Lawmakers, artists, and record company executives will attend a hearing in downtown Los Angeles today (Sept. 24) called by California state senators Martha Escutia (D-Norwalk) and Kevin Murray (D-Culver City), to investigate record label accounting practices. Scheduled to testify on behalf of the artists are Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and Joe Walsh of the Eagles, Clint Black, the Dixie Chicks' Martie Maguire, Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough of Backstreet Boys, Tom Waits, Kathryn Crosby (who represents the Bing Crosby estate), Jennifer Warnes, Kim Weston, and Ray Parker Jr.

Accountants, auditors, artists managers, and attorneys also will be on hand to outline the complicated accounting of artist royalties. Representatives from the big five label groups will include Jeff Walker, senior VP business and legal affairs at RCA; Tom Tyrell, executive VP external and governmental affairs at Sony Music; Charles Ciongoli, senior VP finance at Universal Music Group; John Ray, senior VP business and legal affairs at Capitol Records; Paul Robinson, senior VP and deputy general counsel at Warner Music Group; and Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) president Cary Sherman.

This marks the second hearing to look into alleged underpayment of artist royalties by record labels. Artist representatives claim that as a result of underpayments, it has become the "industry standard" for artists to audit record companies to ascertain how much they are owed -- a legal luxury only top-selling artists can afford, leaving many midlevel acts without any means of being properly compensated.

In the aftermath of the first hearing in July, an uproar erupted between the RIAA and state legislators. The RIAA claimed that it did not have enough time to respond to such serious allegations as fraudulent accounting of artist royalties and secret record club contracts. This claim spurred Escutia to send the recording industry a terse letter saying she was "stunned" that their representatives forfeited their allocated time to rebut in order to catch planes.

Both sides promised that everyone will have enough time during today's hearing.

Murray said the focus will be on the auditing process and why artists are put into a position where they have to audit in order to be properly paid and not on whether or not record contracts are fair.

Additionally, during the hearing a special panel will break down the royalty earnings statements and audit reports of Bing Crosby and the Eagles. Both have been involved in lengthy litigation with their respective record labels.

Murray noted that the fine print of recording contracts requires a label to pay an artist what is owed only if the label is found at fault in an audit, and he suggested that legislating a penalty might prompt the adoption of more rigorous accounting practices.
 

By REBECCA HOPKINS

Bricks, wood, concrete and a guitar are a few of the items that will be used to build a Habitat for Humanity house in Marshall.

The guitar, donated by rock singer Don Henley, bearing the autographs of his former band members, the Eagles, is one of the items to be auctioned off to benefit the Habitat for Humanity in Marshall.

On Wednesday, Dwight Shellman, Henley's attorney, presented the guitar and a collection of CDs, also autographed by the Eagles,to Rhonda Anthony, who is in charge of a silent auction for the organization.

"I recognized you had a passion in civic life," Shellman told Ms. Anthony. "I told (Henley) about that."

Ms. Anthony had first asked for an autographed CD to sell in the auction after her co-worker and Habitat board member Al Davis made the suggestion.

"I can do better than that," was Henley's response before he gave the guitar, Shellman said.

"It's going to bring major authenticity to (the fund-raiser)," Ms. Anthony said.

She's been gathering donations, everything from clothing, to televisions, to a Christmas tree skirt, to a Bill Moyers' autographed book to sell in a silent auction. She's used her connections with George Foreman, with whom she's worked in the past, to also get an autographed glove from boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. And Aaron's Rental in Marshall donated two collectible race car miniatures autographed by race car driver Johnny Benson. Former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier donated an autographed picture. And she still hopes to hear back from Michael Jordan about an autograph.

But Henley's response left Ms. Anthony in smiles as she's tried to involve others in making affordable housing possible for Marshallites.

"I'm on a natural high," she said. "It started so small. We've gotten a lot of good responses, lots wanting to help."

The donations from Henley and Sugar Ray will be available at a silent auction on Sept. 14. at Ramada Inn.

Marshall's Habitat is an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing organization dedicated to eliminating poverty housing worldwide. Houses are sold at no profit, with no-interest mortgages repaid over 15 to 25 years.
 

