1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. The story of 2 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: the Eagles, their beginnings as a band, their Southern California swagger, 3 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: their unprecedented success, and their abrupt breakup is so complex 4 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: that two episodes were needed to properly tell this story. 5 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: If you're just tuning in now, I suggest you hit 6 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: pause and go back to Part one of the Eagles story, 7 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: where we discuss the band's beginnings, their relationship with would 8 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: be mogul David Geffen, Glenn Fryes, smuggling of acapoca gold 9 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: in the near Dead Girl in Don Henley's bathroom. In 10 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:50,879 Speaker 1: this episode, we get into the band's immeasurable excess, including 11 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: pranks with private jets overseas, gambling in high speed corvette 12 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: rides with delirious drug dealers. We of course refused to 13 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: refer to the Eagles as Eagles, just as we do 14 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: in Part one, and we also introduced the band's new 15 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 1: ball busting manager, Irving Aza, Fast talking the Eagles out 16 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: of a Bahamian drug bust, And of course, we dive 17 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: into the soaring success of the band's twenty six times 18 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 1: platinum album Hotel California, truly great music. Unlike that music 19 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: I played for you at the top of the show. 20 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: That wasn't great music. That was a preset loop for 21 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:32,919 Speaker 1: my melotron called Medicated thumb Blister MK one. I played 22 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: you that loop because I can't afford the rights to 23 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: Lady by Kenny Rogers. And why would I play you 24 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:43,320 Speaker 1: that specific slice of rejected Commodore Cheese? Could I afford it? 25 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 1: Because that was the number one song in America On 26 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: November twenty one, nineteen eighty In That was the Knight, 27 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: Don Henley rang the paramedics about the underage girl overdosing 28 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: in his bathroom, a girl that was about to be 29 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: as dead as his band's career. On this episode, private 30 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: Jet pranks, private jet crashes, ball busting managers, so Cal's swagger, 31 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: and the masters of life in the Fast name the Eagles. 32 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan. 33 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 2: In this this Disgraceland. 34 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: You're driving, it's late, your friends are with you in 35 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: your car. One of the master piss It's annoying to 36 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: have to pull over, but extra annoying because you're so 37 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: close to home. 38 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 2: Can he wait? 39 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: No, he can't, and he won't shut the fuck up 40 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: about it. So you pull over. To the side of 41 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: the road, a random stretch of road abandoned at this hour. 42 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: You're silly, it's so late, so are your friends, who 43 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: remain in the car with you. The car idols, your 44 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: foot on the gas, your friend outside finishes his business, 45 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: shakes himself off, and reappears from the wooded area beside 46 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: the road. In the rear view mirror, you spy your 47 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: friend coming up to the back seat door from behind 48 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 1: the car. He's getting closer. He's about to put his 49 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: hand on the door handle to open it up and 50 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: jump on in. You quickly put the car in a drive, 51 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 1: your foot on the gas, and jerk the car forward 52 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: about fifteen feet. Your friend outside gets the joke, but 53 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: doesn't find it nearly as funny as your friends in 54 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: the back seat, who are cutting up outside. Mister almost 55 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: pissed his pants trots quickly to the back seat car door. Inside. 56 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: Your friends don't even not to say anything. You don't either. 57 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: You all know what is going to happen next. Once 58 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: mister almost pissed his pants gets to an inch of 59 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: that door, you're gonna gun it again and move the 60 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: car out of reach. And that's exactly what you do now. 61 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: Your friend outside is visibly angry, and your friends in 62 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: the back are dying Outside. You hear him tell you 63 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: to fuck off. You yell back some fake apology and 64 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: a surem it's now cool and out of your system. 