Hopeful Eagles Promoters Getting a Peaceful, Easy Feeling

Can anybody in pop resist $50 million?

That’s the tantalizing question facing the Eagles, who are flying higher than ever following the enormous success of the “Common Thread” tribute album.

It’s the success of that album--which features a dozen country artists performing their versions of Eagles hits--that has concert promoters, radio programmers, record sellers and ticket brokers drooling at the prospect of a reunion tour and/or recording project.

Not only has the album sold more than 2 million copies in three months, but its high profile has also boosted sales of old Eagles albums by more than 20%. Two Eagles albums, including the 14 million-selling “Greatest Hits” package, were among the nation’s top 15 selling catalogue albums last week.

“They could play any size venue, anywhere,” says Irving Azoff, chairman of Giant Records. As Don Henley’s primary adviser and former manager of the group, Azoff would play a major role in any reunion.

“ ‘Common Thread’ has impressed upon them that they’re still a vibrant, important force on the marketplace,” he says. “Everybody’s on speaking terms and I do think they’re awed and a little bit shocked by this success. But there’s nothing officially in discussion right now. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did get back together, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t.”

Even if there’s no confirmation, the “what if” game is in full swing.

“You’d be looking at one of the top tours of the year, no question,” says Susan Rosenbluth, general manager of Nederlander Concerts, which operates the Greek Theatre and books music events for the Anaheim Arena. “You’re looking at multiple nights in arenas at least.”

Radio programmers are equally enthusiastic.

“There’s a tremendous interest,” says Tommy Hadges, president of the Pollack Media Group, a consulting firm whose clients include more than 100 stations worldwide. “The group’s old songs get played steadily on classic rock stations, album rock and adult contemporary, and the country stations have certainly been giving ‘Common Thread’ a lot of airplay.”

Most industry observers point to last year’s Steely Dan reunion, which grossed $8.9 million on a 27-city tour of mostly 6,000-to-15,000-seat amphitheaters, as just the tip of the iceberg that an Eagles reunion would be.

Rumors have circulated for years about a reunion of the Grammy-winning group, which called it quits in 1982 because of various personal and professional differences after virtually defining the California country-rock sound.

Just a couple of years ago, Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit were set to record new songs to be included in a planned box set anthology, with a tour possibly to follow.

But tensions in the always volatile lineup--especially between Henley and Frey, who wrote most of the group’s hits together--put the project on permanent hold.

Relations, however, were good enough last month for Henley, Frey and the others to join in Los Angeles in the video for Travis Tritt’s version of “Take It Easy,” which appears on the “Common Thread” album.

THE GAME PLAN: So how would the reunion work?

Under one scenario, the whole thing might start with an acoustic benefit concert that could yield an “unplugged” video and album.

After all, the Eagles’ strong, melodic songwriting makes the group ideally suited for that format. If all goes well on that first step, a summer tour--including stadiums--could follow. And maybe it’s wishful thinking on record retailers’ and radio programmers’ parts, but there’s even hope that the group would follow that with an album of new Eagles songs.

Azoff acknowledges that a benefit situation is the most likely way to get them back together, given Henley’s and Frey’s high-profile activism.

But he doubts the group would do a stadium tour.

“I would never advise them to go out and do a huge-stadiums ‘greed’ tour. They’re not the kind of guys who would do that. It’s more likely that a charity thing would bring them together than anything else.”