Billboard Bits
Billboard
August 21, 2002

Following George Thorogood and Charlie Daniels, Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh is the latest musician to appear in UPS' NASCAR-themed "Big Brown Truck" television ads. For the latest clip, Walsh reconstructs the lyrics to his 1978 hit "Life's Been Good" in an attempt to convince racer Dale Jarrett to scrap his car for one of UPS' delivery trucks.

The ad will debut Saturday (Aug. 24) on the TNT cable network during coverage of the Sharpie 500 from the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. Past TV spots in the UPS campaign have seen Thorogood and Daniels recrafting their respective signature songs "Bad to the Bone" and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."
 

Oh No!!!!
National Enquirer
July 30, 2002

Best-selling novelist Jonathan Kellerman placed the winning online auction bid for a guitar signed by Don Henley and his fellow Eagles bandmates.

Henley is donating the $7,900 from the sale to the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas for use in supporting Israel and Jewish organizations.

Kellerman, the author of 23 books who lives in Los Angeles, is a longtime musician and collector of vintage guitars. But he said he bought the new, Takamine G330 acoustic guitar expressly because the proceeds will provide support for Israel.

``I've lived in Israel, set a novel ('The Butcher's Theater') there and am dedicated to supporting organizations that strengthen Israel,'' he said in a statement Tuesday.

The guitar was up for bids for 10 days on eBay. The auction closed May 31.
 

Rock 'n' roll star Glenn Frey of the Eagles has purchased a Brentwood home at about its asking price of $10.5 million.

Built in 1996, the house has six bedrooms and eight bathrooms in slightly more than 8,000 square feet, according to public records. It is on nearly an acre with a pool.

The Mediterranean-style house also has a basement with a theater and a circular driveway, Realtors said.

Frey, named with the Eagles to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, and his wife, Cindy, own another house in the area that is expected to be sold.

They also own a contemporary home on a golf course in Palm Springs. The songwriter-vocalist-guitarist and his wife are known to be golfers.

"I viewed rock as a young person's music," says the Eagles' Don Henley, reflecting with a chuckle on his worldview as a teen. "I was young and rebellious. I thought I would be well done before I was the age of 30.... Somewhere in the 1960s, the motto became 'Live fast, die young.' If you wanted to be elevated to that great pantheon of artists that are eternally young, then the thing to do was OD. I consider myself lucky. So do my bandmates. We came out the other side. Now I much prefer the idea of getting old. I want to be around to see what happens."
 

The economics and allure of nostalgia can be stifling for the more restless artists among the veteran acts, such as David Bowie, 54, who for a time tried to quarantine his past by refusing to play his oldest and most defining hits in concert. Henley observes that on some nights, singing "Desperado" one more time is akin to "sharp needles in the eyes," although he adds that the guaranteed emotional response from the audience for the forlorn Eagles hit quickly takes the pain out of the process.
 

STUFF: Speaking of shameless sexual self-promotion, you also sang backup for Don Henley. Does that guy ever laugh?

SC: Oh, c'mon. He has a wicked sense of humor. He's very serious, but when he's with his friends, he doesn't mind making fun of himself.

STUFF: Not as much as we love making fun of him. What's he like when he isn't whining about the ozone?

SC: I love touring with him. He's a lover of food and great wine. He's so generous. He would take the whole band out to dinner for an expensive meal. He's also very competitive on the Stairmaster. He's just a good guy, but he's no practical joker. He's not silly. He's a defender of his causes.

STUFF: How does he defend charging people $150 to see the Eagles in concert?

SC: Trust me--he's a good guy.
 

He's upset that they're playing so much Shania Twain and Faith Hill, and so little Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and George Jones. Henley told the Los Angeles Times that what's called "young country" today is an offshoot of what the Eagles used to do,

"It's our fault, I'm so sorry, I apologize to the entire universe," he said.
 

Signer-songwriter Glenn Frey, one of the founders of the Eagles, won the first Jack Lemmon Award, a Waterford Crystal trophy, as the amateur who helped his pro partner the most over the four rounds, 31 strokes.