65 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: Tired annoyed, he doggedly accepts your apology intentatively shuffles back 66 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: to your car, which is now about thirty feet away 67 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: from him up the road. Once he gets to the 68 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: door for the third time, you peel out and leave 69 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:26,159 Speaker 1: him with a face full of dust and take off 70 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: down the road. Mister almost pissed his pants has now 71 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: mister pissed the fuck off and begins kicking at the 72 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: dirt on the ground and punching randomly in the air 73 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: while screaming in frustration. It's the funniest thing you and 74 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: your friends have ever seen, and you've seen it a 75 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: million times. We all have, in movies and in real life. 76 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: I myself have pulled this trick on a band member 77 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: who got so pissed he temporarily quit our band. Didn't matter, 78 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,159 Speaker 1: We're gonna kick him out anyway. I've done this to 79 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: my wife, and my wife has done this to me. 80 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: It's one of the oldest car tricks. In the book, 81 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: but the Eagles. The Eagles pulled this prank not in cars, 82 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:04,359 Speaker 1: but in private planes at airports, and not just on 83 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: the tarmac. They'd actually make the pilot achieve lift off 84 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: for a brief moment and then touch back down. Wait, 85 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: allow bassis Randy Meisner or a new guy guitarist Don Felder, 86 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: who joined the band to bring that extra rock and 87 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: roll additive to Bernie Lennon's country style, and bam. Just 88 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: when whichever poor sap would reach the plane, the pilot, 89 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: on instructions from the band inside, would take off again 90 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: and again, racking up majorly expensive airport fees with every 91 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:35,919 Speaker 1: takeoff and landing. But it didn't matter, such was the 92 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,479 Speaker 1: level of success afforded the Eagles from their first few albums. 93 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: Their self titled debut rocketed from number one oh two 94 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,279 Speaker 1: to number twenty two on the Billboard two hundred and 95 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,160 Speaker 1: six weeks and charted three top forty hits, including Witchy Woman, 96 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:53,119 Speaker 1: which cracked the top ten. Their second album, Desperado, sold 97 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:57,800 Speaker 1: modestly by comparison, but regained chart positioning once their third album, 98 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 1: On the Border was released. Self titled debut had just 99 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: been certified gold when on the Border yielded more hits, 100 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: their incredibly rocking single already gone at number thirty two, 101 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 1: but most importantly, their first chart topping number one single, 102 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: Best of My Love. The full album On the Border 103 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,839 Speaker 1: hit number seventeen on the Billboard two hundred and was 104 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: certified gold in under three months. Their fastest and best 105 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: selling album yet. The Eagles made taking off into the 106 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: upper stratosphere of the charts look easy. Private planes weren't 107 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:35,239 Speaker 1: a problem, but even still, customs agents were to rockers, 108 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: ramblers and gamblers alike, and to the Eagles in nineteen 109 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: seventy four, who were all three high stakes. Gambling as 110 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 1: it was to the Old West characters depicted on the 111 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,280 Speaker 1: cover of their second album, Desperado was a new pastime 112 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: for the suddenly flush rock and roll band, so in 113 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: the middle of tour they headed to the Bahamas on 114 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 1: a private jet with new manager Irving Azof. Don't know 115 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,599 Speaker 1: who Irving Azov is. He's a legend in the business 116 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,679 Speaker 1: who his bones with the Eagles, at first under David 117 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: Geffen and then on his own. These days, he's a 118 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: respected elder of statesman of sorts within the music industry. 119 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: Not exactly shy or saw spoken in his old age, 120 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: but definitely gentle by comparison to who he was in 121 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: the seventies. This guy not gonna fucking pay my artist 122 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: played for you, motherfucker, like they fucking agreed to. Where 123 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: the fuck is our money? The promoter quite literally was 124 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: near shitting his pants. It was a short helicopter ride 125 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: up for Azof, garbed in his satin tore jacket, glasses 126 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: and slight afro poking out from under his orange construction 127 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: helmet which he wore because well, who the hell really knew, 128 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: But regardless, a short ride up for Azof and the helicopter, 129 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: but a long way down for the promoter. If he 130 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: happened to be thrown out of the helicopter, give me 131 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,679 Speaker 1: the fucking money, shit fuck. The promoter at that point 132 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: would have given Azof as first born, and that was 133 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 1: the point irving. Azof got what he wanted, especially for 134 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: his clients. And when the chopper landed, he's sure as 135 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: shit at the performance fee the promoter owed him. But 136 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: that was a different time with a different aircraft. Here 137 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: in the now, at the airport in the Bahamas with 138 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: the eagles, the heat was now on him and not 139 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: the other way around. Glenn Fry was holding grass in 140 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: his boot. The rest of the band, with the exception 141 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: of Don Hemley, was holding too. Irving was even holding 142 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: thirty value shit, even the pilot was holding. As soon 143 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: as they got off the plane, customs agents rounded the 144 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: band up and took them off to be searched busted. 145 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:42,200 Speaker 1: Jail was imminent. Bahamian customs officials were notoriously strict, unable 146 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: to be bribed. They said money. 