QUILLBLOG

What happens in the Hotel California stays in the Hotel California

Entertainment Weekly has some tragic news for all you Eagles fans out there: a completed memoir by one of the band’s former guitarists, Don Felder, has been scuttled at the last minute by publisher Hyperion. The book – entitled Heaven and Hell – was originally scheduled to hit bookstores in the U.S. and Canada on Oct. 1, but has now been permanently cancelled for “legal reasons.”

The precise nature of those ”issues” is unclear, but certainly, the advance copy of the book distributed to reviewers by Hyperion does not stint on depictions of ’70s-era debauchery. Indeed, from the very opening paragraph we find Felder, who joined the band in 1974 and actually co-wrote ”Hotel California,” reminiscing about hitting the stage for a show with ”white powder rings around my nostrils.” Later, he recalls witnessing ”the barrage of p—y” that was offered up to the band.

But c’mon, how could Felder’s book possibly be any more scandalous than a million other coke-and-p—y rock biographies? Going by the rest of the EW article, it sounds as if the problem was not with the tales of partying, but with Felder’s whinging about finances . (Apparently, Felder spends a lot of the book slamming his former bandmates for allegedly cheating him out of a large chunk of the band’s profits.) EW also points out that the band has a new studio album – their first in 28 years – due out on Oct. 30, and that “the band may not have relished having to discuss Felder’s book during interviews.”