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Road Stories
A few entertaining vignettes from Randy’s life on the road.
Eagles At The Forum, 1976
The Eagles played four sold-out concerts at The Forum in Inglewood, CA, October 19-22, 1976. Get all the details and hear audio from the shows, plus one complete concert.
Taking the Party Plane to Oakland
Using private home movie footage, shared exclusively here, we’ll follow Randy Meisner and the Eagles from LA to Oakland where they played Day On The Green on August 3rd, 1976.
Eagles
Bingley Hall, Stafford, England
May 3-4, 1977
Following the four-night stand at the Wembley Empire Pool, plus two shows at the Apollo in Glasgow, the Eagles ended the first leg of the 1977 European tour with two sold-out shows at Bingley Hall in Stafford. Valerie Carter opened. One thing the band set out to prove was that they were no longer a laid-back, easy-going country-rock band:
“Any doubts about whether their sweet-sounding California dreaming songs might turn out to be monotonous and dirge-like when performed live were swiftly dispelled by their gig in Stafford. The difference between the country-rock outfit I saw…in 1973, and The Eagles as they are today, lies In their Extra Added Ingredients.
North Wales Weekly News, May 12th, 1977
The blend has been enriched by the addition of guitarist Don Felder, a late arrival for the On The Border LP, who stamped his mark on One Of These Nights.
But it Is the newest member, Joe Walsh, who has really transformed the group into a world-beating act. His credentials are envious–a period with the James Gang followed by a series of solo albums–a man rated as one of the best guitarists in the world by Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend.”
The Stafford audience was treated to two-hours of “non-stop exhilaration”:
“There wasn’t a bad number in the whole set. No lull in the proceedings, Just a series of highlights…
North Wales Weekly News, May 12th, 1977
The first was ‘Doolin-Dalton,’ the opening track from Desperado, which struck home early in the set. Then it was Walsh’s thumping rendition of ‘Turn To Stone,’ ending in a slide-guitar crescendo, all perfectly controlled.
Praise for Randy’s performance of “Take It To The Limit”:
“Then it was Randy Meisner’s ‘Take It To The Limit’ from One Of These Nights, which showed off another of their assets, those harmonies, to the full. In whichever department you look, The Eagles are either competent, good or brilliant.” (North Wales Weekly News, May 12th, 1977)
“Bass guitarist Randy Meisner, together with his super voice on”Take It To The Limit,” provided the 12,000 plus crowd with the perfect foil for the rest of the band.” (Coleshill (England)Chronicle, May 13, 1977)
Reviews
Read the full-length reviews quoted in this section here:
Source.
The Eagles took a three-day break before their week-long tour of Germany on May 7th.
Eagles in Sweden, May 17-18, 1977
On May 17th and 18th, 1977, the Eagles played two concerts in Sweden. These were the final dates of their 1977 European tour. An audience recording exists of Randy’s performance of “Take It To The Limit” at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, their final tour date. Listen to it below.
The band arrived in Stockholm following their appearance in Hamburg on May 15th. At some point between the Hamburg show on May 15th (left) and Stockholm on May 17th (right), Randy got a haircut, which is noticeable in the photos below.
Randy’s first wife, Jennifer, and son, Dana, had joined him for the European tour. Jennifer recalled Randy singing to her at their hotel in Sweden:
Jennifer:
“He always liked to sing ‘Jennifer Juniper’ to me. I remember it so well in Sweden. I’m in the hotel room, old hotel, I hear him singing as he was coming down the hall.”
May 17
Gröna Lund, Stockholm
The Eagles performed their first Scandinavian show at the Gröna Lund amusement park in Stockholm. It was windy and cold, as noted by the long sleeves and Randy’s turtleneck.
Review of the Stockholm show from unknown Swedish music magazine, 1977:
The Eagles equipment stacked up on the Stora Scenen stage at Gröna Lund Amusement Park, Stockholm.
Photo ©Jonte Strömberg
The Eagles onstage in Stockholm, May 17th, 1977:
May 18th, 1977
Scandinavium, Gothenburg
This show was their final gig of the 1977 European tour. Listen to an audience recording of the concert below.
Setlist
Hotel California
Walk Away
Victim Of Love
Lyin’ Eyes
Take It To The Limit
New Kid In Town
Desperado
One Of These Nights
Turn To Stone
Already Gone
Life In The Fast Lane
Rocky Mountain Way
Witchy Woman
James Dean
Randy performing “Take It To The Limit” in Gothenburg, May 18th, 1977. The audio is a bit sluggish, but Randy’s stunning performance of the song is the perfect coda for their European tour.
