The Holiday Season is Upon Us AGAIN ALREADY....

This semester is finished. Grades are turned in. The kids are gone and I have just one conference period left with nothing to do until that final bell rings. So...I thought I'd write about some of my favorite Eagles and solo member holiday songs. 

EL SANTA - THE FOUR SPEEDS

El Santa is on the B-Side Of This. You can see how Henley feels about it by how he signed our copy.

Before getting to the obvious one let's take a moment to go all the way back to 1965 and Don Henley's pre-Eagles band, The Four Speeds.  "El Santa" is the B-Side to their single "Variety" (which is my favorite pre-Eagles song, even though Don said that it sucked).  It's interesting to imagine a group of high-school boys from East Texas sitting around and deciding to mesh "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with something that sounds a lot like "Tequila".  They did, though, and the result is a rocking instrumental that puts a fresh spin on the holiday classic. You can imagine rocking out to this on a beach under some palm trees instead of pine trees.

Don's drumming sounds a little like sleigh-bells and you can't NOT have fun to this one.

"...children, gather round
And listen to my story
About the big, fat jolly man who's
Pulled around by reindeer"

RIVER - Don Henley

Neil Young's Bridge School Benefits were always a treat. When Don performed at them, he usually appeared with friends (JD Souther, Timothy B. Schmit, Jai Winding) and he always did a couple of amazing covers or interpretations of his own songs. We have the Bridge School Benefits to thank for Henley covers of the Beatles "Yes It Is" and the soul classic "You Don't Miss Your Water (Until the Well Runs Dry).  It's also where Don first did an acoustic version of "Boys of Summer" that he said was like standing on stage in a jock strap and a pair of socks.

The Bridge School Benefits also gave us one of my all-time favorite Henley vocals. Don did a cover of Joni Mitchell's "River" and it is everything you would want a Henley performance to be...haunting, emotive, plaintive and raspy. It's also a wee bit sexy. If you've never heard it, go right now to this article on PASTE and click the play button.  You are welcome.

Here's a confession about this song. For the longest time, we had a bootleg version of this song. In the introduction, Don says "Well, the holiday season is upon us again already. I don't know about you, but I would always like to be frozen until January 2nd."  On our copy of the bootleg, there's a little glitch right before the word "frozen".  All you could hear was an "F" sound and a crackle. We always assumed Don said, "...fucked up until January 2nd". That's the way I still hear it and in a way, it makes a tiny more bit of sense than "frozen", right?

Please Come Home for Christmas / Funky New Year (Eagles)

This is probably the best known of the group's holiday songs. Just today, an article came out in which Don lectured us about the song and how the Eagles came to record this Charles Brown classic. "When the Eagles were recording ‘The Long Run’ album in Miami, we needed a break from the daily routine. So, I suggested that we record a Christmas song, and I went on to suggest this song that I had remembered from my teenage years. The band members, and our producer, welcomed the idea. I think we recorded the whole thing is just a day or two", he told Cincinnati.com.

Just recently, we got to see Don sing this with Clint Black and Lyle Lovett at the Hurricane Harvey benefit in Fort Worth. It was a really fun performance.

I think, though, that my favorite performance of this (along with Funky New Year) was at the Millennium Shows in 1999.  Here's a little bit of background for those of you who may not have been online then. 

There was a lot of hype about these shows. The band did big interviews in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas Papers. The entire band appeared on Showbiz Today to receive an award from the RIAA and plug the shows. There was a lot of mystery about what the band would perform. Remember, the band had finished the Hell Freezes Over Tour and had done just a few shows since (notably the Tiger Woods benefit, Tiger Jam). Nobody knew what to expect and the band kept teasing that there would be surprises.

Add to that the fact that Joe Walsh had discovered webcams. Now, these were 1999 web cams. This wasn't streaming. Every minute or so, the camera would take a grainy, postage-sized picture and update itself on a website. We didn't care about the quality, though, because Joe had set one of these up in the large rehearsal space where the Eagles were preparing for the New Year's shows. When that camera was live, we sat around and waited for the refresh. We saw the Eagles in all of their grainy glory. "Look, there's Glenn in a baseball cap!"  "What are those sweatpants Don is wearing?" "I love when Tim's hair is in a ponytail".  Stuff like that. Occasionally, Joe would stick his face in front of camera and make a silly face.  We saw them practicing. We saw them standing around and discussing things. We saw them drink coffee. 

