The Eagles

[Autumnpuma 0]

This was going to be a blog entry, but I decided to open it up to the forum just to see what you people think.

Some of my earliest memories of music were country/western. My mom, in her youth, followed the '50s western rodeo circuits. She knew Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens and Willie Nelson (who was a dirty pr!ck even then) back when they were just starting out and still playing the little bars dotting the west. As a result, years later she subjected her son to a steady barrage of country music. (A bit of a side note: Today's country music is a pale shadow of it's roots. The mighty voices filled with emotion have mostly died off to be replaced by pat lyrics and shallow artists...such is the antiseptic life we lead.)

Long before discovering Rush, the Beatles, Pink Floyd and the host of others that have been standard fare in my music collection, I had been exposed to The Eagles. They played quite a bit on the country stations of my youth, even though they weren't strictly country. That early exposure to Frey, Felder, Henley, Walsh and Schmidt set the foundation for all my musical tastes. If I would follow the branches of music I love to the trunk and then down, deep into the roots, I would find The Eagles etched on all those roots.

With the release date set for The Eagles' new CD*, "Long Road out of Eden", I have been digging at the roots a bit. I wonder what members here would find if you grabbed a shovel and dug down at the base of your own musical trees? What's etched on your roots?

*Here's a BBC Interview with Don Henley for those interested. Also you can hit www.eaglesband.com for alot of neat info. Without Felder, though, I expect the new songs to sound a bit more mellow with less of a hard edge...

[dribbler 6]

Etched into my musical roots? What a great phrase and a way of describing something that i have often yearned for the correct words to describe. As i write i am listening to very early Electric Light Orchestra. Fronted and guided by Jeff Lynne they were a beautiful mix of pop rock and light prog rock. There are definite Beatles influences in there. My earliest memories are hearing these glorious songs filled with rich melody and great string arrangements being played out of my Dad's teak cabineted Wharfedale turntable. These days it makes me feel warm and reminds me of my early childhood whenever i hear them. I have them down note for note in my musical mind. I love playing them on the guitar.

It's definitely the base form where all my musical tastes spawn from.

[Quiet One 15]

Amazing! Supertramp, The Who and, of course, Beatles & Stones. Those are my earliest memories of anything different from kid's music. My earlies memory of watching a rock show was one given by The Who. I was in awe. Never thought something like that could be possible. Those are really really old memories. Not much to say. Almost impressionist's brushes.

[Autumnpuma 0]

Andres, Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear interviewed Daltry...you might find it interesting. Here's the

. (hope it works...)

[Eric 0]

I know The Eagles! I think. Yeah I do.

And that's all. I'd tell you where my musical roots were, but seeing as I was born in 1983...A: my first tastes of music were all synthesizer Michael Jackson Madonna Prince Sh#t...B: not really being nostalgic since half that Sh#t is on the radio every Saturday night...and C: I hate a lot of 80s music (like some songs, and love U2)...

So continue being nostalgic, lads.

[pabloh20 1]

Geez, a question and a half, Mike.

My earliest memory was of a Leak system with chuffing big stand-mount speakers with a 12" woofer, you don't see too many of those in a stand-mount speaker, even now. The amp was swapped for a Sugden back in 1976 and is still going now, they don't make too many like that these days. I need a melancholy smiley! Anyway, I digress...............

I guess I was always drawn more towards predominantly guitar based music even from a young age, but there was a heavy 60s pop influence to go with it. I still like a lot of 60s music now, even the silly stuff I guess, but there was an awful lot of good stuff in there too - the Beatles, the Stones, Cream, the Shadows, Buddy Holly, Elvis, Eddie Cochran to name but a few, such a good era for music. I probably loosely favoured the more 'bluesy' type of music, just I didn't know it was blues.

The first band I was really into as a 7/8yr old was AC/DC, I guess I could relate to the antics of a schoolboy clad manic guitarist. I always remember my Dad saying to me 'Angus is good, but this guy is THE best' and he put on Crossroads by Cream from the Wheels of Fire album. From then on Eric was probably always lurking somewhere in the back of my mind and later came out and grabbed me in my early teens. My Dad had such a wide range of tastes that I guess I just went through the whole range, except jazz. My Mum & Dad like a lot of country music too, similar to your experiences, Mike, and so I like a lot of country music too. Bob Seger's Like a Rock still ranks up there for me.

