Randy Meisner: A Retrospective

Take It To The Limit

EAGLES
Greensboro Coliseum
June 27, 1977

The Eagles played Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC on June 27, 1977. Andrew Gold opened. This concert was one night before the infamous Knoxville concert where Randy and Glenn Frey had a backstage fight.

Greensboro Record, June 28, 1977


During the concert, Randy handed out water to sweltering fans, and his high note on “Take It To The Limit” was compared to opera soprano, Anna Moffo.

“Bassist Randy Meisner gave the crowd a good rush when he took a note in ‘Take It To The Limit’ that Anna Moffo would be proud to call her own. Meisner had a great rapport with the crowd. At least twice he came to the aid of fans sweltering on the front lines of the surging floor crowd with some liquid relief. They appreciated it and showed so by making him come to the mike to take a bow for his high note.”

Russ Edmonston, Greensboro Daily News, June 28, 1977
Greensboro Daily News, June 28, 1977

Notice that Randy is playing a black Hagstrom bass. A change from his usual Rickenbacker 4001 from the 1977 Hotel California tour. He played the black Hagstrom a few days earlier in Birmingham as well. Find out more about Randy’s basses here.

Photo by Marc Y. Chenevert:

At some point during this stop in Greensboro, Randy was interviewed by Lou O’Neill, Jr from the New York Post. The short interview was published on July 15th, 1977. Read it below:

Author

Jessica Buxton

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EAGLES
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto
March 30th, 1977

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.

Toronto Star, February 19, 1977

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.

Billboard, May 7, 1977

Reviews:

Toronto Globe and Mail, March 31, 1977
Toronto Star, March 31, 1977

Author

Jessica Buxton

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EAGLES
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
MARCH 18th, 1977

On March 18th, 1977, the Eagles played Madison Square Garden in New York City. This was the third date on the Eagles’ 1977 Hotel California tour. Jimmy Buffett was the opening act. Although this was the Eagles’ first appearance at Madison Square Garden, the band played the Garden’s smaller venue, Felt Forum, 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.” Randy also performed “Try & Love Again” from their latest album, Hotel California. 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.” (Kristeen Nicholson, Record World, April 23, 1977)


Setlist
(Compiled from concert reviews)

Hotel California
Turn To Stone
Try & Love Again
Lyin’ Eyes
Doolin-Dalton/Desperado Reprise (with orchestra)
Wasted Time (with orchestra)
Take It To The Limit (with orchestra)
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
Oh Carol (with guest Ron Wood)

Randy performing “Take It To The Limit.” Photo ©Stephanie Tarre.

Reviews

New York Post, March 19, 1977

This review mentions Randy’s performance of “Try & Love Again,” although it is misspelled as “Trying Love Again.” The reviewer, Jan Hodenfield, referred to the song as “The Eagles meet Hall and Oates, at the intersection of San Bernardino and South Philly.”

Rolling Stone, May 5, 1977:

“Certainly the Eagles stage presence and show are not intended to drive anyone to the brink of Rollermania…the Eagles strike no rock & roll stage poses, flaunt no athletic grace, if anything, they loiter….

“The tunes — and the Eagles must be celebrated for their tunesmithing — were certainly fun to listen to. Don Henley, who has a problem drumming and singing at the same time (admittedly, not the easiest of tasks), wasn’t miked loudly enough, a problem since he’s taken over most of the lead singing. But Randy Meisner’s tenor cut through the instrumental mix well, and Glenn Frey, the original California dreamer, was surprisingly forceful.” (Peter Herbst, Rolling Stone)

Record World, April 23, 1977:

Variety, March 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.”

Below: Glenn with Faye Dunaway and Joe with his mom.
Photos from Rolling Stone, May 5th, 1977:

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

Author

Jessica Buxton

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

The Eagles played the Sunshine Festival in Anaheim, CA on September 28th, 1975. Also on the bill were Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne. The concert was the Eagles’ last tour date of 1975.

