The Roberts-Meisner Band played the Odyssey Room in Sunnyvale, CA on July 17th, 1987.
San Jose Mercury News, July 17, 1987
Many thanks to the Odyssey Room’s former owner, Gary Schmidt, for sharing the following remembrance of Randy with me, as well as a photo:
“I owned the Odyssey Room in Sunnyvale for 20 years. I opened it in 1969 and closed it in 1989. I booked the Roberts Meisner band numerous times at the Odyssey Room it was one of the greatest live performance acts we had there in 20 years and we had some great ones. I visited with Randy a lot. Randy died on my 80th birthday July 26, 2023. I also owned club outside of Reno called the Reindeer Lodge in the mountain between Reno and Incline Village that they played at. I had an 80th birthday party at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City where I live that Barry Melton and his band played at.1 I believe I was on stage talking about Randy Meisner when he passed away from what I know about his death in the early evening. I didn’t find out that he had died that night till two days later but I was talking about my experiences in the night club and concert production businesses and spent a lot of time talking about Randy that evening . God rest his soul. Thanks Randy for all the music!”
L-R: Dewey Martin, Gary Schmidt & Randy at the Odyssey Room, 1987:
Barry Melton was “Fish” from Country Joe & The Fish. ↩︎
Randy was the musical guest on the late-night television show, Friday’s on February 27th, 1981. The show was filmed in Los Angeles and telecast live to East Coast viewers at 11:30pm (West Coast viewers saw a taped recording). The episode featured Billy Crystal as the guest. Randy performed two songs from his recent album, One More Song: “Hearts On Fire” and “Gotta Get Away.” Watch both performances below, plus the closing credits filmed backstage.
Randy was backed by his touring band The Silverados: Bryan Garofalo – bass Craig Krampf – drums Craig Hull – guitar Josh Leo – guitar Sterling Smith – keyboards Don Francisco – percussion Terese Heston – vocals
“Hearts On Fire”
“Gotta Get Away”
Closing Credits
Randy is on the left-hand side between Terese Heston and cast member Maryedith Burrell. Others in the clip include Melanie Chartoff with the microphone. Billy Crystal (in makeup), Larry David behind Burrell in glasses. As the camera pulls back, Michael Richards (Kramer from Seinfeld), plus other members of the Silverados.
The next night, Randy and his band played the Rainbow Music Hall in Denver, CO. The concert was recorded and later released on CD in 2018 as Live In Denver. Listen here.
In May 1975, the Eagles landed in Chicago where they played two nights at the Arie Crown Theater, appeared on the radio to debut their next single, were raffled off in a high school contest, and gave a lengthy interview to a music magazine.
The Eagles played three concerts over two nights at the Arie Crown. Opening for the band was Dan Fogelberg.
Chicago Sun-Times, May 7, 1975
Backstage
Neal Preston shot these photos of the band backstage at the Arie Crown
Review from the Chicago Sun-Times, May 11, 1975:
Chicago Sun-Times, May 11, 1975
The Eagles onstage. Photos by Neal Preston.
Shortly after their arrival in Chicago, the Eagles and Dan Fogelberg appeared on Larry Lujack’s radio show on WCFL. During the show, the Eagles debuted their latest single, “One Of These Nights,” the title track from their upcoming album.
Rolling Stone, September 25, 1975. Photo by Neal Preston.
Journalist Cameron Crowe toured with the Eagles in 1975, gathering information for his Rolling Stone cover story, entitled “Chips Off The Old Buffalo,” published in September of that year. He opened the article with a description of the Eagles’ appearance on Larry Lujack’s radio show:
One day after the Arie Crown Theater shows, the Eagles played a free concert for contest winners, McHenry High School, located just outside of Chicago. Read more 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.
In 1970, Randy ditched the L.A. music scene & moved back home to Nebraska. He took an 8-5 job and eventually started a new band with some guys who were attending college in Scottsbluff. They called themselves Goldrush.
In February 1973, the Eagles spent a month in London recording their second album DESPERADO. They also taped an appearance on BBC’s IN CONCERT and played a handful of shows in and around London. Get the full story here, plus never-before-seen home movie footage.
Randy opened with the show with “Rough Edges” from Poco’s then-recent album, Legacy. He also sang “Nothin’ To Hide” and his Eagles hit, “Take It To The Limit.” The review states that the band closed the concert with “Legend” calling it “their highest charting single to date.” This may have been “Call It Love” from the Legacy album. The song “Legend” from the 1978 album of the same name was never a single.
This excerpt from CANYON OF DREAMS: THE MAGIC AND MUSIC OF LAUREL CANYON by Harvey Kubernik describes Randy’s arrival in California in 1966 and his introduction to the L.A. music scene.
Randy Meisner was a farm boy, who discovered his natural gift for singing at an early age. He had visions of going to California, where “all musicians from the Midwest dreamed of being.” Here we trace his origins, going back to the Volga region of Russia, to his upbringing in rural Nebraska, all the way to the Sunset Strip.
“Coming Into Los Angeles: The Story Of The Eagles” by Pete Frame
This article from the British music magazine, Zigzag, includes a lengthy interview with Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner (mostly Bernie) by Zigzag‘s founder and editor Pete Frame. The piece also includes one of Frame’s famous “family trees,” charting the origin of the Eagles. Randy is referenced in another of Frame’s family trees charting the history of Poco (Zigzag, December 1971). See it here.
The article is not without a few discrepancies and some liberty-taking with quotes. But it is a nice, early introduction to the band from its original stars, Bernie and Randy.
The Eagles, along with Melissa Manchester, The Temptations, John Sebastian and Sly & the Family Stone performed at the Schaefer Music Festival in New York City’s Central Park on August 1st & 2nd, 1973. Both nights were filmed for a TV special called ‘Good Vibrations from Central Park,’ which aired on August 23rd, 1973.
The Eagles played the Richmond Coliseum on May 25th, 1975. Linda Ronstandt opened.
Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 25, 1975
Photo courtesy of Joan Shaver
According to the review in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the highlights of the evening were the two songs on which Randy sang lead: “Too Many Hands” and “Midnight Flyer.” The author of the latter, Paul Craft, was in the audience.
“The high points were a sizzling ‘Too Many Hands’ and Paul Craft’s churning ‘Midnight Flyer,’ the author, in the Coliseum audience, is not likely to hear his song done that well again.”
C.A. Bustard, Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 27, 1975
