Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001) | Don Felder

Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001) | Don Felder | Felder is a class act

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Heaven and Hell: M...

	Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001) Don Felder Wiley, 2008 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 51 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The inside story can finally be revealed

The Eagles are the bestselling, and arguably the tightest-lipped, American group ever, and Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971?1975 is the bestselling album of all time in the United States. Through breakup and comeback, arguments and lawsuits, their popularity has continued to soar for more than three decades. Now band member and guitarist DonFelder finally breaks the Eagles' years of public silence to take fans behind the scenes? -where drugs, greed, and endless acrimony threatened to break up the band almost daily.

In Heaven and Hell, Felder shares every part of the band's wild ride, from the pressure-packed recording studios and trashed hotel rooms to the tension-filled courtrooms where he, Glenn Frey, and Don Henley had their ultimate confrontation. Yet, beyond the mayhem and clashing egos that have become standard-issue in rock-and-roll memoirs, Felder also remembers the joy of writing powerful new songs with his bandmates; the magic of performing in huge arenas packed with roaring fans; and the hard work, dedication, and creativity that each band member brought to the music, even in the worst of times.

Offering even-handed and perceptive portraits of every member of the Eagles, Heaven and Hell is a thrilling and thoughtful, raucous and bittersweet tale about the love of music and the price of fame.

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An Honest Even Handed History of the Eagles

I couldn't put this book down. Don Felder captured perfectly, the innocence and cultural changes of 70's coming of age experience through his personal Eagles journey.

Don writes honestly about the clash between musicians and corporation's need to make a profit, with greed, excess & egos growing out of the band's success. In a Rock & Roll band, the experience of working with a talented group of musicians unfolds much like any group that experiencing sudden wealth or power. Today it could be a team in software development. The pitfalls, tensions and self importance are similar. This story is told first hand and honestly in beautiful shades of grey.

I enjoyed this book more than To The Limit (which is excellent book and reaffirms the same Eagles' story Don Felder tells). A great read for a summer day. Kudos to Wendy Holden for her prose.

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Felder is a class act

A lot of people probably aren't even aware that Felder wrote the Eagles biggest hit, Hotel California.

Dealing with "the Gods" Henley and Frey for so many years sounds like it was torturous at best but Felder refrains from unnecessary mudslinging and reports the facts more like a journalist than an embittered ex-bandmate.

I bought it immediately after hearing Felder on the Howard Stern show performing a beautiful acoustic rendition of Hotel California. He came across as down to earth and thoroughly entertaining. The same can be said for this book. Highly recommended.

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Wonderful Perspective, Best "Eagles" information yet to Surface!

This book is well written, in that it flows well, and is informative as it keeps the reader interested from beginning to end. It is a good book for someone with little knowledge about the band, but for a fan, this is a revelation of answers. It even provides some interesting facts that I had not thought about pertaining to the group's history. I have always thought Felder was a very good instrumentalist, though somewhat "mysterious." Before reading this book, I had never found any text concerning his professional career prior to playing with the Eagles. American players historically do not seem to get the same level of media coverage that the English guitarists seem to receive. Felder was so "regal" in his demeanor on stage, ..like a male lion moving slow off in the outer perimeters. He never seemed to say much during his time with the Eagles. He just played impecable lead guitar lines on top of those magnificent songs, album after album.
But, all seven of the Eagles are great, and each one contributed greatly to the output, and performance of the band. To my perception, the guy standing on the corner of Winslow, Arizona will always be Glenn Frey. Also, Don Henley did not have to agree to reform the Eagles, but he did, and that permited them to be "new", with a great new album for the new century. It is great to listen to the wonderful harmonies in songs that I didn't listen to during high school! But, back to this book, it is very good, and I could not put it down for the time it took me to read it. I will miss Felder, but Stewart Smith is the same guy that played on that masterpeice by Rosanne Cash a few years ago, .."Kings Record Shop" I think. The playing he did on that albumKing's Record Shop was amazing, so I am glad to finally hear from him again! I would also like to comment about the image portrayed in the book of the band's manager. The writing is not very comprimentary in reference to this man. All the writing in the book reads in such a way as to "feel" as if it is honest, so this guy may indeed be a tough fellow. But, before deciding what really makes a band manager "bad", I suggest that one should read another book entitled "The Tragic Story of Badfinger"Without You : The Tragic Story of Badfinger (with 72 minute cd)

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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