Charlie Daniels opened.
The War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville served as the home for the Grand Ole Opry until 1943.
Randy and Glenn Frey at the Nashville concert.
Photo @Donivan Earhart
The Eagles headlined two concerts at Day On The Green in Oakland, CA over Memorial Day weekend, 1977. They also played a softball game.
J.D. Souther was also on the bill. The Eagles drew the second largest crowd ever at the festival, which was sponsored by Southern Illinois University/Edwardsville (SIUE), with 29,700 attending. The Who drew the largest in 1971 with 31,000.
The show was not without problems. Festival officials had only planned for a crowd of 12,000, but twice as many showed up. There were traffic jams, fights, and property damage.
Randy backstage before the show
There were more problems behind-the-scenes. The Eagles’ road manager “threw a tantrum” because the food provided to the group was not what they requested:
“The road manager threw a tantrum because the food furnished for the group was cold cuts, not hot fried chicken. He complained about stage security. The group itself couldn’t decide if they wanted a sound check or not.” (Alton Telegraph, July 30, 1975)
Nevertheless, backstage photos show the band’s dining area with what appears to be fried chicken remnants on the table.
The Eagles during a sound check in Edwardsville. Photo by Ken Regan.
During the afternoon of the concert, Ken Regan took a series of photos of the band at the local Holiday Inn as well as backstage at the festival site. Note that Randy is 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. Randy’s ex Jennifer Meisner and their son Dana recalled that the tornado may have meant “whirlwind” or something similar. Below is one of Randy’s stage passes from 1975:
You can see Henley’s stage pass on his denim shirt in the last photo.
See more photos from this session below:
Setlist (partial)
Take It Easy
Peaceful, Easy Feeling
Outlaw Man
Desperado
James Dean
Witchy Woman
Already Gone
Best Of My Love
Randy onstage at the Mississippi River Festival:
Review from the Edwardsville Intelligencer:
The Eagles appeared at Spring Fest on the campus of Southern Illinois University/Edwardsville (SIUE).
Livingston Taylor (James’ brother) opened.
The previous night, Glenn Frey had been arrested following the Eagles’ concert at Mershon Auditorium in Columbus. He was charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana and public intoxication.
Mugshot
Glenn made no mention of the arrest in a backstage interview in Edwardsville. He talked about the difference between “superfans,” who want to get as close to the stage a possible, and music fans, who stay a few rows back because they want to hear the music.
Randy Meisner, Bernie Leadon, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey were photographed in the afternoon prior to their appearance at Spring Fest.
Photo by John Milazzo (Focus magazine, October 1974)
The Eagles onstage.
An overview of the Eagles’ first tour of Japan, including the first known live recording of “Take It To The Limit.”
The Eagles played to 200,000 at the music festival, California Jam, held at the Ontario Motor Speedway outside of Los Angeles. The concert was produced by ABC and simulcast on TV and radio on May 10th, 1974. Jackson Browne filled in on several songs with the band in the absence of Don Felder, whose wife went into labor on the day of the concert.
Two stages were used that were perched on 600 feet of railroad track. As one band played, the other stage was set up for the next act, then rolled onto center stage. The stages can be seen under the striped canopies. The semi-circle of trailers behind the stages were the bands’ dressing rooms.
Photo by Mark Sullivan.
The Eagles played a 45-minute set (only 20 minutes was televised)
(Not in order of performance)
James Dean
Blackberry Blossom
Midnight Flyer
Already Gone
Take It Easy
Tequila Sunrise
Witchy Woman
Peaceful Easy Feeling
Early Bird
Outlaw Man
Below is a clip of the Eagles’ intro from the radio simulcast on ABC’s KLOS-FM in Los Angeles:
Heading to the stage:
L-R: Glenn Frey (behind the door), Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Bernie Leadon, and road manager, Richie Fernandez.
Bernie, Randy (blue shirt), Glenn and Don
Randy’s blue shirt with the hand-embroidered eagle was a gift from a fan named Terri “Woody” Smith. She also gave him a yellow shirt with the cover design from On The Border, also hand-embroidered (see it here).
Randy performing “Midnight Flyer” from On The Border, which had just been released:
The footage below includes the five songs that aired in the televised concert on May 10th, 1974:
“James Dean”
“Blackberry Blossom”
“Midnight Flyer”
“Already Gone”
“Take It Easy”
Eagles Full Concert
Below is a post-show interview with Bernie Leadon that appeared in the San Diego Door, May 14th, 1974. Although Bernie talked mostly about the band’s music and albums up to 1974, he did voice his frustration to interviewer Greg Leonard about the band’s mid-day performance at Cal Jam:
“Bernie had just returned from what he felt was a frustrating performance in the mid-day heat. When I met him he was nursing a glass of champagne trying to relax after the tension of playing outdoors, with no prior soundcheck, before nearly 200,000 people.”
Reviews and further reading.
