HOLLYWOOD -- Eagles guru Don Henley says the legendary California country-rock band may Take It To The Limit -- musically speaking -- one more time.
And he emphasizes the word may.
"We may and we may not -- as usual," said Henley, 52, during a break yesterday from rehearsing for his own upcoming solo tour which visits the Molson Amphitheatre on June 11.
"We started discussing it last spring, about a year ago, and we actually went into the recording studio last summer and cut a few things. None of which, in my opinion, are good enough to use on a record at this point. They were mostly covers of other people's songs, not well-known songs, but songs that we had found."
From that point, Henley -- the group's drummer and main singer-songwriter alongside guitarist Glenn Frey -- said they actually started working on new material.
"I think they're maybe half-a-dozen things in various stages of completion and whether they'll meet our individual standards when they get completed, I can't tell you," he said. "I know, as we sit here today, there's some disagreement about production values, about song quality. There are some things that have to be worked out before we can continue with that project. In the meantime, I'm quite content to do my own thing. So The Eagles thing, as always, is up in the air and remains to be seen."
The Eagles, who reunited in 1994 for the hugely successful Hell Freezes Over tour, recorded their last studio album of original material with 1979's The Long Run before breaking up a year later.
They still hold the record for the best-selling album in the U.S. with 26 million copies sold of The Eagles Greatest Hits, 1971-1975.
Henley said the fact that they were back in the studio at all doesn't necessarily mean the reunion went smoothly.
"Relations were up and down on that tour," he says. "There were moments of great joy and contentment and there were moments of animosity and dissatisfaction and resentment, you know just like life. I don't know what it means in terms of that. I guess it means that enough time had elapsed that we were able to put that all behind us and go into the studio.
"There's always tension," Henley continued. "And I think it's completely unnecessary and I think a lot of it is self-created, speaking in terms of other band members. I've always said, and I'll say it again, that it could be a hell of a lot easier than it is for The Eagles to get together and work. But there are still ghosts from the past that rear their ugly heads that make things unpleasant, so I have no idea about the future."
For now, Henley is concentrating on his solo career with the May 23 release of his first album in 11 years, Inside Job, which he co-produced with former Heartbreaker Stan Lynch. Henley's last solo album was 1989's Grammy-winning The End Of The Innocence.
Interestingly, the new record features guest appearances by Frey and fellow Eagle Don Felder, along with Stevie Wonder and Randy Newman.
"I'm looking forward to the release of this album on May 23," said Henley. "I'm also looking forward to touring behind it because I have a much better time on my solo tours than I have on Eagles tours."
Since The End Of The Innocence, Henley has gotten married, had three chidren, relocated from California to his native Texas and been heavily involved in environmental concerns, including founding the Walden Woods project. He doesn't, however, have any special plans to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Earth Day tomorrow.
"I have plans to put my belongings in boxes because I'm moving out of the house that I've been renting for two years here in California, while I've been working on this record," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, every day is Earth Day."
