The Eagles opened for Joe Cocker. They are not mentioned in any ads or reviews for the show.
The Province, March 25, 1972
A photo of the group backstage was published in the May 13th, 1972 issue of RPM, a Canadian trade publication. The caption referred to the band as “Eagle,” which is not a misprint since they were also called Eagle at their next two shows in Spokane and Portland (also opening for Joe Cocker). A few months earlier, they were billed as Eagle at Tulagi in Boulder, Colorado.
L-R: Randy, Bernie Leadon, Glenn Frey, Don Boas (with Kinney Services, the international distributor for Warner Bros, later known as WEA), Asylum Records general manager, John Hartmann, and Don Henley.
The following review from the underground Atlanta paper, The Great Speckled Bird, was very complimentary toward Randy. The reviewer even said “Keep On Tryin'” (aka “Tryin'”) was her favorite song.
According to the following review, the band was an hour late for the concert because their contract had the wrong start time:
“Eagles opened the late afternoon concert after an hour of waiting by the audience. The lead guitarist apologized for the delay saying they had been eating barbecued chicken in Birmingham at 3:30 p.m. when they noticed a poster for the concert that said 4 p.m. Their contract said 5 p.m. Panic ensued and the band hot-rodded it to Tuscaloosa.”
This date marked the end of their two-month long tour opening for Yes. It was an unlikely pairing of country rock and prog rock bands. Before Yes, the band had also toured extensively as an opening act for Jethro Tull and Joe Cocker. Randy remembered: “There was always a question of how we would go down with those kinds of bands but we always seemed to get a good response.” He also remembered that it was the first time anyone in the band had ever toured to that extent and they took full advantage of the perks of being touring rock musicians: “I was married at the time, but I was on the road and away from my wife and I fell off the wagon once or twice. Anybody who has been in my position and says they didn’t is lying. It was very exciting to us because it was the first time any of us had been on the road to that extent and so we were a bunch of innocents. Traveling and touring was all new to us. We just didn’t know.” (The Story Of The Eagles: The Long Run, Marc Shapiro, 1995)
Lead singer Jon Anderson recalled that the Eagles had a surprise for the band after the Charlotte show:
“The last show we did with Eagles -we became friends – I love these guys – they were great – we finished our show – 15,000 people – we get up-stage, backstage, there’s no lights, it’s all dark, and it’s like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ And there were guys with flashlights, like, ‘Come this way, the lights are gonna open up.’ “What happened was: we finished up in the room, and it was so dark, couldn’t see anybody, and then all of a sudden the lights came on, and there was a table set up with the Eagles standing behind with two dozen pies, they threw these cream pies at us, and I joined in, and it was the best time ever.” (Interview with Jon Anderson, Radio Forrest, August 2020)
Photographer: Gary Elam Location: Backstage at Community Concourse/Golden Hall in San Diego, CA.
This early photo of the band was originally published in November 1972 in an article by Cameron Crowe in the underground magazine The San Diego Door. His friend, Gary Elam, took the photo. Crowe mistakenly recalled in 2015 that the photo was taken at the San Diego Civic Theater when the Eagles opened for Procol Harum, but the venue was actually Community Concourse.
L-R: Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, Don Henley, and Bernie Leadon.
On March 10th, 1973, the Eagles played the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Randy’s bass playing is compared to Rick Danko’s & his “chillingly beautiful” performance of “Certain Kind Of Fool” is the highlight of the evening.