And then one day...we saw the drum. You've probably seen the drum now. That big bass drum that Don would bang on "Funky New Year." We had no idea what it was for. Our entire online conversations turned toward "...the drum." and what its purpose could be. Were they going to go all Fleetwood Mac "Tusk" on us? Our best guess was that Don was going to use it to bang down the clock until midnight.

Well, we soon found out. Hearing Please Come Home and Funky New Year at all 3 millennium shows as a treat that can't be replicated. Never having heard those songs live and then to see them in all of their glory...with fireworks? Amazing. CNN broadcast this live and we were a part of it. Something I won't soon forget.

Well, the bell just rang and it's time to head home. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

What are your favorite Eagles holiday songs / covers/ performances / memories?

Dedication and Disappointment...Don Henley in Chicago (6/17/2017)

It's kind of ironic. In our last blog post, we wrote about the time we went to Ames, Iowa for a Henley concert in 1991 only to find out it was cancelled for a reason we never learned. We went through a little bit of that this past weekend, but this time, we were very much in the loop.

Some of you who are friends with us on Facebook know that our trip to Chicago didn't start out very auspiciously. We meant to fly into Chicago on Thursday night. Our plans included some tourist stuff during the day on Friday, seeing Hamilton Friday night and then attending the Henley concert at the Huntington Pavilion at Northerly Island on Saturday night (Melissa's birthday). To make a long story short, our flight out of San Antonio was delayed. We were supposed to leave at 7:00 PM.  We decided to cancel our flight and book something else when we were notified that the flight had been bumped to 2:18 am...getting into Chicago at 5 am (They ultimately cancelled the flight and rebooked people on something the next day that would have meant us missing Hamilton). So, Thursday night, we went home and flew to Chicago from Austin on Friday morning.

We had been watching the weather. Storms were predicted for the Chicago area on Saturday night, but in the summer, these things are often hit and miss. Sometimes the storms don't materialize, or a line of storms blows through an area and then everything clears up. We knew that we were going to have to be flexible and be prepared for the worst...a cancelled concert.

Saturday was beautiful, but those storms still loomed on the radar maps. We got to the show and as JD and the Straight Shot played for the crowd, we could see the sky in the west grow darker and darker. A few raindrops plopped down, but it was nothing we couldn't live with. The tickets said "rain or shine" and we knew a Henley show in the rain might be an adventure.

The problem, though, is that while rain is an acceptable condition for a show, lightning and storms are not. They put the artist and the audience in danger. As they were setting up for Don's set after JD, instruments that had been uncovered were suddenly covered again. Then announcements were made in the venue and posted on their social media....

It was actually kind of scary when this first announcement was made. Melissa was at the t-shirt stand trying to buy rain ponchos. She didn't have her phone because it was dead. All of a sudden, there was something muffled on the loudspeaker and people were heading toward the gates. One woman was screaming, telling everyone to leave and that the show had been cancelled. That wasn't the case, though. This was a temporary evacuation.  Because of lightning in the area, they had to get people to shelter and they were right to do what they did. Our group (we were attending the show with long time Eagle-buddy, Julie) was lucky to find each other. The directions we had were to head to the "north garage". It was confusing where that was. From talking with people, we learned that it was somewhere under Soldier Field. 

That seemed like a long way away, plus as die-hard Packers fans, there was no way we were going to set foot in Soldier Field. We took cover under a grove of trees with about 200 other fans (the lightning wasn't in the area at the time and there was a restroom we could take shelter in if the rain turned into anything more deadly.) We had been told to watch social media, so we did....

This was good news. We could see on the radar that the storms were moving out over Lake Michigan. We were hopeful. The only thing that concerned us was if there would be a curfew. We did have an unexpected treat and ran into Florida fan, Ursula and her daughter. Everyone in that grove of trees remained hopeful that the show would go on.

Then we saw this...

Yeah!  Within about 10 minutes, they opened up the gates. They quickly wanded everyone and made sure people knew to return to their original seats. People were really good about that for the most part. It was an orderly process. Thanks to group member, Jennifer, who sent her husband over to wipe our seats off for us. We appreciated it!