Tour Of The Pacific: Hawaii, 1976
The Eagles played Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu on February 12th, 1976. See photos and rare home movie footage from the Meisner’s Super 8 video camera, shared here exclusively.
Eagles
War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester, NY
March 19th, 1977
The Eagles played the War Memorial Auditorium in Rochester on March 19th, 1977.
Randy performed both “Take It To The Limit” and “Try And Love Again” at this show. According to the review, his high note in TITTL was “nothing short of amazing…and about three octaves above any sound human beings are usually able to sing.”
Elton John’s Mid-Summer Music at Wembley Stadium, June 1975
The Eagles played Elton John’s Mid-Summer Music concert at Wembley on June 21, 1975. Get all the details, as well as audio and home movie footage.
Eagles In Denver, 1976
The Eagles played Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado on August 8th, 1976. Several members of his family were in attendance, including his wife, children, and parents.
Eagles
Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, MO, June 6, 1975
The Eagles opened for the Rolling Stones at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Joe Walsh, who was not billed, joined them as their guest. The Stones were on their legendary 1975 “Tour Of The Americas.” Opening along with the Eagles were The Gap Band and Rufus featuring Chaka Khan.
Tour poster, 1975.
Keyboardist Billy Preston and guitarist Ron Wood appeared as part of the Rolling Stones’ touring band. Wood was not yet an official member of the group.
The bands performed under a tent-like dome on the stage.
The Stones performing at Arrowhead, June 6, 1975. Photo ©Dann E. Haworth.
Following The Gap Band and Rufus, the Eagles hit the stage at 5:30. They performed an hour-long set before the massive sold-out crowd.
Randy’s stage pass/badge for the Arrowhead stadium concert still exists with his family. The badge was pinned to his jeans in the photo on the right. Photo of the badge courtesy of Jennifer Meisner.
Below: Joe Walsh made a surprise appearance with the Eagles for a version of his own “Rocky Mountain Way.” Notice that Randy, who normally plucked his bass with his fingers, is using a pick for this song. Other songs on which he used a pick were “Good Day In Hell” and “Lovin’ You Every Minute” by Poco.
Joe Walsh backstage. Randy’s wife, Jennifer, at right with their son Dana hiding behind her.
Photos
Roadie Tommy Nixon is in both photos wearing a hat and red shirt.
The Eagles exit the stage. Randy is behind Eagles manager, Irving Azoff.
Roadie, Tommy Nixon, hands Don Henley a towel. Behind Henley is another roadie, Tony Taibi, in the Eagles shirt.
This was the Eagles’ first time opening for the Rolling Stones. In his memoir, Don Felder recalled the Eagles’ road manager, Richie Fernandez, setting up a meeting with the Stones in their hotel room the night before the concert. Felder claims it was the first time he’d ever seen heroin. He’d also hoped to meet Keith Richards, but he was nowhere in sight. He was later found motionless in the bathroom. Felder thought he was “a goner.” (Excerpt from Heaven And Hell: My Life With The Eagles by Don Felder).
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (alive and well) onstage in Kansas City, June 6, 1975
REVIEWS
Lawrence Journal World, June 7, 1975
Manhattan Mercury, June 8, 1975
Andrew Gold opened both shows. Steve Miller made a guest appearance on the 19th.
June 19th
“Randy Meisner, the bass guitarist, lifted the show to a new level of excitement with his singing of ‘Take It To The Limit.'”
Scott Cain, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 20th, 1977
June 20th
“Bassist Randy Meisner gave an outstanding singing performance on ‘Take It To The Limit.'”
Bill King, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 21st, 1977
Eagles onstage, June 20th, 1977. Photo ©Kelly Campbell.
Review: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 21st, 1977
Randy at the Omni
EAGLES
Milwaukee County Stadium
June 8, 1975
The Eagles and Rufus opened for the Rolling Stones during their 1975 Tour Of The Americas. Joe Walsh joined the Eagles as their guest.
The Eagles’ trailor backstage
Eagles at Day On The Green, 1977
The Eagles headlined two concerts at Day On The Green in Oakland, CA over Memorial Day weekend, 1977. They also played a softball game.
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.
Reviews:
