The Eagles played the Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA on July 27th-28th, 1976. Boz Scaggs opened.
Philadelphia Inquirer, July 4, 1976
Randy sang lead on “Midnight Flyer” and “Take It To The Limit,” which was “an obvious fave of the crowd,” according to Peter Crescendi from Sounds magazine. “Meisner’s sustained howl near the song’s end had everyone roaring with approval and appreciation.” Read the rest of the review below:
Sounds, August 14, 1976
“Of special note were Meisner’s falsetto work on ‘Take It To The Limit’ and Don Henley’s soulful vocals on ‘Desperado.” …Only the Beach Boys can really match them for the number and variety of voices available.” (Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, August 14, 1976)
On June 4th, 1976, Billboard magazine held an Awards Dinner as part of their 4-day Talent Forum at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Bill Graham was the emcee. The Eagles picked up an award for Talent Attraction of 1975.
Below: Randy and Don Henley accept the award at the ceremony.
Billboard, June 26, 1976
Randy’s ex-wife Jennifer Meisner accompanied him to the awards dinner. Instead of taking a limo, Randy drove them to the ceremony in his vintage red 1940 Ford pickup:
Jennifer:
“Randy and one of the others accepted the award. I remember the menu, Beef Wellington and Baked Alaska for dessert. Randy and I didn’t take a limo. We decided to take his restored old red pickup. My niece Bobbi was out there and had to babysit the kids, she wanted to see Peter Frampton.”
Below: Randy and his vintage red pickup truck. The pickup was restored by a friend of his cousin, Tony Meininger. Randy still had the pickup when he passed away in 2023.
The shirt Randy wore to the ceremony was made by his mother. He later gave the shirt to his nephew, Doug Datel, Bobbi’s brother. Doug is wearing the shirt in the photo below.
The Eagles played four sold-out concerts at The Forum in Inglewood, CA, October 19-22, 1976. Get all the details and hear audio from the shows, plus one complete concert.
The Tucson Daily Citizen reported that the Eagles performed three tracks from their upcoming album Hotel California. Although, not listed, those songs were most likely the title track, “Wasted Time” and “New Kid In Town.”
Tucson Daily Citizen, October 18, 1976
Arizona Daily Star, October 18, 1976
Below: Photos from the 1977 University of Arizona yearbook.
Using private home movie footage, shared exclusively here, we’ll follow Randy Meisner and the Eagles from LA to Oakland where they played Day On The Green on August 3rd, 1976.
The Eagles played Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu on February 12th, 1976. See photos and rare home movie footage from the Meisner’s Super 8 video camera, shared here exclusively.
The Eagles played Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado on August 8th, 1976. Several members of his family were in attendance, including his wife, children, and parents.
The Eagles played the Seattle Kingdome on August 6th, 1976. Linda Ronstadt and J.D. Souther opened.
The concert was attended by more than 50,000 fans. It was only the second concert in the newly-built Kingdome. The first was Paul McCartney & Wings in June.
Original concert poster
Cooper Point Journal, August 12, 1976
The sound was terrible in the giant venue unless you were seated directly in front of the stage. Fans who came to hear the Eagles’ perfect harmonies couldn’t hear them unless they were near the front. Patrick McDonald of the Seattle Times, noted that due to the size of the Kingdome and the number of people in attendance, the show resembled an “indoor Woodstock” with people milling around and friends sitting together passing pipes and joints. However, unlike Woodstock, the Kingdome was equipped with a giant video screen that hung near the stage:
“One major difference was the big screen, which did give everybody a good view of what was going on on stage. They were doing different things with than at the Wings show – split screen, dissolves, extreme close-ups, etc. It was like watching In Concert on a giant TV screen except the sound is better on TV.”
Patrick McDonald, Seattle Times, August 8, 1976
Footage
This video screen footage of the Seattle concert exists as a bootleg. Below I have included the footage of Randy’s two lead-singing performances, “Take It To The Limit” and “Midnight Flyer.” I have also included “One Of These Nights” and rare footage of “Seven Bridges Road.” The entire concert is also available at the bottom.
“Take It To The Limit”
Listen to the end to hear Glenn Frey say “That was Randy Meisner, our bass player, hitting the high notes there. We love it every night.” Then Joe Walsh pipes in: “He can sing higher than that if he needs to.” (@2:36) Unfortunately, the footage starts in the middle of the song.
“Midnight Flyer”
“One Of These Nights”
“Seven Bridges Road”
Full Concert
Reviews
“It should be mentioned that the Eagles’ singing was almost flawless throughout. Bassist Randy Meisner’s incredibly breathtaking vocal on ‘Take It To The Limit’ prompted Glenn Frey to remark, ‘The highest voice in the business…and he can sing higher,too.’ Their superb vocal harmonies were featured in a beautiful acoustic version of ‘Seven Bridges Road’ with drummer Don Henley stepping down to sing with the other four. It was reminiscent of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.” (Nathaniel Koch, Cooper Point Journal, Evergreen State College, August 12, 1976)
Cooper Point Journal, Evergreen State College, August 12, 1976
Seattle Times, August 8, 1976
The Kingdome show was the Eagles’ second to last concert on their 1976 summer tour. Their last stop was Mile High Stadium in Denver on August 8th, 1976. Several members of Randy’s family traveled from Scottsbluff, Nebraska to see the show. Read more about it below.
The Eagles played Olympia Stadium in Detroit on July 20th, 1976. J.D. Souther opened.
Both Glenn Frey and the concert’s opening act, J.D. Souther, were born in Detroit. In 1964, Glenn’s aunt Virginia took him to see the Beatles at Olympia Stadium, when he was 15-years-old.
Detroit Press, June 27, 1976
The Eagles perform “Seven Bridges Road” at Olympia Stadium.
Randy sang lead on “Midnight Flyer” and “Take It To The Limit.”
The opening of the following review refers to the Elton John concert which took place the night before.
Billy Reed, columnist for the Courier-Journal, noted that all but Randy had either a beard or mustache:
“…everybody had either a beard or mustache except bass guitarist Randy Meisner, who looked downright clean in his Prince Valiant haircut. Meisner proved he was in the right place when he sang lead on ‘Take It To The Limit,” one of the Eagles’ smash hits.
Courier-Journal, August 29, 1976
The Eagles at Freedom Hall:
Courier-Journal, August 29, 1976. Photo: Bill Strode
Randy’s “Take It To The Limit” was “really well-performed and the crowd reaction was instantaneous, long and loud – so long, in fact, that he told the crowd it was embarrassing him, and he looked as if it were.”
