Donald William "Don" Felder (born September 21, 1947;
Gainesville, Florida) is an American
musician and
songwriter, best known for his work as
lead guitarist for the
Eagles from 1974 to 1980 and again from 1994 to 2001.
Early life and influences
Don Felder was first attracted to music after watching
Elvis Presley live on the
Ed Sullivan show. He got his first guitar when he was around 10, which he has stated he exchanged with a friend for a handful of cherry bombs. He was heavily influenced by
rock and roll and when he was 15, started his first band,
The Continentals, which also had
Stephen Stills of
Crosby, Stills & Nash fame. Around this time he also met
Bernie Leadon, later one of the founding members of the Eagles. He and Bernie both attended Gainesville High School in Gainesville, Florida. Bernie replaced Stills and the band became the
Maundy Quintet. An interesting note: in the 1966 Gainesville High School Yearbook the Maundy Quintet is pictured next to another Gainesville High student and his band that was destined for fame;
Tom Petty and his early band the Epics. Felder gave Tom Petty guitar lessons for a year and a half at a local music shop, and also learned how to play slide guitar from
Duane Allman.
After the band broke up, Felder went to New York with a band called Flow, which released only a single jazz album. While in New York, Felder improved his mastery of the guitar and learned various styles.
After Flow broke up, Felder moved to Boston, where he got a job in a recording studio. There, through his friendship with Leadon, he met the rest of the Eagles in 1971, while they were on their first tour. In 1972, Felder moved to California where he was hired as guitar player for a Tour by David Blue. He helped Blue put together a tour, during which they opened at a few Crosby and Nash shows in November 1973 – Felder replaced David Lindley (who had fallen ill) in the Crosby Nash band. He would also jam from time to time with the Eagles in their rehearsal space.
Eagles
In 1974, Felder was called by the Eagles to add slide guitar to their song "
Good Day in Hell". The following day he was invited to join the band. The band started moving away from their earlier
country rock style, towards
rock. On the band's fourth album,
One of These Nights, Felder sang lead vocal on the song "Visions", which he co-wrote with
Don Henley, and it was the only Eagles song that Felder ever sang lead vocal on. Joe Walsh eventually joined the band the next year (1976), after
Bernie Leadon quit.
The first album to be released by the Eagles after their makeover was Hotel California, which became a major international bestseller. Felder wrote the music for the album's title track, "Hotel California", and had originally introduced it, as an instrumental demo, to Henley and Frey who initially named it "Mexican Reggae". It would become the band's most successful recording. After the release of Hotel California and the tour that followed, the Eagles found themselves under tremendous pressure to repeat this success. Their next album, 1979's The Long Run, took almost three years to complete. The band broke up in 1980, ostensibly for good. Touring Felder was sometimes seen using a Gibson Custom Shop Double-neck SG guitar. In 2010, the Gibson Custom Shop released a limited edition signature Les Paul and Double Neck in Felder's honor.
Post-1970s career
Following the break up of the Eagles, Felder focused more on his family but also embarked on a solo career. He worked on The
Bee Gees' 1981 album
Living Eyes as a session guitarist. In 1983, he released a rock and roll album titled
Airborne which to date remains his only solo LP, although he contributed the songs "Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride)" (with former band-mates
Don Henley and
Timothy B. Schmit contributing backing vocals) and "All of You" to the soundtrack of the 1981 film
Heavy Metal, as well as the title track from the movie
The Wild Life. In 1985–1986 he hosted a musical comedy show entitled FTV. In 1986 he wrote and performed all the music and the theme song to the animated series
Galaxy High.
In 1994, the Eagles (including Felder) regrouped for a concert aired on MTV, which resulted in the new album Hell Freezes Over. Felder continued as a member of the Eagles through the band's 1994–2000 New Year's concerts.
Felder performed with the Eagles (with all current and former Eagles members) in 1998 in New York City for the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . The seven musicians performed together on "Take It Easy," and "Hotel California".
