An unusual criminal case over handwritten lyrics to ‘Hotel California’ goes to trial Wednesday
NEW YORK — A curious criminal case involving handwritten lyrics to the classic rock megahit “Hotel California” and other Eagles favorites goes to trial in a New York courtroom, with opening statements set for Wednesday.
The three defendants, all well established in the world of collectibles, are accused of plotting to thwart Eagles co-founder Don Henley’s efforts to recover the allegedly ill-gotten documents.
The sample includes more than 80 pages of drafts of the words to songs from the album “Hotel California,” the 1976 release that is today the third best-selling disc of all time in the US.
Rare book dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and several other charges. Their lawyers have said the case “alleges criminality where none exists and unfairly tarnishes the reputations of respected professionals.”
The documents contain lyrics in development for ‘Life in the Fast Lane’, ‘New Kid in Town’ and of course ‘Hotel California’, the six-minute, somewhat mysterious musical story about the ins and outs of the film. in an inviting, decadent but ultimately dark place where “you can check out whenever you want, but you can never leave.”
Though scorned by some as an overexposed artifact of the ’70s, the Grammy-winning song is still a touchstone on classic rock radio and on many personal playlists. The entertainment data company Luminate counted more than 220 million streams and 136,000 radio plays of “Hotel California” in the US last year.
The case was brought in 2022, a decade after some pages went up for auction and Henley noticed – and took offense. He bought back some of the materials for $8,500, but also reported the documents as stolen, according to court documents.
At the time, the text sheets were in the hands of Kosinski and Inciardi, who had purchased them from Horowitz. He had purchased them in 2005 from Ed Sanders, a writer and 1960s counterculture figure who worked with the Eagles on a band biography that was shelved in the early ’80s.
Sanders, who also co-founded the avant-garde rock group The Fugs, has not been charged in the case and did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Sanders told Horowitz in 2005 that Henley’s assistant had sent all the documents he wanted for the biography, although the writer worried that Henley “might be upset” if they were sold, according to emails detailed in the indictment mention.
But when Henley’s lawyers started asking questions, Horowitz, Inciardi and Kosinski began maneuvering to spread a legally viable ownership history for the manuscripts, Manhattan prosecutors say.
According to the indictment, Inciardi and Horowitz presented evolving stories about how Sanders obtained the documents. The statements varied over the next five years, from Sanders finding them abandoned in a backstage dressing room to the writer she was given by Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey, who died in 2016.
Emails show some input and agreement from Sanders, but he also apparently objected to the backstage recovery story. In messages where he was not included, Horowitz wrote about turning Sanders’ “statement” into a communications message, and about giving him “gentle treatment” and assurances “that he will not leave,” the release said. indictment.
The defendants’ lawyers have said Sanders was legally in possession of the documents, and so were the men who bought them from him. Defense attorneys have indicated they plan to question how clearly Henley remembers his interactions with Sanders and the song’s lyrics at a time when the rock star himself was living a fast-paced life.
The defendants decided last week to forgo a jury, so Judge Curtis Farber will decide the verdict.