147 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:45,199 Speaker 2: Didn't matter to them. 148 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: Somehow, Irving Azov was able to convince them to let 149 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: him the rest of the band and crew go. They'd 150 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: give up the dope and operate in the Bahamas under 151 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: the watchful, responsible eye of their drummer Don Henley, the 152 00:08:57,200 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 1: only one among them who wasn't trying to smuggle drugs 153 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: on to the island. Howarving Azov did it to this day, 154 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: no one really knows. Persuasion confidence the eagles new manager's 155 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: superpowers not only worked on Behamian customs agents, they worked 156 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,079 Speaker 1: on the powerful David Geffen as well. As successful as 157 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: the Eagles were over the course of their early career, 158 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,679 Speaker 1: their music industry benefactor and head of their record label, 159 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:27,000 Speaker 1: David Geffen was even more successful. The same year he 160 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: launched Asylum Records. In nineteen seventy one, Geffen signed Linda Ronstadt, 161 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: Joni Mitchell, and of course Glenn Fry. So successful was 162 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 1: Asylum that by the very next year, in nineteen seventy two, 163 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,840 Speaker 1: Warner Brothers Records purchased Asylum Records and made David Geffen 164 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,320 Speaker 1: already a very rich man and even richer man. The 165 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: Eagles record contract was then transferred to Warner Brothers, as 166 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: was half of their publishing revenue Geffen's half as part 167 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:57,959 Speaker 1: of the sale. Technically, the publishing was Geffen's to sell. 168 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: The Eagles signed it away to David geh so much 169 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: for protecting the artists, so much for providing asylum for 170 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: the artists. Regardless, the publishing was Geffen's to sell. It 171 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: was his again signed over to him from the band 172 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 1: as part of their first record contract. But Irving Azof 173 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 1: claimed that when the deal was signed, it was signed 174 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: under all manner of conflicted interests from Asylum label heads, 175 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: business managers, and lawyers who were all allegedly working in 176 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 1: concert to come up with contracts that favored the business 177 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: interests of David Geffen and not his artists, the Eagles. 178 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,839 Speaker 1: Irving Azof had Geffen by the balls right where he 179 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:37,080 Speaker 1: wanted him, so he put on the squeeze, ensued David 180 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,559 Speaker 1: Geffen to get the Eagles out of their original contract 181 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 1: and into a more favorable one. David Geffen dug in, 182 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,680 Speaker 1: unwilling to relent. Artists didn't leave David Geffen, and they 183 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: could check out, but leave never, or so he thought. 184 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 1: Irving Azof thought he was doing the right thing, even 185 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,959 Speaker 1: if he was completely submarining his and his client's relationship 186 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: with one of the most powerful men in the music 187 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:01,440 Speaker 1: business in the process. If he and the Eagles came 188 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:03,640 Speaker 1: out on the losing end, they would have been worse 189 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 1: off than before. Incredibly, though, the high stakes gamble paid off. 190 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,520 Speaker 1: David Geffen settled out of courner. Irving Azof stared down 191 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: the Master from inside his chambers. There was a new 192 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: outlaw in town. Don Hemley said of Irving Azof, he 193 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: may be Satan, but he's our satan. 194 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 2: God. Damn. 195 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:56,720 Speaker 1: The count drove fast. Glenn Fry couldn't blame him. The 196 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: Pacific Coast Highway was built for this seventy five core 197 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:04,079 Speaker 1: Stingray and the vent blew. Didn't matter that they were 198 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:07,640 Speaker 1: holding big time top off ninety miles per hour and 199 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:11,719 Speaker 1: buco blow in the back seat. Also cash, lots of it. 200 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 1: The Count was one of Hollywood's most successful drug dealers, 201 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: so lots of coke and cash, and his possession wasn't 202 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,840 Speaker 1: out of the norm. Glenn Fry wasn't freaked out by that. 203 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: They needed the cash and they needed the coke. They're 204 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,120 Speaker 1: on their way to a high stakes poker came. What 205 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: had Glenn freaked out was the speed. Not for fear 206 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,720 Speaker 1: of crashing, for fear of getting pulled over and popped 207 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:38,640 Speaker 1: by highway patrol. The Count wasn't afraid. When you're young, 208 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:41,080 Speaker 1: good looking, rich, drivi a stingray, I hang out with 209 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: rock stars, bang models and actresses on the rag and 210 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: are high on blow all the time, you need to 211 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:47,880 Speaker 1: push it over the line every now and then in 212 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:52,959 Speaker 1: order to feel alive. Otherwise it all just feels normal blah. 213 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: But Glenn Fry was in a different position. He was 214 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 1: on top of the world. Life was pretty fucking far 215 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 1: from normal. Normal life for Glen Fry was a factory 216 