"I found a team player," pro Craig Stadler said. "He played well. He held up my butt all day. He made 5s on 8 and 9 while I was making double (bogey), bogey."

Frey, who received 17 strokes per round and is a 17-handicap at Bel Air Country Club in Los Angeles, beat out Kevin Hayes, who played with pro Curt Byrum, by one stroke.

"I'm a real 17. I'll make six pars, six bogeys and six double-bogeys and maybe a triple," said Frey, who plays the game left-handed.

Asked how playing in the pro-am compared with performing, he said, "This is incredibly more difficult. I know what's going to happen on stage. I'm going to shoot 66 on stage, make a lot of birdies with the guitar."

Frey and Stadler finished one stroke behind Brian Claar and Clear Channel Communications vice president Randall Mays for the overall pro-am title. "We felt we needed to shoot 12 under today to win," Frey said.

The performer played in a USC cap and sweater, a gift, he said, from former USC quarterback Troy Winslow. Asked what college he'd gone to, Frey replied, "The Troubadour bar on Santa Monica and Doheny in Los Angeles. I went to college for about a year and a half. Parking lot, lunch room, folk club. It wasn't my thing."

Henley on tour, but not to sing
Eagles star wages battle with record labels over the ownership of music
By RON HARRIS
Associated Press

San Francisco - Don Henley and the Eagles were flying high with chart-topping hits in the 1970s when Henley bought his parents a television with part of his first advance.

These days, however, Henley is busy battling major labels over "works made for hire," agreements in which artists sign away the rights to nearly all music they perform and create under contract.

"When an artist such as myself makes an album and turns that album in to a major record company, that record company assumes both ownership and authorship of that master," he told The Associated Press.

"They didn't create it. They didn't even pay for it in most cases," Henley complained.

A songwriting copyright is different from a copyright to the mastered sound recording at issue in works made for hire.

If it's about money for Henley - he said it's not - then there's plenty at stake, judging by the band's lasting popularity. Last year, the Recording Industry Association of America announced that the Eagles stand as the third-highest certified group of all time, after the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. The Eagles have sold 83.5 million albums, according to the association.

Neither Henley nor his record company will say how much money he and the Eagles made during the band's hit-making days.

If Henley ever hopes to see copyright ownership of the master recordings that took the Eagles to the top of the charts, the recording industry's definition of works made for hire would have to change.

The U.S. Copyright Office defines works made for hire as those "prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment" or "specially ordered or commissioned for use as a contribution to a collective work."

The record labels' position is that nearly all sound recordings contribute to a collective work and, unless otherwise specified in a contract, they own the rights to the valuable master recordings indefinitely.

That legal argument is a key element of the recording industry's claims in the Napster case, where record labels have submitted certificates of copyright ownership to the works made for hire that they are suing to protect.

Henley heads the Recording Artists Coalition, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Napster case, urging U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel not to accept the industry's broad claims of works made for hire authorship.

The artists' coalition wants the labels to submit specific proof of copyright ownership for each work, thus setting the groundwork for future legal battles to determine who truly is the author of sound recordings produced under contract.

Record labels count on long-term ownership of top-selling songs to create revenue to finance the search for new music and cultivation of new bands. Labels pay to develop artists, rent studio time, and produce and promote successes as well as failures, said Cary Sherman, general counsel for the recording industry association.

"It's the rare successes that finance the 90 percent that fail to make it," Sherman said. "Having the ability to capitalize on the catalog of survivors, the catalog of albums that continue to sell, is what makes the system continue to work."

Henley argues that such financial risk is shared by artists, who stake their careers on relationships with major labels such as Sony, Warner, BMG, EMI and Universal - the "Big Five" of the recording industry.

"We take a risk every time," Henley said.

Fighting to have that risk recognized is important, he argued.

"I have a son and two daughters who might be in the music business. I don't want them to have to work as hard as I did," Henley said. "These songs that we write are like our children. It's personal."
 

In an article about Columbian pop-star Sharkira: "Why Columbia hasn't had such a major impact on American popular music since the Eagles broke up!"