Within minutes, Don and his band took the stage and launched right into 7 Bridges Road. Don was in great voice and you couldn't tell that we had all endured some pretty unique circumstances. After the song, Don told us that they could only play until 11:30, but they were going to do their best to play as many songs as possible in that time. 

And that is exactly what they did. We got 13 songs. It felt like what you might get at a corporate show or a shared bill show. No songs from Cass County...no duets with the girls...just the hits (Plus Everybody Wants to Rule the World).

So let's talk about the two words I used in the title of this post....Dedication and Disappointment.

Dedication. The fans who came back were most assuredly dedicated. We withstood rain and storms and delays and returned ready to rock. This smaller group was unlike crowds at other Henley shows. There really weren't any "sitting songs".  People were on their feet most of the night. We were wet and bedraggled and tired, but we had a good time. In the songs that mentioned rain (like New York Minute.. "You can get out of the rain") everyone cheered and Don laughed. While our show was shorter, we certainly all have a story to tell.

Don's band and crew were amazing. They changed instruments with precision to make sure there was no "wasted time" on stage. Julie remarked that there is more of a break between songs on her CDs than there was at that show. Everyone acted professionally and did their best to make sure that the show that happened was the best that could be had under the circumstances.

That brings us to Don. I think he really found himself between a rock and a hard place. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. There was almost no banter...no story telling or jokes between songs. Knowing what Don has said about some of the reasons the Eagles decided to go forward after Glenn's passing, it makes sense. Don knows that the crowd comes to hear their favorite songs. This was not the time or place for obscure album cuts or duets with his background singers. So he played all of his hits. Boys of Summer, Sunset Grill, Hotel California, Heart of the Matter...if it was a hit, Don played it. I've read some comments about how Don seemed like he didn't want to be there. We were in the 2nd row and it really seemed that he was working his butt off to get in the best show he could have. He frequently and quickly conferred with Will Hollis, the musical director. We assume it was to tweak the setlist to maximize the time he was able to perform.

That being said, let's talk a little about disappointment because we know there are a lot of unhappy fans. Some people fell victim to the sloppy miscommunication from the venue and some couldn't stay out in the rain. Some people feel cheated by the shortened set list and others think the show should have been rescheduled. Here's what we think. Remember...this is just our opinion.

First of all...for some people, Don Henley may be God, but he doesn't control the weather. There was nothing to be done about the storms. We had wondered if maybe things would have been better if they had cancelled JD and the Straight Shot and had Don take the stage at 7:30. Because of the timing of the storms, though, we still would have ended up with a 75 minute show. The evacuation order came in at about 8:45. I don't think they would have taken a break and come back for more. It just would have ended at that point.

Some people think the show could have been rescheduled, but that's more difficult than it sounds. Don's tour ended the next night in St. Paul. In order to reschedule, they would have had to find a time in the future to get the band together and get the equipment back to Chicago for just one show. That just isn't practical...especially with July being taken up with the Classic shows and Don's birthday party. 

It is also true that the venue could have handled things better. They told people to check "social media" but didn't tell people exactly what media to check. Their updates were clear and informative, but you had to be able to find them. Some people really were left with the impression that the concert was cancelled, so they left. I don't know if there is anything to be done about that.

It sucks. It does. Are we personally disappointed? Just a little. We had really wanted to hear Don do "Peaceful Easy Feeling" in honor of Glenn. We wish he had cut one of the slower songs (like New York Minute) so he could have gotten to that one. Right before Desperado, someone came out and showed Don something on a cell phone. We don't know if it was a weather update or an official notice that he HAD to be off the stage by 11:30 or what, but at that point, he held up one finger telling the band that Desperado would be it. Maybe they could have squeezed in Peaceful Easy Feeling (The show ended about 3 or 4 minutes before 11:30), but we're sure Don did what he thought was best or what he was required to do. We should note that about 2 minutes after Don left the stage, the heavens opened up and we got the heaviest rain of the night. We were soaked.

This will for sure be a show we will always remember. We're glad it wasn't cancelled. We're glad we got to meet so many other great fans. We're glad we got to hang out with Julie. We bet at some point, we'll hear Don sing Peaceful Easy Feeling again. We're sorry so many people are disappointed. We're proud of Don and his band for doing the best they could in difficult circumstances.