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:08,960 Speaker 1: job back in Detroit, an American eight cylinder in the 217 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: garage two point two kids and a pretty but average 218 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,079 Speaker 1: looking wife who gave you a blowjob once a year 219 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:17,960 Speaker 1: on your birthday. Fuck that. He was Glen Fry. He 220 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: was an Eagle. He counted on blowjobs from different beautiful 221 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 1: women on any day that ended with a Y, and 222 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:27,319 Speaker 1: was seldom disappointed. He was rich, respected, relied on important 223 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:29,680 Speaker 1: and none of that was going to change anytime soon 224 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 1: because he was in a band, a great band, one 225 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:35,559 Speaker 1: of the greatest bands on the planet at the moment, 226 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: The Eagles nineteen seventy six. Life was sweet. Why risk 227 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:44,200 Speaker 1: losing it? Going one hundred miles per hour on the 228 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: pch with a trunk full of blow The Eagles were 229 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:49,840 Speaker 1: on top of the world, and by the mid seventies, 230 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,240 Speaker 1: record sales for the band were so abundant that Warner 231 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: Brothers Records could account for an entire quarter of their 232 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:59,840 Speaker 1: financial years balance sheet on revenue from one new Eagles release. 233 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 1: Imagine that one band so successful and important to their 234 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:07,200 Speaker 1: record label that their label depended on them to cover 235 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:12,320 Speaker 1: an entire quarters balance sheet. It's because people loved the Eagles. 236 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: Kids loved the Eagles, parents loved the Eagles, daughters, moms, 237 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: some mother daughter duos went as far as to offer 238 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:20,720 Speaker 1: themselves up as a dual sexual treat for the band 239 00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: after they're sold out shows, and boy did their shows 240 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: sell out stadiums, racetracks, auditoriums crammed with kids whose entire 241 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 1: high school careers in the early seventies have been soundtracked 242 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: by the Eagles. The band's hits blanketed airways because powerful 243 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:40,000 Speaker 1: FM radio DJs and programmers also loved the Eagles. Shit, 244 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 1: even the Eagles loved the Eagles. Glenn Fry and Don 245 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 1: Henley knew what they had a great fucking band, despite 246 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: what the critics said, many of whom, especially East Coast critics, 247 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 1: loathed what they perceived as insipid harmonies and watered down 248 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,320 Speaker 1: Graham Parsons country vibes. But it didn't stop Henley and 249 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 1: Fry in their pursuit of greatness of it. Not the success, 250 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,120 Speaker 1: not the critics, not the grind. The two co leaders 251 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: of the band were on a mission to continuously outdo 252 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: themselves creatively and commercially, which, given their success, was a 253 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: pursuit made more difficult every time they went to record 254 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:20,760 Speaker 1: and release a new album. Following the release and success 255 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 1: of their third album on the border, they upped Annie 256 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: and became a fivesome by adding hotshit young guitarist Don 257 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: Felder to bring that driving, hard rock and roll vibe 258 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 1: that the Eagles were missing, and you can hear the 259 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 1: results immediately on the album's leade off track Already Gone, 260 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 1: which is in the running as the Eagle's greatest single. 261 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: The song burns off the wax out of the speakers 262 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: and raises America's collective middle finger high in the air, 263 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: out of the sun roof and in the direction of 264 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: every bullshit lover, overbearing parent, principal, and or authority figure. 265 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: It's the ultimate Kissoff song, and in short, it fucking 266 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: rocks thanks to Don Felder's guitar playing and Glenn Fry's 267 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: drived be great because it was Glenn's idea to add 268 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 1: Bernie Leden's friend Don Felder to the group. The album 269 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: not surprisingly flew off of shelves and the Eagles burned 270 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:14,000 Speaker 1: out on the road, putting in discipline but somehow still rocking. 271 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 1: Now legendary live performances, partying their faces off at night 272 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 1: and doing it all over and over again. Another album, 273 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: One of these Nights, their first, topped the Billboard two 274 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: hundred chart came screaming into seventies musical zeitgeist with another 275 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 1: trio of top ten hits, Take It to the Limit, 276 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: the title track one of These Nights, which went to 277 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 1: number one, and Lie in Eyes, which won the Grammy 278 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or a Group 279 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 1: with Vocals, and then again The Road After the Road. 280 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: It was tough sledding creatively. Henley and Fry weren't factory workers. 281 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: They had now become experienced creative songwriters and producers, and 282 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:57,160 Speaker 1: their experience told them they needed a fucking minute. Warner 283 00:16:57,200 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: Brothers was left waiting for a new album to follow 284 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 1: up These Nights for much longer than they wanted. Their 285 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: bankers weren't happy, but neither was their board of directors. 