Guitar Hero Charms Locals

Guitar Hero Charms Locals

Topic Author: Tom Lewis

Posted: 8:05 PM Nov 24, 2008

Replies Posted: 0 comments

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     When Bay Medical Foundation announced former Eagles guitarist Don Felder was the featured entertainment for the 23rd annual Gala, I began checking dates and my bank account. Rarely would I have the $200 bucks to attend this type of event (there's always something, like a new set of tires of a transmission to replace on either my wife's, daughter's or my car). But the money became a moot point when I realized the event was on a Friday night in November. For those of you unfamiliar with the A.C. Nielsen Co., local television stations go through 4 month-long rating periods a year. November is one of them. that means all news people have to work, no one gets a night off.
     So I had to resort to plan be, do some kind of news coverage of the Gala, which Bay Medical's Foundation welcomes quite eagerly. I traded e-mails with the nice people at BMF and arranged to do a live interview with Mr. Felder for the Friday night 6:00 newscast. you usually go into these type situations hoping for the best and expecting the worst. When you're dealing with celebrities/entertainers, some are great and some would rather be in a dentist's chair than deal with the media.
    When we arrived at the Bay Point Marriott, Mr. Felder & company were just completing a sound check. Within a few minutes, he was out in the lobby , shaking hands with some of the early arrivals and meeting some of the Bay Medical Center administrators and doctors. Then one of the hospital's media relations staff brought Mr. Felder over and introduced him to me as the local television station that was going to do the interview. I told Mr. Felder we had about 10 minutes before our spot in the newscast, and that he still had some time to shake some more hands. We agreed to regroup about 2 minutes before the live interview.
   At the appointed time Mr. Felder came over and asked, " Okay, what do you want to talk about?"   Now, this was a very loaded question. This man was a part of one of the legendary rock bands of all time. He wrote the music for The Eagles most famous song (Hotel California) and played on the groups most successful and final 2 studio albums (Hotel California & The Long Run) before they called it quits in the early 1980's. when the band reformed in the mid-80's there were issues over money.   Felder stood-up to Don Henley and Glenn Frey and they eventually booted him out of the band (2002) for speaking up. Earlier this year, Felder released a tell-all book about his days with The Eagles called "Heaven and Hell", which was not very complimentary of Frey and Henley (they sued to block its release, then settled out of court).
        Given that type of history, a chance to sit down with a guy like Don Felder would have made a great 1 hour "Behind The Scenes" documentary. But I only had about 2 minutes for the interview, so I told Mr. Felder, "We can talk about whatever you wish. I know you have the new book. We can talk about that. We can talk about what you're going to play tonight."
      Don Felder, gentleman that he is, was extremely accommodating. He said, "yes, we can talk about those things. But don't you think we should talk about why we're here tonight?" i must admit, i probably gave him a puzzled look. But Don Felder didn't hesitate. He began to talk about some of the new surgical equipment Bay Medical had recently purchased, about how the foundation is helping to raise money to build the hospital's new wing and a number of other aspects that made me realize this event wasn't just a paycheck for the former Eagle. I said , "Sure, we can talk about all of that."
       A few minutes later, we were live on the air and Don Felder was as charming and as knowledgeable a recording artist I'd ever spoken to (and I've spoken to a lot of them). As well as he knew the topic, you would have thought he was a hospital spokesperson, not a member of the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Afterward, he graciously signed a few old Eagles Albums (yes vinyl records) for my daughter. Then we packed up our equipment and went back to the television station. But the best was yet to come.
     When Mr. Felder first came into the lobby, I noticed he was signing an electric guitar. I later found out it was a Fender Stratocaster that was to be auctioned off later in the evening. Now, I'm not sure about the numbers, but I heard the guitar went for somewhere between $3,500 - $4,000. That's great for Bay Medical Foundation.   But then, Don Felder located the 2nd and 3rd place bidders and asked them if they'd still like an autographed guitar for the last amount they bid (somewhere around that $3,500 mark). They each supposedly said "yes", so Mr. Felder told hospital officials to send him their names and addresses and he would make sure they received their autographed guitars as well.   Now, obviously, this guy didn't have to day anything except show up, play and collect a check. But he took the time learn about the charity (BMF) and what it means to this community. Then, he went above and beyond the call to, not only make a few more fans/collectors happy, but also raise another $7,000, or so, for the future medical care needs of Northwest Florida.
    I've always been an Eagles fan, and I feel almost certain I'll always love their music. But I can say, without a doubt, I'll always be a Don Felder fan and I'll always be appreciative of the true generosity, character and humanity he showed to this community, and this small town news guy.   Don Felder, you are my Guitar Hero.

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