J.D. Souther opened.
According to the review, Randy’s soprano on “Take It To The Limit” sent the audience into a “frenzy,” and “Midnight Flyer” brought out the cowboys in the crowd.
In the photos, Randy is playing a Music Man Stingray bass, which had just been introduced that year.
The Eagles played The Summit in Houston, TX, November 6, 1976. J.D. Souther opened. A bootleg film of the concert exists. Watch it below.
J.D. Souther later joined the Eagles onstage for “Best Of My Love,” which he co-wrote with Don Henley & Glenn Frey. He also wished Glenn a happy birthday. The concert was filmed using the Summit’s in-house video system. Footage of Randy’s lead-singing performances, as well as the full concert, are included below.
The Summit had a four-sided video screen called a “Telscreen” which hung from the ceiling. The screens displayed concerts in real-time for audience members who were not close to the stage. Any band who came in to perform paid a flat fee for use of the Telscreen and received a videotape of the concert in return. These Telscreen performances were often bootlegged, hence the existing footage of the Eagles Summit show, which has never been released officially.
According to a March 5th, 1978 article in the Houston Chronicle, the Summit’s Telscreen production crew were known to add graphics to their video footage as it was happening. During concerts, they focused mainly on whoever was singing. This explains the footage of the Summit show, which included graphics between songs and very few camera angles.
At the show, Randy and Joe both wore white t-shirts bearing the logo for Criteria Studios in Miami where the band was finishing up Hotel California at the time. In fact, the previous night’s show in Baton Rouge was held up for two hours because the band was late arriving from Miami.
In 2006, Randy recalled the grueling touring and recording schedule from this period:
“We had to go out on the road while we were doing that album and then go back to Criteria Studios in Florida to finish it…We went back and forth a lot…wanted to get the tracks right and mixed right. We knew the album was special.“
Interview with Ken Sharp, 2006
The less-than-complimentary review in the Houston Chronicle noted that the band looked and sounded “frayed around the edges,” this was perhaps due to their touring/recording schedule from the time period:
More flattering reviews were found in the Houston Post and the University of Houston’s Daily Cougar newspapers. The Post proclaimed Randy’s performance of “Take It To The Limit” to be “one of the true crowd-pleasers of the evening.”
“Take It To The Limit”
“Midnight Flyer”
Complete Film (This is not the full concert)
The song order in the video does not follow the actual setlist for the Summit concert. The Eagles opened with “Take It Easy,” not “Hotel California.” The performance of “Take It Easy” is not included in the film, neither is “Doolin-Dalton,” which was also played, according to the Chronicle review.
Footage setlist:
Hotel California
Lyin’ Eyes
Wasted Time
Take It To The Limit
Desperado
Midnight Flyer
Turn To Stone
Already Gone
One Of These Nights
Funk 49
Good Day In Hell
Rocky Mountain Way
Witchy Woman
James Dean
Best Of My Love (with J.D. Souther)
Walk Away
Tequila Sunrise
The band arrived two hours late from Miami where they were putting the finishing touches on Hotel California.
Opening the show was J.D. Souther. Randy performed “Midnight Flyer” and “Take It To The Limit.”
Photo by concertgoer Debbie Ray:
According to a description of the show in LSU’s 1977 Gumbo yearbook, someone in the audience threw an object at Randy during “Tequila Sunrise” hitting him on the side of the head:
“As the group was arrayed across the stage singing, ‘Tequila Sunrise,’ someone threw an object from the side of the stage which hit bass player Randy Meisner on the side of his head. He grimaced but continued playing until the song’s conclusion when he picked up the object and hurled it back in the general direction from which it had come. Dropping his bass with an amplified thud he stalked off stage in a huff as the rest of the group received the applause oblivious to the whole incident.” (Gumbo yearbook, 1977, Louisiana State University)
All photos from LSU’s Gumbo yearbook (1977):
According to the review in LSU’s Daily Reveille, Randy’s solo on “Take It To The Limit” was a highlight (5th paragraph).
The band’s late arrival is mentioned in the Baton Rouge Advocate review, November 6, 1976:
J.D. Souther opened for the Eagles.
“The turning point of the show occurred when Randy Meisner, bass guitarist, sang ‘Take It To The Limit.’ Meisner reached incredible high, sustained pitches with his strong, forceful voice that just sent shivers up the crowd’s spines. Crazed fans screamed and dashed toward the stage, where they remained until the end of the concert. Meisner received a standing ovation that lasted several minutes. When he realized the crowd wouldn’t stop, he danced and skipped around the stage which made the audience applaud even more.”
On October 15, 1976, the Eagles played the Activity Center at Arizona State University in Tempe. J.D. Souther opened.
In the review below from the Arizona State University newspaper, The State Press, the author incorrectly claims the album, Hotel California, was released in February 1976. This person must have been thinking of Their Greatest Hits: 1971-1975, which had been released that February (and did not include “Hotel California”). The album Hotel California was not released until December.
The real story behind the Eagles’ 1977 Knoxville concert & Randy Meisner’s alleged refusal to sing “Take It To The Limit,” using facts from published concert reviews, plus Randy’s own words.
The Eagles pose following a press conference in Hamburg during their European tour. Read more here.
Prior to their show at the Rotterdam Ahoy, the Eagles were presented with an award from their record company, WEA (Warner-Elektra-Atlantic), for exceeding half a million in record sales in the Netherlands.
The Eagles played four nights at the Wembley Empire Pool in London on April 25-28th, 1977. It was the first gig of their European Tour.
Playing seventeen gigs in five countries, this was the band’s first major tour of the continent as headliners. Read more about each of the shows below:
BBC Radio 1 Interview With The Eagles – Intercontinental Hotel, London
April 25-29, 1977 – Wembley Empire Pool, London
April 30-May 1, 1977 – Apollo Center, Glasgow, Scotland
May 3-4, 1977 – Bingley Hall, Stafford, England
May 6th-May 9th & May 15th – Germany
The Eagles were presented with an award in Rotterdam, and a newly-shorn Randy emerges for the final shows in Sweden.
The Eagles toured Germany as part of their 1977 European Tour. Valerie Carter was the opening act. This was Randy’s second visit to the Germany. […]
The Eagles performed two nights at the Apollo in Glasgow, Scotland on April 30th-May 1st, 1977. Joe Walsh played the bagpipes in a kilt, and Randy’s version of “Take It To The Limit” was a highlight.
The Eagles played two sold-out nights at Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland, OH on March 31st & April 1st, 1977. Jimmy Buffett was the opening act.
