Even though it's come out that it wasn't actually Don Henley who's going after Frank Ocean (no, it's his label Warner Brothers), I still think Don Henley is a dick. I have never liked the guy or The Eagles, and after I heard about his recent alleged antics with regards to Frank Ocean I totally believed them because they conformed perfectly with my long held low opinion of this rock legend. I'm not even particularly fond of the song in question (or it's hamfisted use of "Hotel California"), Ocean's "American Wedding" off of his self released free download debut album Nostalgia, Ultra, but if I had to choose sides between Don Henley and The Eagles over Frank Ocean, I'd have to go with Frank Ocean.
You see, The Eagles are a pox upon me, and have been so seemingly me entire life. Every time I hear "Hotel California" it's like my ears automatically switch to the AM band, complete with that mild discomfiting buzzing you get on the AM dial. I've never dug the Eagles. In fact, when I was in high school and college I was militantly anti Eagles. If memory serves, I think it was Don Henley bumped the R.E.M./U2 supergroup from being the show closer at a 1992 Rock the Vote blowout, and if memory serves that also really pissed me off. So yeah, allegations of heavy handedness from the great Don Henley rang totally true to me whether they ended up being true or not because in the end, Don Henley is a total dick. I think the Dude sums it up best:
Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
to be fair, I would've never heard of Frank Ocean if it weren't for this debacle.
So the lesson is:
-rip off a song without permission
-give away song for nothing
-endure the ever weakening strongarm from a record label
-profit
I remember taking guitar lessons when I was in high school. My teacher was an Eagles fan and the first song I had to learn was "Hotel California." I learned "Lucky" by Radiohead instead.
In your teacher's face!