What unites Korn and Clint Black? The Eagles and the Offspring?

The answer is a historical effort by a wide-ranging group of musicians to change the rules of the music industry. On February 26th--the night before the forty-fourth annual Grammy Awards are held in Los Angeles--the Recording Artists Coalition, an organization founded by Don Henley and Sheryl Crow, will host a night of LA area performances called the Concerts for Artists Rights.

The coalition's primary aim is to raise money to mount a legal and political battle against the major record labels. Henley says the group seeks to change the fundamental rules that govern most recording contracts, including copyright ownership, long-term control of intellectual property and unfair accounting practices.

"There are a great many unfair practices that have become entrenched in the music industry over the past sixty-odd years," Henley says. "And they have become so entrenched that the record industry now refers to them as 'time-honored.' But time doesn't necessarily honor anything."

Among the announced performers for the February 26th shows are the Eagles, Elton John, Billy Joel, the Dixie Chicks, Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow at the LA Forum; No Doubt, the Offspring and Weezer at the Long Beach Arena; Ozzy Osbourne and Korn at the Los Angeles Sports Arena; and Clint Black and Trisha Yearwood at a venue to be announced soon.

According to Henley, "Those of us who have done well are obviously the ones who can lead this charge. This has been portrayed as a bunch of spoiled, whining, rich rock stars grumbling because they don't get paid enough. This isn't necessarily about money. This is about everybody who has ever made a professional recording or signed a deal with a record label. I'm fifty-four years old. I've had my day in the sun, and I don't care really if I never get another record contract." He continues, "I have three young children who may want to grow up and be in this business some day, and I don't want to see them get treated the way I've seen so many other people get treated. I don't want to see them used and abused."

Henley says the first goal for the concerts for Artists Rights is to fund the coalitions' efforts. "We are trying with these concerts to raise $3 million or $4 million just to have a voice in Washington. Justice is expensive sometimes."

From an article on Rick Nelson-  Randy speaks about Rick's legend--"'He's in the Elvis category,' says Eagles bassist Randy Meisner, a former member of the Stone Canyon Band. 'He was in there first, he was one of the best'.  Later in the article, Randy talks about seeing Nelson twins Matthew and Gunnar play --"Meisner says seeing them pay homage to Rick always brings old memories flooding back. 'I think you miss a person more after they're gone for a while,' he says. 'You realize that it actually is real.'"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A group of recording stars led by Don Henley Tuesday said they recently filed a brief in a San Francisco federal court that may give song-swap service Napster (news - web sites) a shot in the arm in its ongoing copyright infringement battle with the recording industry.

The artists contended in their brief filed on Nov. 7 that the big recording labels may not indefinitely own some of the sound recording copyrights they are suing over in the landmark suit against Napster, said Jay Rosenthal, a lawyer for the Recording Artists Coalition (RAC).

The record giants in October requested summary judgment on the issue of liability, which would leave as the only trial matter the amount of damages and nature of an injunction against Napster.

Napster, which faces potentially billions of dollars in damages due to the lawsuit, has opposed the request and argued for a full trial to determine its liability.

Napster's lawyer Jonathan Schwartz said that during a recent hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel took seriously Napster's argument that summary judgment is premature when the labels haven't provided conclusive evidence they actually own the works they claim were infringed.

The once popular service has been idle since July due to technical glitches it confronted while complying with a preliminary injunction barring it from offering copyrighted songs on its service.

Henley and several other artists have said they are concerned by the labels' classification of thousands of recordings in the case as ``works made for hire.''

'WORK FOR HIRE'

Under existing law, a ``work for hire'' is considered the property of the employer - the record company - and not the artist, preventing artists from reclaiming their copyrights 35 years after recordings are made.

The industry has lobbied hard to classify songs as works for hire so that once a recording is made, the copyright essentially belongs to the label and the firm needs only to pay a flat fee to artists for their work, analysts said.

``We're contending that the labels should not use the copyright registrations claiming the sound recordings as 'works for hire' to prove ownership in this case,'' said Jay Rosental, a lawyer for RAC.

