Randy Meisner: A Retrospective

Hotel California Tour

Eagles
Bingley Hall, Stafford, England
May 3-4, 1977

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. 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


Setlist for Bingley Hall, Stafford
May 4th, 1977

Hotel California
Walk Away
Victim Of Love
Doolin-Dalton
Desperado (Reprise)
Lyin’ Eyes
Take It To The Limit
New Kid In Town
Turn To Stone
Already Gone
Rocky Mountain Way
James Dean
Best Of My Love
Take It Easy

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:

North Wales Weekly, May 12, 1977
Coleshill (England) Chronicle, May 13th, 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.

Record Mirror, May 14th, 1977

Author

Jessica Buxton

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EAGLES
Ahoy Rotterdam, Netherlands
May 11-13, 1977

On May 11th, 1977, the Eagles kicked off a three-night stand at the Ahoy Rotterdam, as part of their 1977 European tour.

De Volkskrant, March 17, 1977
Dan Fogelberg was replaced by Valerie Carter as the opening act.

This was the Eagles’ second appearance at the Ahoy Rotterdam. The first was on June 18th, 1975, with Joe Walsh opening for them.

The three nights at the Ahoy, originally scheduled for April, were inserted between the Dusseldorf and Hamburg dates of the German tour.

May 11

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 box blocks 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. It is no coincidence that they belong to those rare groups that live up to the class of their records during a performance. ‘Seems to me,’ (‘Walk Away’) with yet another portion of double guitar violence follows, but is surpassed by ‘Victim of Love,’ in which Henley’s thin vocals are interspersed with slide guitar playing. The five-fold vocals and the fitted frame sound so cool that it almost seems smooth. A mistake. It’s pure perfection….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.”

Het Parool (Amsterdam), May 12, 1977
The Eagles were presented with an award in Rotterdam, and a newly-shorn Randy appears for the final shows in Sweden.

Setlist for May 11, Ahoy Rotterdam:

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
Oh Carol

The Eagles perform “Seven Bridges Road” in Rotterdam on May 11th. The only time the song was performed on the European tour.
Note that the guys are wearing the same clothes they wore while receiving their award earlier in the day.
Randy & Joe duck walk across the stage most likely during the finale of “Oh, Carol,” Rotterdam Ahoy, May 11, 1977.

There are no photos from the May 12th concert.

May 13

For this concert, Randy wore his Harley-Davidson “Great American Freedom Machines” t-shirt, which he also wore in London and Frankfurt earlier in the European tour. These shirts had the name of a Harley-Davidson dealer on the back. In the photo with Don Felder at right, you can catch a partial glimpse of the back of Randy’s shirt, which seems to have the name of a Nebraska shop (the letters NEBR can be seen).

Color photos © Klaas L. Wijchman

Ahoy Rotterdam, May 13th, 1977
Randy performs “Take It To The Limit,” Ahoy Rotterdam, May 13th, 1977
Photo © Klaas L. Wijchman
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Eagles
War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester, NY
March 19th, 1977

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

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The Eagles In Nashville, 1977

The Eagles played the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville on June 23rd, 1977.
The day before, the band played a game of softball against radio and record company personnel.

The Eagles onstage in Nashville. Andrew Gold opened.

Review from the Nashville Tennessean.

The day before the concert, the Eagles, aka “The Party Plane,” played a softball game against Elektra-Asylum personnel and local radio celebrities. Randy is in the background in the top right photo.

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.

Footage of the Nashville softball game from the History Of The Eagles documentary.
©Alison Ellwood, Jigsaw Productions, 2013

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Eagles
Omni, Atlanta, GA
June 19th-20th, 1977

Andrew Gold opened both shows. Steve Miller made a guest appearance on the 19th.

June 19th

“Randy Meisner, the bass guitarist, lifted the show to a new level of excitement with his singing of ‘Take It To The Limit.'”
Scott Cain, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 20th, 1977

June 20th

“Bassist Randy Meisner gave an outstanding singing performance on ‘Take It To The Limit.'”
Bill King, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 21st, 1977

Eagles onstage, June 20th, 1977. Photo ©Kelly Campbell.