The art show was called “El Chingadero” (Elder’s nickname) and was arranged by fellow artist John Van Hamersveld. The event took place in Venice at a garage that was converted into an art studio. Elder’s artwork was later used on the cover of three Eagles albums: One Of These Nights (1975), Their Greatest Hits: 1971-1975 (1976) and The Very Best Of (2003).
This art show is often touted as the first public performance by the Eagles. This is simply false. Please see my post about the shows in Aspen and Boulder in November and December 1971. There were all advertised gigs in front of an audience. Other articles claim the band was also “unsigned.” This is also untrue. The Eagles signed with Asylum in September 1971. They had just finished recording their debut album a couple of months before the art show.
The poster for the El Chingadero, which also served as an invitation.
The poster was created by Rick Griffin, who later designed the unique lettering for the Eagles’ third album, On The Border:
In Marc Eliot’s biography To The Limit, Elder recalled that the band stood in a corner and played the same songs over and over because they were nervous and didn’t seem confident in their material. Perhaps this is true, but it seems unrealistic. A couple of weeks later, they would set out on a short tour as an opening act for Joe Cocker. So, it seems unlikely that they wouldn’t have had a setlist already worked out. Plus, they had just finished recording their first album. It’s possible that they were nervous to be playing for the first time in front of an audience of their peers.
Below: Jackson Browne watches as the Eagles perform (Randy at left). ©Henry Diltz.
Bernie Leadon, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, David Geffen, and Ned Doheny at the opening. ©Henry Diltz.
The Eagles paid homage to “El Chingadero” in the song “Visions” from One Of These Nights with the line: “Play on, El Chingadero, Play on.” The song was co-written by Don Felder and Don Henley (and sung by Felder). In his autobiography, Felder recalled the line and its meaning:
At one point in the lyrics, Don and Glenn sing, “Play on, El Chingadero, play on.” I learned later that chingadero is Spanish and loosely translates to ‘motherfucker.'”
Don Felder, Heaven and Hell: My Life In The Eagles (1974-2001)
Hear the line at 2:02:
Henry Diltz shot footage of the opening, which was shown in the documentary, History Of The Eagles. You can hear the band singing “Tryin'” as well as “Get You In The Mood,” a non-LP track, written by Glenn Frey and Jackson Browne, that later appeared as the B-side to “Take It Easy.” Henley’s narration makes it seem as though this footage was filmed in Colorado in 1971, but it was actually filmed at the art show in April 1972. You can see the artwork on the walls at :26, plus Jackson Browne, who is wearing the same clothing as the photo above. More footage from the event can be seen here.
Footage from History Of The Eagles ©Alison Ellwood, Jigsaw Productions, 2013.
Read more about the opening here.
The Eagles played Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario on March 30th, 1977. It was the second-to-last date on the first leg of their 1977 Hotel California tour. Jimmy Buffett was the opening act.
The Eagles in Toronto:
Photo ©Doug McClement
Although Paul McGrath, from the Toronto Globe & Mail, criticized the Eagles for just standing around onstage, he did compliment Randy, albeit backhandedly, for bringing some much-needed humanity to the show, with his dazzling performance of “Take It To The Limit”:
“When humanity breaks through, it can often dazzle. Randy Meisner’s vocals were a case in point: he appeared throughout to be only passingly interested in the performance, but then stepped to the front for his impassioned vocal on ‘Take It To The Limit.’ Only then was it apparent that this man’s seeming disinterest actually hid some real emotion.”
Paul McGrath, Globe and Mail, March 31, 1977 (see full review below)
Below: Randy with his Rickenbacker 4001 at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Photos © John Rowlands.
At a reception following the show, the Eagles were presented with a platinum record for Hotel California. Below they are photographed at the gathering with representatives from WEA (the international distributor for Asylum) and Toronto radio stations, CHUM & CFTR. Randy is not pictured.
Learn more about “Certain Kind Of Fool,” co-written and sung by Randy Meisner, from the Eagles’ second studio album, the outlaw-themed DESPERADO.
J.D. Souther opened.
Randy lent his “well-groomed soprano to ‘Take It To The Limit.'” (Wichita Beacon, November 16, 1976)
The first major tour date for the Eagles. The band opened for Joe Cocker. Although, they are not mentioned in any ads or reviews for the concert, they were photographed backstage after the show.
The photo below was published in the May 13th, 1972 issue of RPM, a Canadian trade publication. The caption referred to the band as “Eagle,” which is not a misprint since they were billed as Eagle at a number of their early gigs.
L-R: Randy, Bernie Leadon, Glenn Frey, Don Boas (with Kinney Services, the international distributor for Warner Bros, later known as WEA), Asylum Records general manager, John Hartmann, and Don Henley.
The Eagles played The Spectrum in Philadelphia, May 17, 1975. Read about the show and listen to both songs Randy performed that night.
Randy Meisner first met Glenn Frey & Don Henley when he filled in for Linda Ronstadt’s bassist at a place called Chuck’s Cellar in Los Altos, CA in June 1971.
In November and December 1971, the Eagles were sent to Colorado by David Geffen to develop their sound and audition for legendary producer Glyn Johns.
