EAGLES LYRICS CASE HEADS TO COURT

The unusual case of who is the rightful owner of a collection of handwritten, early versions of lyrics to Eagles songs including “Hotel California” goes to trial in New York today (2/21).

Rare-book dealer Glenn Horowitz, former Rock & Roll Hall of Fame curator Craig Inciardi and memorabilia seller Edward Kosinski have pled not guilty to charges of conspiracy to possess stolen property and conspiring to sell manuscripts without the right to do so.

The trio says they acquired the 80-plus pages, which include lyrics to “Life in the Fast Lane” and “New Kid in Town,” from a writer who had worked with the Eagles. Don Henley, who is expected to testify, says they were stolen.

Ed Sanders, writer and co-founder of The Fugs, initially said he acquired the pages while working on an Eagles biography that was never published. He sold the pages to Horowitz, who then sold them to Inciardi and Kosinski, who offered some pages at an auction in 2012.

That caught Henley’s attention and before you knew it there were multiple stories about how Sanders acquired the lyrics. The question of ownership led to Sotheby’s withdrawing the “Hotel California” lyrics from a 2016 auction.

The defendants have been instructed to bring their alibis.