The vast majority of copyright registrations submitted to the court by the record company plaintiffs claim authorship and ownership of the sound recordings as ``works for hire.''

``The work for hire issue is central to Napster's opposition to the record labels' summary judgment motion,'' said Schwartz, Napster's lawyer, on Tuesday.

The big labels, including AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Music, EMI Group Plc (news - web sites) and Bertelsmann AG (news - web sites)'s BMG, Vivendi Universal's Universal Music and Sony Music first sued Napster in December 1999.

The Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites) (RIAA) was surprised by the filing. ``Their decision to file is as baffling as it is irrelevant,'' said Jano Cabrera, a spokesman for the RIAA. ``It's irrelevant because there can be no doubt that the record companies own or control the copyrights at issue here. ''This is something that artists don't contend,'' said Cabrera.

``It's baffling because artists have as much at stake in protecting copyrights online as do record companies,'' he said.

My First Car - Don Henley
Rolling Stone Issue 881 11/8/2001

My first car was a 1948 Dodge sedan, which was a hand-me-down from my father. The engine was a 238-cubic-inch "flathead six" with a three-speed, fluid-drive transmission, with the shifter on the steering column. It had an enormous back seats, "suicide doors" and wide, flat front fenders that were perfect for sitting on while clutching a beer in one hand and the chrome hood ornament in the other. One could remain on this perch even at high speeds and around sharp corners.

I learned to drive in this car in my parents' back yard in Texas when I was about fourteen. I drove around my hometown in it for about a year and a half before I actually got my driver's license. I was so small I had to sit on a cushion in order to see over the enormous steering wheel. The Blue Goose (that's what we called it) was my home away from home. My buddies and I slept, ate, drank and threw up in it. We occasionally got girls to enter our mohair-upholstered domain, but I don't recall that anything major ever happened. We drove the thing like a bat out of hell on two-lane blacktops and unpaved country roads. There was a steep incline on highway 8, just outside the city limits, where local boys would race, and one night we got the Goose up to 103 mph at the bottom. The speedometer only went to 100 mph, and the needle was about an eighth of an inch past that mark.
 

Once, when I was about sixteen, I went to the drag strip in Hallsville, Taxes, and won a trophy in the K-stock division, which is the lowest, slowest division there is. I beat a guy in a '51 Chevy, which was the only other car entered in that class. I hid my trophy in my room and didn't show it to my parents until years later. I loved that car. It was like a tank, indestructible. They don't make them like that anymore.

by John Soeder, Plain Dealer Pop Music critic

That's Dr. Walsh to you, bub.

Singer-guitarist Joe Walsh, a college dropout who achieved rock 'n' roll sperstardom as a madcap solo artist and as a member of the James Gang and the Eagles, has been chosen to receive an honorary doctor of music degree from his alma mater, Kent State University.

Walsh, who is in Los Angeles recording a new album with the Eagles, could not be reached for comment. His tour manager, Smokey Wendell, said Walsh is "totally stoked" about the academic prestige.

"He can't believe it," Wendell said. "He's very excited about it."

A resolution to confer the degree upon "Joseph Fidler Walsh" cites "his consistency and inventiveness in the most competitive field of popular music" and his commitment to "a multitude of humanitarian, social, and environmental causes." The resolution was approved Wednesday by the KSU board of trustees.

Walsh, a native of Lawrence, Kan., majored in English and minored in music at KSU, where he was enrolled from 1965 to 1967. "He started his career playing guitar in the stairwells of our residence halls," said Virginia Carroll, who chairs the university's citation and recognition committee.

Walsh, 53, was formally nominated for the doctorate earlier this year by Provost Paul Gaston after Walsh's wife Denise lobbied the university on behalf of her husband. Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young submitted a letter of support. "Joe's influence on musicians throughout the world inspires others to realize their dreams," Nash wrote.

Other recipients of honorary degrees from KSU include media mogul Ted Turner, former Rep. Louis Stokes and Cleveland Orchestra music director Christoph von Dohnanyi.