 It's like the song says, "It may be raining, but there's a rainbow above you".

Our First Road Trip

We're getting ready to head out on a concert road trip tomorrow. This one will be a short one. We're flying to Chicago to see Don Henley play on Melissa's birthday (we're also going to catch Hamilton for the 2nd time).  Calling the pet sitter and getting suitcases ready has brought back memories of our very first Don Henley road trip.

Our road trip...Red to blue to purple to yellow.

It was 1991. Don was doing another leg of the End of the Innocence promotional tour and he was playing multiple dates in the midwest. This worked out well for us. We were college students, it was summer vacation and one of us had a credit card. We didn't have a lot of money, though, that's for sure (especially after buying concert tickets...even $20.00-$38.00 seemed like a lot back then). We thriftily packed a couple loaves of bread and some peanut butter to save costs. We had reservations at Motel 6s. We were ready to hit the road and see Don.

The first show was July 31st in Kansas City (Bonner Springs, actually). We set off from Eau Claire, Wisconsin in a Ford Mustang (not a cool Mustang, though...it was a hatchback).  I remember it was hot. We had maps to guide us. We had a box full of cassettes to keep us company. It seemed to take forever, but we eventually got there. We spent a couple of hours in line because we had general admission tickets. Don's cover story in GQ had just come out and a lot of us fans spent time in line discussing the explosive revelations in that story.

Don was appearing at Sandstone Amphitheater with Bonnie Raitt and Chris Isaak (Bonnie referred to herself as the "meat in the middle").  We sat on the lawn and were enthralled by Don. We don't remember much about the show, except that Don wore this big, poofy white shirt (think Seinfeld). and blue jeans. The Internet tells me that the set list featured songs like Gimme What You Got, Driving with Your Eyes Closed, Victim of Love and a cover of Joni Mitchell's River. We were also excited that there was a tour program with beautiful pictures available. While it is difficult to remember specific details, we do remember that it was a magical night. 

After spending the night in a disgusting motel, we headed off the next day for Ames, Iowa. Don was going to be appearing at the University there. We had a day off in between and went to the zoo in Omaha. We also got lost trying to find some sort of Jesse James landmark.  The next day, we got to Ames with plenty of time to spare. I remember we splurged and got some food and then made our way to the venue. As we approached, we were a bit perplexed. There were no cars in the parking lot and no trucks and buses to indicate a major rock and roll concert would be happening in a few hours. Did we have the date wrong? We double checked the tickets. Nope. We parked at the arena and noticed there were signs taped to the door.s Our worst fears were realized when we read what they said...that the concert was cancelled and would not be rescheduled. Remember, there was no internet and being from out of town, he hadn't heard any announcements that were probably made on the radio. To this day, we don't know exactly why the show was cancelled. We don't even have the tickets because we had to mail them back to get a refund.

We were heartbroken, but we had 2 more Henley concerts on the horizon. We drove from Ames to Lisa's parents' house outside of Madison, Wisconsin. Don was set to do 2 dates at the fabled Alpine Valley with Sting. We weren't that excited about Sting, but Melissa had won one set of lawn seats on the radio. For the second of these we were in the 5th row, but kind of on the side. In fact, when we were in these seats, there was a big black curtain blocking our view. Our entire section started a chant, complaining we couldn't see and they eventually moved the curtain. Small victories!  Again, the details of the shows are a bit fuzzy. One night Don opened for Sting and the other night Sting opened for Don. They also had 2 other openers...Susannah Hoffs (with her stunning cover of Feel Like Making Love......not easy to forget, that's for sure!) and Vinx. Don did a shortened set and he and Sting never sang together. I even think we left early the night Sting went on 2nd. 

After the 2nd show, we headed back to Eau Claire, ready to begin our last year of college. We had no idea what amazing road trips were in our future.

What's your favorite Eagles related road trip?

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Don Henley and Friends - Benefit for Southwest Center for Biodiversity (March, 1997)

We thought the blog here would be a place to also feature older pieces of writing. This is something Lisa wrote up after we attended this event 20 years ago! Wow!

