In His Own Words: Randy On Performing

Part one of my five-part series “In His Own Words”

“Whether I was playing in front of 60,000 or 7 people, it made no difference to me. They’re all just people. If you blow it, they understand. If you do well, they understand, too.”
_{BAM, November 7, 1980}

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“And there are times when, if I’m tired, sometimes I have to concentrate, and my concentration comes off like this. (He makes a mean look.) The guy that’s mad at everybody. But it’s really not. If you’re tired. Sometimes it will come out like that.“
_{Cleveland Scene, Dec. 2, 1976}

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“I’m still learning [about performing]. Like occasionally I forget lyrics. But remember, I was always in the background. Coming out of the background isn’t easy. It’s certainly harder than I thought it would be.”
_{Oregonian, April 10, 1981}

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“Every time [Poco] played the Troubadour it was packed, people hanging out of the rafters. We’d go up to Doug Weston’s office, have a shot of tequila and some beer, then hooting and hollering we’d run out, which is really great for a group just before you go onstage, like a football team psyching-up. By the time we’d hit the stage the whole audience would be yelling. We’d have ‘em cranked before we even started playing. When you know the audience is with you, it gives you that extra boost of natural energy. It was just so much fun. Some nights Jimmy would have his dog Jasper with him, and he actually came on stage with us a few times.”
_{Desperados: The Roots Of Country Rock by John Einarson, 1991}

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“Henley always wanted us to stand still on stage, but (Joe) Walsh and I wanted to move around and do things like Chuck Berry’s duck walk.”
_{Sioux City Journal, November 28, 1994}

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“I feel 37 in the mornings, but 17 when I’m on the stage.”
_{Alliance Times-Herald, July 6th, 1983}

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“Looseness, that’s what I’m trying to create. I like doing spontaneous things rather than the same old thing every night. I like to take that chance, draw that line, sing a song a different way. As a performer, I have more fun that way.”
_{Atlanta Constitution, December 16, 1982}

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“The high note that I sing at the end was tough to do live. It was pretty difficult, it was a challenge every night. But I pretty much nailed it every night. There weren’t many times I didn’t because we were rehearsed really well.”
_{The Story Of The Eagles: The Long Run by Marc Shapiro, 1995}

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[On switching to playing guitar on stage when he went solo] “You can’t play bass and sing at the same time. Too many counterparts. Rhythm guitar gives me more freedom.”
_{New York Daily News, March 10th, 1981}

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“There’s a difference in recording and playing live. [The Eagles] were too serious on stage, too meticulous, and perfectionistic. It makes you conservative when you’re afraid to vary from a set thing or make a mistake. On stage, you’re supposed to have fun and play different licks and stretch out. You’re not supposed to copy your records exactly. The way they do it, you can go home and listen to the record, put a picture of the group on the wall and have the same effect.”
_{Los Angeles Times, April 5th, 1981}

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“I liked [to perform] the more up songs, like ‘One Of These Nights’ or ‘Hotel California’ and that kind of music myself. The ballads are ok, but as far as playing bass to them or singing background, you know, it’s pretty much, boom, boom, boom boom (mimics slow bass line). If I had been singing lead on it, I might have had a different feeling about it. ‘Already Gone’ I liked. I liked the more rock and roll stuff we did.”
_{May 12, 1988, KZOK radio interview, Seattle, WA.}