Customer Reviews

To the Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

It wasn't a bad book; neither was it a great book. I also noticed some of the odd errors and omissions that other reviewers have pointed out. An obvious mistake that the author makes is describing the song "Get Over It" as "...a comical, good-natured nod at the feud between Henley and Frey." Did Eliot even listen to the song? I always thought it was about low-brow, opportunist morons on afternoon talk shows like Oprah and Montel. This is confirmed by the Eagles themselves in the liner notes of the recent release of "The Eagles: The Very Best Of." When the author makes overt goofs like this, the reader has to wonder about other 'facts'.

What a disappointment this book was! 'Hoping to learn the in-depth history of my all-time favorite band, this book left me with more questions than it did answers. Mr. Eliot could have done us all a favor and left out alot of the behind the scenes dealings of the music industry. While a fraction of the material was relevant to story of the Eagles, the majority of it was not. Few kind words were said about any of the band's members save for Don Henley - who was in fact, the chief reason for the break-up of the band in the first place. This fact seems to be lost amidst Mr. Eliot's ranting about the solo success Henley had after the Eagles, and going too far in-depth on Henley's personal life. True, there is some interesting information about the band's early years and their trials and tribulations during the time when Rock and Roll was taking on a new face. Also of some interest is the fact that Kenny Rodgers took an interest in the band very early only to see them go elsewhere and find incredible success without him. But overall, the book says little that is flattering about anyone other than Henley, and to a far lesser extent, Glenn Frey. Perhaps Mr. Eliot should have researched Randy Meisner's time with Poco a little more diligently; the members of that band had nothing but praise for him. Little praise is given to the talents and contributions of Don Felder, Bernie Leadon and Timothy Schmidt. The big question I have after reading the book is; " Did Mr. Eliot owe Don Henley a favor?" Do yourself a favor and wait for the paperback version or wiat until you see it on the bargain table.

Marc Eliot has written a detailed book about a rock group whose members have shunned personal publicity of any type. It was interesting to read about the backgrounds of each of the members, and it added a lot to understanding the persons they became. His descriptions of drug use and sexual promiscuity were stunning. Are they accurate? To a great extent his reports are confirmed by Don Felder in his autobiography, although Felder tended to minimize the drug use, no doubt because of his involvement.

It was absolutely fascinating to read how Don Henley and Glenn Frey were radically changed by their use of cocaine, although he never comes right out and says "Look how they've changed." His description of the orgies in the "Third Encore" makes me wonder if they owned stock in a pharmaceutical company for all their STDs. It is also fairly clear that their manager, Irving Azoff, condoned and enabled them to continue their destructive behavior. Eliot painted such a vivid picture of an obnoxious, arrogant little man that I hope I never meet Azoff. It is truly a miracle that they all survived.

If you're like me and read everything you can find about The Eagles, this is worth adding to your collection.

There are just few Eagles bios out there, so for that reason I give this 3 stars. It gives an overview of the band's history, and has some interview material with Don Henley, Randy Meisner, and others. But no Glenn Frey interviews, other than quotes from other sources. The Eagles were notoriously secretive, so the secrets remain. Eliot makes you think you're getting secrets, with lots of semi-sleazy accounts about drugs and groupies. But it's the same old rock music thing, and it just makes you think the Eagles were taking advantage of being young, single, and successful. A lit more chilling is the way they allegedly dealt with some of their associates. But again, the way they dealt with former band members differs little from say, the Stones. There is coverage of their powerful managers, first David Geffen, then Irving Azoff. It goes into great detail about the band's business dealings, and why they've managed to keep a fair amount of the dollars they've generated while other bands have not. The failings of the book include the real reasons for the band's break-ups, which remain murky. Even more significantly, it doesn't really lead one to understand the complex relationship between Glenn Frey and Don Henley. That is "the heart of the matter," and Eliot either doesn't get it, or is not willing or able to explain it to the reader.

I was interested to read that Don Henley wanted to stop publication of this book as it seemed to me to be extremely pro-Henley particularly in its account of the leadership struggle. It is interesting enough but far too tabloid in its approach, that is, the Eagles' music is secondary to the endless stories of drugs, womanizing etc. Is anyone really surprised by this anymore? As a devoted Eagles fan I hope that someone someday will write about their music. And on a personal level I would like to hear the story told from Glenn Frey's perspective.

Having read other reviews of this book I would like to expand on how heavily focused it is on Don Henley, to the exclusion of Glenn Frey, who whether the author admits it or not was and is the Eagles' leader and driving force. Frey's solo career was admittedly not as successful as Henley's but it is all but ignored. Some gratuitous comments about their respective physical appearances (again, pro-Henley) are annoying. Even any attempt at analysing why the two of them are both such great singers and songwriters never occurs. The assumption that it was Henley who was responsible for the majority of the Eagles' lyrics is a fatuous cliche that all true Eagles fans have long abandoned, and as for Hotel California being about Henley and no-one else, this should be treated with the contempt it deserves. Then there is the way Henley's arrest in 1980 is totally glossed over, while a similar incident that Frey experienced while shooting a movie is over-emphasised. Frey had a car crash, while Eagles fans know what happened to Henley. Some attempt at balance occurs at the end when the band have reformed, but it is too late to save the book. Avoid.

