Eagles Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC June 21, 1977
The Eagles played Carolina Coliseum in Columbia, SC on June 21st, 1977. Andrew Gold opened.
Charleston News & Courier, June 4, 1977
“Immobile, shy-looking hassist Randy Meisner steps to the mike for his one lead vocal of the evening, on ‘Take It To The Limit.’ Perhaps it’s his lack of postering, or just some quality in his voice, or just that he feels what he’s singing, but he reaches an evocative plane that no one else has touched this evming.” (Barbara Ballinger, USC Osceola, July 1, 1977)
Osceola, July 1, 1977
“A personal favorite they sang was “Take It To The Limit” with Randy Meisner singing the lead with lines such as ‘When there’s nothing to believe in…still you’re coming back for more’ and ‘take it to the limit one more time.” (Linda C. Owens, The State, June 22, 1977)
Randy Meisner “a seemingly shy, introverted type with plain, straight hair who seems out of place among the more flashy, mustachioed members of the band.” Edward Fennell, Charleston News & Courier, June 25, 1977)
The Eagles played Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New Haven, CT on March 26th, 1977. Jimmy Buffett opened. Listen to an audience recording of the Eagles’ set below.
“Take It To The Limit”
Full Concert Recording
Recording Setlist
Hotel California Walk Away Doolin Dalton/Desperado Reprise Lyin Eyes Take It To The Limit New Kid In Town Desperado(Cut) One Of These Nights Turn To Stone James Dean Best Of My Love Funk#49 Take It Easy Already Gone Victim Of Love Life In The Fast Lane Rocky Mountain Way Witchy Woman
Hartford Courant, March 28, 1977
See more dates on the Hotel California Tour below:
The Tucson Daily Citizen reported that the Eagles performed three tracks from their upcoming album Hotel California. Although, not listed, those songs were most likely the title track, “Wasted Time” and “New Kid In Town.”
Tucson Daily Citizen, October 18, 1976
Arizona Daily Star, October 18, 1976
Below: Photos from the 1977 University of Arizona yearbook.
The Eagles performed their last concert of the Hotel California tour at Jeppesen Stadium in Houston, TX on July 9th, 1977. Jimmy Buffett was the opening act. This was Randy Meisner’s final concert as a member of the Eagles.
Houston Chronicle, June 5th, 1977
The reviews below mention Randy’s performance of “Take It To The Limit,” which proves that he performed the song right up until the end of the tour. This further discredits the claims made by Glenn Frey and Don Henley in the History Of The Eagles documentary that Randy was refusing to perform the song on the tour. It was also performed early in the concert, not as an encore. The encores that evening were “James Dean,” “Take It Easy,” and Chuck Berry’s “Oh, Carol.” The latter would mark the final song Randy performed as a member of the Eagles.1
Beaumont Enterprise, July 13, 1977
“Especially memorable from the impeccably-performed set were ‘Already Gone’ and ‘Life In The Fast Lane’ with the flying fingers of Glenn Frey, Don Felder and Joe Walsh trading guitar lines. But the crowd was no less enthusiastic about Randy Meisner’s rendering of ‘Take It To The Limit’ or the long and haunting version of ‘Witchy Woman.'” (Pete Churton, Beaumont Enterprise, July 13, 1977)
Houston Post, July 10, 1977
“But, from then until I had to leave some 50 minutes later, it was a typical Eagles-set, one old favorite after another, including ‘Doolin-Dalton,’ ‘Desperado,’ ‘Lyin’ Eyes,’ and ‘Take It To The Limit,’ along with an occasional, lesser-known album cut, such as ‘Victim Of Love.'” (Bob Claypool, Houston Post, July 10, 1977)
Get the real story about Randy’s departure from the Eagles below: ↩︎
The real story behind the Eagles’ 1977 Knoxville concert & Randy Meisner’s alleged refusal to sing “Take It To The Limit,” using facts from published concert reviews, plus Randy’s own words.
