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Sunset Grill photo by Janet Van Ham; lett insert by Herb Ritts; center inset by Glenn Gross/JAl

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MUSIC CONNECTION, MAR. 14-MAH, 27

by Michael Fremer

European Dr. Ruth (Good Sex) Westheimer voice. Down at the Sunset Grill, Don Henley's well-kept cover is finally about to be blown. The woman, who's
probably served the veteran rock star hundreds of cheeseburgers, is finally getting the picture. "You. . .you are Don Henley!" "Yes," Henley sheepishly admits. "You are so. . .so inteiligent!" she exclaims. "When

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you write [in the song, "Sunset Grill"] about 'the old man there from the old world, to him it's all the same, calls the customers by namd-how do You know
that?"
Before Don can answel the East Berlin-

Asylum over their handling of the record. "Noj' he says, "there wasn't a lawsuit over that" (although the Eagles did sue a number of times over royalty disputes). "But," he adds, "l was disappointed with the job they did. I thought they could have done much better, but the company was falling apartJ' As Henley tells it, David Geffen, who started Asylum, vowed never to sign more acts than he could fit in his living room. With inmates like Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, and the Eagles already in the Asylum, the notion made perfect sense. But after Geffen departed, Henley says, "They started signing all kinds of acts, from Tony Orlando & Dawn to Pink Lady. . . . I looked at a roster in the late Seventies and

born woman disappears, returning with "the old man," her Viennese-born husband, Joe. His reaction to meeting the artist whose song is making his burger stand famous is to shrug and shuffle off back to the kitchen. Everyone breaks up. . .
.

there were 80 or 90 acts, and I think I recognized about five of them-and, of course, we [the Eagles] were paying lor all
that." Simultaneous with the release of Henley's first solo album came a complete restructuring of Asylum. "They fired about 500 people one week and brought in this guy Bob Krasnow, who, I guess, is a nice guy (pregnantpause) and they moved the company to New York. And [Krasnow] made some comments to the press about 'all the old dinosaurs we have on the labelj and it really pissed me and [Glenn] Frey
off."

The burgers were free that day at the

little stand next to the Oriental Theater, but

the price Don Henley paid was high. He had lost his anonymity at this scene. He
could no longer sit on the sidelines observing, undisturbed. Henley has made a career out of doing that. His wry observations, his keen sense of melody, and, of course, his distinctively plaintive singing kept the Eagles at the top for almost a decade, and "Dirty Laundry," Henley's biting denunciation of the TV news game,

While Henley complains about Asylum, he's also willing to shoulder some of the responsibility for the album's relatively lackluster performance and his inability to

recently sold over a million copies. But,

despite those accomplishments, Don Henley is not exactly a household name-or face.

Without having written songs about it, newcomers like BoY George or CYndi
Lauper could pop into the Sunset Grill and be instantly recognized, and not just because of their bizarre looks. They're mediavisible. Henley isn't. Have you seen Don Henley's name on one of those ubiquitous

capture the public eye. "Part of it was my fault. lJohnny Can't Read' [the album's first single] was the wrong thing to do. lt was a little bit too much of a leftfield turn from the Eagles
days, and it took a lot of people by surprise.

KLOS rainbow-rimmed bumper stickers? Lauper's probably already got one. The only way Boy George would get one from KLOS would be if he married Bruce Springsteen, but Jackson Browne's got one. So why not Henley? Why the low visibility? ls it his observational third-person writing style? His being a drummer-usually one step below bass player on the recognition scale? ls it his reserved, thoughtful, non-flamboyant personality? Or has he been laYing low after his much publicized visit to David Crosbyland? "We were very low-profile in the Eagles as far as being individuals. We were a band and we were perceived as a band," Henley told me, knocking back a cheeseburger in the control room at Val Garay's Record One complex on Ventura Boulevard. The Eagles' public homogeneity certainly contributed to Henley's low visibility then, but with the release of his first solo album, / Can't Stand Still, in 1982, Henley seemed prepared to step smartly onto the solo playing field. There were problems, however. One rumor had him suing
MUSIC CONNECTION, MAB. 14-MAR. 27

It was too controversial. lt pissed people a DJ in Houston who wouldn't play it. A DJ in Atlanta said it was un-American! And it hit home to too many people who couldn't read, you know? And football in America is right up there with

otf. There was

God!"
lronically, it was neither Asylum's nor Henley's good judgment that resulted in the release of the single, "Dirty Laundry." lndie promo man Larry Bird and tiFsheeter l(al Rudman literally forced it on Asylum, according to Don. The song became a leftfield hit, reaching number three, but the album never rose above 24, apparently due in large measure to Asylum's lack of follow-through. When the dust had settled, I Can't Stand Str4 a brilliant debut solo effortstronger than any Eagles album to these ears-had reached only about a tenth of the fans whod bought the final Eagles al-

bum. Still, Henley says, "l sold 650,000 copies or something, which is respectable, I guess, for a first album. . .l had a gold album and a gold single. . .l was moderately satisfied." This time around, Don Henley seems to have gotten it a// right. The music on the

Continued on page 14

HElIlEY

Continued from page 13

to writing most of his songs on keyboard. "Guitar solos, to me, are getting as bor-

to sing harmonies and background vocals. "l have a lot of nerve. I'll call anybody.

new album, Building the furted Beast," meshes beautifully with a wide variety of radio formats. Don's back with old pal
David on the Getfen label, and-unlike the aftermath ol I Can't Stand Str4 when he ". . .went ofl to Colorado and talked to the cows for about six months'l-Henley is currently in the midst of a revolving-door in-

terview schedule. Why shouldn't he come out of hiding? This is Don Henley's time. The years have added distinction to his boyish features. He's been happily in love with a woman for over four years. And the album has already taken otf. "They [Getfen staffers] call me up everyday to tell me how many records I've sold." No wonder they're glad to call. Both the album and first single, "The Boys of Summer," are legitimate maior-league extra-

ing as drum solos," Henley states. Nonetheless, when the trombonists set to play the big solo at the end of "Sunset Grill" couldn't give Henley what he wanted, Kootch played it on a Roland guitar synthesizer. The successful integration of synthesizers into Henley's sound may in part be due to the help he got from people like Toto's David Paich and Steve Porcaro, as well as Mike Boddicker and Benmont Tench. Randy Newman even helped program the synths on "Sunset Grill."

