Poco (then known as Pogo) performed as part of Beverly Hills High School’s annual “Jazz Night.” Three Dog Night was also on the bill.
Original concert flyer
Page from the 1969 edition of the Beverly Hills High School yearbook, with photo of Richie Furay
Meisner, Rich & Swan played the Buffalo Rose in Golden, CO, on January 12, 1995. Patrick Shanahan, Randy’s former bandmate from The Poor and Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band, attended the show.
Below: Patrick and Randy at the Buffalo Rose. Patrick’s wife, Janet, between them. A friend of the Shanahans on the left. Photo courtesy of Patrick Shanahan.
Randy was interviewed by the London-based music magazine during the Eagles’ tour of Europe in March 1973.
An inside look at Randy Meisner’s overlooked contributions to Poco’s groundbreaking debut album, PICKIN’ UP THE PIECES.
An interview with Poco’s Randy Meisner and Jim Messina from the Japanese music magazine, ADLIB.
Randy and his backing band, the Silverados, played two shows each night at The Bottom Line. Rosanne Cash opened.
Randy’s two-night stint at the Bottom Line turned out to be disastrous for him. He was sick with laryngitis, there were sound issues, and he even walked offstage during the early show on the first night. Making matters worse, the audience was filled with New York music critics and representatives from his record company, Epic Records. One could pass it off as just a bad night, but having a bad night in a popular New York City venue makes headlines. Sadly, this is how it turned out for Randy.
Photos ©Ebet Roberts
During the early (9:00pm) show on March 11th, Randy performed about five songs before stomping offstage after being heckled by a member of the audience. He had been annoyed with the Bottom Line’s sound system, griping at one point: “I’m sorry I can’t play guitar for ya. If I can’t hear it, I can’t play it.” He was also struggling with his voice due to laryngitis. Right before the song “Hearts On Fire,” from his latest album, One More Song, Randy commented on his vocal problems: “The Silverados are doing a lot better than I am tonight,” which drew a response from a heckler: “That’s for sure!” Several in the audience applauded the heckler. Randy responded by laying down his guitar and walking offstage, leaving one of his male band members to finish the song. He did not return. Randy explained later, “I had to go to the dressing room, pound on the bathroom wall and get it out of my system. It’s that old showbiz thing–you gotta keep on smiling.” Randy came back for the late show that night and performed his entire set with no issues. He did the same for the two shows the next evening as well. Nevertheless, it was the first night’s debacle that became fodder for the newspapers.
In the April 30th, 1981 issue of Rolling Stone, the incident was detailed on the magazine’s “Random Notes” page:
Beginning in 1974, Rolling Stone began syndicating its “Random Notes” column to reach a wider audience, therefore the story of Randy’s opening at the Bottom Line was featured in over 100 newspapers across the country. Below is a sampling of the Bottom Line incident from a few of those newspapers:
The incident was also published in Billboard magazine, April 4, 1981:
The most mean-spirited review was from Wayne Robins’ of Long Island’s Newsday, who said he wanted to “shake Meisner by the shoulders and say, ‘This is New York, cowboy, quit kvetching and start playing.'” However, his comments about Randy’s backup singer, Therese Heston, were all the more harsh. “Wearing Sergio Valentes, the designer jeans of the terminally macho, she constantly pointed attention to herself by idiotically strumming an invisible guitar. In every song, she seemed to be saying, ‘Look at me! I’m on the stage!'”
The short New York Times’ review wasn’t much better, but did say Randy’s late show performance was an improvement, but “not very interesting.”
Poco performed two shows at the Bottom Line in Nagoya on October 21st, 1990. One of the performances was filmed for Japanese television.
Setlist
Rough Edges
What Do People Know
Nature Of Love
Lovin’ You Every Minute
Rose Of Cimarron
Spellbound
Crazy Love
Follow Your Dreams
One More Song
Who Else
You Better Think Twice
Hearts On Fire
Take It To The Limit
Your Mama Don’t Dance
Call It Love
Midnight Flyer
Below are three of Randy’s lead-singing performances from the show. The band featured Jim Messina, Rusty Young, George Grantham and Jack Sundrud. Randy’s black bass was custom-made for him by Fender. It was more lightweight to help his back.
“Rough Edges”
“Nature Of Love”
“Take It To The Limit”
Watch other performances from the show: Click Here
Read more about the Poco reunion below:
The band that would become known as Poco gave its second performance at the Troubadour on October 24th, 1968 billed as “R.F.D.”
Richie Furay explained the meaning of R.F.D. in his autobiography, Pickin’ Up The Pieces (2006):
“For our first public appearance at the Troubadour, as one of several bands playing a Monday night hootenanny, we called ourselves Pogo. That changed for the next two shows, one at the Troubadour and the other a benefit concert at the University of Southern California….Those nights we performed as R.F.D. The name was probably inspired by Mayberry R.F.D., a television series that had aired its first episode in September; it was a spin-off from The Andy Griffith Show. In that context, R.F.D. meant ‘Rural Free Delivery.’ The letters were also [manager] Dickie’s initials—Richard Franklin Davis—but that didn’t stop some people from thinking it stood for ‘Richie Furay’s Dream.’ In some ways, this last theory was appropriate because the band was the fulfillment of the dream I’d had after the Buffalo Springfield ended.”
The Herald-Examiner review below mentioned three songs the band played, all of which would end up on their debut album, Pickin’ Up The Pieces, released in 1969: “What A Day,” “Just In Case It Happens, Yes, Indeed,” and “Short Changed.”
“The group goes in for the high, rich harmonies that the Springfield loved, except that in the Springfield Furay was usually the highest voice and in R.F.D. the bass player, Randy Meisner, sings above him.” –Michael Etchison, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, October 30, 1968
Clipping courtesy of Jennifer Meisner.
The last paragraph alluded to a “promised” future engagement by R.F.D. at the Troubadour. The band returned for the promised stint on November 19th, billed once again as Pogo. This two-week engagement became legendary and put the band on the map. Read more about it here.
From its origins to its continued legacy, the story behind Randy Meisner’s signature song.
The Eagles and Kansas opened for the Beach Boys at Indiana University’s Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
The concert was originally supposed to take place outdoors at the 10th Street Stadium, but was moved to an indoor venue due to rain.
Indiana Daily Student, September 4, 1974 (Photo: Jim Maire):
Photo ©Neil Sharrow:
Randy backstage. Photo ©Neil Sharrow:
The Eagles played Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado on August 8th, 1976. Several members of his family were in attendance, including his wife, children, and parents.
Randy Meisner: A Retrospective is proud to debut this rare, hour-long film by Richard Randall, which features never-before-seen interview and concert footage from 1995.
The Eagles played the Seattle Center Coliseum in Seattle, WA on August 21st, 1975. Roger McGuinn opened. Listen to an audience recording of the Eagles’ set below.
Concert photos by Bill Sharpsteen.
Randy sang lead on “Midnight Flyer” and “Too Many Hands.”
The concert started an hour late because a sound truck was involved in an accident in Oregon.
