Don Henley: Album promotion, political commotion

May 29, 2000
Web posted at: 5:09 p.m. EDT (2109 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Ex-Eagle Don Henley is clashing with lawmakers over new copyright laws as he promotes his new latest release "Inside Job."

Henley has lambasted Congress for quietly enacting a provision in the copyright law that would give record companies -- not artists -- permanent ownership of recordings.

Musician Sheryl Crow testified against the provision on Thursday, but Henley couldn't make the session because he was busy with a live TV special promoting "Inside Job" (Warner Bros. Records).

Congressman Howard Coble, a Republican from North Carolina, suggested that Henley's absence indicated his priorities.

Henley called his remarks "hateful and petty rhetoric."

CNN's Jim Moret talked with Henley at a launch party for his new album before the flare-up. And even then, he had political subjects on his mind.

CNN: You point out the tyranny of multinational corporations, and how they're stripping individuals of rights and dignity and so forth.

HENLEY: Particularly media corporations.

CNN: Thank you.

HENLEY: You're welcome.

CNN: But you're a part of that.

HENLEY: I am -- hopefully not for too much longer.

CNN: You've always had an edge to your music, and this ("Inside Job") continues that in many of your songs. The direction seems to be shifting ever so slightly.

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Don Henley performs "Workin' It" 2.5Mb MP3 or 365k WAV sound
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HENLEY: My primary concern is still the environment, with the Walden Woods project and various other projects. But there's more of a balance in my life now. I have a refuge in my home and my family.

In what I consider to be a completely illogical world, I find a great deal of comfort and solace in my wife and in my children. My children bring me back down to earth and seeing the world through their eyes is a wonderful thing. You notice the little things that adults tend to forget and to overlook.

CNN: Eleven years is a long time between solo albums. ("The End Of The Innocence," 1989; Geffen) You've had a lot happen to you since then, obviously. How is your music different today?

HENLEY: Well, I'd like to think it's more mature; it's more focused. I'd like to think that the songwriting is more concise and better crafted. I think there's more of a balance in the music.

CNN: You are a rock artist. You sing ballads. But your music, in some senses, is a lot like folk music in that the words are extremely important. You do try to tell a story.

HENLEY: Lyrics are important to me. I have always loved language. I love words; I love reading; I collect books. I like information -- although there's a little bit too much of it these days. It's hard to absorb it all.

Songwriting is something I revere and I respect. And I think the art, or the craft is not doing very well these days. I hear a lot of stuff on the radio that in my opinion is pretty sloppy stuff.

CNN: What's this tour going to be like for you?

HENLEY: I enjoy touring -- touring is about touring. It's about the show, it's about the music. I conduct business in between times. I set up an office in every hotel room that I'm in. I have the fax machine and the phone, and I do business all day. And then at night, we do the gig, and I go to bed. It's pretty boring except for the show part.

Warner Bros. Records is a division of Time Warner, which also owns CNN Interactive

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Warner Bros. Records: Don Henley

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