Eagles Rep Slams Beach Boy Mike Love

Once again Beach Boys frontman Mike Love has gotten in trouble by putting his foot in his mouth -- this time while talking about the Eagles. During the group's performance on September 18th at L.A.'s Grammy Museum, Love explained why the Beach Boys reunion tour was coming to an end, and said, "You've got to be careful not to get overexposed. There are promoters who are interested (in more shows by the reunited lineup), but they've said, 'Give it a rest for a year.' The Eagles found out the hard way when they went out for a second year and wound up selling tickets for five dollars."

In a letter sent to the Beach Boys' publicist Jay Jones as well as The Los Angeles Times, the Eagles spokesperson said: "Two things that we know for certain: Mr. Love will never allow the facts get in the way of his ramblings and he will never miss an opportunity to regurgitate his venom. Lest we forget, during his acceptance speech at the Beach Boys' Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, which was ostensibly about the importance of harmony and how the Beach Boys 'love all people,' Mr. Love attacked Paul McCartney and Diana Ross for not being in the room. He then went on to say that 'Mick Jagger has always been (afraid) to get on the stage with the Beach Boys.' Since 1994 when the Eagles reunited, they have performed more than 600 shows worldwide. Neither the band nor its reps are aware of any promoter accusing them of being 'overexposed.' Regarding Mr. Love's statement about Eagles tickets being sold for five dollars, according to our records that did happen on June 21st, 1975, when the band performed at Wembley Stadium with the Beach Boys."

While the Beach Boys were in England performing their two final shows of their 50th anniversary tour, Jay Jones fired off an apology on behalf of Love -- which was also copied to The Times: "Please accept my apologies on behalf of my client if you or your client found Mr. Love's comments offensive. That was certainly not his intent I'm sure, if anything his comments were more flippant than venomous. I'm know my client has nothing but the highest artistic and professional regard for the Eagles both as a group and individually. In fact, I do recall him commenting on how much he enjoyed visiting with Joe Walsh backstage at the Grammys this year, as well as their friendship of many years. I do regret to hear your personal contempt for my client. Mr. Love is currently in the United Kingdom preparing for this week's show at Wembley Arena and Royal Albert Hall and as such I have not had the opportunity to share your expressed concerns with him, but in the interest of a swift response I wanted to offer this letter in a conciliatory spirit."
Jones went on to say that Love sent care packages to the Eagles' management for all the members out of respect.

Throughout the years, co-founding Beach Boys guitarist David Marks has stayed a favorite of fans of the band's early days and has never been bashful about sticking up for Mike Love -- even when it's been far from in vogue. A while back, Marks told us that fans who insist on portraying Love as a villain in the Beach Boys' story have got it all wrong: "Every human being is complex. You can't just pin an image on somebody. That's just ignorant and shallow. He is complex, there's a lot to him. Brian (Wilson) -- people don't even understand Brian like they think they do. Y'know you can't just say, 'I've seen this guy's picture a million times, I've heard him speak and make an ass of himself a couple of times, and he hates Brian Wilson' -- which is ridiculous (laughs)."