2011 STARS Hall of Fame

Timothy B. Schmit

Timothy Bruce Schmit was born October 30, 1947 in Oakland, California. In his early years, Timothy’s father (musician Danny Schmit) was frequently away. This issue was resolved when Timothy’s parents purchased a trailer and the whole family joined Schmit senior on the road! After two years of traveling, the family settled in Sacramento, California.

Timothy first showed his enthusiasm for the arts at a young age, taking tap dance lessons as a child. Timothy was also a talented gymnast with his specialty being the parallel bars. At the age of 15, Tim created a folk trio named Tim, Tom and Ron with his two of his friends. The next year the band added a drummer, switched to surf music and took the name the Contenders.

As the British invasion hit, the band changed directions AGAIN! This time they were singing a more Beatles-style of music and changed their name to The New Breed. In 1965 the band put out a single “Green Eyed Woman”, which was actually relatively successful. The New Breed proceeded to record an album's worth of material but it didn’t get released until 1985 due to difficulties with their label. However, they did record and release two more singles: “Fine With Me” and “The Sound of Music”.

During this time Timothy was also going to school, studying psychology at American River College and Sacramento State College. He soon left school to pursue his musical endeavors full time. In the late 60’s the band found a new label and changed their name once more. Now under the moniker of Glad, Timothy and his bandmates set about recording an album. This was not an easy task, as the boys had very little creative control over the album.

After many stops and starts (including one point where Timothy walked away for a short while), the album Feelin’ Glad was completed. This would be Timothy’s last effort with this particular band. In 1968 while recording the Feelin’ Glad LP, Timothy was invited to audition for the bass guitarist spot in the new band Poco (then known as Pogo). However, Randy Meisner was chosen instead of Timothy. Within a year, Randy had departed to join the Eagles and Tim auditioned again, becoming a member of Poco in 1969.

During those early years with Poco, young Timothy married a woman named Noreen and in 1971 they had a child, Jeddrah (who would later become a recording artist in her own right). Unfortunately, Timothy and his first wife would separate in the mid 70’s.

In the span of seven years, Timothy and the other members of Poco released 11 albums. Poco was always the band that never made it, the band that should have been more. They watched many of their contemporaries, who formed bands after them, surpass them on the road to success. They were a fantastic band and put on a good concert, but never seemed to have that breakthrough of a record that made people take notice. Throughout the years that Timothy was in the band, there were many personnel changes and with each personnel change Timothy became more of a leader within the band.

This continued until September of 1977 when, in a twist a fate, Glenn Frey called and asked Timothy to replace Randy Meisner once more. Timothy was extremely enthusiastic and joined the Eagles soon after. After joining the Eagles, Timothy toured with the band. He performed the catchy Keep on Tryin’, a Poco classic, every night. Soon after, the band started work on the album The Long Run. Timothy co-authored one song on the album with Glenn Frey and Don Henley called "I Can't Tell You Why. “ It was a song that Tim had begun before he joined the Eagles. This was the first song on the album to be completed and peaked at #8 on the charts.

Once The Long Run album was released, Timothy and the Eagles again toured extensively to support the album. Yet trouble was brewing in the land of Eagles. Timothy, being a veteran of many bands, believed the squabbling was just regular band tension. It was much more than that, however, as the hostilities and tensions between the other members of the Eagles had grown to an unbearable level. After difficult sessions completing their Live album, it was officially announced in 1982 that the Eagles were no more.

Through all this turmoil and uncertainty, Timothy had the support of a very special lady: Jean, whom he had been seeing for a number of years. They married in 1983 and welcomed their first child, a daughter Owen Faye, in 1984. In 1991 Timothy and Jean became parents once more, as they welcomed a healthy son, Ben, to their family. After the Eagles disbanded, Timothy turned his attention to session work, singing with such greats as Crosby Stills and Nash, Toto and touring with Jimmy Buffet and Warren Zevon.

In 1982 Timothy performed "So Much In Love” on the Fast Times at Ridgemont High soundtrack. Finally, in 1983, Timothy began to record his first solo album and Playing it Cool was released in 1984. The album had a broad variety of songs from pop to R&B to light jazz. One song on the album “Voices” is rather unique as it is almost completely acapella and all of the voices are Timothy’s. In 1987, Timothy released his second solo effort. Timothy B was an album with a much harder edge to it. With a definite R&B flavor, Timothy's album was obviously saying ‘hey, I am MORE than just an ex-Eagle!’ The first single “Boys Night Out” was the biggest hit from the album, making it to #26 on the charts and remaining on the charts for 6 weeks.