I then hit my Eric phase for a few years and from that I really got back into the whole blues, rock and heavy metal genres. I realised then that songs like Buddy Guy's First Time I Met the Blues and Muddy Water's Hoochie Coochie Man were songs I used to like when I was a kid. As I have gotten older I appreciate the nuances of music more, but for me there's still there's nothing to match a virtuoso perfomance on the guitar.

[Autumnpuma 0]

Well said!

Eric, you are unfortunate because the mid 80s was really the death of original music being mainstream. The early 80s punk and new wave were great, but then it got distilled into the Wham-like nonesense. Ah well.

[Eric 0]

Oh I see. You actually asked for my opinion. Well then.

As you know, 80s was my young years, but the teen years were the 90s...soooo....

Grew up as a teen really with Nirvana, No Doubt, Weezer, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Third Eye Blind, Goo Goo Dolls, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Bush, more U2, The Verve, Oasis, etc. Still listen to a lot of 90s actually. My tastes haven't changed much since the music hasn't changed much, other than my like of some rap-ish R+B-ish hip hop-ish stuff, but really prefer alt rock, 90s rock, any rock that isn't over-bearingly emo. Also do classical rock now.

[Eric 0]

Well said!

Eric, you are unfortunate because the mid 80s was really the death of original music being mainstream. The early 80s punk and new wave were great, but then it got distilled into the Wham-like nonesense. Ah well.

Tell me about it. The 1980s was just the death of life. The most hideous cars ever produced (well actually, today's cars do rival that), the worst music, and god awful style. Glad I was 6 at the oldest in the 80s, so I didnt get to experience big puffy curly mullets and looking like a transvestite. I was a teen in the 90s, so I was more of the sweatshirt and sweatpants, tight stiff all navy blue no fade jeans era. For a while. Then it just progressed to having a buzzcut and wearing sweatpants with something. Then now I bounce between a fauxhawk, long hair, or a buzzcut sometimes...and clothes...baggy faded ripped jeans worn way too low and some lame "LOL IM SO COOL I WEAR AMERICAN EAGLE, HOLLISTER, AND ABERCROMBIE" shirt. Go me.

[Autumnpuma 0]

I sported a mullet for a brief time in the 80s. I also wore pink dress shirts and thin 'stringbean' ties with Z Cavaricci pants and loafers.

I call this my 'time of madness'.

[Eric 0]

I sported a mullet for a brief time in the 80s. I also wore pink dress shirts and thin 'stringbean' ties with Z Cavaricci pants and loafers.

I call this my 'time of madness'.

Niice.

Weirdest hairstlye I've ever had was a real mohawk. High school tradition for varsity football players to have mohawks, so I played along with the rest of the team.

[Autumnpuma 0]

Niice.

Weirdest hairstlye I've ever had was a real mohawk. High school tradition for varsity football players to have mohawks, so I played along with the rest of the team.

A punker friend of mine told me once that it aint no real mohawk unless you use egg whites to stand it up. So, didja use egg whites?

[BradSpeedMan 6]

This was going to be a blog entry, but I decided to open it up to the forum just to see what you people think.

Some of my earliest memories of music were country/western. My mom, in her youth, followed the '50s western rodeo circuits. She knew Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens and Willie Nelson (who was a dirty pr!ck even then) back when they were just starting out and still playing the little bars dotting the west. As a result, years later she subjected her son to a steady barrage of country music. (A bit of a side note: Today's country music is a pale shadow of it's roots. The mighty voices filled with emotion have mostly died off to be replaced by pat lyrics and shallow artists...such is the antiseptic life we lead.)

Long before discovering Rush, the Beatles, Pink Floyd and the host of others that have been standard fare in my music collection, I had been exposed to The Eagles. They played quite a bit on the country stations of my youth, even though they weren't strictly country. That early exposure to Frey, Felder, Henley, Walsh and Schmidt set the foundation for all my musical tastes. If I would follow the branches of music I love to the trunk and then down, deep into the roots, I would find The Eagles etched on all those roots.

