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TIMH Happy Birthday Don Henley July 22, 1947

+8 HS
steveoz49's picture
July 22, 2016 at 12:26pm
25 Comments

Ok....So I'm going to give this a shot.  I apologize ahead of time, there wasn't much I could find on the old interweb that I felt I had anything to offer, so this was as close as I could find.  Just trying to do my part. 

On this day Donald Hugh Henley was born in Gilmer, Texas. Being too small for football, he joined the HS band.  After HS he attended Stephen F Austin then North Texas, only to leave school early to spend time with his dying father. 

(Disclosure, I am going to copy/paste something I found on Wikipedia next as I feel it's relevant)

While still at high school, Henley was asked to join a Dixieland band formed by his childhood friend Richard Bowden's father Elmer, together with another school friend Jerry Surratt. They then formed a band called the Four Speeds.[6][8] In 1964 the band was renamed Felicity, then finally Shiloh, and went through a number of changes in band personnel.[9][10] As the Felicity they were signed to local producer and released a Henley-penned song called "Hurtin'".[11] In 1969, they met by chance fellow Texan Kenny Rogers who took an interest in their band. They changed their name to Shiloh and recorded a few songs for Rogers, and "Jennifer (O' My Lady)" was released as their first single.[12][13] Surratt however died in a car accident just before their single was released, and the band members then became Henley, Richard Bowden and his cousin Michael Bowden, Al Perkins, and Jim Ed Norman. Rogers helped signed the band to Amos Records, and brought the band to Los Angeles in June 1970. They recorded a self-titled album produced by Rogers at Larrabee Studios, while living at the home of Rogers for a few months.[14] Shiloh disbanded in 1971 over the band's leadership and creative differences between Henley and Bowden,[15]

In Los Angeles, Henley met Glenn Frey as they were both signed to the same label (Frey was signed to Amos Records as the duo Longbranch Pennywhistle), and they were recruited by John Boylan to be members of Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her tour in 1971. Touring with her was the catalyst for forming a group, as Henley and Frey decided to form their own band.[16] They were joined by Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon who also played in Ronstadt's backing band (the four however had only played together once before as the band personnel changed) and became the Eagles.[17]

Now, I could go on and on about all the Eagles songs that we all know and love, but I'm more than confident that many of you will post songs in the comments sections.

In 1982 Don Henley released his first solo album, I Can't Stand Still.  Though it wasn't a big seller, it did have the hit "Dirty Laundry".  Dirty Laundry would be his biggest single and he would even contribute to the movie Fast Times At Ridgemont High.  In 1984 he won Best Video with The Boys of Summer and had commercial success with "All She Wants To Do Is Dance".

In 1994 the Eagles would reunite for their Hell Freezes Over tour that later produced a No.1 best selling album of the same title with songs "Get Over It" and "Love Will Keep Us Together".  Since then, the Eagles had stayed active touring and even releasing more music.  It was with sadness that on January 18, 2016 Glenn Frey passed away and with that Don Henley stated that would be the end of the Eagles.

I hope I did this justice... I promise to do better next time!

Oz

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