Last fall, Don spent a lot of time doing fundraisers for various political friends and charities. We were glad he was out there doing stuff (news for the WT at least), but we were always bif miffed that the things were either too far away or too expensive for us to go. So imagine our delight (and slight reserve) to hear that Don was going to do yet ANOTHER benefit in Phoenix in early March. lt didn't matter what it was for....it was a chance to see Don!! And to our further surprise the concert was scheduled for the Sunday before our Spring Break. We could go and not miss any school!!

Getting the tickets required some maneuvering on our part.....borrowing credit cards from parents, getting out of class to use the phone (who puts tickets on sale on a Monday??), and asking a very understanding librarian if her phone was available. Fifteen minutes later we had tickets to both shows. From the sound of it, we had good seats. Yeah!! It was about time for us.

The next two weeks were unbearable. School was filled with endless, meaningless meetings and kids with minds already on vacation. Do they ever suspect their teachers are the same way? The tickets came in the mail and there wasn't the usual "no cameras or recording equipment" notice on the back. What?? Don was going to allow photos. Well, knowing him, probably not. But we weren't going to let this opportunity by. We had third row seats. We'd need a good camera. A trip to Best Buy the day before we left took care of that. We felt we were set.(ed note. Sadly, our photos did not turn out. We'd like to thank John Kinney's Nix Fix home page (http://web2. airmaiL jkinney/index.htm) and Debbi Radford for the photos you see here)

We arrived in Phoenix late the day before the show after spending almost the entire day waiting at the airport in Houston for our flight. Gee, maybe it would have been quicker to drive. We knew Don was doing a private WWP benefit somewhere, but it was too late and we were without transportation to check out the few leads we had. Don would have to wait until tomorrow.

Sunday, the day of the concert, dawned sunny and unseasonably hot. We filled ourselves on the free continental breakfast (Sara Lee danish never tasted better) and called for the taxi.

"Please take us to Union Hall," Melissa told the driver. *l think it's at Van Buren and 7th." The driver looked puzzled.

"lsn't it also by the Arizona Center?" (a big mall, according to AAA) I added, helpfully. The driver recognized that and we took off. Now we had been to Phoenix once before to see Don at the Desert Sky Blockbuster Pavilion back in 93, but none of the city seemed familiar. Guess my mind had been on other things then too.

We drove past the construction site for a new stadium. My thought was, hmmm....the Eagles can play there....The driver was slowing down. I looked around. All I saw were office buildings. Where the heck was the concert?

"lt should be around here somewhere," the driver said. My stomach lurched. We were going to be lost in Phoenix and miss Don!! Melissa dug the tickets out of the bag. She handed one to the driver. He studied for a minute. A light bulb obviously came on. "Oh, you mean Union Hall.....that's right around the corner. I didn't know it was open already." There must be lots of Union Halls in Phoenix.

We got out of the taxi and walked around the corner. There it was. lt looked like an old high-school, except with a southwestern paint job. What looked to be college students were scurrying around outside setting up animal photos and fundraising tents. lt was still early so we walked around a bit. It being Sunday, nothing was open so we had nothing better to do.

We sort of got lost in the parking lot of the county courthouse, which backed Union Hall. Just as we had figured out that the local mall was probably open by now and had begun heading over there, we noticed a van pulling up behind the hall. Hmmmm. My stomach lurched again. Before I could breathe, the van doors came open and Don, Timothy and Bruce Hornsby got out. Don's right hand man, Tony, grabbed bags for Henley.  Bruce handled his own duffel.

That excitement over, we went over to the gate to meet Shana (Lorax) and her husband, Ted. We chatted with representatives for the Southwestern Center for Biodiversity. We found out that this fine organization preserves areas of environmental importance and saves disappearing wildlife. Their literature touts them as, "By far the most aggressive group fighting for endangered fish." Impressive! They engage in quite a few lawsuits on behalf of critters and plants. ln fact, Don mentioned that, "....they sue people. I like that."