Review: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 21st, 1977

Randy at the Omni

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EAGLES
Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC
June 27, 1977

Andrew Gold opened.

Greensboro Record, June 28, 1977


Randy handed out water to sweltering fans. His high note on “Take It To The Limit” was compared to opera soprano, Anna Moffo.

“Bassist Randy Meisner gave the crowd a good rush when he took a note in ‘Take It To The Limit’ that Anna Moffo would be proud to call her own. Meisner had a great rapport with the crowd. At least twice he came to the aid of fans sweltering on the front lines of the surging floor crowd with some liquid relief. They appreciated it and showed so by making him come to the mike to take a bow for his high note.”

Russ Edmonston, Greensboro Daily News, June 28, 1977

Notice that Randy is playing a black Hagstrom bass. A change from his usual Rickenbacker 4001 from the Hotel California tour. He played the black Hagstrom a few days earlier in Birmingham as well. Find out more about Randy’s basses here.

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EAGLES
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario
March 30th, 1977

The Eagles played Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on March 30th, 1977. It was the second-to-last date on the first leg of their 1977 Hotel California tour. Jimmy Buffett was the opening act.

Toronto Star, February 19, 1977

The Eagles in Toronto:
Photo ©Doug McClement

Although their musicianship was flawless, many reviews from the Hotel California tour criticized the Eagles for just standing around like statues onstage. The reviews for the Toronto show were no different in this regard. However, the critic for the Globe And Mail complimented Randy for bringing some much-needed humanity to the show, albeit temporarily, with his dazzling performance of “Take It To The Limit”:

“When humanity breaks through, it can often dazzle. Randy Meisner’s vocals were a case in point: he appeared throughout to be only passingly interested in the performance, but then stepped to the front for is impassioned vocal on ‘Take It To The Limit.’ Only then was it apparent that this man’s seeming disinterest actually hid some real emotion. The revelation passed as he returned to his bass.”

Paul McGrath, Globe and Mail, March 31, 1977 (see full review below)

Randy with his Rickenbacker 4001 at Maple Leaf Gardens. His shirt bears the name and logo for Criteria Recording Studios, where Hotel California was recorded.
Photos © John Rowlands.

At a reception following the show, the Eagles were presented with a platinum record for Hotel California. Below they are photographed at the gathering with representatives from WEA (the international distributor for Asylum) and Toronto radio stations, CHUM & CFTR. Randy is not pictured.

Reviews:

Toronto Globe and Mail, March 31, 1977
Toronto Star, March 31, 1977
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EAGLES
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
MARCH 18th, 1977

On March 18th, 1977, the Eagles played Madison Square Garden in New York City. This was the third date on the Eagles’ 1977 Hotel California tour. Jimmy Buffett was the opening act. Although this was the Eagles’ first appearance at Madison Square Garden, the band played the Garden’s smaller venue, Felt Forum, 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.” (Kristeen Nicholson, Record World, April 23, 1977)


Setlist
(Compiled from concert reviews)

Hotel California
Turn To Stone
Lyin’ Eyes
Doolin-Dalton/Desperado Reprise (with orchestra)
Wasted Time (with orchestra)
Take It To The Limit (with orchestra)
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
Oh Carol (with guest Ron Wood)

Reviews

Reviews for the show were mostly positive. Musically they were top notch, but had little or no stage presence.

Rolling Stone, May 5, 1977:

“Certainly the Eagles stage presence and show are not intended to drive anyone to the brink of Rollermania…the Eagles strike no rock & roll stage poses, flaunt no athletic grace, if anything, they loiter….

“The tunes — and the Eagles must be celebrated for their tunesmithing — were certainly fun to listen to. Don Henley, who has a problem drumming and singing at the same time (admittedly, not the easiest of ttasks), wasn’t miked loudly enough, a problem since he’s taken over most of the lead singing. But Randy Meisner’s tenor cut through the instrumental mix well, and Glenn Frey, the original California dreamer, was surprisingly forceful.” (Peter Herbst, Rolling Stone)

Record World, April 23, 1977:

Variety, March 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.”

Below: Glenn with Faye Dunaway and Joe with his mom.
Photos from Rolling Stone, May 5th, 1977:

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

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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
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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