In February 1973, the Eagles spent a month in London recording their second album DESPERADO. They also taped an appearance on BBC’s IN CONCERT and played a handful of shows in and around London. Get the full story here, plus never-before-seen home movie footage.
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 opened for Yes and Edgar Winter at Denver Coliseum on August 3rd, 1972. Several members of Randy’s family traveled from Scottsbluff to attend the concert. Many thanks to Jennifer Meisner for the photos and remembrances.
Denver Post, August 1, 1972
Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner back stage (man on right unknown). Photo by Jennifer Meisner.
Jennifer Meisner:
“It was a strange show. Everyone around us smoking pot, passing a joint around. Randy’s mom and dad were there. His sister, Carol, and husband Art with daughter Jana, his cousin Jodene, her husband Doug and daughter Cori Chappell, my sister Ann, husband Bob and kids, Bobbi and Doug, his aunt Lydia and daughters Nan Jill and Normanda, my mom, etc. The audience was there to see Yes and Edgar Winter. Horrible rainy night .”
The Eagles pose with Randy’s cousin, Nan Jill, at the Travelodge hotel in Denver.
Randy with his aunt, Lydia Ohlund, sister of his mother, Emilie.
Another group shot with Randy’s son, niece, and cousin. In front (L-R), Randy’s eldest son, Dana (with Glenn’s hands on his head and arm), his niece, Jana, and cousin, Cori.
Randy with his son, Dana, his mother, Emilie, and father, Herman, at the hotel in Denver. Randy is wearing a “Carlo Sound” t-shirt. Carlo Sound was a Nashville sound company, who worked on some of the Eagles’ early tours.
Review from the Straight Creek Journal (Denver), August 10, 1972. The writer thought the Eagles were the best act of the evening.
On July 1st-3rd, 1983, Randy played a series of hometown concerts at the Oregon Trail Lounge in Gering, NE. Find out more about the show and see rare, never-before-seen photos.
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.” It was 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.
In addition to appearing on her show, Mac Davis also appeared in concert with Reddy numerous times in 1973. She had also recorded one of his songs, “I Believe In You,” for her 1971 debut album I Didn’t Know How To Love Him. Ironically, Reddy and Davis died on the same day (September 29th, 2020) at the same age (78).
Deseret News, July 12, 1973
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. Jennifer remembered that the filming was a long process, with the groups stopping and starting to make sure their performances were perfect. Gladys Knight & The Pips took the longest, she remembered. “They made me insane.”
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 (the poster would later end up on the wall of their apartment in Studio City). 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 Concertspecial on ABC, which aired August 3rd, 1973. When the Helen Reddy Show aired in Scottsbluff, Randy was home and able to watch it with his family.
Images
In March 1973, the Eagles made two European television appearances on Popgala ’73 and BBC’s In Concert. Although the Reddy show marked the Eagles’ U.S. television debut, it 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. Poco (then Pogo) appeared on local L.A. television also in 1968. He also made a number of TV appearances with Rick Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band between 1969 and 1971. ↩︎
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.