The Eagles pose following a press conference in Hamburg during their European tour. Read more here.
Photographer Gary McGuire was Glenn Frey’s cousin (read an interview with him here.) Photos from this session were used in the Hotel California Songbook. He also photographed Randy separately.
A photo from this session was used on the cover of the trade publication Record World (May 8, 1976).
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 hotel and restaurant photos were taken at a Howard Johnson’s in Miami. Many of these photos were originally published in the Eagles’ Hotel California Song Book and Tour Book.
Don Henley is reading from a Miami Herald newspaper dated June 24th, 1976.
The placemat on Randy’s table matches a placemat from Howard Johnson’s restaurant.
Randy is wearing Fred Perry Etonic tennis shoes, named for the famous tennis player.
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).
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.
This photo was taken in Sydney, Australia during the Eagles’ tour of the Pacific in January 1976.
Photographer: Trevor Dallen
Location: Sebel Townhouse, Elizabeth Bay, New South Wales, Australia
These photos were taken at the infamous Sebel Townhouse, nicknamed the “Rock and Roll Hotel,” due to its reputation for turning a blind eye, and even catering to, the bad behavior of traveling rock stars. The Eagles gave a press conference at the hotel and posed for photographs. The band was on a 10-day tour of Australia with their new member Joe Walsh. Ticket demand for their show in Sydney, on January 22nd, was so large that a second show had to be added on the same night.
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 short 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.
These photos were taken while the band was in Chicago for a concert at Washington Park. One photo from this session was used for the Eagles’ first appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in September 1975, which included a piece about the band written by Cameron Crowe.
This series of photos were taken by Ken Regan in Edwardsville, Illinois on the afternoon of July 29th, 1975. The Eagles were in town to perform the Mississippi River Festival that evening. Regan took photos at the nearby Holiday Inn, as well as backstage at the festival. The images show Randy wearing a red shirt with a white tornado on the front. The shirt matched the band’s stage passes at the time, which also were also red with a white tornado logo. Don Henley has one of these stage passes attached to his untucked denim shirt in some of the photos below. Randy’s ex-wife, Jennifer Meisner, and their son Dana recalled that the tornado may have meant “whirlwind” or something similar.
One of Randy’s “whirlwind” stage passes from 1975.