The Eagles played two sold-out nights at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. It was the second stop on the first leg of the 1977 Hotel California tour. Jimmy Buffett was the opening act.
Newsday (Nassau), February 13, 1977
The two shows at Nassau Coliseum were the first of four concerts in New York. The Eagles’ next two stops were at Madison Square Garden on the 18th, then the War Memorial Auditorium in Rochester on the 19th The band made the Drake Hotel in Manhattan their home base for their entire New York visit until March 21st, when they departed for Washington, DC. (see itinerary below):
Band itinerary on the right:
Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Irving Azoff, and road manager, Richie Fernandez outside the Drake Hotel, March 21st, 1977.
Photos exist for both Uniondale concerts, however I’m not sure which photos are from which show. Glenn Frey wore a New York Islanders jersey both nights. The Islanders are a hockey team from nearby Elmont, NY. In the 1970s, Nassau Coliseum was their home base.
Glenn in his Islanders jersey:
In this first set of photos, Randy is wearing a blue hoodie, possibly the same blue jacket from the Tour of the Pacific from January-February 1976:
Photo by Stuart Liben
Photo by Stuart Liben
In this second set of photos, Randy is wearing a gray sweatshirt. Glenn is once again in the Islanders jersey.
Following the four-night stand at the Wembley Empire Pool, plus two shows at the Apollo in Glasgow, the Eagles ended the first leg of the 1977 European tour with two sold-out shows at Bingley Hall in Stafford. Valerie Carter opened. One thing the band set out to prove was that they were no longer a laid-back, easy-going country-rock band:
“Any doubts about whether their sweet-sounding California dreaming songs might turn out to be monotonous and dirge-like when performed live were swiftly dispelled by their gig in Stafford. The difference between the country-rock outfit I saw…in 1973, and The Eagles as they are today, lies In their Extra Added Ingredients.
The blend has been enriched by the addition of guitarist Don Felder, a late arrival for the On The Border LP, who stamped his mark on One Of These Nights.
But it Is the newest member, Joe Walsh, who has really transformed the group into a world-beating act. His credentials are envious–a period with the James Gang followed by a series of solo albums–a man rated as one of the best guitarists in the world by Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend.”
North Wales Weekly News, May 12th, 1977
Valerie Carter replaced Dan Fogelberg as the opening act.
Melody Maker, May 7, 1977
The Stafford audience was treated to two-hours of “non-stop exhilaration”:
“There wasn’t a bad number in the whole set. No lull in the proceedings, Just a series of highlights…
The first was ‘Doolin-Dalton,’ the opening track from Desperado, which struck home early in the set. Then it was Walsh’s thumping rendition of ‘Turn To Stone,’ ending in a slide-guitar crescendo, all perfectly controlled.
North Wales Weekly News, May 12th, 1977
Praise for Randy’s performance of “Take It To The Limit”:
“Then it was Randy Meisner’s ‘Take It To The Limit’ from One Of These Nights, which showed off another of their assets, those harmonies, to the full. In whichever department you look, The Eagles are either competent, good or brilliant.” (North Wales Weekly News, May 12th, 1977)
“Bass guitarist Randy Meisner, together with his super voice on”Take It To The Limit,” provided the 12,000 plus crowd with the perfect foil for the rest of the band.” (Coleshill (England)Chronicle, May 13, 1977)
Reviews
Read the full-length reviews quoted in this section here:
Coleshill (England) Chronicle, May 13th, 1977
Click to read full article. North Wales Weekly, May 12, 1977
Signatures from Don Felder, Randy, and Glenn Frey obtained by an employee of Bingley Hall. Source.
The Eagles took a three-day break before their week-long tour of Germany on May 7th.
On May 11th, 1977, the Eagles kicked off a three-night stand at the Ahoy Rotterdam, as part of their 1977 European tour. Valerie Carter was the opening act, replacing Dan Fogelberg.
The three nights at the Ahoy, originally scheduled for April, were inserted between the Dusseldorf and Hamburg dates of the German tour.