In 1999, Felder divorced his wife of 29 years, Susan Felder. The couple met when he was a struggling musician in Gainesville, Florida, and had four children together. He was engaged to real estate broker Kathrin Nicholson in 2007. He claims that Nicholson was the driving force in helping him get over his split from the Eagles and form a new band.
Felder penned the tell-all book in 2006. Released in early 2008 and quickly becoming a New York Times bestseller, the book allowed Felder to tell his life story, describe his often tumultuous relationships with Glenn Frey and Don Henley, and relate his own version of his termination from the band in 2001.
In a 2008 interview promoting his new book, Felder indicated that he remains friends with fellow former Eagles Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. However, when asked if he still has contact with current Eagles members Don Henley and Glenn Frey, Felder stated that the only replies he gets are from their respective attorneys.
Termination and lawsuit
On February 6, 2001, Don Felder was fired from the Eagles. Felder responded by filing two lawsuits against "Eagles, Ltd., a California corporation; Don Henley, an individual; Glenn Frey, an individual; and
Does 1–50", alleging wrongful termination, breach of implied-in-fact contract, and breach of fiduciary duty, reportedly seeking $50 million in damages.
In his latter complaint, Felder alleged that from the 1994 Hell Freezes Over tour onward, Henley and Frey had "...insisted that they each receive a higher percentage of the band's profits...", whereas the money had previously been split in five equal portions. Felder also accused them of coercing him into signing an agreement under which Henley and Frey would receive three times more of the proceeds than would Felder. This box set, released in November 2000, has sold approximately 267,000 copies at about $60 apiece.
Henley and Frey then counter-sued Felder for breach of contract, alleging that Felder had written and attempted to sell the rights to a "tell-all" book. The book, Heaven and Hell, was published in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2007. The American edition of Heaven and Hell was released for publication by John Wiley & Sons on April 28, 2008, with Felder embarking on a full publicity campaign surrounding its release.
On January 23, 2002, the Los Angeles County Court consolidated the two complaints and on May 8, 2007, the case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
Discography
;Eagles albums:
On the Border (1974)
One of These Nights (1975)
Hotel California (1976)
The Long Run (1979)
Eagles Live (1980)
Hell Freezes Over (1994)
;Solo albums:
Airborne (1983)
;Soundtrack contributions
Heavy Metal: Music From The Motion Picture (1981)
*Track 6: "Heavy Metal (Takin' A Ride)"
*Track 14: "All of You"
Fast Times at Ridgemont High: Music From the Motion Picture (1982)
*Track 10: "Never Surrender" (written by Don Felder and Kenny Loggins)
Eagles Songs
Eagles songs co-written by Don Felder
"Visions" from One of These Nights (co-written with Don Henley)
"Too Many Hands" from One of These Nights (co-written with Randy Meisner)
"Victim of Love" from Hotel California (co-written with Henley, Glenn Frey, and J.D. Souther)
"Hotel California" from Hotel California (co-written with Henley/Frey)
"The Disco Strangler" from The Long Run (co-written with Henley/Frey)
"Those Shoes" from The Long Run (co-written with Henley/Frey)
Eagles song featuring Don Felder on lead vocal
"Visions" from One of These Nights
Notes
References
State of California, Superior Court, Los Angeles County, cases:
#BC244814 Don Felder vs. Eagles, Ltd. et al. (February 8, 2001)
#BC249741 Don Felder vs. Don Henley (May 2, 2001).
Heaven and Hell, by Don Felder.
External links
[ Don Felder] at
Allmusic
Interview on WNYC Leonard Lopate Show July 17, 2008
Press Release for Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974–2001)
Maclean’s Interview: Don Felder Nov 17, 2008
Category:1947 births
Category:Living people
Category:American rock guitarists
Category:People from Gainesville, Florida
Category:Musicians from Florida
Category:Eagles (band) members
Category:Grammy Award winners
![DON FELDER - Bad Girls [Official Music Video]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110828023740im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/b3J3F0TAVRg/0.jpg "DON FELDER - Bad Girls [Official Music Video]")