286 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,680 Speaker 1: It was decided unilaterally, without input from the band, without 287 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,000 Speaker 1: input from Don Hemley and Glenn Fry, the leaders of 288 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:15,360 Speaker 1: the band, that Warner Brothers, in order to save their 289 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:19,360 Speaker 1: financial ass in nineteen seventy six, would release the greatest 290 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,600 Speaker 1: Hits album from the Eagles, from a band with only 291 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: four full length albums, from a band who'd only been 292 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:31,159 Speaker 1: in existence for four years. So in February nineteen seventy 293 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,360 Speaker 1: six Their Greatest Hits by the Eagles was released, and predictably, 294 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:38,600 Speaker 1: it went straight up the charts. More than that, the 295 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:40,880 Speaker 1: album sold a million copies by the end of its 296 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:43,640 Speaker 1: first week of release, becoming the first record to ever 297 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 1: receive platinum certification introduced just that year. By nineteen ninety, 298 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: the album had sold more than twelve million copies. It 299 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,680 Speaker 1: is now the highest selling album of all time in America, 300 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: with more than thirty eight million copies sold, selling more 301 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: than not only Michael Jackson's thriller acdc's Back in Black, 302 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: but more than anything by the Beatles or Elvis Presley 303 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:09,880 Speaker 1: as well. So with the rest of nineteen seventy six 304 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:13,280 Speaker 1: stretched out perform just like an open road, Glenn Fry 305 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: needed to top that. But first he needed to not 306 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:20,199 Speaker 1: get arrested on the Pacific Coast Highway for going one 307 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: hundred miles per hour with a drug dealer named the 308 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 1: Count and holding a mountain of cocaine. As the Stingray 309 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:30,359 Speaker 1: raced north, its top off, Glenn's long hair blowing in 310 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: the California wind. Glenn turned to the Count and as 311 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: coolly as possible, said, hey man, they may want to 312 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:40,160 Speaker 1: slow down. The Count pushed his foot of a gas 313 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: pedal to the metal. James Dean be damned. He turned 314 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: to Glenn, smiled and said, what do you mean. It's 315 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 1: life in the fast Lane. 316 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 3: We'll be right back after this, word, word word. 317 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:05,600 Speaker 1: Life in the fast Lane was the third single off 318 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:09,600 Speaker 1: of the eagles next album, Hotel California. It, like the 319 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:13,240 Speaker 1: rest of the album, was a massive success. The album's 320 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: title track, Hotel California, set the theme for the rest 321 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: of the album's set of songs, and as a track, 322 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:22,399 Speaker 1: its composition would forever set the Eagles apart from their contemporaries. 323 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:26,280 Speaker 1: As seventies rock bands were pulling hard on the influence 324 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: of reggae sensation Bob Marley, Eric Clapton with his cover 325 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: of Marley's Eye Shot, The Sheriff, Paul Simon with Mother 326 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,680 Speaker 1: and Child Reunion, and most recently, the Rolling Stones with 327 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: Hey Negrita. The Eagles managed to take the reggae influence 328 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: drafted from the guitar of Don Felder, who now firmly 329 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,480 Speaker 1: supplanted his pal Bernie Leedden as the band's only lead 330 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,920 Speaker 1: guitar player, and with Leeden's ousting, made room for Madman 331 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: guitarist Joe Walsh to ride Shotgun as a rough twin 332 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:56,480 Speaker 1: lead player. Felder's Latin style guitar riff for Hotel California 333 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:00,280 Speaker 1: inspired a Jamaican groove from Don Henley's drums and Andy 334 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: Meisner's bass, and that groove, along with the song's lyrics 335 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:07,639 Speaker 1: penned by Henley and over the top virtuoso guitar playing, 336 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:13,919 Speaker 1: constituted something entirely unique sounding. Hotel California was a revelation 337 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: the Eagles Stairway to Heaven. It clocked in at six 338 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: and a half minutes, and the record label insisted on 339 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 1: an edited version so that radio stations would play it. 340 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:26,959 Speaker 1: But just as Glenn Fry's real life experience told him 341 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:29,679 Speaker 1: that racing down the highway with piles of cocaine was 342 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:33,359 Speaker 1: just the right fodder for a hit single, Henley's experience 343 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: told him that Hotel California was perfect as is and 344 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,640 Speaker 1: not to be fucked with. There would be no edit. 345 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: Radio stations would play it as is, all six and 346 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,359 Speaker 1: a half minutes of it, and if they wouldn't, it 347 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:48,840 Speaker 1: would be their loss. Per usual, the gamble from the 348 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: Eagles paid off. The song went to number one on 349 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,119 Speaker 1: the Billboard Hot one hundred, their fourth chart topper. The 350 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 1: single sold a million copies in three months and went 351 00:20:57,760 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 1: on to win the Grammy for Record of the Year. 352 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:03,680 Speaker 1: The Eagles were used to gambling, except now they gambled 353 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:07,439 Speaker 1: with experience, and that's what Hotel California. 