[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 194 (Tuesday, December 18, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15902-S15903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE EAGLES

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I have had the privilege of attending 
performances by the Eagles, and I have enjoyed a long friendship with 
Don Henley and the members of the band.
  I talked with Don recently about their new double-disc set ``Long 
Road Out of Eden'' and how they came about making it. We also talked 
about the last impromptu performance of the Eagles I attended, which 
was at Camp David at a farewell party for President Bill Clinton, who 
was leaving office within 48 hours. As always, they were superb.
  I have listened so many times to their music while traveling, at my 
home in Vermont, and in my office, and I thought my colleagues may 
benefit from the transcript of an interview Don Henley recently had 
with CNN. I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Nashville, Tennessee (CNN).--It may have been 28 years 
     since the last Eagles studio album--yes, ``The Long Run'' 
     came out in 1979--but, in terms of sales, it's as if the 
     famed band has never left.
       The group's new CD, the double-disc set ``Long Road Out of 
     Eden,'' debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts with 
     more than 700,000 copies sold in its first week. This--
     despite its being available only at Wal-Mart.
       That relationship with America's biggest merchant has also 
     raised eyebrows. Wal-Mart's reputation does not seem to 
     dovetail with the interests of the Eagles, particularly the 
     band's Don Henley, an outspoken environmentalist.
       In a rare interview, Henley addressed those concerns, along 
     with the idea of patriotism, the changing music business, and 
     why ``Long Road'' may be the group's last album.
       CNN's Denise Quan spoke to Henley at the Country Music 
     Association awards last week, and said that Henley was a 
     ``true Southern gentleman,'' ending the interview by sending 
     the crew on its way with plates of mashed potatoes, corn and 
     biscuits.
       CNN. Don Henley, congratulations on the first-week sales of 
     this album. I think it exceeded everyone's expectations.
       Henley. More than 700,000 in this country. And I'm told it 
     has sold 3 million worldwide. So we're delighted.
       CNN. Somewhere, Kanye West is quaking in his boots, I would 
     imagine.
       Henley. I doubt it. (Laughs)
       CNN. You made us wait 28 years for this new CD.
       Henley. Yeah. Well, we don't like to rush into things.
       CNN. I was surprised when it was announced you had gone 
     with a Wal-Mart deal exclusively. Why did you do that?
       Henley. Our deal with the major label expired several years 
     ago, and we just decided we wanted to try something new. . . 
     . Everybody's been calling for a new paradigm in the record 
     industry. Some people have gone to the Internet and haven't 
     had a lot of success with that.
       Some people have decided to go with the indie labels, who 
     are mostly distributed by the major labels. Some people have 
     signed with major coffee companies with varying degrees of 
     success.
       So Wal-Mart came to us, and they made us a really good 
     offer. And they told us about their green initiative, and how 
     they're trying to make their company more ecologically 
     responsible. And we were impressed by their programs in that 
     regard, and what they're trying to do. And a lot of our fans 
     are customers of Wal-Mart, so we thought it was a good fit.
       CNN. There are two discs in ``Long Road Out of Eden.'' One 
     disc is full of romantic ballads with those harmonies the 
     Eagles are known for, and the other disc is full of 
     satirical, witty, kind of biting--
       Henley. (Interrupts) Thank you. Thank you for not using the 
     word ``cynical.'' (Laugh) Which has become a real cliche.
       Protest songs are an old tradition that seems to be coming 
     back now. People writing about government has been going on 
     since the Middle Ages. . . . But to hear some journalists 
     tell it, this is like it's never been done before, and it's 
     outrageous!
       If people don't agree with us, they can hit the skip 
     button. We are ticked off about some things, but we also do 
     some of it with humor. People seem to miss our humor. A lot. 
     It seems to go (brushes side of his head with his hand).
       CNN. The Eagles have long been associated with the country 
     sound--only you brought the rock element to it when you first 
     appeared on the scene.
       Henley. Yeah, yeah.
       CNN. But your politics are different than a lot of people 
     in Nashville, who are more conservative than I would say you 
     are.
       Henley. Yeah. Well, Nashville is changing. Nashville is not 
     nearly as conservative as it used to be.
       CNN. People just don't talk about it, perhaps.
       Henley. It's just like you don't talk about religion and 
     politics. This country was founded on rebellion. We believe 
     that we are patriotic. We believe that everyone has the right 
     to speak out. In fact, we believe that it's unpatriotic not 
     to speak out.
       Lord knows, we've been criticized enough during our career. 
     When we were younger, (adopts Bugs Bunny voice) it hurt our 
     widdle feewings. But now we have no feelings! We had them 
     removed. Surgically. This is probably the last Eagles album 
     that we'll ever make. So we decided to just say whatever we 
     felt like saying. And let the chips fall where they may.
       CNN. But doesn't the success of this album spur you to make 
     more music? Obviously, people want to hear it.
       Henley. I can't sit here and tell you for certain that 
     there will never be another Eagles album, but we got 20 songs 
     on this album. You know, we got a lot of things off our 
     chest, so to speak.
       I don't know if everybody's going to want to do another 
     one. If we do a world tour, that'll take at least two years. 
     We're all pushing 60. Well, some of us are 60. . . .
       Anyway, we'll see. But we all have some solo plans still. I 
     still have a contract with a major label for a couple of solo 
     albums. I think parenting is one of the highest things on our 
     agenda right now. We all have young children. So making 
     another album is not our first priority right now.
       CNN. It seems like you've mellowed quite a bit. Is it 
     fatherhood that's changed you, or perhaps just turning 60?
       Henley. I think we've all mellowed in this group. I think 
     having children was really good for all of us. And you 
     supposedly get mellower with age. However, as some of the 
     songs will indicate, we're not too mellow. (Pauses)
       CNN. What are you thinking?
       Henley. I hate that word ``mellow,'' actually. We've been 
     saddled with that word since the very beginning of our 
     career, you know. It has something to do with Southern 
     California. I wish they would find a new word. We're either 
     ``mellow'' or we're ``cynical.'' They can't make up their 
     minds. It's sort of a contradiction.
       CNN. But I think you've been sort of a contradiction. 
     Certainly an enigma to a lot of people.
       Henley. Well, good! (Laughs) Yeah, well, this band is a 
     contradiction. This album is. But life is a contradiction, 
     isn't it? There are good things, and there are bad things 
     going on in the world simultaneously. There's love and hate. 
     There's war and peace. There are all kinds of things 
     happening at the same time. And so that's reflected on this 
     album, I think.

[[Page S15903]]

       CNN. So how are you guys all getting along these days?
       Henley. The same. (Laughs)
       CNN. For better or worse?
       Henley. All that stuff has been exaggerated. You ask any 
     band if they get along all the time, and they will tell you, 
     ``Of course not.'' But we get along, I'd say, as well as any 
     band does.
       There's something we've created called the Eagles that's 
     more important than any one of us individually. And we serve 
     that. You know, we call it ``The Mothership.'' We can all do 
     this, that and the other, but we always come back to the 
     Mothership. It's something that we all built together.
       And all this stuff about fighting in the band, and 
     brawling, and fistfights and all that stuff has been grossly 
     exaggerated. When it gets reprinted, and our publicist says, 
     ``Well, where'd you get that information,'' they invariably 
     say, ``I read it on the Internet''--as if the Internet were 
     some source of truth! The Internet is no more accurate than 
     the New York Post, you know.
       (Looks straight into the camera lens) Put that in! (Laughs)

                          ____________________