Earnest and sanctimonious.

Humorless and smug.

Arrogant and self-satisfied.

When it comes to Don Henley, critics have used those words - and worse - to describe the veteran musician, both as a solo artist-cum-social-activist and as one of the driving forces in the Eagles, the top-selling band that he co-founded in 1971.

"While I might take my work seriously, I try not to take myself too seriously," said the 52-year-old Texas native, before a concert in San Diego in support of his first solo album in 11 years.

In that case, would Henley care to share a favorite joke?

Twenty seconds passed with no reply.

Well, then, how about a joke that can be told in a family newspaper?

"Well, no," he replied.

Henley might not be quick with a joke, but he does have a favorite personal anecdote, which he shared during a recent phone interview from Los Angeles.

"Several writers I`ve spoken to have commented on the song `My Thanksgiving` from my new album, and about my apparent sense of gratitude for my life in its lyrics," he said.

"And I`ve replied this way: `I am never more grateful than on occasional late-night visits to my 24-hour supermarket. You just haven`t lived until you`ve stood in the refrigerated foods section, staring at the frozen peas, while the (orchestral) strings of the Muzak version of `Desperado` waft through the aisles.` "

A better sport than he is usually given credit for, Henley sat in on drums with Guns N` Roses at the 1989 American Music Awards. He was invited to do so by the band`s lead singer (and now sole remaining original member), Axl W. Rose, who savored the visual and musical disparity between his leather-clad band of rock rebels and their urbane-looking guest drummer.

"Axl had performed on one of my records, and he called me up," said Henley, who performed at the telecast on "Patience," a song from the "G N` R Lies" live album.

"He thought it would be a great, shocking thing to (play live) with me. I think their drummer was in rehab at the time."

Henley also demonstrated his rarely publicized sense of humor when he joined erstwhile musical satirist Mojo Nixon for a song at an Austin nightclub in 1992.

That song, performed at Henley`s request, was Nixon`s uproarious "Don Henley Must Die," which contains such cutting couplets as: You and your kind are killing rock `n` roll / It`s not because you`re O-L-D, it`s because you ain`t got not soul / Don`t be afraid of fun, loosen up your ponytail / Be wild, young, free and dumb, get your head out of your tail. ...

Nixon, who was understandably stunned, later praised Henley for having "(chutzpah) the size of church bells."

The now ponytail-free Henley said he joined in on a song that advocated his demise "just to be a good sport, I suppose. And to help defuse any notion that I don`t have a sense of humor about myself, or that I take myself too seriously.

"Plus, I was in Austin, so Mojo was on my turf. And I thought it would be a hoot to get up there and sing it with him. He was certainly surprised. He`s built a career doing songs like that."

Did Henley know all the lyrics by heart?

"No, I screwed it up," he replied. "I wasn`t phrasing it correctly."

Happily, no such problems exist on Henley`s meticulously crafted new album, "Inside Job."

Featuring such prominent guest musicians as Stevie Wonder and Randy Newman, it mixes heartfelt ballads (mostly about Henley`s wife, Sharon, and their three young children) with feisty rockers and several funk- and retro-soul-tinged songs that take careful aim at corporate greed, political corruption and other societal ills.

His debut effort for Warner Bros. Records, "Inside Job" is the long-overdue sequel to Henley`s Grammy-winning 1989 album, "The End of the Innocence." He co-produced the new album with ex-Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers` drummer Stan Lynch.

Yet, while "Inside Job" comes more than a decade after his last release, Henley wasn`t kicking back with a peaceful, easy feeling during the intervening years.

In 1995, he began the Eagles` two-year "Hell Freezes Over" reunion tour, followed by the band`s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. But working again with his fabled band was just one of many activities Henley pursued in the 1990s.

"There were many reasons for the gap between albums," he affirmed.

"`The End of the Innocence` came out in 1989, and I did the requisite touring for several years after that, during which time I founded the Walden Woods (environmental) Project in 1990. Then I set about organizing benefit concerts for Walden. I also compiled and edited a book with Dave Marsh, `Heaven Is Under Our Feet,` to benefit the Project.

"Then, in `93, I`d become fed up with Geffen Records and the lousy job they were doing for me, so I just quit. It`s very difficult for a creative person to create if he or she doesn`t feel supported. Plus, at the beginning of the `90s - when the grunge movement was on the rise - I didn`t feel, I wasn`t sure, there was a place for me."

Come again?

An established rock star like Henley, with his proven track record as a solo star and with the Eagles (a band whose "Greatest Hits" collection is the biggest-selling album ever), unsure of his commercial and artistic viability?

"I am one of those people who believes you don`t have to dance - that it is sometimes good to sit one out. And the first half of the `90s was such a time for me," he said.

"Sometimes it`s better to wait in the weeds and watch. I`d rather be the tortoise than the hare. The passage of time doesn`t necessarily worry me, because I think good work will stand up at any time.

"And there are 78 million baby boomers getting older with me, and there isn`t very much on the radio that speaks to them. Of course, I have the hope of reaching a wider audience. But I can only write what I really feel and know, and whoever comes to the party, comes. But things are different now in my racket, and nothing is a given. I`m not sure it ever was."

Does Henley feel discouraged that, while jazz and blues musicians are expected to improve with age, graying rockers are often considered over-the-hill simply for growing older?

"Unfortunately," he said, "in pop-culture newer is always considered to be better. That is all part and parcel of the disposable culture we live in. As for me, I try to build things that last, whether that be at home, or a relationship or an album of music.

"And if that makes me meticulous, so be it. I admire craftsmanship. I don`t subscribe to this school of rock that says everything has to be sloppy and one should never try too hard. ...

"Knowing what I know about business and technology, and that any argument on behalf of (environmental) `sustainability` always has to take a back-seat to commerce, I find this to be a very illogical world. So, in a world that is primarily devoid of reason, one must have a rich inner life. Hence the title of the album, `Inside Job.`"

But Henley, a fan of Philadelphia rap mavericks the Roots, doesn`t live in a vacuum.

Several songs on his new album, such as "Workin` It" and "Nobody Else in the World But You," deftly incorporate hip-hop-flavored drum loops and other elements of modern R&B.

"I think that every musical age and every musical movement contains work that is both good and bad," he said. "There has always been a tremendous amount of (manure) in popular music, in all genres. And I think we`re just beginning to come out of one of our musical low points at this juncture.

"But I have always been able to find something worthwhile in any era, no matter how bleak it may have appeared on the surface. So I don`t reject any musical movement out of hand. I think that is foolish."

Regardless, Henley is less than enamored with the current rise of image-savvy teen-pop confectioners.

"Even though Britney Spears is on the cover of Rolling Stone, I don`t worry about it much," he said. "But that`s the kind of music I don`t care for. I can`t find anything in it to appreciate, except - maybe - a navel."

(c) Copley News Service

George Varga