354 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:07,480 Speaker 2: Was all about. 355 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:12,439 Speaker 1: Experience, the cost of experience, which has lost innocence. He 356 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,440 Speaker 1: could never go back, and the Eagles, with even more 357 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 1: success than they ever imagined, were never going back to 358 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:26,399 Speaker 1: that place they were before. Joe Walsh didn't understand innocence. 359 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:31,919 Speaker 1: What he understood was destruction. The chainsaw he wielded inside 360 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 1: Disaster Towers hotel suite growled. Joe's buddy, Chicago local and 361 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:40,200 Speaker 1: funniest comedian on the planet at the time, John Belushi, 362 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:44,000 Speaker 1: howled in delight. Joe took the chainsaw to the bed, 363 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:48,800 Speaker 1: then to the chair, then the waltz. Belushi's laughter faded away. 364 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 1: Joe Walsh, rock and roll, chainsaw slinging, hotel destroying lunatic 365 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:57,280 Speaker 1: on the outside, was cowering on the inside. The violent 366 00:21:57,359 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: grind of his weapon was silenced by the voices in 367 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:03,359 Speaker 1: his head. From down the corridor. They taunted him in 368 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:06,239 Speaker 1: perfect harmony. He'd never be able to do what they 369 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,439 Speaker 1: were doing. All he was good for was destruction or 370 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: perhaps a good laugh. Belushi, the funniest dude on the planet, 371 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,400 Speaker 1: thought so. At least that had account for something, right. 372 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:19,439 Speaker 1: But comedy wasn't why he was in this. He was 373 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 1: in this for the music to be one of the greats. 374 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: Glenn and Henley, they were great. Joe Walsh knew this, 375 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,120 Speaker 1: and it fucking tore him up inside, so he tore 376 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: the world up on the outside, one hotel room at 377 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:35,639 Speaker 1: a time. Checkout was at eleven. But what did it matter. 378 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 1: Joe knew he could never really leave. He'd be right 379 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:41,639 Speaker 1: back here in the same place tomorrow night. That's the 380 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:43,960 Speaker 1: thing with hotel rooms. You see enough of them, and 381 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:47,199 Speaker 1: they all look the same. The same goes for fans audiences. 382 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:48,440 Speaker 1: They're all the fucking same. 383 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 2: Man. 384 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 1: Might as well get blotto ball, laugh and destroyed and 385 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: cut the world into little pieces so you can try 386 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: to put it back together and make sense of it all. 387 00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 1: He was a fucking side man. It's all didn't matter 388 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: how mad they went for Rocky Mountain wage night, it 389 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:03,879 Speaker 1: was the Glenn and Hemley show. Joe couldn't compete with 390 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:08,440 Speaker 1: those songs. Those harmonies, that confidence that greas the voices 391 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: told himself more than the chainsaw. God damn, they sun 392 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:15,199 Speaker 1: it so fucking good. They scared him, and Joe was 393 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:19,120 Speaker 1: scaring Belushi, which was saying something. Belushi stopped laughing. Joe 394 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,680 Speaker 1: had gone ballistic. He was lost, thrashing about the room 395 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: with the chainsaw, screaming. It was cathartic, it was paink 396 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:27,240 Speaker 1: Belushi saw it. Joe saw the look in Belushi's eyes, 397 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:31,040 Speaker 1: the fear, the pity. Fuck this. Joe dropped the chainsaw, 398 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:33,119 Speaker 1: grabbed the television, hurled it through the window of the 399 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 1: fourteenth floor sweet He just destroyed and waited for the 400 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: sound of the bottom, which is where the Eagles were headed. Remarkably, 401 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: despite the success of Hotel California, which as a full album, 402 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,200 Speaker 1: had gone platinum in a week, just like their Greatest 403 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,200 Speaker 1: Hits album had prior, and it topped the Billboard two 404 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: hundred for eight weeks, total, selling nearly six million copies 405 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:02,160 Speaker 1: in its first year, Long Time Bassis, the only non 406 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 1: alpha in the group, Randy Meisner was out. He couldn't hang. 407 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,119 Speaker 1: He did the beta bounce and fucked off to Saint Elsewhere. 408 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:13,080 Speaker 1: He was replaced by another Poco Bassis Timothy B. Schmidt, 409 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 1: who finally landed his dream gig and promptly made his 410 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:19,159 Speaker 1: presence known by writing and recording what is possibly the 411 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,520 Speaker 1: Eagle's greatest song, I Can't Tell You Why. On their 412 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:27,320 Speaker 1: Hotel California follow up, The Long Run, Glenn Fry sunk 413 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: into deeper cocaine use, doing so much of the drug 414 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,360 Speaker 1: that he had to have his septums surgically repaired twice, 415 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 1: the second time with surgeons installing teflon to replace his 416 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 1: mucous membranes. Glenn was a mess, and Don Felder, for one, 417 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:44,880 Speaker 1: was sick of it. The two nearly came to blows 418 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,720 Speaker 1: on stage, and the result was Felder splitting the band. 419 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,320 Speaker 1: It was all enough to nearly spin the normally controlled 420 00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:56,480 Speaker 1: Don Henley out of control. Here they were the fucking Eagles, 421 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:58,320 Speaker 1: at the top of their game, at the end of 422 00:24:58,359 --> 00:25:01,879 Speaker 1: a decade that they owned five number one hits, the 423 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 1: biggest selling album of the last ten years, able to 424 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,560 Speaker 1: sell out any stadium in the country, enough record royalties 425 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: to retire four times, over nine Grammy nominations and four 426 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:16,440 Speaker 1: Grammy Awards. Greatness by any measure finally achieved, but somehow 427 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:21,200 Speaker 1: they were never so low. Somehow the greatness they sought. 