With the release date set for The Eagles' new CD*, "Long Road out of Eden", I have been digging at the roots a bit. I wonder what members here would find if you grabbed a shovel and dug down at the base of your own musical trees? What's etched on your roots?

*Here's a BBC Interview with Don Henley for those interested. Also you can hit www.eaglesband.com for alot of neat info. Without Felder, though, I expect the new songs to sound a bit more mellow with less of a hard edge...

Excellent thread Mike, but don't you think Eagles lost abit of edge with Felder out of he scheme....

My mother died when I was 5 years old. I don't remember anything about her, not even her face, but she left us (6 kids) with something invalueble, in my eyes. 5 Elvis gospel records. There is nothing in the world that comes close to that music, both sacred and spiritual, it's just something extraordinary. He was meant to sing gospel, not rock... If one researches Elvis's roots, from early childhood, from almost growing up in a multi-racial Penticostal church, him wanting to grow up and sing in a gospel quartet, you realise the humble beginnings the greatest artist of our time had..... and it was gospel that shaped him....

Just the other day I bought me another Elvis spiritual collection, and I reflect back... it brought me good memories

[monza gorilla 1]

Splendid thread, Mike.

My formative years were spent listening to skiffle and bluegrass by the likes of Chas McDivitt, Johnny Duncan and the great Lonnie Donegan. This was the stuff my Dad played (still does) and is what led me to Big Bill Broonzy and then Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Robert Johnson. This was followed by my discovering the Rolling Stones. As I entered my teens I discovered the Move, ELO, Procol Harum, Genesis and Pink Floyd which led, in turn to the classical composers and to Holst, Elgar and Wagner.

As I get older my appreciation for simple, stripped down music increases and so I find that I'm now listening to the old skiffle stuff that first interested me. Full circle.

*I once had a frizzy perm. I am not proud.*

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Splendid thread, Mike.

My formative years were spent listening to skiffle and bluegrass by the likes of Chas McDivitt, Johnny Duncan and the great Lonnie Donegan. This was the stuff my Dad played (still does) and is what led me to Big Bill Broonzy and then Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Robert Johnson. This was followed by my discovering the Rolling Stones. As I entered my teens I discovered the Move, ELO, Procol Harum, Genesis and Pink Floyd which led, in turn to the classical composers and to Holst, Elgar and Wagner.

As I get older my appreciation for simple, stripped down music increases and so I find that I'm now listening to the old skiffle stuff that first interested me. Full circle.

*I once had a frizzy perm. I am not proud.*

seems everyone was a fan of Pink Floyd once, including me....

[monza gorilla 1]

Yep. Went to see them 3 times. Ah, trippy days.

[Medilloni 6]

Woah, great thread Mike.

Bearing in mind that music brought up on isn't always what I liked, the sounds ringing from my sisters room were all Buddy Holly, Elvis and Cliff Richard/The Shadows. I hated them 'cos she like them - as brothers and sisters do.

Cream, The Kinks (loved the humour), Beatles, Stones, The Who (Hmm, nice), Fleetwood Mac (pre USA) - then when no-one was listening maybe some Dionne Warwick, Sonny and Cher, Little Richard and James Brown.

Through the hormones, Adam's apple and stained sheets right through to now (that's a wee while!), the following are those that have stood the test of time - and always played when: 1)When cooking/burning 2) To educate the kids 3) For head clearing purposes.............

...........Joe c#cker, Carole King, Procol Harum, The Velvet Underground, The Small Faces, Aretha Franklin, The Jam, James Taylor, Ray Charles, The Doors, Deep Purple, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Genesis, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, ELO, Pink Floyd, Muddy Waters, Queen, The B-52's, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, ZZ Top, Joan Armatrading, Metallica - aw shucks, there's just too many iconic bands to list.

Fairport Convention anyone?

[monza gorilla 1]

Ah, the Small Faces. Mrs Gorilla bought me the Ogdens Nut Gone Flake commemorative set for my birthday. Laaaaaazeeeee Sundy Aaaaaahftanooooonah! Quality.

There're just too many to list, as you rightly say.