The Eagles stayed at the Hilton in Amsterdam.
Eagles itinerary. Courtesy of Kathy Kurasch/Valerie Carter Estate
May 11, 1977
Prior to their opening night on May 11th, the band was presented with an award from their record company, WEA (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic), for exceeding half a million in record sales in the Netherlands. Posing with the band in the photographs is Stance Oort, whose company, Golden Design, created the award. In 1973, Oort presented the band with silver Eagles pins prior to their show at the Concertbegouw in Amsterdam.
The band (minus Joe) with their award and its designer, Stance Oort. Oort was also a press promoter with the Dutch label, EMI Bovema.
Translation (De Telegraaf, May 13th, 1977):
Bullion For Eagles
The Eagles were awarded by their record company WEA for the sale of more than half a million LPs in the Netherlands . Director Ben Bunders presented The Eagles with a very special gold and platinum record made by Stance Oort and her husband Aat from Beverwijk, who have become world famous in the past five months for the special designs that they are able to create with such precious metal. They have previously produced records for Fleetwood Mac, Bryan Ferry, Queen and Fats Domino. For her friends The Eagles (Stance also made the now famous silver Eagles brooch), 3 gold, 2 platinum and 1 diamond LP in a perspex plate.
The Eagles sold out all 8,000 seats of the Ahoy for three nights in a row. According to Dutch journalist Constant Meijers, “the first [concert] was the most interesting, the second the best, and the third the coziest.” 1
Excerpt from a review of the May 11th show from the Dutch paper, Het Parool (translated):
“After singer Valerie Carter, the stage darkens around a quarter past nine. The dimmed lights also hide the speakers suspended high in the sky, which guarantee a crystal-clear reproduction. Cheers, shouts and applause mingle with the intro sounds of ‘Hotel California.’ The light is soft green as drummer Don Henley’s unsurpassed lead vocals slowly flow into swirling unison guitar riffs from both guitarists Don Felder and Joe Wash. A great start. A series of twinkling gems will follow….After ‘Lyin ‘Eyes,’ bassist Randy Meisner comes into the picture as lead singer of ‘Take it to the Limit.’ A delight thanks to his high-pitched falsetto screams and Glenn Frey’s assistance at the grand piano.”
Hotel California Walk Away Victim Of Love Lyin’ Eyes Take It To The Limit New Kid In Town One Of These Nights Doolin-Dalton Desperado (reprise) Already Gone Turn To Stone Seven Bridges Road Life In The Fast Lane Rocky Mountain Way Witchy Woman James Dean Best Of My Love Take It Easy Carol
Randy & Joe duck walk across the stage most likely during the finale of Chuck Berry’s “Carol.”
The Eagles played the War Memorial Auditorium in Rochester on March 19th, 1977.
Randy performed both “Take It To The Limit” and “Try And Love Again” at this show. According to the review, his high note in TITTL was “nothing short of amazing…and about three octaves above any sound human beings are usually able to sing.”
Monroe Doctrine (Monroe Community College), March 25, 1977
The Eagles played the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville on June 23rd, 1977. Andrew Gold opened. The day before, on June 22nd, the band played a game of softball against radio and record company personnel.
The day before the concert, the Eagles, aka “The Party Plane,” played a softball game against Elektra-Asylum personnel and local radio celebrities. Randy was catcher.
Randy’s yellow and white “Party Plane” shirt (photos courtesy of Jennifer Meisner):
Playing for the opposing team was slide guitar aficionado, Mac Gayden. Below Gayden recalls (via Facebook) the softball game and mentions that he was initially considered as Bernie Leadon’s replacement before Walsh was added.
In 1976, when the Eagles were recording Hotel California at Criteria Studios in Miami, Gayden was in an adjacent studio at Criteria recording his album, Hymn To The Seeker. Gayden asked Randy to sing background on the song, “Someone Whispered.” It’s an overlooked gem in the Meisner canon of guest appearances. Check it out.
