To the Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles by Marc Eliot
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Book Reviews of To the Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles
Book Review: Through a jaundiced eye.
Summary: 4 Stars
Marc Eliot has written a detailed book about a rock group whose members have shunned personal publicity of any type. It was interesting to read about the backgrounds of each of the members, and it added a lot to understanding the persons they became. His descriptions of drug use and sexual promiscuity were stunning. Are they accurate? To a great extent his reports are confirmed by Don Felder in his autobiography, although Felder tended to minimize the drug use, no doubt because of his involvement.
It was absolutely fascinating to read how Don Henley and Glenn Frey were radically changed by their use of cocaine, although he never comes right out and says "Look how they've changed." His description of the orgies in the "Third Encore" makes me wonder if they owned stock in a pharmaceutical company for all their STDs. It is also fairly clear that their manager, Irving Azoff, condoned and enabled them to continue their destructive behavior. Eliot painted such a vivid picture of an obnoxious, arrogant little man that I hope I never meet Azoff. It is truly a miracle that they all survived.
If you're like me and read everything you can find about The Eagles, this is worth adding to your collection.
Book Review: Peaceful Easy Feelin'
Summary: 4 Stars
If you don't know the story of the Eagles, this seems to sum it all up, and the writing's not bad, if a bit overly profound at times. The band is put in context of the southern California moment of the '70s with some interesting insights into how west was eclipsed by east as the 80s came along with disco, Bruce Springsteen, then New Wave, punk etc. Henley cooperated with the author, but Glenn Frey didn't, so the tale can be a little lop-sided at times. The tunes have held up well, which is why this book is worth reading if you are a music fan or historian.Book Review: Enjoyable read for a fan
Summary: 4 Stars
I am an Eagles fan, and really enjoyed this book. It's not deep reading, but you will enjoy it.Book Review: Too much information about producers and whatnot.
Summary: 3 Stars
This is not a bad book, but it is also not a great book. There is simply too much information about record producers, managers, record companies, record labels, etc. I simply could not follow nor was I able to often remember who a lot of the business behind the scences people were. I think Marc Eliot has a good idea of what he is talking about but he presents a morass and a maze of information that is bewildering.
As for Eliot's writing, he is most certainly a talented writer. At times he uses language perfectly exposing nuances of meaning, shedding insight and light on many topics. At time Eliot uses flowery language almost for the purpose of showing off.
This book is a good companion piece to the Don Felder book. Eliot offers tons of background/pre Eagles information that Felder simply seemed to have little knowledge of. Eliot also understands what was really going down behind the scenes. I don't think Felder was often clear or privy to a lot of behind the scenes wheeling and dealing.
Eliot and Felder have exposed Don Henley and Glenn Frey in a very unflattering way. These guys were complete drug addicts. Frey had his nose rebuilt and lined with teflon due to his abuse of cocaine. Henley got Stevie Nicks pregnant and the two of them chose abortion.
We found that Frey and Henley acted like complete children, children who stopped talking to each other, children who abused massive amounts of drugs, drink and women. These guys crapped all over Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner and then Don Felder. But ultimately Frey and Henley through their talents and leadership helped to create some timeless music.
Henley and Frey were two very dysfunctional and abusive people. After all has been said and done I think they are both lucky that most people don't know how they lived and how they acted. I lost a lot of respect for those guys.
And when they did the "Hell Freezes Over" tour they were the highest paid entertainers in a two year span earning some $75 million. So the Eagles ultimately ripped off their fans. Fans had to kiss up to them and pay a big price to see these guys trying to recreate some magic.
Now the Eagles have put out that double cd "Out of Eden". I have listened to the first cd. Boy is that some poor music. The band simply does not sound like the Eagles. The Eagles should have songs that sound definitively like The Eagles. If you heard these songs on the radio, which you won't, you wouldn't exactly know it was the Eagles. One might believe it was solo Henley or Frey, but not know it was the Eagles.
As a read the book was somewhat slow. It was certainly NOT a pageturner but it was interesting. Just too much freaking technical information.
Oh, and I think Irving Azoff must be some kinda real low life scumbag.
Book Review: Reads like a textbook
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading Don Felder's whiny autobiography, I thought this might provide some objective views on the Eagles. It does for the most part, but there are glaring errors throughout that any person with cursory knowledge of the Eagles will see immediately. Also, it almost reads like a textbook in some places, as if this book was written for an Eagles 101 course. The author doesn't help his cause by writing an addendum dumping on Don Henley, who apparently was not pleased with the book. And the fact that there is no first-hand information from Glenn Frey doesn't help either. The bottom line is that it's interesting, but not as good as I had hoped.
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