[Medilloni 6]

Ah, the Small Faces. Mrs Gorilla bought me the Ogdens Nut Gone Flake commemorative set for my birthday. Laaaaaazeeeee Sundy Aaaaaahftanooooonah! Quality.

There're just too many to list, as you rightly say.

A very kind and wise woman Monza, thou must keep her fresh!

I think that's why I struggle a bit with the whole Boy/Girl band sheee-ite Monza, it's no-ones fault that the great-music-ground-rules were laid so long ago, but some of them are dire. My you, so were The Monkees

The youngest educates me well though, (Hoobastank gives me hope for his future ), there's still some great bands around.

[BradSpeedMan 6]

Cream, The Kinks (loved the humour), Beatles, Stones, The Who (Hmm, nice), Fleetwood Mac (pre USA) - then when no-one was listening maybe some Dionne Warwick, Sonny and Cher, Little Richard and James Brown.

I'm quite a bit of a Warwick fan myself....

[Medilloni 6]

I'm quite a bit of a Warwick fan myself....

Derek or Dionne? Sorry Brad!

A truly great thread by Mike ( as always), though I wonder what the list would be like if it was "Whats' your fave music for cooking" too. Or fixing the car, dancing-on-your-own-when-no-ones-there, or other pastime that requires great sounds......

[pabloh20 1]

Splendid thread, Mike.

My formative years were spent listening to skiffle and bluegrass by the likes of Chas McDivitt, Johnny Duncan and the great Lonnie Donegan. This was the stuff my Dad played (still does) and is what led me to Big Bill Broonzy and then Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Robert Johnson. This was followed by my discovering the Rolling Stones. As I entered my teens I discovered the Move, ELO, Procol Harum, Genesis and Pink Floyd which led, in turn to the classical composers and to Holst, Elgar and Wagner.

As I get older my appreciation for simple, stripped down music increases and so I find that I'm now listening to the old skiffle stuff that first interested me. Full circle.

*I once had a frizzy perm. I am not proud.*

That seems to be a common occurrence in the posts so far, doesn't it? There is probably some sort of 'life lesson' in there

I started listening to Robert Johnson and Big Bill Broonzy through liking Clapton, as they featured quite prominently in his formative years. As far I remember my Dad always had the odd bits of Muddy, Howling Wolf and Lonnie Donegan. It's only as I have got older that I appreciate the music I was exposed to as a kid.

I don't know about anybody else, but when I was younger, there was the excitement, for want of a better word, of discovering that your favourite artists had teamed up at some point. For me it was discovering things like the instrumentals Eric did with Jimmy Page, the London Howling Wolf sessions, or the Yardbirds with Sonny Boy Williamson, stuff like that. Timeless.

[pabloh20 1]

A very kind and wise woman Monza, thou must keep her fresh!

I think that's why I struggle a bit with the whole Boy/Girl band sheee-ite Monza, it's no-ones fault that the great-music-ground-rules were laid so long ago, but some of them are dire. My you, so were The Monkees

The youngest educates me well though, (Hoobastank gives me hope for his future ), there's still some great bands around.

Indded. Michael Parkinson recalled having Mick Jagger on his show, presumably when the Stones hit fame, and Parkinson asked him how long did he expect the music to last. Mick replied in a very posh voice 'About 2 years, Sir'.

If only they knew.

[Medilloni 6]

Indded. Michael Parkinson recalled having Mick Jagger on his show, presumably when the Stones hit fame, and Parkinson asked him how long did he expect the music to last. Mick replied in a very posh voice 'About 2 years, Sir'.

If only they knew.

Scary!

I wonder if anyone here has info on who was the inspiration for their favourite band - I mean for example, The Kinks inspired whatisname to form The Jam, but who/how/what-got-them-going inspired Pink Floyd, Jimmy Page, Johnny Duncan and all the other 'original singstists' mentioned so far?

[monza gorilla 1]

I would think it was the music they grew up with that influenced them, as it does all of us. I don't know specific instances. Well, maybe Jeff Lynne/John Lennon. Or Damon Albarn/Ray Davis. I get the impression that the blues plays a huge part in the musical development of the people we seem to listen to. By "we" I mean the likes of you ,me ,Mike, Steve, Paul et al. Chaps of a certain age, either mental or physical.