428 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:49,000 Speaker 3: Had destroyed them. The eagles were over. October nineteen eighty. 429 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 3: Don Henley's eagles were broken up, and Don Henley was 430 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 3: racing for his life back to that place he was before, 431 00:25:57,040 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 3: trying to get there anyway. Pilot of his leared jet 432 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 3: misjudged the landing en Aspen. The altitude had a mall 433 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:07,840 Speaker 3: out of sorts. The jet ripped after Nordway after. 434 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,720 Speaker 1: Touching down at over sixty miles per hour. Fear had 435 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,440 Speaker 1: Henley and his girlfriend on the plane with him gripped. 436 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,800 Speaker 1: Cheap headlines flashed across his sideline. Eagle Don Henley crashes 437 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,800 Speaker 1: to his death. It offended the well read English major 438 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: in his girl screamed. The plane of grost through a fence, 439 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:26,359 Speaker 1: then tore through a cow pasture, then out of the 440 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:28,879 Speaker 1: pasture and onto jagged earth that peeled back the bottom 441 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:31,800 Speaker 1: of the plane below them. Henley worried about the gas tank, 442 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:36,200 Speaker 1: a spark an explosion, another cheap headline. Eagle Don Henley 443 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 1: fires himself, plane explodes. He looked out the window and 444 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,359 Speaker 1: saw the co pilot out of the plane, sprinting across 445 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: the cow pasture. He looked ahead to the cockpit. The 446 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 1: pilot was frantically trying to slow the plane, but to 447 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,680 Speaker 1: no avail. They were headed for a collision, a spark 448 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,639 Speaker 1: an explosion. Don Henley gripped the emergency door as the 449 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: plane continued to roll and ripped it off. His girl 450 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:58,920 Speaker 1: dove out first. She landed face first on a boulder. 451 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 1: Henley jumped from the moving plane next landed, picked his 452 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:04,400 Speaker 1: girl up, and the two began to sprint away from 453 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:08,320 Speaker 1: the plane, Faster over the barbed wire fence, faster through 454 00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 1: the cow pasture, faster still over the boulders, faster away 455 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 1: from the now burning record of the plane and net. 456 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: Don Henley made it out alive, literally and figuratively, out 457 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,159 Speaker 1: of the records of the plane crash, out of the Seventies, 458 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:31,639 Speaker 1: and out of the Eagles, but he barely survived himself. 459 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,399 Speaker 1: The excess of the nineteen seventies spilled over like a 460 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,960 Speaker 1: deluge into nineteen eighty. It truly was the end of 461 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,440 Speaker 1: the innocence for Henley as well as for the rest 462 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: of the Eagles, and nothing illustrated it more than the 463 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:50,560 Speaker 1: dying girl in nineteen eighty getting caught with a teenage 464 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:53,480 Speaker 1: sex worker half dead on your floor wasn't enough to 465 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:57,439 Speaker 1: derail your career In the decades that followed, though the 466 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,680 Speaker 1: incident would haunt him. When report asked, Don Henley developed 467 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 1: a standard response that he'd selflessly taken the rap for 468 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,400 Speaker 1: everyone else at the party, for the coke, for the grass, 469 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:10,600 Speaker 1: for the ludes, and that he didn't have sex with 470 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: those girls, and that he didn't give them the drugs. 471 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,920 Speaker 1: Of course, he didn't know they were underage, went the response, 472 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 1: and the journalists who asked those questions most shrugged and smiled, 473 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: and that was that. After all, nobody died right at 474 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: the end of the day. What are the cops given 475 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: Don Henley anyway? A two thousand dollars fine and two 476 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: years of probation. How bad could it have been, they wondered. 477 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: But while the press swarmed, Don Henley took it in stride, 478 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 1: channeling his angst into a number three solo single, Dirty Laundry, 479 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: a highlight of an impressive solo career for the Texas 480 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:48,880 Speaker 1: Eagle that included other top ten hits like All She 481 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:51,600 Speaker 1: Wants to Do Is Dance, The End of the Innocence, 482 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:55,000 Speaker 1: and the stone Cold classic The Boys of Summer and 483 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: these latter two also want a Rockmail Vocalist Grammys. Glen 484 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:02,880 Speaker 1: thrived as a solo artist as well, with two hits 485 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 1: that reached number two, The Heat Is On from the 486 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: Beverly Hills cop soundtrack and You Belonged to the City, 487 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,120 Speaker 1: one of two tracks he contributed to the smash hit 488 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:14,880 Speaker 1: TV show that defined the nineteen eighties, Miami Wes, a 489 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:18,760 Speaker 1: show he himself would appear on. The eighties worked out 490 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 1: fine for Henley and Fry, so much so that when 491 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 1: they finally reunited with band members Don Felder, Joe Walsh, 492 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 1: and Timothy B. Schmidt in nineteen ninety four, it didn't 493 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: seem so much like a reunion as it did or reconvening. 