Eagles - Randy Meisner: A Retrospective

Photo Archive:
Eagles – Sebel Townhouse, Sydney
January 21, 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.

1976, Australia, Don Felder, Don Henley, Eagles, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, Trevor Dallen

Photo Archive:
Eagles by David Alexander, c.December 1975

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.

Photos

Author

Jessica Buxton

1975, David Alexander, Don Felder, Don Henley, Eagles, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh

Photo Archive: Eagles by Ken Regan, July 29th, 1975

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.}

Photos

1975, Bernie Leadon, Don Felder, Don Henley, Eagles, Glenn Frey, Ken Regan

Photo Archive: Eagles by Neal Preston
Oakland, CA, June 29th, 1975

The Eagles were photographed backstage at Day On The Green in Oakland.

Photos

1975, Bernie Leadon, California, Day On The Green, Don Felder, Don Henley, Eagles, Glenn Frey, Neal Preston, Oakland

Photo Archive:
Eagles – ONE OF THESE NIGHTS Cover Shoot, 1975

Photographer: Norman Seeff

This was the band’s first session with photographer Norman Seeff, a former medical doctor who emigrated to the United States from South Africa in the late 1960s to pursue a career as a rock photographer. One of his first assignments was the cover of the The Band’s Stage Fright.

Seeff described this photo session in an interview with Rolling Stone in 2013:

“This session for their ONE OF THESE NIGHTS album resulted in some striking images where each member of the band was being themselves in a confident way. Creating a moment with several artists at once can be challenging. When you work with 5 artists, if you don’t create a simultaneous relationship with every single person and someone loses eye contact, then they’re not all present.”

Two of Seeff’s images were included in the package for the album:

Photos

Author

Jessica Buxton

1975, Norman Seeff, One Of These Nights

Photo Archive: Eagles by Henry Diltz, circa late 1974

The band is photographed with Don Henley’s 1936 Ford.

1974, Bernie Leadon, Don Felder, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Henry Diltz

Photo Archive: Eagles by Henry Diltz, August 1974

Taken around the same time as another series of photos by Diltz from August 25th, 1974. The same September 1974 issue of Playboy can be seen in both sets.

Photos

1974, Bernie Leadon, Don Felder, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Henry Diltz

Photo Archive: Eagles by Henry Diltz, August 25th, 1974

These photos were taken on August 25th, 1974 en route to and at the airport in Norfolk, Virginia, where the Eagles were opening for the Beach Boys at Scope Arena that evening. Diltz shot another set of band photos around the same time (click here). The same September 1974 issue of Playboy appears in both sets.

Photos

1974, Bernie Leadon, Don Felder, Don Henley, Eagles, Glenn Frey, Henry Diltz

Photo Archive: Eagles by Henry Diltz, early 1974

This photo session was the first with new member, Don Felder. It took place at Record Plant studios during the recording of On The Border. One photo includes producer Bill Sczymcyk.

The purpose of the session was most likely to get a photo with Felder to use for ads and publicity for the Eagles’ upcoming 1974 tour in support of On The Border (below).

The photos show Randy wearing a t-shirt for the Joe Walsh & Barnstorm album, The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get (also produced by Sczymcyk.) He is also wearing the same yellow chamois shirt worn in the photos from London in March 1973 & the Topanga Canyon session in September 1973.

Photos

Author

Jessica Buxton

1974, Bill Szymczyk, Eagles, Henry Diltz

Eagles by Henry Diltz
Topanga Canyon, September 1973

This series of photos were taken at Bernie Leadon’s home in Topanga Canyon, CA. Another set of photos were taken at Bernie’s home by Ethan Russell circa 1971.

Photos from this session were used in a rare two-sided poster insert, found only in original first issues of On The Border in 1974.

_{Front and back of poster insert:}

Present at the photo session were Randy’s wife, Jennifer, and their three-year-old daughter, Heather. Jennifer took these rare snapshots of the session as it was happening, including a photo of Heather with the band in the background. Photos courtesy of Jennifer Meisner. Shared with permission.

There were a couple of wardrobe changes during the session. Don Henley changed into the tan shirt Randy was wearing and Randy changed into a yellow chamois shirt. Glenn Frey switches from a denim shirt into a denim jacket. Bernie Leadon switched to a white shirt (see photo here). Randy wore the yellow shammy shirt in two other photo sessions: London, March 1973 and another Diltz session in early 1974.

Photos

Author

Jessica Buxton

1973, Bernie Leadon, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Henry Diltz, Jennifer Meisner, On The Border

Photo Archive: Eagles by Peter Mazel, Holland, November 13th, 1973

These photos were taken prior to the Eagles’ concert at the De Doelen in Rotterdam either backstage or at Mazel’s studio in The Hague.

Randy’s shirt is a nod to his hometown of Scottsbluff, Nebraska. The Frank Implement Company was owned by the father of one of his friends. Randy worked there for several months in 1970 between stints touring with Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band.

Randy and Glenn Frey are wearing gold medallions that were a gift from producer Glyn Johns.

“As a gesture of friendship, Glyn had these solid-gold medallions made for each of us, after which they threw away the mold. It had an Eagle on the front, and our names on the back. Proof that I was an original Eagle.” (Randy Meisner, To The Limit: The Untold Story Of The Eagles by Marc Eliot, 1997)

_{Closeup of Glenn Frey’s medallion. The word “EAGLES” can be seen along the bottom.}