Randy Meisner: A Retrospective

Randy Meisner (1946-2023)

1973

The Eagles on The Helen Reddy Show,
July 12th, 1973

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.” This show marked 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.

Below are 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 month or two earlier at NBC Studios in Burbank. 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. Many thanks to Jennifer, as well as the Scottsbluff Public Library, for the complete article (Jennifer’s 50-year-old clipping had been cut off after the 3rd paragraph.) 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 Concert special on ABC, which aired August 3rd, 1973. Note: The Eagles’ appearance on The Helen Reddy Show was shown in most areas on July 12th, however, some cities aired the show later in the week, including Scottsbluff.

Since the Eagles were not touring in July 1973, Randy was home and able to watch the show with his family.

Images

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1Although the Reddy show marked the Eagles’ U.S. television debut, this 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. He also made a number of TV appearances with Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band between 1969 and 1971. In March 1973, the Eagles made two European television appearances on Popgala ’73 and BBC’s In Concert.

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The Eagles on ABC’s IN CONCERT, 1973

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.

Sacramento Bee, July 29, 1973

The show was taped on June 20th, 1973 at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

Below: The Eagles were photographed during a soundcheck.
Randy is wearing an unusual knit shirt covered with faces that he purchased at L.B. Murphy’s, a department store in his hometown of Scottsbluff, NE.

Tickets to the taping were free to UCLA students. Several concert segments were filmed in one day.

UCLA Daily Bruin, June 21, 1973

IN CONCERT

The Eagles performed “Tequila Sunrise,” Early Bird,” and “Witchy Woman.” Randy wore another shirt with a Scottsbluff connection for the taping: a yellow Frank Implement Company shirt. Frank Implement was a John Deere dealership in Scottsbluff, which was owned by the father of a friend. Randy worked there for a brief time in 1970. His only real job.

Video

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)

“Witchy Woman”

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The Eagles
Spring Fest, Edwardsville, IL
May 25, 1973

The Eagles appeared at Spring Fest on the campus of Southern Illinois University/Edwardsville (SIUE).
Livingston Taylor (James’ brother) opened.

The previous night, Glenn Frey had been arrested following the Eagles’ concert at Mershon Auditorium in Columbus. He was charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana and public intoxication.

OSU Lantern, May 25, 1973

Mugshot

Glenn made no mention of the arrest in a backstage interview in Edwardsville. He talked about the difference between “superfans,” who want to get as close to the stage a possible, and music fans, who stay a few rows back because they want to hear the music.

Randy Meisner, Bernie Leadon, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey were photographed in the afternoon prior to their appearance at Spring Fest.
Photo by John Milazzo (Focus magazine, October 1974)

The Eagles onstage.

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EAGLES
Coliseum, Evansville, Indiana
December 17, 1973

Also on the bill were Bachman Turner Overdrive and Dan Fogelberg.

The review below includes a very brief interview with Glenn Frey, who said he was at a “low emotional ebb” after performing five nights in a row. It also has a couple of misprints, including the ages of the band members (“23 and 24”). At the time of the concert, Randy was the oldest at 27, Don Henley and Bernie Leadon were 26, and Glenn Frey was 25. Randy’s “Tryin'” is listed as “Keep On Moving” and “Sun’s Come Up” is “Ol’ 55.” The latter would appear on their not-yet-released album, On The Border in April 1974. Another song intended for the album, “Don’t Be Mean To Your Bad Man,” written by J.D. Souther and Glenn Frey, was also performed, but did not end up on the album. It later appeared as just “Bad Man” on Randy’s self-titled debut in 1978.

Evansville Press, December 18, 1973


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EAGLES
Kiel Opera House, St. Louis, MO
December 13, 1973

Dan Fogelberg opened.

The review below also includes an interview with Don Henley and Glenn Frey backstage. Randy and Bernie did not contribute much, but “stuck their heads in to add dry wit from time to time.”

At the show, the Eagles played a couple of numbers that would eventually end up on On The Border, including “Good Day In Hell” and “Ol’ 55” (sung by Glenn, but the author incorrectly states it was sung by Bernie). They also played “Be Good To Your Badman” (aka “Bad Man”), co-written by J.D. Souther and Glenn Frey, which did not end up on On The Border, but did become the first track on Randy’s first solo album in 1978.

Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), December 15, 1973
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 14, 1973
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Photo Archive: Eagles, September 1973

Photographer: Henry Diltz
Location: Bernie Leadon’s home in Topanga Canyon. Another set of photos were taken at Bernie’s home by Ethan Russell in 1972
Photos from this session were used in a rare insert which were only found in original first issues of On The Border (1974).

Watching the photo shoot from the sidelines were Randy’s wife, Jennifer, and their three-year-old daughter, Heather. Jennifer took these photos of the shoot while it was happening, including a photo of Heather with the band in the background.

Photos courtesy of Jennifer Meisner. Shared with permission.

One wardrobe change happened during the session. Don Henley changed into the tan shirt Randy was wearing and Randy changed into a yellow chamois shirt. Glenn Frey switches from a denim shirt into a denim jacket. Bernie Leadon switches to a white shirt.

Photos

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Photo Archive: Eagles, November 13th, 1973

Photographer: Peter Mazel
Location: Photos were taken prior to the Eagles’ concert at the De Doelen in Rotterdam either backstage or at Mazel’s studio in The Hague.

Randy’s shirt is a nod to his hometown of Scottsbluff, Nebraska. The Frank Implement Company was owned by the father of one of his friends. Randy worked there for several months in 1970 between stints touring with Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band.

Photos

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