EAGLES
The Summit, Houston, TX
November 6, 1976

J.D. Souther opened the show and later joined the band onstage for “Best Of My Love,” which he co-wrote with Don Henley & Glenn Frey. A bootleg (aka unofficial recording) of this concert exists. It was filmed using the Summit’s in-house video system. Footage of Randy’s lead-singing performances are provided below, plus a link to the full concert.

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:

A more flattering review came from the University of Houston’s Daily Cougar newspaper.

“The silent admiration the audience displayed during such softer songs as ‘Lyin’ Eyes,’ ‘Wasted Time,’ and ‘Take It To The Limit,’ pleased the group to the extent that vocalist Glenn Frey promised to do all the group’s hits, plus those of Joe Walsh…”

Below are Randy’s two lead-singing performances from the concert:

“Take It To The Limit”

“Midnight Flyer”

Click the link below to watch the concert in its entirety:
Eagles, Houston Summit, November 6, 1976

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