On our local classic rock station, KFOX, we are lucky to have Greg Kihn as the morning DJ because he frequently has fellow classic rock celebs on his show either on the phone or in the studio. The cool thing is that most of his guests are guitarists, so I listen to his morning show a lot. This morning, he had Don Felder, former lead guitarist for the Eagles, talking to him about how he did his leads, and what his experience was like being in the Eagles. It was a very insightful interview. During the course of the interview, Greg pumped Don’s book, “Heaven and Hell” that chronicles his 26 year involvement in the band, from its heyday to his dismissal.
Personally, I’ve been waiting a long time to hear his side of the story behind his being fired. I originally became curious about the back story when the Eagle announced their last tour and that Felder would be a “contractor.” I don’t know if anyone saw the show in person or on TV, but it was clear that he was an outsider to the band. Very weird. But now that the book is out, it’ll be good to hear the other side.
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Greg Kihn as our loves in “Jeopardy”?
One and the same. 🙂 He’s really very good as a DJ. Got that cigarette-raspy-Danny Bonaducci voice but without all the excess child star baggage. And man is he great with music trivia.
Wow – thats cool having him as your own radio jock. That jangly guitar hook in “Break-up Song” is still a staple among weekend warrior tone rangers. Im definitely going to check out Don’s book as well.
Yeah, it’s really cool to hear his perspective on music, especially since it comes from the perspective of a fellow axe-slinger.
Here are a couple of interesting tidbits:
*Joe Satriani was in the Greg Kihn band for a time, but didn’t last because it wasn’t his thing.
*The lead guitarist for the Greg Kihn band recorded almost all his leads in a SINGLE take. In the song, “Do You Remember” the guy walked into the studio, and just played that totally cool riff right off the top of his head. Simply amazing.
That will be an interesting book to read, since most stuff you find to read is very Frey/Henley controlled. I always wanted to hear from Don Felder, and even Bernie Leadon, who quit in pretty bad terms and was replaced by Joe Walsh. If I recall, this book has been in the works for a while due to disagreements about its content between Frey/Henley and Felder. Hhhmm.
Interesting that the book is being promoted at the same time of The Eagles new album:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/20796871
IG
Jimmy Lyon was the lead guitarist on the early Eddie Money and Greg Kihn recordings.