The Eagles played the first night of the three-day festival held at the Missouri State Fairgrounds. Also appearing on the 19th were Bob Seger, Elvin Bishop and Joe Walsh.
Although promoters planned for only 50,000 concertgoers, it is believed that as many as 300,000 attended over the course of the weekend. Many lured by an ad for the festival in Rolling Stone magazine.
Ad for the festival in Rolling Stone, July 4th, 1974. This early ad does not mention Joe Walsh, who performed on the 19th. Bruce Springsteen was billed, but did not attend.
The festival was also aimed at those who may have missed Woodstock recalled John McEuen of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band:
“A lot of us missed Woodstock, including some who were there. The 1974 Sedalia concert sounded like it was going to recapture that shows legendary vibe…just like the big time, only…smaller.” (Join Together: 40 Years Of The Rock Music Festival by Brant Marley, 2008)
The Eagles at the Ozark Music Festival. Photo by Richard Galbraith.
The Eagles appeared on the third episode of The Helen Reddy Show on July 12th, 1973. Also featured were Mac Davis, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Cheech and Chong. The Eagles played two songs: “Witchy Woman” and “Tequila Sunrise.” It was their U.S. television debut.1
On the heels of Reddy’s hit, “I Am Woman,” her friend Flip Wilson offered her his primetime NBC time slot while the Flip Wilson Show was on summer hiatus. The eight episodes were billed as Flip Wilson Presents The Helen Reddy Show.
In addition to being a guest on her show, Mac Davis also appeared in concert with Reddy numerous times in 1973. She had also recorded one of his songs, “I Believe In You,” for her 1971 debut album I Didn’t Know How To Love Him. Ironically, Reddy and Davis died on the same day (September 29th, 2020) at the same age (78).
Deseret News, July 12, 1973
Short clips of the Eagles’ performances of “Witchy Woman” and “Tequila Sunrise”:
(Sources: 2018 promo video for Eagles Legacy Box Set. History Of The Eagles documentary, 2013)
Randy’s wife Jennifer, their 9-year-old son, Dana, and Jennifer’s 13-year-old niece, Bobbi, were present at the taping, which took place a few weeks earlier at NBC Studios in Burbank. Jennifer remembered that the filming was a long process, with the groups stopping and starting to make sure their performances were perfect. Gladys Knight & The Pips took the longest, she remembered. “They made me insane.”
Below is an article from the Scottsbluff Star-Herald, Randy’s hometown paper, announcing The Helen Reddy Show appearance. Included with the article was a photo of Jennifer posing with a poster from the Eagles’ concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall in March 1973 (the poster would later end up on the wall of their apartment in Studio City). Unfortunately, the article is riddled with misspellings, the most glaring is Randy’s last name. Near the bottom, the paper quotes Jennifer as saying the Eagles had finished taping a show with the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. This would have been the 90-minute In Concertspecial on ABC, which aired August 3rd, 1973. When the Helen Reddy Show aired in Scottsbluff, Randy was home and able to watch it with his family.
Scottsbluff Star-Herald, July 14, 1973
In March 1973, the Eagles made two European television appearances on Popgala ’73 and BBC’s In Concert. Although the Reddy show marked the Eagles’ U.S. television debut, it was not Randy’s first stint before television audiences. His group, The Poor, appeared on episodes of Ironside and The Name Of The Game in 1968. Poco (then Pogo) appeared on local L.A. television also in 1968. Randy also made a number of TV appearances with Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band between 1969 and 1971. ↩︎
The Eagles opened for the Rolling Stones at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Joe Walsh, who was not billed, joined them as their guest. The Stones were on their legendary 1975 “Tour Of The Americas.” Opening along with the Eagles were The Gap Band and Rufus featuring Chaka Khan.
Tour poster, 1975. Keyboardist Billy Preston and guitarist Ron Wood appeared as part of the Rolling Stones’ touring band. Wood was not yet an official member of the group.
The bands performed under a tent-like dome on the stage.
Left: Randy’s stage pass/badge for the Arrowhead stadium concert. The badge was pinned to his jeans in the photo on the right. Photo of the badge courtesy of Jennifer Meisner.
Below: Joe Walsh made a surprise appearance with the Eagles for a version of his own “Rocky Mountain Way.” Notice that Randy, who normally plucked his bass with his fingers, is using a pick for this song. Other songs on which he used a pick were “Good Day In Hell” and “Lovin’ You Every Minute” by Poco.
Joe Walsh backstage. Randy’s wife Jennifer at right with their son Dana hiding behind her.
Photos
Roadie Tommy Nixon is in both photos wearing a hat and red shirt.
The Eagles exit the stage. Randy is behind Eagles manager, Irving Azoff.
Tommy Nixon hands Don Henley a towel. Behind Henley is another roadie, Tony Taibi, in the Eagles shirt.
This was the Eagles’ first time opening for the Rolling Stones. In his memoir, Don Felder recalled the Eagles’ road manager, Richie Fernandez, setting up a meeting with the Stones in their hotel room the night before the concert. Felder claims it was the first time he’d ever seen heroin. He’d also hoped to meet Keith Richards, but he was nowhere in sight. He was later found motionless in the bathroom. Felder thought he was “a goner.” (Excerpt from Heaven And Hell: My Life With The Eagles by Don Felder).
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (alive and well) onstage in Kansas City, June 6, 1975
Poco played the American Music Festival in Winter Park, CO on July 7th, 1990. 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.
The Eagles played the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville on June 23rd, 1977. Andrew Gold opened. The day before, on June 22nd, the band played a game of softball against radio and record company personnel.
The day before the concert, the Eagles, aka “The Party Plane,” played a softball game against Elektra-Asylum personnel and local radio celebrities. Randy was catcher.
Randy’s yellow and white “Party Plane” shirt (photos courtesy of Jennifer Meisner):
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.
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.
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. It was taped on June 20th, 1973 at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
UCLA Daily Bruin, June 21, 1973
Soundcheck
At the soundcheck, Randy wore an unusual knit shirt covered with faces, which he purchased at L.B. Murphy’s, a department store in his hometown of Scottsbluff, NE.
Eagles during their soundcheck:
IN CONCERT
In Concert aired on August 3rd, 1973.The program featured, along with the Eagles, Ike & Tina Turner, the funk band Mandrill, Jim Croce, who would be killed in a plane crash a month later in September 1973, and the blues “supergroup” Triumverate featuring Mike Bloomfield, Jim Hammond and Dr. John.
The Eagles performed “Tequila Sunrise,” Early Bird,” and “Witchy Woman.”
Village Voice (NYC), August 3, 1973
Footage
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)
The Eagles played the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (aka BJCC Coliseum) in Birmingham, AL. Andrew Gold opened.
According to the review, Randy gave a “stunning rendition” of “Take It To The Limit.”
Birmingham News, June 25, 1977
Randy played a black Hagstrom bass. 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.”
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.
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
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.
