. It wasn't until 1994 that the time---- and the money offers---- seemed comfortable for all of them to reunite. Apparently, whatever differences they all shared was put aside and the ''Hell Freezes Over'' tour was born. It was a raging success, with huge crowds and huge record sales greeting them again. The boys seemed to be getting on well, with past arguments remaining in the past. They could even laugh at themselves and their reputation for all of the in-fighting they did way back when. They seemed to be good friends again, which pleased their fans. Throughout the 90's, the band seemed more mellow, more at ease with each other. Don Henley and Glenn Frey still wrote the songs and fought and laughed with each other. Don Felder forged a truce with the two leaders. Timothy B. Schmidt stayed silently in the back with his bass, letting the others take the heat. And, Joe Walsh, thankfully, licked his substance abuse problems and came back to the land of the living. But, do not be alarmed. He is still the same wild rascal he has always been........... But, again, they love to fight and have their squabbles. In the early part of the new century, Don Felder was fired by Henley and Frey. Why? Well, it seems old animosities were still raging among the three musicians. And, guess who won the argument? Felder was gone and now there were four. The more things change, the more they stay the same......... I just watched the band's official documentary called ''History Of The Eagles''. It is quite compelling for a fan of the band, warts and all. Some of the stories I knew, some were quite surprising. All of the band members were interviewed. Some come off quite well, like Joe Walsh and Bernie Leadon. Some come off poorly, like Glenn Frey and Don Felder. Don Henley kinda comes along in the middle, somewhere. But, it does not matter, because, ultimately, with any artist, it is the work that matters and will be remembered, not ''whom fought with whom''. The band, the ''Eagles'', will always be welcome music to listen to, whether in your comfy bed, or on a corner of Winslow, Arizona.......