The Eagles opened for the Rolling Stones at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Joe Walsh joined them as their guest.
Joe Walsh made a surprise appearance with the Eagles for a version of his own “Rocky Mountain Way.”
Walking offstage after the show: Randy is behing Eagles’ manager, Irving Azoff (in glasses).
Richie Furay, who had left the band at the beginning of Poco’s summer tour, returned for this show as a favor to the promoter, Chuck Morris. Photos: David Dyrkopp.
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
The Eagles and Edgar Winter opened for Yes.
This show was originally slated for August 14th, but had to be rescheduled due to rain.
Randy wore a t-shirt with the anti-war slogan: “War Is Not Healthy For Children & Other Living Things.” The shirt matched a sticker he added to his gold Fender bass in 1971.
Photo ©Robert Corwin.
The Eagles appeared on ABC’s In Concert series on August 3rd, 1973. The 90-minute show also included Ike & Tina Turner and Jim Croce, among others.
The show was taped on June 20th, 1973 at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
Below: The Eagles were photographed during a soundcheck.
Randy is wearing an unusual knit shirt covered with faces that he purchased at L.B. Murphy’s, a department store in his hometown of Scottsbluff, NE.
Tickets to the taping were free to UCLA students. Several concert segments were filmed in one day.
The Eagles performed “Tequila Sunrise,” Early Bird,” and “Witchy Woman.” Randy wore another shirt with a Scottsbluff connection for the taping: a yellow Frank Implement Company shirt. Frank Implement was a John Deere dealership in Scottsbluff, which was owned by the father of a friend. Randy worked there for a brief time in 1970. His only real job.
In 1974, The Who’s drummer, Keith Moon, hosted an In Concert second anniversary special, which revisited performances from the past two seasons. Below is his introduction to the Eagles segment.
Below are the three songs the Eagles performed on In Concert in 1973. Apologies for the low quality.
“Tequila Sunrise”
“Early Bird” (co-written by Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner)
“Witchy Woman”
Jimmy Buffett and Andrew Gold opened.
Photo by Cindy Garcia White.
Miami Herald review, July 3rd, 1977
Photos by William S. Allen
Randy is playing a black Hagstrom here. A switch from his usual Rickenbacker 4001, which was his go-to bass on the 1977 Hotel California tour. See more of Randy’s basses here.
According to Charlie Rich, Jr, this was was the band’s first gig.
“Temecula, California. Our first show together. After the show ended I knew I was a part of something special. We continued working the West Coast for the next few months. Then I spoke with a friend in Holland that was interested in booking the band. We did a European tour that was just a blast. We used Mark Craney on drums, as (John) Molo was out with Bruce Hornsby at the time.”
Charlie Rich, Jr (via charlierichjr.com)
The band’s original name was Meisner, Rich and Swan. They were billed under this name from 1992 until their last performance in 1996. The band later became known as Meisner, Swan and Rich following a CD labeling mishap in 2001, when the band was no longer touring together.
Andrew Gold opened both shows. Steve Miller made a guest appearance on the 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
“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
Drummer Patrick Shanahan, founding member of Denver’s Soul Survivors, their offshoot, The Poor, and later Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band, generously shared his memories with me about his life and career.
Eagles opened for Procol Harum.
Most likely the location of the backstage photo of the band taken by Cameron Crowe’s friend, Gary Elam, which was originally published in San Diego Door in November 1972. Crowe mistakenly recalled in 2015 that the photo was taken at the San Diego Civic Theater. The Eagles did not play there in 1972.
Black Tie (billed individually) performed at the Cinegrill in Hollywood for their “Jam” night. Original members Randy, Jimmy Griffin, and Billy Swan were joined by Blondie Chaplin, David Kemper, and George Michalski, who were part of their touring band. Kemper also appeared on Black Tie’s album, When The Night Falls.
Read more about Black Tie below.
Randy’s band included Billy Swan and Charlie Rich, Jr, who also performed under the name Meisner, Rich & Swan.
This preview of the concert in the Arizona Republic included an interview with Randy, who was in the middle of spackling his bathroom.
The Eagles opened for Procol Harum.
Ad for the concert from the Los Angeles Free Press, June 30th, 1972.
Note the order of the band members’ names with Bernie and Randy mentioned first.
Eagles at Santa Monica Civic. Photo by Sam Emerson.
L.A. Times review by Robert Hilburn:
Linda Ronstadt and others visit the band backstage. Randy is not pictured. Photos by Sam Emerson.
