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

This was an enjoyable and easy to read accounting of Don Felder's years with the Eagles. It was particularly meaningful to me given my age and the fact I grew up in Los Angeles and was employed at a job that took me up and down Sunset Blvd. at the very time the Eagles came into being. I remember the big billboard hanging over Sunset, with the now recognizable blue and orange album cover, announcing... "The Eagles are Coming". I bought the group's first album and loved it. Of course, I purchased every record they made thereafter. I even liked the much panned "Desperado" album. When Hotel California came out, it was obvious to me that this group had become a true "rock" group and not just a Buffalo Springfield or Poco wannabe band.Felder's book filled in a lot of gaps for me. I always loved the early Eagles voices, even Glenn Frye's. But, Felder's guitar is what made the band truly great.This book is a very sad compilation of stories depicting how drugs and egos destroyed the Eagles. Don Henley and Glenn Frye, with their huge egos in tow, evidently let the sound of their own wheels make them crazy. The way in which they treated fellow band members exposes not only those egos, but their contempt for fans of the group. Henley and Frye believe the Eagles music they created belongs to them. In reality, this group became larger than just Henley and Frye's private property. The Eagles became the property of all of us who were fortunate to have Eagles music frame the everyday occurrences of our lives. Popping in those old 8-track tapes as we drove the LA freeways, immediately recognizing the first few notes of Eagles songs when they were played on the radio, we eventually formed associations with the music that caused us to remember forever where we were when we heard "The Best of My Love", "Lyin' Eyes", or "Hotel California".Henley and Frye have never been able to grasp how the way they treated Randy Meisner and Don Felder was a kick in the teeth to Eagles fans. For Henley to say something along the lines of "Felder isn't with the group anymore and nobody even noticed", is BS. He can hire a guitar-playing sideman with ace credentials, but the music doesn't have the soul it used to have when the creator of the chord progressions played them. While Henley and Frye still tour as the Eagles, they really aren't the Eagles. They are the Egos.All things considered, Don Felder is really very kind to Henley and Frye in this book. He does call them "The Gods" and calls attention to their negative behavior toward band mates, but he COULD have really ripped them a new one if he wanted to. Instead he credits each with their own brand of genius, leaving final judgment to the reader as to whether the group truly is better without his contribution. The answer for me is, "Hell no". Henley and Frye gave us this great gift and then they snatched it back.Buy the book, suffer through Felder's childhood years early on, and then things get interesting. Even more interesting if you were an Eagles fan and can actually remember when the events depicted in the book took place. I enjoyed the ride.

I read about "Heaven and Hell" in a British magazine before the book was published in the United States, and I knew I had to pre-order it. It was worth the wait. As mentioned by another reviewer, this book makes an excellent companion piece to Marc Eliot's "To the Limit." I've read all four Eagles biographies that I know of, but those two are the best."To the Limit" gives a great overview, and "Heaven and Hell" gives an inside look from Felder's point of view, plus later details not covered in "To the Limit."Once the book picks up speed, it's hard to put down, even if you've read the other Eagles biographies. Felder seems like a nice guy; of course, I guess most people would present themselves as such in their autobiographies. However, since he's pretty frank about himself and others, he may indeed be as decent as he seems.I think Felder is an immensely talented guitarist, and he does have the right to stick up for himself and the other lesser-known Eagles -- and he seems to really be the one member who most transformed them into a rock band (right in the middle of "On the Border").Still, I'm not sure why he doesn't seem to realize why Henley and Frey demanded and got top billing when the reunion rolled around. Not only did they have the most successful solo careers, they were the primary songwriters, the primary singers on the hits (except for "Take it to the Limit" and "I Can't Tell You Why"), and they are the only two members of the band to be there from the beginning to the present. That said, it's a shame they carried on without him, and none of the Eagles books paint Henley or Frey in a very favorable light. With Henley's gift for writing and reputation for speaking his mind, you have to wonder if he'll ever decide to tell his version of the Eagles' story.From a writing standpoint, the book is well written, except for the occasional times where it drifts from practically perfect prose to occasional profanity. When those instances occur, the reader is reminded that there are two people writing this book -- Felder and Wendy Holden. Better are the majority of moments in the book when the writing seems neither poetic nor profane -- just telling it as Felder remembers it. That's when you forget it's a book and you just become immersed in the storytelling, which to me is the mark of a great autobiography.

Brutally honest and revealling the reality of a musician in tours and recording process which occours in most of the bands, dividing his attention to his family and his Band, the Eagles.

Llegó a tiempo, buena presentación, versión en inglés.

Heftig om te lezen. Nog veel erger dan ik had gedacht. Maar goed geschreven. Gelukkig geen roddelboek.

Un libro muy interesante. Don Felder explica con objetividad y también de un forma muy sentida como fue su vida siendo parte importante de una gran banda como los Eagles. Además he podido acercarme a Don Felder como persona al cual admiro muchísimo también como músico. Muy recomendable.

Komponist einer der besten Poo/Rocksongs beschreibt sein Privatleben und das Leben innerhalb der Band. Fesselnd bis zum Schluss. Sympathischer Author. Lesenswertes Zeitdokument.