At 71, the former lead guitarist of the Eagles is a workaholic with a pronounced need for love and the same ego. So the lyrics of the eleven songs of his third solo album "American Rock 'n' Roll" are turning around women and their advantages. Whatever he likes to talk about. But the old rocker doesn't want to say anything to his ex-colleagues. He doesn't have to.
Although Don Felder eclipsed waits almost 90 minutes and the lady of his management primarily tries to reduce the agreed interview time, a conversation with the man responsible for the world hit "Hotel California" turns out to be quite amusing. Especially if you do him the favor of concentrating on his third solo album "American Rock 'n' Roll". A work with a concentrated star contingent, on which Felder has worked for almost five years.
eclipsed: Don, your new songs will be accompanied by Sammy Hagar, Slash, Joe Satriani, Bob Weir and Peter Frampton. Are they friends of yours or how did you lure them into the studio?
Don Felder: I didn't force anyone. (laughs) I know most of them from benefit concerts. And when I have a song idea, there's this huge list of people I can ask names of. For the new album, for example, I was with Sammy in San Francisco because I wanted a rock duet. As soon as we had sung a few verses, Joe Satriani marched in to borrow a guitar. I asked him if he wanted to play, and then we set up two marshals and developed some cool parts. Afterwards Bob Weir stood in the door because he was bored. So I let him sing the chorus. None of this was planned, it just happened.
eclipsed: It sounds as adventurous as your youth in Florida, when you gave Tom Petty guitar lessons, learned slide guitar playing from Duane Allman and were in a band with Stephen Stills.
Fields: Yes, and when the Eagles recorded at the Criteria in Miami, where there were five or six studios, it was like this: in one room the Bee Gees worked, in another Chicago and in another Stephen Stills. I run down the hall, a door opens, and it says, "Come in and play with us!" Then I go on and Stills sees me, "What are you doing here?" - and we're jamming till half past three in the morning. We were just friends and open to everything. I have adopted this approach for my album.
eclipsed: The title track seems to be a tribute to this time when everything was much more relaxed and spontaneous.
Fields: It was. And today you just have to come up with something so it doesn't get boring. In the title track, I wanted to catapult the spirit of the Woodstock era into the present. So I started with Mick Fleetwood, and at some point [Red Hot Chilli Peppers drummer] Chad Smith came by and played like the Hulk! The song has evolved through the musicians involved.
