Randy Meisner: A Retrospective

Concert History

Eagles
Madison Square Garden, March 18th, 1977

This was the third date on the Eagles’ 1977 Hotel California tour. Jimmy Buffett was the opening act.

Although this was the Eagles’ debut at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, the band played Felt Forum, the Garden’s smaller venue, back in 1972. For this sold-out appearance, the Eagles were backed by an orchestra for three songs: “Desperado Reprise,” “Wasted Time,” and “Take It To The Limit.” Three members of the Rolling Stones attended the concert: Mick Jagger, Ron Wood, and Bill Wyman. Wood accompanied the Eagles onstage for their last encore of Chuck Berry’s “Carol.”

An after-show party was given by Elektra/Asylum at the Garden’s Penn Plaza Club.

Praise for Randy:
“The event of the evening came with bassist Randy Meisner’s stunning vocalization of ‘Take It To The Limit’. In addition to sing-along support from the total audience, he received a standing ovation after each chorus.” (Record World, April 23, 1977)

Setlist
(Compiled from contemporary reviews)

Hotel California
Turn To Stone
Lyin’ Eyes
Doolin-Dalton/Desperado Reprise
Wasted Time
Take It To The Limit
New Kid In Town
Desperado
One Of These Nights
Turn To Stone
Already Gone
Life In the Fast Lane
Victim Of Love
Rocky Mountain Way
Welcome To The Club
Witchy Woman
James Dean
Take It Easy
Best Of My Love
Carol

Reviews

Rolling Stone, May 5, 1977

Record World, April 23, 1977

The After-Show Party

Among the guests were Faye Dunaway, Paul Simon, John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Linda Ronstadt and J.D. Souther. Although members of the Rolling Stones were present at the concert, they did not attend the post-concert party.

According to Rolling Stone magazine: “The guests dined on Mexican food, but only had one brand of cheap white tequila to wash down their tacos.”

Rolling Stone, May 5, 1977

Below: Glenn at the buffet table which included an ice eagle sculpture.

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EAGLES
Akron University Gym, Akron, OH
May 13, 1973

The Eagles opened for Spooky Tooth

“Ex-Poco member, Randy Meisner, made his subtle and important mark on the evening by doing his “Certain Kind Of Fool” and “Tryin'”–both numbers of high energy and Poco-like vocals. Meisner’s bass playing is simple, but steady.” -Jim Gerard, Cleveland Scene, May 17, 1973

Cleveland Scene, May 17, 1973
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Randy Meisner, Eagles, Brisbane, Australia January 20 1976 Photo Vincent Barker

EAGLES
Festival Hall, Brisbane, Australia
January 20th, 1976

The Eagles kicked off a ten-day tour of Australia. This was the first show with Joe Walsh in the band.

For this show, Randy wore a shirt for Average White Band’s AWB album. He is also playing a rare Fender Telecaster bass.

Sydney Morning Herald, January 4th, 1976
Photo ©Vincent Barker.
Photo ©Vincent Barker.
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SONGBOOKS & TOUR BOOKS

Songbooks

These songbooks were released around the same time as each of the albums (Eagles & Desperado were published as one volume, back to back. Read one side, then flip it over to read the other). They included sheet music and lyrics for each song, accompanied by photos. The files below include abridged (shortened) versions of each these songbooks. All photos featuring Randy have been included. Presumably, of Randy’s three solo albums, only One More Song has a songbook.

***A couple of pages were accidentally left out of the Desperado and On The Border Songbooks. Those have been updated.

Eagles – Eagles Songbook
Published 1973, Warner Bros. Publications
Included as a two-in-one with the Desperado Songbook.

Eagles – Desperado Songbook
Published 1973, Warner Bros. Publications

Eagles – On The Border Songbook
Published 1975, Warner Bros. Publications

Eagles – One Of These Nights Songbook
1976 Warner Bros. Publications

Eagles – Hotel California Songbook
1977 Warner Bros. Publications

Randy Meisner – One More Song Songbook
1981 Warner Bros. Publications

Tour Books

To my knowledge, the Eagles only published two tour programs during Randy’s tenure with the band, one to coincide with their Japanese tour in 1976 and one for the U.S. and European tour in 1977. Tour programs were published for Randy’s Japanese tours in 1981 and 1983. The latter is extremely hard-to-find. The ’81 program is included below.

Eagles – Japanese Tour Book 1976
Book included a poster

Eagles – 1977 Hotel California Tour Book
Distributed in both Europe and America.

Randy Meisner – Japanese Tour Book 1981

EAGLES
Coliseum, Evansville, Indiana
December 17, 1973

Also on the bill were Bachman Turner Overdrive and Dan Fogelberg.

The review below includes a very brief interview with Glenn Frey, who said he was at a “low emotional ebb” after performing five nights in a row. It also has a couple of misprints, including the ages of the band members (“23 and 24”). At the time of the concert, Randy was the oldest at 27, Don Henley and Bernie Leadon were 26, and Glenn Frey was 25. Randy’s “Tryin'” is listed as “Keep On Moving” and “Sun’s Come Up” is “Ol’ 55.” The latter would appear on their not-yet-released album, On The Border in April 1974. Another song intended for the album, “Don’t Be Mean To Your Bad Man,” written by J.D. Souther and Glenn Frey, was also performed, but did not end up on the album. It later appeared as just “Bad Man” on Randy’s self-titled debut in 1978.

