Randy Meisner: A Retrospective

Eagles

Eagles
Madison Square Garden, March 18th, 1977

This was the third date on the Eagles’ 1977 Hotel California tour. Jimmy Buffett was the opening act.

Although this was the Eagles’ debut at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, the band played Felt Forum, the Garden’s smaller venue, back in 1972. For this sold-out appearance, the Eagles were backed by an orchestra for three songs: “Desperado Reprise,” “Wasted Time,” and “Take It To The Limit.” Three members of the Rolling Stones attended the concert: Mick Jagger, Ron Wood, and Bill Wyman. Wood accompanied the Eagles onstage for their last encore of Chuck Berry’s “Carol.”

An after-show party was given by Elektra/Asylum at the Garden’s Penn Plaza Club.

Praise for Randy:
“The event of the evening came with bassist Randy Meisner’s stunning vocalization of ‘Take It To The Limit’. In addition to sing-along support from the total audience, he received a standing ovation after each chorus.” (Record World, April 23, 1977)

Setlist
(Compiled from contemporary reviews)

Hotel California
Turn To Stone
Lyin’ Eyes
Doolin-Dalton/Desperado Reprise
Wasted Time
Take It To The Limit
New Kid In Town
Desperado
One Of These Nights
Turn To Stone
Already Gone
Life In the Fast Lane
Victim Of Love
Rocky Mountain Way
Welcome To The Club
Witchy Woman
James Dean
Take It Easy
Best Of My Love
Carol

Reviews

Rolling Stone, May 5, 1977

Record World, April 23, 1977

The After-Show Party

Among the guests were Faye Dunaway, Paul Simon, John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Linda Ronstadt and J.D. Souther. Although members of the Rolling Stones were present at the concert, they did not attend the post-concert party.

According to Rolling Stone magazine: “The guests dined on Mexican food, but only had one brand of cheap white tequila to wash down their tacos.”

Rolling Stone, May 5, 1977

Below: Glenn at the buffet table which included an ice eagle sculpture.

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EAGLES
Sunshine Festival, Anaheim, CA, September 28th, 1975

Also on the bill were Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne.

Randy performed “Take It To The Limit” at this show in one of his first-ever performances of the song. On a more bittersweet note, this was the last concert to feature the original four members of the Eagles. Bernie Leadon quit the band shortly after the Anaheim show and the Eagles did not perform again for the rest of the year. When they returned to touring in January 1976, the band included Leadon’s replacement, Joe Walsh.

Below is Robert Hilburn’s review of the festival in the Los Angeles Times, September 30th, 1975. This is the first known mention of “Take It To The Limit” in a concert review (second to last paragraph). Randy also performed “Midnight Flyer.”

EAGLES
Akron University Gym, Akron, OH
May 13, 1973

The Eagles opened for Spooky Tooth

“Ex-Poco member, Randy Meisner, made his subtle and important mark on the evening by doing his “Certain Kind Of Fool” and “Tryin'”–both numbers of high energy and Poco-like vocals. Meisner’s bass playing is simple, but steady.” -Jim Gerard, Cleveland Scene, May 17, 1973

Cleveland Scene, May 17, 1973
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eagles Randy Meisner wichita 1976

EAGLES
Henry Levitt Arena
Wichita State University
Wichita, Kansas, November 15th, 1976

J.D. Souther opened.

Randy lent his “well-groomed soprano to ‘Take It To The Limit.” (Wichita Beacon, November 16, 1976)

Wichita Beacon, November 16, 1976
The Sunflower, Wichita State Univ, November 17, 1976
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Randy Meisner, Eagles, Brisbane, Australia January 20 1976 Photo Vincent Barker

EAGLES
Festival Hall, Brisbane, Australia
January 20th, 1976

The Eagles kicked off a ten-day tour of Australia. This was the first show with Joe Walsh in the band.

For this show, Randy wore a shirt for Average White Band’s AWB album. He is also playing a rare Fender Telecaster bass.

Sydney Morning Herald, January 4th, 1976
Photo ©Vincent Barker.
Photo ©Vincent Barker.
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EAGLES
Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles
December 31, 1974

Dan Fogelberg opened. They also invited a few guests to join them.
That’s Randy with the beard in the photos from the show.

Los Angles Times, December 29, 1974
Daily Trojan (USC), January 10, 1975
December 31, 1974, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles
Randy (left) with J.D. Souther

“When midnight arrived, the Eagles treated everybody to a bluegrass treatment of ‘Auld Lang Syne,’ released a passelfull of balloons and let loose a gorilla who threw bananas to the audience. Then they invited a few of their friends, including Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and opening act Dan Fogelberg–on stage to join them for ‘Take It Easy.'” (San Pedro News-Pilot, January 4, 1975)
Joe Walsh was also among the guests.

L-R: Randy, Joe Walsh, Dan Fogelberg, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne.
News-Pilot (San Pedro, CA) – January 4, 1975
Photo: Daryl Nace (Rivendell Gallery)

Randy performed on New Year’s Eve at least nine times over the course of his career. Here are the other appearances:

Drivin’ Dynamics, Little Moon Lake, Torrington, Wyoming, December 31, 1962
Drivin’ Dynamics, Terry’s Arena, Terrytown NE, December 31, 1964
Pogo, Shrine Hall, Los Angeles, December 31, 1968
Roberts-Meisner Band, Calvary Presbyterian Church, San Francisco, December 31, 1987
Roberts-Meisner Band, Sheraton Harbor Island, San Diego, December 31, 1988
Meisner, Swan & Rich, Lake Of The Torches Casino, Green Bay, WI, December 31, 1996
World Classic Rockers, Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hilo, Hawaii, December 31, 2003
World Classic Rockers, Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hilo, Hawaii, December 31, 2005

SONGBOOKS & TOUR BOOKS

Songbooks

These songbooks were released around the same time as each of the albums (Eagles & Desperado were published as one volume, back to back. Read one side, then flip it over to read the other). They included sheet music and lyrics for each song, accompanied by photos. The files below include abridged (shortened) versions of each these songbooks. All photos featuring Randy have been included. Presumably, of Randy’s three solo albums, only One More Song has a songbook.

***A couple of pages were accidentally left out of the Desperado and On The Border Songbooks. Those have been updated.

Eagles – Eagles Songbook
Published 1973, Warner Bros. Publications
Included as a two-in-one with the Desperado Songbook.

Eagles – Desperado Songbook
Published 1973, Warner Bros. Publications

Eagles – On The Border Songbook
Published 1975, Warner Bros. Publications

Eagles – One Of These Nights Songbook
1976 Warner Bros. Publications

Eagles – Hotel California Songbook
1977 Warner Bros. Publications

Randy Meisner – One More Song Songbook
1981 Warner Bros. Publications

Tour Books

To my knowledge, the Eagles only published two tour programs during Randy’s tenure with the band, one to coincide with their Japanese tour in 1976 and one for the U.S. and European tour in 1977. Tour programs were published for Randy’s Japanese tours in 1981 and 1983. The latter is extremely hard-to-find. The ’81 program is included below.

Eagles – Japanese Tour Book 1976
Book included a poster

Eagles – 1977 Hotel California Tour Book
Distributed in both Europe and America.

Randy Meisner – Japanese Tour Book 1981

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.

Evansville Press, December 18, 1973


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