494 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 1: They had simply made music for a decade, took the 495 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:39,040 Speaker 1: next decade off, but benefited from classic rock radio playing 496 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:42,239 Speaker 1: their hits constantly. It was like they never left and 497 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 1: then picked up their instruments two decades removed right where 498 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,560 Speaker 1: they left off. It wasn't that easy, of course. They 499 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: named the resultant live album The Hell Freezes Over for 500 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 1: a reason, but pretty much Joe Walsh needed to kick, 501 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,400 Speaker 1: blow and booze after tearing ass across his own personal 502 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,800 Speaker 1: rock bottom for the entirety of the eighties. Don Felder 503 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:03,920 Speaker 1: needed to be convinced to some degree. Timothy B. Schmidt 504 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:06,720 Speaker 1: needed no convincing. He was right back where he was 505 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:10,640 Speaker 1: born to be. Randy Meisner and Bernie Letten weren't invited 506 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:14,480 Speaker 1: to rejoin the regrouped Eagles their time had passed, but 507 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: they were invited to join the Eagles at their induction 508 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:19,200 Speaker 1: into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in nineteen 509 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 1: ninety eight, and deservedly so. The Hell Freezes Over album 510 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:25,720 Speaker 1: hit the Billboard charts at number one with a bullet 511 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,960 Speaker 1: and sold six million copies in the US. The band 512 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,120 Speaker 1: continued touring throughout the nineties, and in the year two thousand, 513 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: they followed up with a box set Selected Works nineteen 514 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,680 Speaker 1: seventy two to nineteen ninety nine. It was another certified 515 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,400 Speaker 1: platinum album. In two thousand and one, Don Felder quit 516 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,280 Speaker 1: or was fired, depending on which band member you listened to, 517 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:49,719 Speaker 1: ensued the band over wrongful termination and breach of fiduciary duty, 518 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,920 Speaker 1: claiming the band used to split profits evenly, but that 519 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,600 Speaker 1: Henley and Fry had taken a larger cut ever since 520 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,400 Speaker 1: they reunited. Henley and Frye counter seed that Felder broke 521 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:02,520 Speaker 1: contract by writing a tell all memoir, but all charges 522 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,240 Speaker 1: were dismissed in two thousand and seven after they settled 523 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:09,800 Speaker 1: out of court. Glen fry died unexpectedly in twenty sixteen 524 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:14,960 Speaker 1: of complications from pneumonia, alterative colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis, with 525 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:18,959 Speaker 1: which he had struggled quietly for years. Joe Walsh remains 526 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,560 Speaker 1: in the Eagles alongside Don Hemley, and the band is 527 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:25,400 Speaker 1: still touring, still alive, sort of, and no doubt still 528 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 1: chasing that greatness, albeit it was only one original band member. 529 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:36,280 Speaker 1: But like most surviving rock and roll bands, particularly those 530 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:40,200 Speaker 1: from that heady golden era California in the nineteen seventies, 531 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:45,240 Speaker 1: that era of endless cocaine groupies, money, excess beyond anyone's 532 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:51,040 Speaker 1: wildest dreams, all the innocence is gone. It's been replaced, 533 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:55,120 Speaker 1: of course, by experience. Experience that kept the Eagles alive 534 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: in the long run, but very nearly grounded them in Disgrace. 535 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:14,560 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created 536 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,840 Speaker 1: by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. 537 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 1: Credits for this episode can be found on the show 538 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 1: notes page at disgracelampod dot com. If you're listening as 539 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you for supporting the show. 540 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 1: We really appreciate it, and if not, you can become 541 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 1: a member right now by going to disgracelampod dot com 542 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:38,040 Speaker 1: slash Membership. Members can listen to every episode of Disgraceland 543 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 1: AD free, Plus you'll get one brand new exclusive episode 544 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 1: every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, special audio collections, and 545 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 1: early access to merchandise and events. Visit disgracelampod dot com 546 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,440 Speaker 1: slash Membership for details, Rate and review the show, and 547 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:58,520 Speaker 1: follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook at disgracelampod 548 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:02,480 Speaker 1: and on YouTube at YouTube dot com slash at disgrace Lamppod, 549 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:04,160 Speaker 1: Rock and Roller. 550 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:08,200 Speaker 3: He's a bad, bad man.