Later that year, Timothy appeared with another ex-eagle (and the man he has replaced twice!) Randy Meisner at a Richard Marxx concert. The three of them performed the Eagles classic “Take it to the Limit” to rave reviews. There was some talk of an Eagles reunion in 1990, but for various reasons, this reunion never occurred. Thus, Timothy once again turned to his solo endeavors, releasing yet another album: Tell Me the Truth. As with his first album, this album featured a variety of styles. Perhaps the most noteworthy song was “For the Children”, an almost gospel sounding song featuring a children’s choir including Timothy's two daughters Jeddrah and Owen Faye and Joe Walsh's daughter Lucy.

In 1992, Timothy joined Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band touring the globe. On the Ringo tour, Timothy performed “I Can’t Tell You Why” and “Keep on Tryin”. The next year Common Thread, a tribute album to the Eagles, was produced. This album would prove to be a very important part of Eagles history. Timothy happened to be in Nashville when Vince Gill was recording a remake of “I Can’t Tell You Why” for the album. Vince invited Timothy to join him in the studio to sing background vocals on the song. Later, Vince and Timothy would also appear at a Nashville benefit together and perform an “I Can’t Tell You Why” duet. In January of 1994, Travis Tritt wanted to make a music video for his cover of “Take it Easy” from Common Thread and requested that the Eagles participate. Timothy and the rest of the band agreed and for the first time in 14 years all five Eagles were jamming as one! It was a very special day filled with jokes, singing, laughter and FUN! Now the wheels were truly moving on an Eagles reunion, and fast!

In April of 1994 the band performed two shows where Timothy sang a new song “Love Will Keep Us Alive”. The Eagles soon began to tour in earnest. The “Hell Freezes Over” tour was only supposed to last for six months but due to demand was extended to two and a half years! In mid-1996, the tour ended and Timothy said goodbye to his bandmates, believing that was the end of the Eagles. However, Timothy had long since learned to never say never…

In 1998, it was announced that the Eagles would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and would perform at the ceremony. The amazing news from this was that all seven Eagles, past and present, would perform together onstage for the first time! It was an amazing night highlighted by Timothy’s speech where he noted that “I was not in the trenches with this particular band, so thank you to my predecessor Randy Meisner for being there and paving the way for me to be here tonight with him here beside me.” It was a very touching moment. Later in the show, the Eagles performed “Hotel California” and “Take It Easy” with both Timothy and Randy singing the harmony with Glenn. After a short series of millennium concerts, the Eagles began touring again in 2001.

Timothy also released his first solo album in eleven years. Feed the Fire was released on Timothy’s own Lucan record label and had been recorded at his home studio. The CD features many great songs and shows definite growth in Timothy as a songwriter and musician. The highlights of this CD are “The Shadow”, a song that features an acoustic guitar solo by Timothy at the beginning (you can even hear Timothy’s fingers on the strings if you listen carefully) and “Top of the Stairs”, an acapella song where all vocals are Timothy’s. A quite poignant song on Timothy’s CD is “Song for Owen”, a song he wrote to his 17-year-old daughter which speaks about the difficulties and fears of being a parent to a teenager.

Timothy and the Eagles continued touring all the way through to 2006, naming the tour tour Farewell 1 in 2003. While many fans worried that this meant it was their final tour, it was actually a tongue-in-cheek joke. In 2004, the band recorded a concert in Melbourne, Australia. The Farewell 1 DVD was released in 2005 and fans got the full three-hour Eagles concert experience from the comfort of their living rooms. Timothy did much of the promoting for this DVD, traveling for interviews and speaking engagements with his family. In 2007, the Eagles finally released their new album called Long Road out of Eden. Timothy sang lead vocal on two songs: “Do Something” and “I Don’t Want to Hear Any More”. He also had co-writing credits on two others.

The Eagles soon headed out on the road for a concert tour to promote the album. With songs from Long Road Out of Eden being added to the set, many felt that Timothy would lose one of his older songs in favor of a song off the latest album; however, the Eagles had other ideas and simply added “I Don’t Want to Hear Any More." During breaks in his Eagles touring schedule, Timothy had been working diligently on a new solo album. Finally, Timothy’s new CD Expando was released on October 20, 2009. This CD features eleven songs, all of them written by Timothy. They showcase his first love: folk music. Also for the first time EVER it was announced that Timothy would be doing some small solo shows in Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago and New York City. These certainly were some very special nights! Timothy is a very fan friendly individual.

With his sweet, calm, caring demeanor he always manages to make a fan feel special. Whether it is at an Eagles or solo concert, a meet and greet or through his website, Timothy always takes the time to go the extra mile to connect with his fans. And whether Timothy is singing to crowds of twenty thousand or to crowds of a hundred, one thing is for certain: he loves to create music and is extremely grateful for all of his good fortune.

www.timothybschmitonline.com