Evansville Press, December 18, 1973


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EAGLES
Kiel Opera House, St. Louis, MO
December 13, 1973

Dan Fogelberg opened.

The review below also includes an interview with Don Henley and Glenn Frey backstage. Randy and Bernie did not contribute much, but “stuck their heads in to add dry wit from time to time.”

At the show, the Eagles played a couple of numbers that would eventually end up on On The Border, including “Good Day In Hell” and “Ol’ 55” (sung by Glenn, but the author incorrectly states it was sung by Bernie). They also played “Be Good To Your Badman” (aka “Bad Man”), co-written by J.D. Souther and Glenn Frey, which did not end up on On The Border, but did become the first track on Randy’s first solo album in 1978.

Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), December 15, 1973
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 14, 1973
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EAGLES
St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, MO
November 23, 1976

Randy’s “Take It To The Limit” was “really well-performed and the crowd reaction was instantaneous, long and loud–so long, in fact, that he told the crowd it was embarrassing him, and he looked as if it were.”

St Louis Dispatch, November 24, 1976
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EAGLES
Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, IN
November 22, 1976

J.D. Souther opened.

Indianapolis News, October 22, 1976

Before the show, Randy, Don Felder, and J.D. Souther were spotted grabbing a bite at the Burger King down the street from Market Square Arena.

Randy’s performance of “Take It To The Limit” was the highlight of the evening and earned him a standing ovation.

“The man who stole the show, perhaps, was bass player Randy Meisner, who sang lead only once. The number was last winter’s giant hit, “Take It To The Limit.” Meisner had ’em cheering long before the finish of the song. His clean, crisp high vocals earned him the only standing ovation for an individual performance.”

Zach Dunkin, Indianapolis News, November 23, 1976

Review from Indianapolis News, November 23, 1976. Joe Walsh is incorrectly identified in the photo as Don Felder.

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EAGLES
Metropolitan Sports Center, Minneapolis, MN
November 18th, 1976

J.D. Souther was the opening act.

Minneapolis Star, November 11, 1976

A week before the show on November 11th, the band was interviewed by radio host, Gary Bridges, for an Eagles special on WDBG.

Minneapolis Star, November 11, 1976

According to the review, the truck transporting the band’s sound system was involved in a serious accident in Des Moines, IA the day before the show, so the band had to rent less-than-ideal sound equipment for a large arena.

Sadly, no mention of Randy in the review (the only band member not mentioned).

Minneapolis Star, November 19, 1976
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EAGLES
The Summit, Houston, TX
November 6, 1976

J.D. Souther opened the show and later joined the band onstage for “Best Of My Love,” which he co-wrote with Don Henley & Glenn Frey.

Houston Daily Cougar, November 9, 1976

The Summit had a four-sided video screen called a “Telscreen” which hung from the ceiling. Any band who came in to perform paid a flat fee for use of the Telscreen and received a videotape of the concert in return. These Telscreen performances were often bootlegged, hence the existing footage of the Eagles Summit show, which has never been released officially.

According to a March 5th, 1978 article in the Houston Chronicle, the Summit’s Telscreen production crew were known to add graphics to their video footage as it was happening. During concerts, they focused mainly on whoever was singing. This explains the footage of the Summit show, which included graphics between songs and very few camera angles.

At the show, Randy and Joe both wore white t-shirts bearing the logo for Criteria Studios in Miami where the band was finishing up Hotel California at the time. In fact, the previous night’s show in Baton Rouge was held up for two hours because the band was late arriving from Miami.

In 2006, Randy recalled the grueling touring and recording schedule from this period:

“We had to go out on the road while we were doing that album and then go back to Criteria Studios in Florida to finish it…We went back and forth a lot…wanted to get the tracks right and mixed right. We knew the album was special.“

Interview with Ken Sharp, 2006

Below are Randy’s two lead-singing performances from the show:

“Take It To The Limit”

“Midnight Flyer”


Click the link below to watch the concert in its entirety:
Eagles, Houston Summit, November 6, 1976

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EAGLES
Academy Of Music, New York City
May 11th, 1974

Village Voice, May 9, 1974
Record World, May 25, 1974
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EAGLES
Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ
August 23rd, 1974

The Eagles opened for the Beach Boys.

White Plains (NY) Journal News, August 18, 1974
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EAGLES
Convention Center Arena, San Antonio, TX
November 2nd, 1976

J.D. Souther opened for the Eagles.

“The turning point of the show occurred when Randy Meisner, bass guitarist, sang “Take It To The Limit.” Meisner reached incredible high, sustained pitches with his strong, forceful voice that just sent shivers up the crowd’s spines. Crazed fans screamed and dashed toward the stage, where they remained until the end of the concert. Meisner received a standing ovation that lasted several minutes. When he realized the crowd wouldn’t stop, he danced and skipped around the stage which made the audience applaud even more.”

The Ranger (San Antonio College), November 12, 1976

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