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Quixote1818

(28,918 posts)
Wed Jan 20, 2016, 12:42 AM Jan 2016

In Defense of the Eagles - Most are strong Democrats and we should appreciate what they have done

Here is just a little about Henley and whether you like their music or not they should be acknowledged for all they have done for the Democratic party. I personally love their music and I love Glenn Frey's solo work:

Political and other causes

A lifelong supporter of the Democratic Party, Henley has also been a generous donor to political campaigns of Democrats. In 2008, The Washington Post reported Henley had donated over $680,000 to political candidates since 1978.[46]

Several tracks on the 2007 Eagles album Long Road Out of Eden (including the title track, which Henley co-wrote) are sharply critical of the Iraq War and other policies of the Bush administration.[citation needed]

In a March 2001 interview on Charlie Rose, Henley stated that "rock bands work best as a benevolent dictatorship," with the principal songwriters in a band (in the case of the Eagles, "me and Glenn Frey&quot being the ones that will likely hold the power.[42]

In 1990, Henley founded the Walden woods project to help protect "Walden Woods" from development. The Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods was started in 1998 to provide for research and education regarding Henry David Thoreau. In 1993, a compilation album titled Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles was released, with a portion of the royalties from the sales going to the Walden Woods Project. In 2005, he had a fundraiser concert with Elton John and others to buy Brister's Hill,[38] part of Walden Woods, and turn it into a hiking trail.[citation needed]

Henley co-founded the non-profit Caddo Lake Institute in 1993 with Dwight K. Shellman to underwrite ecological education and research. As part of the Caddo Lake Coalition, CLI helps protect the Texas wetland where Henley spent much of his childhood. As a result of the Caddo Lake Institute's success in restoring and protecting Caddo Lake's wetlands, Caddo Lake was included as the 13th site in the United States on the Ramsar Convention's list of significant wetlands. The Ramsar Convention is an intergovernmental treaty that provides a framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.[39]

In 2000, Henley co-founded the Recording Artists' Coalition, a group founded to protect musicians' rights against common music industry business practices. In this role he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in 2001[40] and the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in 2003.[41]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Henley

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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In Defense of the Eagles - Most are strong Democrats and we should appreciate what they have done (Original Post) Quixote1818 Jan 2016 OP
the eagles were a lifesaver in a sea of fucking disco. spanone Jan 2016 #1
He didn't seem to care for Raygun. moondust Jan 2016 #2
Thanks for posting that. Quixote1818 Jan 2016 #4
They have always been progressive… and great music too world wide wally Jan 2016 #3
A pop group, a very good one; they could play, Ron Green Jan 2016 #5
Yeah, I'm really not getting all the dissing of the group. ladyVet Jan 2016 #6
I saw that disgusting thread. Mendocino Jan 2016 #8
WTF. lonestarnot Jan 2016 #7
Did you miss this thread? Quixote1818 Jan 2016 #9
Yes I did. lonestarnot Jan 2016 #10
I've never seen the point of assessing artistry on a political basis whatthehey Jan 2016 #11

moondust

(19,961 posts)
2. He didn't seem to care for Raygun.
Wed Jan 20, 2016, 01:46 AM
Jan 2016

From The End of the Innocence, 1989

O' beautiful, for spacious skies
But now those skies are threatening
They're beating plowshares into swords
For this tired old man that we elected king

Ouch.

Quixote1818

(28,918 posts)
4. Thanks for posting that.
Wed Jan 20, 2016, 02:13 AM
Jan 2016

I remember reading his book "Heaven is Under Our Feet" and what struck me about Henley was that he grew up in the Bible Belt but was a free-thinker who ended up rejecting all that crap. He is a really interesting, intelligent all around good guy.

Link to his book: http://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Is-Under-Our-Feet/dp/0425135462

ladyVet

(1,587 posts)
6. Yeah, I'm really not getting all the dissing of the group.
Wed Jan 20, 2016, 10:14 AM
Jan 2016

I've always enjoyed their music -- and while I liked some disco -- as mentioned, they were a bright spot in that era.

Mendocino

(7,482 posts)
8. I saw that disgusting thread.
Wed Jan 20, 2016, 11:20 AM
Jan 2016

Some people were falling over each other in a race to the bottom. Oh well, it made editing personal preferences very easy.

whatthehey

(3,660 posts)
11. I've never seen the point of assessing artistry on a political basis
Thu Jan 21, 2016, 09:54 AM
Jan 2016

There are few artists whose political inclinations I have the slightest clue about and none at all where I consider it remotely relevant to their ability. Wagner had some pretty objectionable ideas, although frequently exaggerated through association with Hitler's Wagnerianism, but it didn't stop him reinventing an entire artform and creating a unique musical voice which remains instantly recognizable even to non-enthusiasts more than a century later. The political leanings of a competent but vanilla soft rock band don't make them Wagner any more than it would make them Milli Vanilli if they were RWNJs.

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