Bernie Leadon Reflects on His “Funky” Legacy With the Eagles and Failed Attempt To Reconnect With Glenn Frey

Before Bernie Leadon joined the Eagles, he spent years in the country and folk space honing his craft. He played in Dillard & Clark before joining The Flying Burrito Brothers. His time in the country and folk space did much to inform his playing style. As a result, he helped shape the sound of the early Eagles albums. Additionally, he co-wrote classics like “Witchy Woman,” “Take It Easy,” and ”Peaceful Easy Feeling.” However, much of his legacy with the band has been boiled down to the time he poured a beer over Glenn Frey’s head before quitting.

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Earlier this year, Leadon spoke to Rock History Music about his time with the Eagles and his other musical projects. During their conversation, he reflected on his “funky” legacy with the band and how he made amends with Frey.

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“I poured the beer on Glenn’s head during a band meeting in 1975 and agreed to leave,” he recalled. “I said ‘Let’s do good shows to prove how good we can do them and I’ll be gone.’ I didn’t realize pouring the beer on his head was going to be this giant thing in social media essentially, too,” he added.

“One time after Wikipedia was established, I looked at my own entry and it basically said, ‘Bernie Leadon left the band because he poured a beer on Glenn Frey’s head.’ I thought ‘Well, that’s kind of a funky legacy on Wikipedia.’ They don’t talk about my guitar playing. They just talk about me pouring a beer on Glenn’s head.”

Making Things Right

Later, Bernie Leadon decided to stop drinking and go into recovery. “When you do recovery work, one of the things you do is you realize who you harmed and you make amends to them. So, I realized I had to make amends to Glenn,” Leadon explained.

He tried to reach out to his former bandmate but Frey had no interest in speaking to him. So, he sent a registered letter containing an apology to Frey’s office. Unfortunately, Frey didn’t respond. Then, Leadon received a request to take part in a documentary about the band.

In the documentary, Leadon was asked about the incident. “I said, ‘Well, I made an amends to him. I regret it,’ and so forth. I said it wasn’t a cool thing to do and I regret it,” he recalled.

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