“A Certain Kind Of Fool”
Learn more about “Certain Kind Of Fool,” co-written and sung by Randy Meisner, from the Eagles’ second studio album, the outlaw-themed DESPERADO.
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.
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.
EAGLES
Atlantic Christian College, Wilson, NC
December 11, 1973
Randy wore the yellow Morehead jersey he purchased in the bookstore at Morehead State University when the band played a concert there the week before. He’ll wear it again in early 1974 during the taping of Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.
Photos from the Pine Knot yearbook, 1974
Eagles by Henry Diltz
Topanga Canyon, September 1973
This series of photos were taken at Bernie Leadon’s home in Topanga Canyon, CA. Another set of photos were taken at Bernie’s home by Ethan Russell circa 1971.
Photos from this session were used in a rare two-sided poster insert, found only in original first issues of On The Border in 1974.
Front and back of poster insert:
Present at the photo session were Randy’s wife, Jennifer, and their three-year-old daughter, Heather. Jennifer took these rare snapshots of the session as it was happening, including a photo of Heather with the band in the background. Photos courtesy of Jennifer Meisner. Shared with permission.
There were a couple of wardrobe changes 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 switched to a white shirt (see photo here). Randy wore the yellow shammy shirt in two other photo sessions: London, March 1973 and another Diltz session in early 1974.
Photos
Photo Archive: Eagles by Peter Mazel, Holland, November 13th, 1973
These 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.
Randy and Glenn Frey are wearing gold medallions that were a gift from producer Glyn Johns.
“As a gesture of friendship, Glyn had these solid-gold medallions made for each of us, after which they threw away the mold. It had an Eagle on the front, and our names on the back. Proof that I was an original Eagle.” (Randy Meisner, To The Limit: The Untold Story Of The Eagles by Marc Eliot, 1997)
Closeup of Glenn Frey’s medallion. The word “EAGLES” can be seen along the bottom.
Photos
Photo Archive: Eagles by Gijsbert Hanekroot,
London, March 1973
Randy’s yellow chamois shirt reappears in sessions by Henry Diltz in September 1973 and early 1974.
Photos
Photo Archive: Eagles by Peter Mazel
Holland, March 9th, 1973
These photos were taken prior to the Eagles’ appearance at Popgala ’73 either backstage or at Mazel’s studio in The Hague. The band is dressed in the same clothing they wore onstage.
Photos
Photo Archive: Eagles by Henry Diltz
Desperado Cover Shoot, December 18th, 1972
Location: Paramount Ranch, Agoura Hills, CA
Photos from this session were used on the front and back cover of Desperado, released in 1973. Additional photos were published in the Desperado Songbook the same year.
“The original concept was to depict The Eagles ‘gang’ alive on the front cover and dead at the hands of the posse on the back –with pictures of the bank robbery and ensuing shoot-out in which they met their grisly fate displayed across a double spread in the middle. ‘Then, at the last minute, without telling anybody, David Geffen scrapped the centerfold,’ Diltz says. ‘He was always doing stuff like that to save three cents on the production costs.'”
Uncut, May 2007
Diltz also filmed the session and a short film showing the band members in a staged gunfight was later shown during the Eagles’ performance of “Doolin-Dalton/Desperado (reprise)” on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert in 1974.
In 1989, Randy told radio personality, Redbeard, some funny stories about the making of the short film and the horses here:
Photos
Eagles in Tampa, June 1973
The Eagles played Curtis Hixon Hall in Tampa, Florida on June 7th, 1973. REO Speedwagon opened. See photos, reviews, and listen to an audience recording.
The Eagles at the Ohio University Music Festival, April 28th, 1973
The Eagles were the headliners at the third annual Ohio University Music Festival in Athens, Ohio on April 28th, 1973.
AlbumsBANDSCertain Kind Of FoolConcert HistoryDesperado TourEaglesOn The BorderSongsTryin'Wait & See
“Wait & See”: Randy’s Lost Song
On November 30th, 1973, the Eagles played the College Of The Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. During the show, they performed a rare 10-minute epic, written and sung by Randy, called “Wait & See,” which was originally intended for ON THE BORDER.