The Eagles FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Classic Rock's Superstars

by Andrew Vaughan

If the Beatles wrote the soundtrack of the swinging '60s, then the Eagles did the same for the cynical '70s. The story of the Eagles is also the story of most artists of their time – the drugs, the music, the excesses, and the piles of cash. But the Eagles took it to the limit. And in Don Henley and Glenn Frey they had two songwriters who intuitively understood and accurately portrayed the changing America they lived in. They perfected the California sound, shifted power from record company to artist, and pioneered album-oriented rock. Eagles songs of the period are as memorable as any ever written, and their most popular album, Hotel California , became a timeless record of '70s decadence.

In The Eagles FAQ , music critic Andrew Vaughan brings an insider's view into the various chapters of the group's fascinating history. He shows how they blended the best folk, rock, and country sounds of the '60s into a worldwide soundtrack of the '70s while challenging the industry status quo with a new business model. The story of their rise, fall, and rebirth is all here – their mega-selling smashes, their tensions and breakups, the band members' solo work, and their triumphant reunion and continued place at the top of the rock-and-roll tree.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

354 pages, Paperback

First published November 11, 2014

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem with this book is that a serious Eagles fan (myself for example) already knows 95% of the information in the book, while the casual Eagles fan won't care enough to buy it in the first place. But I'm in another of my many Eagles phases and despite the book being wildly overpriced on Amazon I decided to treat myself after working some overtime. I wish I hadn't. As someone who's all but memorized the History doc, so little here was new, and the parts that weren't covered much in said doc (mainly the Frey/Henley differences) were all but ignored here, as well as the Felder issues.

And that might be the problem, it's like Andrew Vaughan was afraid that the band and former band would read this and come find him if they saw things they didn't like. It's not quite at the level of Nick Mason letting Roger, David, and Richard read his book beforehand and provide notes, but it's closer to that than is comfortable. There's so little that's controversial here, it feels neutered.

For 1/3 of the price, I'd have liked this a lot better.

[J.J. Lair · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a big Eagles fan. I find Hotel California over praised and over played. I read this book because there are still a lot of good songs.
This book made me interested in the band, their history, and their peers. Linda Ronstadt, Micheal Nesmith, Gram Parsons, I looked them up on ITunes while reading this.
The book doesn't get into details of the stories behind the songs, which I would find interesting. Where is the Sad Cafe? Although you get some stories, like Doolin Dalton. The book addresses the good things like, fame and success, and it addresses the bad, like low energy stage presence. The book goes into the breakup/respite years. I really liked Glen Frey's The Allnighter, which gets short mention. I find Don Henley's Building the Perfect Beast to be some of his best solo work, but the author does t agree.

I would recommend this to an Eagles fan or casual fan. One of the best in the FAQ series as well.

[Kim Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book by finishing in second place in a contest on the Eagles forum that I'm a part of. The author (Andrew Vaughan) had donated 4 copies of the book for the contest. As a hardcore fan, who has scoured the internet looking for anything I could find on the band, there wasn't much in the book that I didn't already know. However, I would rate this as very well written biography of the band. It's not as in depth as some, but it tells the band's tale in a neutral tone. One very positive plus of this book is the inclusion of things surrounding the Eagles, like The Troubadour. I would recommend this to casual Eagles fans or rock music fans in general.

Edited: 01/19/2016: RIP to Eagles founder, guitarist, and vocalist Glenn Frey, Nov. 6th, 1948- Jan. 18th, 2016