I didn't know Patty or Sam and some of the others. lwas afraid some of those people were not going to be into an old guy irom the mellow Seventies, you know? And Patty said, Are you kidding? I used to sing
ingham, who wound up singing and play.-

'Witbhy Woman' when I was 15!" Don called bare-acquaintance Lindsey Buck-

ing guitar on "You Can't Make

Love."

base hits. The Geffen ComPanY knows how to work a record, but credit for the near-

unanimous acceptance "The Boys of

Summer" has had among AOR and CHR
programmers alike goes to Henley and his co-producers, Danny Kortchmar and Greg Ladanyi. Unlike the self-conscious "new wave" Farfisa beat of 'ljohnny Can't Readi' "The Boys of Summer" mixes real drums, drum machines, guitars, guitar synthesizer and keyboard synth, creating a perfect radio track. The record sounds fresh with-

out radically altering the generally reac-

tionary AOR sound. And romance certainly

beats illiteracy any day as the subject of a potential hit song. I asked if this new synth-filled album is a reaction to the reception the rather Seventies-sounding I Can't Stand Stt// received. Slightly taken aback by the question, Henley answered, "The album is an extension

Siiteen-year-old guitar wiz Charlie Sexton played on "Man With a Mission," and producer Jimmy lovine's suggestion that Don work with a young writer named Mike Campbellyielded "The Boys of Summerl' "lt's really unhealthy to just stick together in little groups." The ever-changing cast of characters' tied to Henley's core, gives the record a unique communal feel. lt's obvious from this musical interaction, and from his conversation, that Henley places a premium on quality communication. "The way people relate to each other on a one-to-one ievel is directly related to the way the world is and the way the times are." As on the last album, Henley concerns himself with the state of intimate relation' ships on Side One ol Building the Pertect 8east, and "the big picture" (as Henley calls it) on Side Two. And, as on the last ' ' '-* I album, Henley sees the state of love in disA 3 repait his own current stability notwith in r ovr rwo like "You Can't Make tuil tu. il songs standing, ;o slat . f love," ;Not Eno-ugh Love in the World," ," I and "You're Not Drinking Enough." f; The biggest part of "the big picture" on .9 the LP's second side is the title song, ;f which takes on the whole of mankind:
N6

Ni
'After the first one, I went off to Colorado and talked to the ca ls for about six
months."

of the work I started on that album. The technology is on the record as part of the

casting director. One of the most joyous

"l

like to think of mYself as a good

Slicker than a mambo band. . For we have met the enemY-and he rs us.
.

Sharper than a serPent's tongue Tighter than a bongo drum Quicker than a one-night stand

songwriting-to make a point and color the

words."

The move away from a guitar-dominated sound also came about partly be-

cause Henley's current writing partner,

guitarist Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar (once James Taylor's righthand man) has taken

musicians and especially the singers. I mean, that's the fun part at the end, aller you've sweated the lyricsl' Henley called dn Motel Martha Davis, Patty Smythe of Scandal, GoGo Belinda Carlisle, and Sam Moore (of Sam and Dave) among others,

parts of recording for me is assembling the

It's an irony the song captures exquisitely.

"sunset Grill," though, is the album's masterpiece. lt's one of those recordings that, like Hendrix's "Purple Haze" or Dylan's "subterranean Homesick Blues," captures the spirit of the times so perfectly that it resonates with it and becomes

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MAR. 14_MAR. 27

Among other things, "Sunset Grill"

one with what it's trying to describe.

is

about "The work ethic in America today and how everybody seems to want the
amount of time with the least possible effort." lt's also about the spreading "franchise" mentality, which is creating a nonthinking automaton class of individuals who needn't create or take responsibility. Making judgments like these opens artists to charges of hypocrisy, but Henley needn't worry. The album is a testament

might even find himself a star. For a guy who's been at the top of the rock heap lor ten years, that would be a reasonable assumption.

dom and fuople Magazine-slyle scrutiny, the less of Don Henley that surfaces, the more effective he can be artistically. For,

as he himself says, "lnformation is

not

most possible money in the quickest

But maybe in this age of instant star-

necessarily a substitute for meaning."

to taking responsibility and fullilling it. Building the t+rfut Beasf is a meticulously
crafted work, conceptually and musically. It stakes out its territory and moves the listener foMard into it. Perhaps the arrangements are sometimes too densely packed and-occasionally-Henley's voice sounds a bit thin (he readily admits to "chops" problems during the sessions). Certainly, the recording is sometimes harsh, constricted, and lacking warmth. But for those who have felt all along that Don Henley is in the same league as the other original Asylum solo artists, Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne, this record offers convincing evidence. Given those two artists' recent output, Henley would seem to be in a class by himself. The record is very big, the video of "The Boys of Summer" is on regular rotation on MTV, and Henley plans to tour. When the singles have been culled from the album and the tour is over, Henley

-'1

s&f
Hqr, Don, who are those other dudes? They look like they could use some serlous sack
time.

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