Los Angeles Times, September 28, 1975

Randy sang “Take It To The Limit” at this show in one of his first-ever performances of the song. He also performed “Midnight Flyer.” The concert also marked Bernie Leadon’s last appearance with the Eagles. He quit the band later that year and was replaced with Joe Walsh.

All photos ©Jeffrey Mayer.

Reviews

I have included two reviews that mention “Take It To The Limit” being performed.

Los Angeles Times, September 30, 1975

Highlander (UC Riverside), October 2, 1975

Author

Jessica Buxton

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EAGLES
The Summit, Houston, TX
November 6, 1976

The Eagles played The Summit in Houston, TX, November 6, 1976. J.D. Souther opened. A bootleg film of the concert exists. Watch it below.

Houston Chronicle, November 1, 1976

J.D. Souther later joined the Eagles onstage for “Best Of My Love,” which he co-wrote with Don Henley & Glenn Frey. He also wished Glenn a happy birthday. The concert was filmed using the Summit’s in-house video system. Footage of Randy’s lead-singing performances, as well as the full concert, are included below.

The Summit had a four-sided video screen called a “Telscreen” which hung from the ceiling. The screens displayed concerts in real-time for audience members who were not close to the stage. Any band who came in to perform paid a flat fee for use of the Telscreen and received a videotape of the concert in return. These Telscreen performances were often bootlegged, hence the existing footage of the Eagles Summit show, which has never been released officially.

According to a March 5th, 1978 article in the Houston Chronicle, the Summit’s Telscreen production crew were known to add graphics to their video footage as it was happening. During concerts, they focused mainly on whoever was singing. This explains the footage of the Summit show, which included graphics between songs and very few camera angles.

At the show, Randy and Joe both wore white t-shirts bearing the logo for Criteria Studios in Miami where the band was finishing up Hotel California at the time. In fact, the previous night’s show in Baton Rouge was held up for two hours because the band was late arriving from Miami.

In 2006, Randy recalled the grueling touring and recording schedule from this period:

“We had to go out on the road while we were doing that album and then go back to Criteria Studios in Florida to finish it…We went back and forth a lot…wanted to get the tracks right and mixed right. We knew the album was special.“

Interview with Ken Sharp, 2006

The less-than-complimentary review in the Houston Chronicle noted that the band looked and sounded “frayed around the edges,” this was perhaps due to their touring/recording schedule from the time period:

Houston Chronicle, November 7, 1976

More flattering reviews were found in the Houston Post and the University of Houston’s Daily Cougar newspapers. The Post proclaimed Randy’s performance of “Take It To The Limit” to be “one of the true crowd-pleasers of the evening.”

Houston Post, November 7, 1976
Houston Daily Cougar, November 9, 1976

Video

“Take It To The Limit”

“Midnight Flyer”

Complete Film (This is not the full concert)

The song order in the video does not follow the actual setlist for the Summit concert. The Eagles opened with “Take It Easy,” not “Hotel California.” The performance of “Take It Easy” is not included in the film, neither is “Doolin-Dalton,” which was also played, according to the Chronicle review.

Footage setlist:
Hotel California
Lyin’ Eyes
Wasted Time
Take It To The Limit
Desperado
Midnight Flyer
Turn To Stone
Already Gone
One Of These Nights
Funk 49
Good Day In Hell
Rocky Mountain Way
Witchy Woman
James Dean
Best Of My Love (with J.D. Souther)
Walk Away
Tequila Sunrise

Author

Jessica Buxton

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EAGLES
Convention Center Arena, San Antonio, TX
November 2nd, 1976

J.D. Souther opened for the Eagles.

“The turning point of the show occurred when Randy Meisner, bass guitarist, sang ‘Take It To The Limit.’ Meisner reached incredible high, sustained pitches with his strong, forceful voice that just sent shivers up the crowd’s spines. Crazed fans screamed and dashed toward the stage, where they remained until the end of the concert. Meisner received a standing ovation that lasted several minutes. When he realized the crowd wouldn’t stop, he danced and skipped around the stage which made the audience applaud even more.”

The Ranger (San Antonio College), November 12, 1976

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