Spreading his wings
The Times Leader
August 25, 2000
Don Henley sure isn’t your typical rock star.
He’s incredibly articulate and well-spoken, and he combines grace with an unwavering sense of confidence. He talks passionately about literature, poetry, and language. He speaks with affection about his upbringing, his parents and his own wife and children. He has great command of the subjects that interest him, and he talks with genuine concern about the state of the nation, nature, and environmental issues.
And, of course – when asked – he’ll talk about his music.
The Grammy-winning former Eagle’s latest CD, “Inside Job,” was released earlier this summer. It comes 11 years after his previous effort, 1989’s “The End Of The Innocence,” and has already spawned the hit single “Taking You Home.” The song – another gem in Henley’s long line of jewels – appears to have multiple themes: the love for his wife and children, and perhaps even his decision to raise them in his native Texas, rather than California.
“It was inspired by my family – by my children and by my wife and the birth of my first daughter,” says Henley, 53, in an interview with the Times Leader. “I’m always squeamish about releasing a ballad like that first, because it sort of type-casts me. For 25 years now, I’ve had to fight this label of `mellow and laid-back’ and all that kind of stuff, and it’s been a struggle. But I decided this time `What the hell? It’s a good song. Let them go with it.’ ”
For Henley, the joys of having a family of his own did not come until later in life. He married in 1995 for the first time, and although he was in his late 40s at the time, he says he’s glad he waited.
“I was engaged a couple of times, but I never went through with it,” he says with a chuckle. “I think I would have been a failure if I had done it earlier, and I’ve always believed that the lives of children are too important to be part of an immature experiment.”
Several of the songs on “Inside Job” reveal a sense of contentment, and tracks such as “Everything Is Different Now” and “Annabel” share the feelings or serenity found on “Taking You Home.” But – as with some of Henley’s previous work – there are also numbers with an edge. “Nobody Else In The World,” “Inside Job” and “Goodbye To A River” were clearly written out of frustration.
“Partially,” says Henley, when asked if he is a man at peace. “At least with my personal life. My inner life is good, but the world out there really pisses me off.”
Enter Henley the environmentalist. In 1990, he founded the Walden Woods Project, which is dedicated to preserving historic lands around Walden Pond in Concord, Mass. The location – the site from which Henry David Thoreau and other writers often drew inspiration – remains dear to Henley, as does the preservation project.
“I founded it, it’s mine – and I can’t let it wither,” he says. “It remains very important to me and I work on it to some degree every week, raising money. We still need to raise $15 to $20 million dollars.”
According to the Walden Woods Web site, about 70 percent of the Walden Woods area has been properly preserved, but there is still about 30 percent that can be commercially developed. Henley remains committed to not letting that happen.
“We still have work to do,” he says. “I’m sure I’ll be working on that for the rest of my life, and I want my children to become part of it when they’re older. I think it’s a remarkable project, and I have some really wonderful people working on it with me. It addresses things that we’re losing in our culture: a sense of spirituality, a sense of respect and awe for the natural environment and for history.”
In addition to the Walden Woods Project, Henley also has worked diligently at preserving open space and wildlife habitats in California’s Santa Monica Mountains and has formed a wetlands science/education institute in Texas. Add that to the fact that he lost his California home in an earthquake, started a family, relocated to Texas, worked on 1993’s “Common Thread: The Songs of The Eagles” all-star country tribute album and then participated in the 1994 Eagles’ reunion, and you might have your answer as to why it has been 11 years since his last album.
Still, there is a perception that Henley is a musical perfectionist, known to agonize over words and arrangements in his songwriting. He’s asked if his own high standards contribute to his slow pace in the studio.
“Well, first of all let me say that I don’t think there is any such thing as perfection in the world of art,” he says. “Perfection can only be found in nature, and any attempt of man to achieve perfection will always fall short. I would think a more accurate definition of what I do is that I strive for excellence. That’s one reason (for the time between albums), the other reason is that I never wanted my career to consume my life.”
“It was ugly,” says Henley of the split. “I simply didn’t want to make records for David Geffen anymore. I have absolutely no respect for the man. He’s been in and out of my professional life since 1971. … After The Eagles broke up, he came to me and said `You need to come and sign a record contract with me because you know I’ll take care of you, blah, blah, blah’ … and I fell for it, again, because I was feeling rather insecure and at loose ends at the time. So I signed with him, and it turned out to be the same guy I that remembered he was – who was not somebody I want to work with.
“I was busting my ass to make really good albums, and they weren’t promoting them in a manner that was commensurate with my efforts. He really didn’t care about the music business at that point anyway, he was more interested in making films, collecting art and doing whatever he does. … I just didn’t feel like putting my heart and soul into any more records for a company that just didn’t really care.”
One of Henley’s highest profiled endeavors over the past decade came in 1994 when he reunited with The Eagles for the first time in 15 years. “Hell Freezes Over,” the title of the band’s widely successful reunion album and tour, were named after a quote Henley once gave when asked if there would ever be such a reunion. Tension was a common trait in The Eagles’ camp from 1971-’79, and Henley says not much had changed in 1994.
“It was a mixed bag, like it always is,” he says. “There were moments of great joy and satisfaction, and there were moments of great pain and sorrow and anger. It’s always been like that, and it will probably always be like that. But it was gratifying to know that there were that many people that were still interested in us. It was quite something to see the enormous numbers of people who turned out for the concerts. But internally – it could have been a lot more fun than it was, which is generally the case with The Eagles.
“There’s a great line in `I Can’t Tell You Why’ that says `Nothing’s wrong for as far as I can see, we make it harder than it has to be.’ Well, that should be our theme song.”
Still, Henley says he’d do it again under the right conditions.
“If we make a new album of quality – well-thought-out, well-written, well-produced songs – then I would do another tour,” he says. “But I’m not keen on the idea of going out there again just for the money and rehashing the same old stuff. Naturally, if we go out on tour – even if we do have new material – we’ll have to play the old material too, but I don’t want to go out again just for the sake of going out.”
Although Henley has a decisive answer to every other question he’s asked, there is one to which he has none. “The Eagles – Their Greatest Hits 1971-’75” has sold 26 million copies and has surpassed Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” as the bestselling U.S. album of all time.
So, how does that feel?
“I don’t really think about that too much,” says Henley. “It’s nice, and I’m very grateful and pleased, but it’s not something that pops into my mind every day. … I don’t know what it means anyway. Does it mean we’re geniuses, or that we just sunk to the lowest common denominator? …
“I’m not big on living in the past. I try to live in the present, and to some degree, in the future.”
(Alan K. Stout has written about rock and pop music in Northeastern Pennsylvania since 1992. His weekly radio show, "Music On The Menu," airs every Sunday from 9-10 p.m. on 105 The River in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Hazleton, Bloomsburg.)