As a solo artist, Walsh is best known for the hits, "Rocky Mountain Way," "Life's Been Good," and "Ordinary Average Guy." He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 as a member of the Eagles and won three Grammy Awards for his work with the band. He was reunited with the James Gang in February for three sold-out concerts in Cleveland.

Between musical pursuits, Walsh ran for president of the United States in 1980, promising, "free gas for everyone."

Tentative plans call for Walsh to attend KSU's December 15 commencement ceremony. It remains to be seen if he will don the traditional cap and gown.

"Are you kidding?" said David Spero, a rock hall vice president who managed Walsh in the 1990's. "He'd wear the mortar board for two weeks!"

So,  Don Henley  rang up  Larry Fish , president and CEO of Citizens Bank, a little while ago to say he needed $2 million. Not for, like, a mansion upgrade or anything, but for the singer's pet project in our neck of the woods, the Walden Woods Project. No prob, Fish said, adding, ''We'll give you a great deal on the interest rate.'' He inquired as to how Henley could guarantee the loan. Henley said he'd round up his ex-mates in the Eagles for a concert (as well as some other name-brand acts) and do a gig in these parts. The date and place have yet to be announced. Sent in by Jamie

Country singer Trisha Yearwood will head to Los Angeles in two weeks to shoot the video for her next single, "Inside Out." The song is her current album's title track, and is a duet with Don Henley, who previously collaborated with Yearwood on "Walkaway Joe," a single from her 1992 album, Hearts In Armor. Henley is also scheduled to be part of the video, which will be shot on September 11.

In addition to Henley, Inside Out boasts some pretty big talent in the way of special guests. Rosanne Cash, Kim Richey, Andrew Gold, and Vince Gill also appear on the project. Yearwood says she is lucky to have such willing friends. "I've been lucky that I do have some friends who are great singers who are also very famous that I know will sing on my records if I ask, and I've been very careful to not just use somebody because of who they are," she tells LAUNCH. "Don Henley's the perfect example, and it's been nine years since we've worked together on an album because...well, I wanted to find the right thing, and 'Inside Out' sounded like him. He was gracious enough to come in and do it."

Yearwood adds that she asks such friends to lend their voices only when it is particularly fitting. "I like voices that are distinctive for harmony: Kim Richey, Andrew Gold--who, you know, he sang on [Linda] Ronstadt records and he played on this album as well and he played the solo in 'When Will I Be Loved'--so you're kind of, like, 'Oh my gosh, this is Andrew Gold!' It's exciting to bring those people in to sing on your record, but I also try to make sure that it makes sense. I don't just throw a celebrity out there because I can. I try to make it make sense."

"Inside Out" will be released to radio on October 8. Yearwood will appear on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on September 6.

To paraphrase the old Meat Loaf song, four out of five ain't bad, especially when the Eagles show up for a gig.

That was the overriding opinion Saturday after the Huggy Bear benefit dinner in Bridgehampton. The annual event, held under a tent at the sprawling home of financier Ted Forstmann, raises money for the Robin Hood Foundation and the Inner City Scholarship Fund and always draws a top-name crowd.

But this time, with Billy Joel, Michael Bolton and Denise Rich looking on, the focus of the evening turned out to be a 90-minute performance by Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmidt.[sic] Only Don Felder was not there, which was hardly a surprise, considering he officially left the group in February.

Playing a black-tie party can be tough for any band, because people in evening clothes, for some reason, like to talk even when the entertainment goes on. The four Eagles got through it all without a glitch, and some guests were even holding up their cell phones so friends and family members could hear "Hotel California." While they may stop talking, they don't stop dialing.

 

08.25.01 Guitar Legends (A special edition of Guitar World)
This special edition chronicles the 100 Greatest Guitar solos of all time. This is what they have to say about Hotel California--Their #8 pick:

Credit for the guitar majesty of "Hotel California" is often given to Joe Walsh, who toughened up the Eagles' laid-back California sound when he joined the band just prior to the Hotel California album's recording. Actually, the primary guitar heard throughout the solo belongs to Don Felder, who wrote the music for the track and actually conceived and played the solo's intricate harmonies on his initial, instrumental demo.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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