After meeting Shana and Ted, we went inside and were impressed by how small the place was. We were quite excited. Especially after finding our seats in the third row (for the evening show, we were back about 20 rows). After a bit of waiting, the lights dimmed and the show began. Roger McGuinn and Bruce Hornsby came out first and sang "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turm Turn Turn." Bruce looked like a little kid with his hands stuffed in his pockets and Roger looked like, well, Roger McGuinn. Roger then sang "So You Want To Be a Rock and Roll Staf' by himself. Bruce was next. He sang "The Way it ls", "Mandolin Rain" and "Walk On" with amazing backing vocals by Mindy Stein, one of  Henley's band (or Henleyaires as Hornsby referred to them). Bruce shared a cute story about the last time he was in Phoenix which seems to have involved strippers and Bob Weir. Bruce was great...he gives a good show. Of course, everyone knew what was coming next, Bruce introduced Henley and they kicked into their song, "The End of the lnnocence".  

Don and his band (Frank Simes (with a new Adam Clayton hairdo), Jennifer Condos, John Corey, Timothy Drury, Scott Plunkett, Scott Crago (still sporting the goatee), Mindy and two backup singers we didn't recognize) then kicked off their set. They performed "Boys of Summer," "Dirty Laundry" (dedicated the the media, of course), "Sunset Grill" (which was preceded with a rant about how evil big business is in which Don decried the eeevils of theme restaurants claiming to be joints and modern architecture. Don also said how much he enjoyed performing in venues like Union Hall....something to keep in mind for the next solo tour, Don ) and "Last Worthless Evening" (which was rather flat and the low point of the show) Then Don introduced Timothy Schmit as a friend for a long time who was gracious enough to leave his family and help out. Predictably, Tim sang "l Can't Tell You Why" and "Love Will Keep Us Alive." Then Don was back. He sang "l Will Not Go Quietly", "Everybody Knows" (both of which were AMAZING) and maybe something else we're probably forgetting. 

Don then introduced local girl, Stevie Nicks" He said she was a very good friend and that they had survived the 70s and 80s together. They hugged when she came out. Stevie sang "Dreams" (Timothy helped out her backup singers on this one. He looked a bit uncomfortable singing with the girls) and "Landslide" (which she dedicated to her mom who was there). This song left the entire theater breathless. She then called Don out. Only Don was no where to be found. Stevie tapped her foot in mock impatience and told everyone she's always waiting for Henley. Don was finally found and joined her for an absolutely stunning version of "Leather and Lace." The auditorium was absolutely ' silent during the song. At the evening show, Stevie draped her scarf over Henley's head and Don chewed on it. Even more priceless was the twirling Stevie impression Don did at the evening show. Don left and Stevie finished her set with "Rhiannon". She was just incredible. She looked stunning too. 

Don was then back to finish the show. He sang "Heart of the Matter" (telling us, again, how it took him 42 years to write and that men grow up so fast), "All She Wants to Do is Dance", "Hotel California", "Life in the Fast Lane" and ending with, of course, "Desperado." Timothy came back out to help on the Eagles' songs. Then everyone came back out on stage to sing Dylan's "My Back Pages." Don said it was a sort of anthem for everyone there. 

General thoughts.....Don looked really good. He wore (for.those of you who care <G>) black jeans, black t-shirt with a dark green shirt over and his work boots. Timmy had on black pants and a light gray velvet shirt which he changed for a darker one for the second show. Don's voice sounded great...hardly any rasp, even during the second show. Don was also in a great mood. He was hugging everyone and making jokes. lt was nice to see that side of him for a change. We also managed between shows to be at the right place at the right time and got Don's autograph on a t-shirt. We needed it like we need hole in our heads, but it seemed like the thing to do at the time. <G> Don's assistant Tony had a little trouble understanding "to L&M" (he first came out with a shirt made out to 'Ella and M' but we eventually got it figured out. 

We were disappointed not to have heard "Through Your Hands". We had been looking forward to it since Genii mentioned it was part of the set in San Francisco. I was so upset at not hearing it, I sort of called Don a stupid man, in a loud voice. l've heard "Heart of the Matter' before. lt was kind of odd seeing some of these songs done solo. Since it has been a while since I saw Henley solo, I was more used to the Eagles' versions of things. I kind of missed seeing Glenn up there on stage. I was great, though, to be in a setting where the audience could yell up to Don, and he could yell back if he wanted to...which he did occaisionally.

At any rate, this ranks as THE BEST Henley performance l've seen. I was lucky to FINALLY be in the right place at the right time.