Customer Reviews

The Eagles: Flying High

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It's not like there are a lot of Eagles biographies floating around out there, and Laura Jackson (no relation to me, despite having the same last name, so no nepotism at work in this review) does cover some ground not found in "To the Limit" by Marc Eliot or "The Long Run" by Marc Shapiro. I'd rank it a distant second behind "To the Limit" but still well ahead of "The Long Run," which I thought was rather sloppily written, although even it contained some factoids that added some value.

I think Eliot does the best job of in-depth research, however. Some people have knocked his book because he seems to "take it easy" on Don Henley in certain key areas, and I understand their beefs. He virtually ignores Henley's police incident with the underage prostitute (which Jackson does cover in "Flying High"), which seems odd, considering his otherwise detailed insights into Henley before, during and after his time in the Eagles. However, the personal interviews he did with Henley certainly give his book a more personal feel than "Flying High" or "The Long Run."

"Flying High" seems to me like it was pieced together from many pre-existing articles. The writing style, though competent, seems more like a research paper than a biography, which is ironic, because Eliot's book is the one with the exhaustive endnotes. I prefer Eliot's writing style. That being said, "Flying High" does give some information on Frey, Felder, Walsh, and Meisner and even Henley that is not found in Eliot's book. Furthermore, since it was written more recently, it gives valuable info on the Eagles' most-recent reunion.

It took me a little while to figure out that Jackson is apparently an English author, and so I had to get used to words like "artistes" rather than "artists," but it was mildly interesting to see the Eagles story told with a British accent (and perspective). Still, I think the distance caused by being an English writer is part of the "term paper feel" problem. And the Eagles weren't anywhere near the chart phenomenon in the United Kingdom that they were in the United States, so it doesn't have the intrigue of reading, say, a Cheap Trick biography written by a Japanese author.

I hate to be nit-picky, but at least one factual error really bothered me. Jackson says that Henley only sang one song on the Eagles debut album, "Witchy Woman." Any serious Eagles fan knows that he also sang "Nightingale." It's not just a known fact; it's obvious from listening to the song. She not only says gets that crucial fact about Henley incorrect, she also mistakenly attributes the vocals on "Nightingale" to another band member elsewhere in the chapter. If you can't trust the author to get a fact like that straight, how do you know the other facts are correct?

To me, as a former reporter, I find it disturbing that a person who considers herself enough of an expert to write a biography would make such a mistake. Compare that to Eliot's book which not only gives Henley the proper attribution but also includes the story as to why Henley sang on "Nightingale" (i.e. he was sent back into the studio to record it because the label felt the album needed another song with him singing on it). Nevertheless, Jackson's book is still much better than the third choice, "The Long Run" by Shapiro.

If you're an Eagles fan hungry for as much info as you can get, then "Flying High" is still worth your time. But if you can only buy one book, then get "To the Limit."

My big mistake in buying this book was disregarding the reviews. This book sucks! I'm sure that the author, based on all her other books, is a fine writer, but she dropped the ball on this one. It would appear that she didn't leave her home to write it...that she took advantage of the internet to gather her facts and quotes. Some of her facts were innacurate, such as saying that Timothy B. Schmit might have "taken a step backward" when he participated in the Poco reunion. That was Randy Meisner! Not only is that common knowledge, If you read "Pickin' Up the Pieces" by Richie Furay, He says that when the Poco reunion was in the planning stages, he suggested that Timothy as well as Paul Cotton be a part of it and his suggestion was shot down. There some other singer/songwriting inaccuracies as well. She is obviously British, which isn't a bad thing, but I seriously doubt that she left the country let alone her desk to get her facts. Save your money...the Felder book is great!

The Eagles, Flying High, is a short but insightful look at the group in all its glory and shame. Mostly the glory. It includes several quotes from the members, which is surprising, considering their reaction to other "tell-alls." They obviously knew that this would not be a negative report, considering her other work. However, even with the lack of great detail, and the presence of some inaccuracies, her inferences are interesting and not far off the mark.