For nearly 30 years, Don Felder found himself sharing the stage with the famous rock band Eagles. Thanks to his contributions to the band, the guitarist watched as he ended up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. And in 2016, Felder was added to the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. While being fired from the Eagles and hurling several lawsuits at the band, Felder recently remembered what it was like to play with another legendary guitarist Joe Walsh.
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Although his time with the Eagles didn’t end as he expected, Felder still remembered the high points of being with the band. Performing all over the world, the musician explained a rule that most guitarists kept. “Somebody would be playing, and you step back and give them that period. And then they step back and give you an opportunity to step forward. Then somebody starts climbing up in their solo, and you go down below and play in a lower octave to support them. And then you crisscross on the way up and the way down and coming back. It’s just things you can’t necessarily teach somebody how to do. It’s more of a feel.”
Revealing the unspoken rule among guitarists, Felder turned in attention to Walsh. “Joe and I really felt that very, very comfortably to be able to jam together, whether it was in the Eagles or before he joined the Eagles or on Joe Walsh and Friends videos and stuff like that. We just instinctually were able to do that by having just the sensitivity of how another person plays and knowing when to play and when not to play, when to be a support character and when to step in and be a lead character.”
[RELATED: The Regret Don Felder Has About His Time With the Eagles]
Don Felder Also Praised Tommy Shaw Of Styx
Not seeing the moment as a competition or trying to take the spotlight, Walsh and Felder discovered the perfect groove. “We had enough grace to allow the other person to take the lead step and to hold hands going through it. It was never a, ‘I’m better than you.’ It was never an ego competition at all. It was just a fun challenge to have Joe play a lick and then, ‘Hell, I can beat that.’ And I play something and then he takes a step back and then he comes in like a bull.”
Outside of Felder praising Walsh, the musician also celebrated the talents of Tommy Shaw. Discussing how Shaw could play, write, and sing, Felder insisted, “Tommy is just a monster at that. And for him to be able to have the guitar dexterity and talent, to be able to play all those solos on the end of the harmonies and everything, and be able to sing [is impressive].”
(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for LOVE ROCKS NYC/God’s Love We Deliver )
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