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NEW YORK (AP) — The Eagles’ manager once told his authorized biographer that his book would not be published because of friction from “a spoiled rock star,” according to a recording played in court Thursday.
“It will come out when God Henley says he can.” Irving Azoff he said in the phone call the same year, apparently referring to the band’s co-founder, Don Henley. “Now it’s God’s turn.”
The recording emerged in the prison. judgment of three collectibles experts accused of conspiring to keep and sell sheets of draft handwritten lyrics to the mega-hit “Hotel California” and other Eagles favorites.
The biographer, Ed Sanders, is not charged in the case, but is taken into account because he sold the approximately 100 pages to one of the defendants. Henley and prosecutors maintain the documents were stolen, saying Sanders obtained them from Henley’s home to research the book and was obligated to return them to the Eagles.
Defendants Edward Kosinski, Craig Inciardi and Glenn Horowitz have pleaded not guilty.
The never-published book is a supporting player in the legal case. But testimony about the book has shed light on the interpersonal dynamics and reputational goals of the Eagles around the time of the group’s dissolution in 1980.
And Thursday offered a behind-the-scenes look at the music business and the veteran manager whom Henley once called – affectionately – “our Satan.”
Azoff has been the personal manager of the Eagles, one of the most successful bands in rock history, since approximately 1973. He has managed many other well-known musicians, produced the classic 1982 teen comedy “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and was CEO of Ticketmaster for a time.
In 1979, as the Eagles were closing out the decade that brought them stardom, they hired Sanders to write a biography. The writer, who also co-founded the 1960s counterculture rock band Fugs, was the author of a prominent book about murderous cult leader Charles Manson.
azof testified Wednesday that when Sanders handed over the Eagles manuscript in the early 1980s, Henley and Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey were “very disappointed.” Azoff said he found the draft’s discussion of the Eagles’ breakup “unacceptable” and that the band never authorized publication because the book “wasn’t very good.”
“To me, it didn’t capture the essence of the joy of the story,” Azoff added on the witness stand Thursday, explaining about the Eagles “chasing the American dream and how important they were in establishing Southern California as a mecca of music.”
“Someone else might have thought it was very good,” he said, but “we didn’t think it was good for the Eagles.”
Then one of Kosinski’s lawyers played a recording of Azoff proclaiming that he was “phenomenally and absolutely happy” with the book.
The recording, of a call between Azoff and Sanders, was undated but apparently dated to the 1980s. The defense said the writer recorded it.
At other points in the call, Azoff indicated that Frey had no problem with the manuscript and that “deals are done,” but there was still a hurdle.
“Ed, you’ve been wonderful. The book is coming out, but here I have a spoiled rock star,” Azoff said.
When asked on the stand who the “spoiled rock star” was, Azoff said, “Probably everyone.”
“Would you agree that you told Mr. Sanders that the book was going to come out when ‘God Henley’ said yes?” attorney Scott Edelman asked at another point.
“It was either me or Satan who told him that,” Azoff joked.
Henley said in the Eagles’ 1998 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction speech that Azoff “may be Satan, but he’s our Satan.” When asked during testimony Wednesday about the comment, Azoff responded: “Have you ever heard of humor, sir? “
Despite the recorded phone call, Azoff said Thursday that he could not remember any publishing deal for the Eagles biography, and said years of rewriting never produced a book the band was willing to approve.
“There were a lot of position changes, but at the end of the day, I think it was Mr. Frey who pulled the plug,” the manager said. frey died in 2016.
Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinski are accused of misleading auction houses and trying to fend off Henley by crafting false explanations for how Sanders obtained the documents.
Horowitz, a rare books dealer who has negotiated agreements to place important files in institutions, he bought draft Eagles lyrics from Sanders for $50,000 in 2005.
Horowitz later sold them for $65,000 to Inciardi, who was then curator of the Rock Hall of Fame, and Kosinski, owner of a rock memorabilia auction site.
After Kosinski’s site offered four pages of “Hotel California” lyrics in 2012, Henley reported them stolen but ultimately purchased them for $8,500. After more sheet music of that song and “Life in the Fast Lane” were auctioned in 2014 and 2016, Henley refused to negotiate more buybacks and went to authorities again, according to prosecutors and Azoff.
Defense attorneys say Henley gave the documents to Sanders. The defense argues that the writer was the rightful owner when he sold them, as were the defendants once they purchased the pages.
Sanders has not testified and appears unlikely to do so. He did not respond to a message seeking comment on the case and emails sent to him were returned.