Photo Archive: Eagles, 1976
Photographer: David Alexander
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Photo Archive: Eagles, Miami, June 24th, 1976
Photographer: David Alexander
These images were taken in Miami while the Eagles were recording Hotel California at Criteria Studios. They are dated by the June 24th, 1976 issue of the Miami Herald Don Henley is reading in the third photo. The photos were meant to show what life was like on the road for the band: arriving at the airport, hanging out at the hotel, sitting in a restaurant having breakfast (with several glasses of milk, perhaps a hangover cure), driving to the venue. Several of the photos include their road manager, Richie Fernandez. However, these are not real photos of the band on tour (they were not touring in June 1976), but were staged by Alexander and eventually used in the 1977 Hotel California Tour Book and the Hotel California Songbook.
NOTES
The page Henley is reading from in the Miami Herald is dated June 24th, 1976
Randy is wearing Fred Perry Etonic tennis shoes, named for the famous tennis player.
The car mirror photo shows the faces going the wrong direction. Here is the flipped version.
Photo Archive: Eagles, 1976
Photographer: David Alexander
Photos from this session were used for publicity for the Hotel California album and tour, including the individual shots of the band (the photo of Don Felder was taken in 1975 by Norman Seeff).
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Photo Archive: Eagles, HOTEL CALIFORNIA Cover, 1976
Photographers: David Alexander/Norman Seeff
The cover photos of the Beverly Hills Hotel at sunset, taken at Will Rodgers Memorial Park, and the back cover and gatefold, taken in the lobby of the Lido Apartments in Los Angeles, were taken by David Alexander. The cover was designed by Kosh and Don Henley.
A poster insert was included with first issues of the album. It showed the band posed on a bed. According to photographer, Norman Seeff, this photo was a composite (multiple photos combined to create one image).
“Soon after commencing this session, the band walked out. I had no idea why at the time. A week later, I showed them a poster design I had created by combining a number of individual shots. They loved it and all was forgiven. It became a poster insert for the HOTEL CALIFORNIA album.”
Norman Seeff
Below are outtakes from this session.
Photo Archive: Eagles, c.December 1975
Photographer: David Alexander
Location: Calabasas, CA
First photos featuring new member, Joe Walsh, who had joined the band in late 1975 following the departure of original member, Bernie Leadon. One photo from this shoot was used to advertise the first American show, with their new lineup, in the Honolulu Advertiser, January 24, 1976. This early advertisement helped date the photos to at least December 1975 because Randy still had long hair. When the band appeared in Australia in January 1976, Randy had cut his hair.
Don Felder recalled in his autobiography that this photo session took place at a ranch in Calabasas, “with old wagon wheels in the yard,” while the band was in the early stages of working on their forthcoming album, Hotel California.
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