To the Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles
by Marc Eliot
Da Capo Press, 395 pp., $16.95 (paper)
Originally released in 1998, To The Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles still chronicles the historically laid-back and drug-fueled L.A. band’s story, with the addition of a 24-page postscript that will raise the hair on your neck. That’s after tales of inconceivable substance abuse, girls, sex, girls, and more sex, backstage fistfights, and the continuing accumulation of staggering wealth combined with music-making that maintains surprising popularity today. The update details the unusual, at times comic measures Don Henley went through to try to suppress the hardcover version of Limit – even after its release. It also leaves questions about what’s been compromised in the actual content that precedes it, especially when it’s revealed that Henley, who at first declined participation in the writing of the book, demanded that an inordinate amount of changes be made to the manuscript before publication and to which Eliot acceded. Still, the story’s well told, particularly at the outset, where a fine web is woven to introduce the members of the so-called “Avocado Mafia.” The author is prone to overanalyzing the band’s music and its importance at times, but To The Limit is a page-turner that won’t leave you with a peaceful, easy feeling.
This article appears in May 27 • 2005.