“Extortion” of the legendary Hotel California manuscripts tried in New York

The leader of the rock group Eagles, Don Henley, presented himself as the victim of "extortion" Monday at the trial in New York of three men accused of having sought to sell a hundred stolen pages of handwritten notes of the album Hotel California (1976).

His scribbled pages, appearing in large notebooks, were “the product of our work”, “the stupid things we wrote” before arriving at the final work like the global hit Hotel California, declared, to the witness stand, the founder, singer and drummer of Eagles, currently in the middle of a farewell world tour. “They were not intended to be seen” and “I still won’t show them today,” added the 76-year-old musician, suit and tie, white hair. In front of him, three men, who gravitate in the world of collectors, are seated on the dock: Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski appear for criminal possession of stolen goods, Glenn Horowitz for attempt. All have pleaded not guilty and refute any illegal action, saying they legally acquired the disputed pages.

Also read: Forty years after the theft, the Hotel California manuscript case goes to court

Hotel California by Les Eagles in 1976

The case dates back to the end of the 1970s, when an author, hired by the Californian rock group to write his biography, was entrusted with the notes, which he never returned. Don Henley sees it as theft. Not the defense, which emphasizes that the author is not being prosecuted at trial. According to Manhattan prosecutors, the author eventually sold the pages in 2005 to Glenn Horowitz, a rare book dealer, who then sold them to Craig Inciardi and Edward Kosinski.

Years after the separation of the group - which has since reformed - the musician saw a few pages return to the internet, for the first time in 2012. After contacting his lawyer, and "a few back and forths", he ended up acquire them himself, for $8,500, because it was the “most effective” and “practical” way to “repurchase what belonged to me.” Other pages will resurface during the following years, during auctions, notably a lot of thirteen pages, written by hand for the song Hotel California. “I had already been extorted once,” said Don Henley, who in 2016 turned to the Manhattan prosecutor's office, which initiated proceedings. The trial takes place over several days.