Eagles legend Don Felder shares the “sensitivity” with which he played alongside Joe Walsh

For almost 30 years, Don Felder shared the stage with the famous rock band Eagles. Thanks to his contributions to the band, the guitarist landed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. And in 2016, Felder was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. While he was fired by the Eagles and filed multiple lawsuits against the band, Felder recently remembered what it was like to play with another legendary guitarist, Joe Walsh.

Although his time with the Eagles didn’t end the way he expected, Felder still remembered the highlights of his time with the band. Performing around the world, the musician explained a rule that most guitarists followed. “Someone would be playing and you step back and give them that time. And then they step back and give you the opportunity to take a step forward. Then someone starts going up with their solo, and you go down and play in a lower octave to support them. And then it goes all over the place on the way up and down and back. They’re just things you can’t necessarily teach someone. It’s more of a feeling.”

Exposing the unspoken rule among guitarists, Felder turned to Walsh. “Joe and I found it very, very enjoyable to be able to jam together, whether it was with the Eagles or before he joined the Eagles or on Joe Walsh and Friends videos and stuff like that. We could just do it instinctively by having a sense of how another person plays and knowing when to play and when not to play, when to be a supporting character and when to jump in and be a main character.”

(RELATED: The Regrets Don Felder Has About His Time With the Eagles)

Don Felder also praised Styx’s Tommy Shaw

Rather than seeing the moment as competition or trying to hog the spotlight, Walsh and Felder discovered the perfect groove. “We had enough grace to allow the other person to take the step forward and hold our hands along the way. It was never an “I’m better than you.” It was never an ego competition at all. It was just a fun challenge to have Joe play a lick and then be like, “Damn, I can beat that.” And I play something and then he takes a step back and then he comes in like a bull.”

Aside from Felder praising Walsh, the musician also acknowledged the talents of Tommy Shaw. When talking about how Shaw could play, write and sing, Felder emphasized, “Tommy is just a monster. And the fact that he has the skill and talent on the guitar and can play and sing all those solos at the end of the harmonies and everything (is impressive).”

(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for LOVE ROCKS NYC/God’s Love We Deliver)