Just to add that the editorial review comments about Frey being 'self-destructive' and 'retreating into a cocaine haze' indicate that Eliot's purpose of glorifying Henley and condemning Frey as irrelevant have worked. Well done. To quote Henley himself 'I hope you feel better. I don't know what you proved'.

This book is a major disappointment for several reasons. First of all, the author spends an inordinate amount of time discussing the Eagles' managers and record company executives. He spends more time with Irving Azoff and David Geffen than with Don Felder or Tim Schmidt! Secondly, nearly one-third of this book is given over to a too-extensive discography of the credits of every single recording every Eagle ever played on - maybe this deserves to be written up somewhere, but not here. Lastly, he fails to give the reader a sense of the Eagles' place in music history and of their contributions to the music scenes of the '70s and '80s. Why did the Eagles move away from country-rock? Why did Henley's solo career thrive while Frey's failed? Why do so many of today's young country artists cite the Eagles as a major influence? What exactly goes on in Joe Walsh's head? NONE of these issues are explored. "Take it easy" on your wallet and don't buy this!

Having long been a fan of the Eagles, I was quite ready to read a biography of this splendid, though somewhat lacking Southern California band. Eliot does a fair job of presenting their history, but he lacks in descriptions about the making of the music, and he focuses too much on Don Henley. On one hand Eliot seemed to be fixated with Henley, and on the other hand he seemed to have an axe to grind with him. To The Limit really came off more as a Don Henley book, than an Eagles book.
For one thing there are too few quotes from Glenn Frey, who in my opinion really gave the band its heart. Just because Henley began singing almost half of the songs on the last two albums, doesn't mean he should have. I can think of several songs, that Glenn Frey could have sung just as well. I'd also like to have learned more about why Leadon and Meisner quit. Though Eliot did explain it in some detail, there was much missing. It would have been interesting to have heard from Glenn Frey on those issues, as well as from Leadon and Meisner.
The book is heavy in quotes from Henley, but short on quotes from any other band members. Much of the material seems to come from other previously published material, i.e. Rolling Stone reviews, interviews, articles, and much of it comes from Mansion On the Hill, a detracting book written in the early 90s which includes a section on Geffen and Azoff.
While is was interesting reading about Henley's take on Joe Walsh joining the band, I would have really liked reading about Joe's take on joining the band. In my opinion, Walsh's guitar playing saved the Eagles from fading into country-rock mediocraty.
I would have also liked to have learned more about Felder's role in the band. Learing about Felder's role in the song, Hotel California was really interesting, but it made me want to know more about Felder's and Walsh's guitar work. How did they work out strategies? How did they bounce ideas around? Did they feel left out of the inner-cirlce?
Nonetheless, I really enjoyed reading about the Eagles, and I'd like to read another book about them, though I'd really like for it to be less about Don Henley, and more about the Eagles.

It is well-written, and you get a good feel for the early days of L.A. rock and how the band got started. The author, to me , obviously likes the music of the band and does a good job of going through their history and pointing out how the albums were made, what the songs mean, etc. He also doesn't shy away from some of the negative aspects of the band (band-and-personal related squabbles and so on). If the author focused only on digging up trash and completely ingnored the music that would be one thing, but he does a fair job of balancing it out (though I would have liked a little more focus on the music). The flaws I find in the book are that you get comments from Henley and some from Meisner but none from the other members of the band (including Frey). This tips the balance of the story toward Henley and left me with a feeling that with only one or two viewpoints the whole story wasn't being told. The lack of a Glenn Frey interview left a glaring hole for me. Overall, if you have a passing interest in the band (as I do), you should enjoy this book (It doesn't matter to me if I find out some of the seedier sides of these guys because if you read enough books about entertainment, and about rock in particular, you'll find that most people who are in this are no angels. I found the Eagles to be par for the course compared to other bands). However,if you are an ardent fan, and do not wish to hear some unflattering things about them, then just enjoy their music.

While the Eagles are surely worth a comprehensive, accurate and historical review, To the Limit is not that book. Eliot's look at the LA music scene in the 70's and the music business are the book's only redeeming features. New fans to the band should be warned there are plenty of factual errors here -- the Superbowl has never been played in October, for instance -- and the text focuses heavily on Henley and Frey. Perhaps the publisher was so busy lawyering the book because of Henley's outcries, copy editing was ignored. In addition, while Eliot acknowledges assistance from Joe Walsh, who gets very little attention (as does Timothy B.), Walsh's management denies he ever spoke with Eliot or participated in the book in any way. Perhaps if fans really want to know the Eagles, they'd be better off listening to their music. Thankfully I borrowed my copy instead of paying for it. Hard to believe they killed trees for this.

I am an Eagles fan, and really enjoyed this book. It's not deep reading, but you will enjoy it.