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.
Poco played Club Eastbrook in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 19th, 1990. Kris McKay opened.
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.
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.
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
Using private home movie footage, shared exclusively here, we’ll follow Randy Meisner and the Eagles from LA to Oakland where they played Day On The Green on August 3rd, 1976.
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.
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)
After the show, the Eagles were named honorary citizens of Texas by Governor Dolph Briscoe and received a Texas state flag that had flown above the capitol on July 4th.
Leon Russell was the headlining act at Holiday Jam ’74 at the Orange Bowl on July 7th, 1974. The Band, The Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Sons of Champlin also performed. It was the first rock concert ever at the Orange Bowl.
The photos below were taken by John Gellman, who recalled attending the festival:
“The Eagles were the highlight of the day. They just killed. I remember their final encore song was Out Of Control, which they dedicated to President Richard Nixon, who resigned from office less than a month later. After the Eagles played, Alan Walden, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s manager, was extremely upset backstage yelling, ‘I’m NEVER gonna let one of my bands follow that band ever again!’ Alan was right to be upset. Following the Eagles onstage was not a good place to be. The Eagles left the Orange Bowl field with a 3 touchdown lead. Skynyrd played well, but never even got close. I enjoyed the Band’s set, but did not think they played nearly as well as they did earlier in the year when I saw them with Bob Dylan. I do not remember a single thing about Leon Russell. After a hot July day in the Miami sun, I was fried by the time he hit the stage. Or maybe it was the refreshments.”
-John Gellman, “Random rock shots – The Eagles in 1974,” jgphoto.com, December 22, 2012
Photo ©John Gellman.
Photo ©John Gellman
On July 6th, 1975, the Eagles, along with Trapeze and Montrose, opened for the Rolling Stones at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The Stones were on their legendary Tour Of The Americas.
With temperatures in the upper 90s, it was a hot afternoon in Dallas. The Eagles hit the stage around 5:00pm. In keeping with previous outdoor concerts on the Stones’ Tour of the Americas, the bands performed under a tent-like dome (see Kansas City and Milwaukee).
The Eagles’ set lasted for a little over an hour. They kicked it off with “Take It Easy,” and ran through a string of hits, including “Witchy Woman” and “Desperado.” They closed with encores of Chuck Berry’s “Carol” and “Best Of My Love.” Although Randy’s lead-singing performances were not mentioned in any review, it’s likely that he performed “Midnight Flyer” and “Too Many Hands,” which were part of the Eagles’ setlist in the Summer of 1975.
Randy at the Cotton Bowl.
Most reviews of the Dallas concert focused on the Rolling Stones since they were not only the headliners, but one of the most popular bands in the world in 1975. The Houston Post review below did the best job at detailing at least a few of the songs that the Eagles performed (see second column).
All images below ©Watt Casey.
An interview with Randy Meisner published in the New York Post, July 15th, 1977.
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.
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:
In this second set of photos, Randy is wearing a gray sweatshirt. Glenn is once again in the Islanders jersey.
The Eagles appeared at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on June 21st, 1973 where they performed their entire DESPERADO album in sequence.
