When the Eagles Took Off: A 2008 Interview with Randy Meisner

Randy Meisner passed away in Los Angeles on July 26, 2023, at age 77, due to complications associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He had previously been a member of Poco and Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band when, in 1971, he got together with Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon to form a new country-rock band called Eagles (usually referred to as The Eagles). They were quickly signed  to David Geffen’s new Asylum Records label and became an immediate success.

In addition to playing bass and singing with the group, Meisner, born March 8, 1946, contributed song material to the group’s repertoire. “Take It To the Limit,” a 1975 single from their fourth album, One of These Nights, co-credited to Meisner, Henley and Frey and sung by Meisner, became a #4 hit in the U.S. After leaving Eagles in 1977, Meisner embarked on a solo career resulting in three albums of his own.

In 2008, Los Angeles-based music journalist Harvey Kubernik interviewed Meisner for his book Canyon of Dreams: The Magic and the Music of Laurel Canyon. The following quotes are excerpts from that interview.

“Glenn [Frey] knew David Geffen and that’s what started the whole Eagles thing. Then I met [manager] Elliot Roberts. These managers were way beyond me. I was aware of the music business but all I wanted to do is play. I just let things happen as they happened.

“On one of our first gigs, in Boulder, Colorado, I captured it on tape. I had this little stereo tape machine and it was exam time for the college students, so I recorded this gig in front of three people. The waitresses were real nice and we played like it mattered.

“At the time [1971], George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh had just been released, I took the applause from [that album] and overdubbed it onto the gig that we played when nobody was there. It sounded like we were at a big stadium. There was magic when we played live.

“I recorded everything from rehearsals to shows. We had [producer] Glyn Johns up in Boulder and he didn’t really want to deal with us at the time. He said, ‘You’re too rock ‘n’ roll.’ Eventually, he came back and we rehearsed at a place in Studio City, California, and he said, ‘I want [more] vocals.’ And that’s when we got together and did the first album in England.”

“We were getting close to recording ‘Take It to the Limit’ and it wasn’t finished. Don and Glenn helped me with the lyrics. I started the song but those guys helped me a lot. I came home from [Doug Weston’s nightclub] the Troubadour one night and got out my acoustic guitar and all of a sudden I had the first few lines of ‘One of These Nights.’

“From my perspective, I just went along with everything up until Hotel California. Glenn, Don and I were tight—we partied together. They lived together. I couldn’t squeeze in between ’em. When we recorded in the studio I told those guys a lot of things they didn’t like hearing about what they were writing. Sometimes they’d come up with a song and I was a critic.

“Our live show was perfect. It was just like the record. And Henley was a real stickler about that. In the beginning, Henley and I were real perfectionists. We went from clubs to stadiums, like Wembley arena in England, 120,000 people. Later, right before Hotel California, I left because I hated traveling. I always have and always will. I just hate flying on planes.”

A new compilation, To The Limit: The Essential Collection will be available on April 12, 2024, as a 3-CD set and a deluxe 6-LP set on 180-gram vinyl. The title is available for pre-order in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.

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Harvey Kubernik

Harvey Kubernik is the author of 19 books, including 'Canyon Of Dreams: The Magic And The Music Of Laurel Canyon' and 'Turn Up The Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll In Los Angeles 1956-1972.' Sterling/Barnes and Noble in 2018 published Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik’s 'The Story Of The Band: From Big Pink To The Last Waltz.' For October 2021 the duo has written a multi-narrative volume on Jimi Hendrix for the publisher. In 2015 Palazzo Editions published Harvey’s 'Leonard Cohen: Everybody Knows,' and 'Neil Young, Heart of Gold,' published in 2016. Otherworld Cottage Industries in 2020 published Harvey’s book, 'Docs That Rock, Music That Matters,' featuring interviews with D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus, Albert Maysles, Murray Lerner, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Andrew Loog Oldham, Eddie Kramer, Dick Clark, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Allan Arkush, and David Leaf, among others. In 2015, the University Press of Mississippi published a Harvey Kubernik Dylan-centric interview with Oscar-winning director and photographer D.A. Pennebaker in their book series, 'Conversations with Filmmakers, edited by Dr. Keith Beattie.' This century Kubernik has lectured and conducted courses on the music business and music documentary films in Southern California at UCLA and USC. In 2017 Harvey appeared at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in their Library & Archives Author Series. Kubernik’s writings are housed in book anthologies, most notably 'The Rolling Stone Book Of The Beats' and 'Drinking With Bukowski.' Harvey wrote the liner note booklets to the CD re-releases of Carole King’s 'Tapestry,' Allen Ginsberg’s 'Kaddish,' Elvis Presley 'The ’68 Comeback Special' and the Ramones’ 'End of the Century.' During 2020 Harvey Kubernik served as a consultant on the two-part documentary television series 'Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time,' directed by Alison Ellwood. Harvey is working on a documentary about Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member singer/songwriter Del Shannon.

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