RIP Randy Meisner
 

Take it to the limit is one of the best Eagles songs and that says a lot! He was responsible for the high harmonies that made Eagles songs famous. He was shy and never wanted to take lead vocals. The story I heard and someone can correct me but his leaving the band was eventually over Henley and Frey demand he sing Take It To The Limit while he was sick (among other band drama and health issues).

According to band colleague Don Felder, Meisner's time in the band was weighed down by his desire to be with his family and by the constant bickering between members; the discord was still unknown to the public at the time. During the 1976/77 tour in support of the album Hotel California, Meisner suffered from ill health and exhaustion while the band toured frequently for over eleven months. Meisner also preferred not to be the center of attention, and said: "I was always kind of shy ... They wanted me to stand in the middle of the stage to sing 'Take It to the Limit,' but I liked to be out of the spotlight."[27] The band was starting to feel the strain in a long tour, and Meisner was unhappy – his stomach ulcers had flared up, and his marriage was also gradually disintegrating.[28] He had been arguing with fellow member Glenn Frey about his signature song, "Take It to the Limit", during the tour, as Meisner was struggling to hit the crucial high notes in the song.[29] At their show in Knoxville, Tennessee, Meisner decided to skip the song as an encore as he had stayed up late and caught the flu, and Frey and Meisner then became involved in an angry physical confrontation backstage.[29] After the altercation, Meisner was frozen out from the band,[28] and Meisner later said: "That was the end. . . I really felt like I was a member of the group, not a part of it."[27] Meisner decided to leave the group after the final date of the tour and returned to Nebraska to be with his family. His last performance was in East Troy, Wisconsin on September 3, 1977.[30] The band replaced Meisner with the same musician who had succeeded him in Poco, Timothy B. Schmit, after agreeing that Schmit was the only candidate.[31]

Meisner formally quit the band in September 1977,[11] citing "exhaustion".[32] On the subject of his abrupt resignation from the band, Meisner later said, "All that stuff and all the arguing amongst the Eagles is over now. Well, at least for me."[3


Don and Glenn were ruthless SOBs. No wonder Stevie and Don hooked up.

Here is a clip from 1977

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMSeyp0p09w

Article about his passing
https://www.today.com/popculture/ran...dies-rcna96782

I had wished he’d be on this Long Goodbye Tour. May he be in peace.

I have seen Felder live before. I wish I could see him and Bernie Leadon, with Henley, Joe, Timothy, and Vince.
I saw Deacon live which was nice but Vince’s vocals are just so beautiful.
Sadly I think it would be hard to negotiate payment for Felder for the Long Goodbye tour since Henley and Frey expressed Felder asked for more than he deserved. Bernie I think would jump on for it no matter the offer.
I love Steuart Smith too. Just would love to see the originals.

Even though he quit nearly 50 years ago, he was still a multi- millionaire. He battled the bottle for years, too, which took it's toll on his relationships.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Meisner

I’ve seen them a lot over the last 20 years and unfortunately I just don’t think I have it in me for this final tour. Probably the only thing that would sway me would be Felder being part of it but that was never going to happen.

OMG yes. Felder coming back to the Eagles would be just as profound as when Christine came back to the Mac. I know they hate each other but why cant they just pretend to like each other like Fleetwood Mac and do it for the money ;)

It's funny, per Felder's book, when the Eagles broke up, Henley tried to hire Felder as his guitarist, but wasn't offering enough money(I believe it was either 5k a week, or 5k a show, I forget now). Things must've really turned south after that...

Henley and Frey. What a duo. Stevie could only hope to be as nasty. I’d love to know the split post-Frey. If anyone thinks Gill and young Frey are splitting Glenn’s share or that Schmidt and Walsh got a piece of it, I’ve got a bridge to sell.

His vocal on Take it to the Limit alone should make him a multi millionaire. Absolutely brilliant.

Seems like it’d be even easier in Eagles. Henley and Felder could literally never interact once and it would work. And there’s no history of having screwed each other or morons in the audience pining for two geriatrics to rekindle their relationship that ended 50 years ago.

It's been so long since I've read his book...I wish I could remember the numbers. It was split evenly 5 ways up until the 1980 breakup. I think Felder, Walsh and Schmidt dropped to 10% each upon the reunion.

But also, Felder was the last one who was a PARTNER in the band. Walsh and Schmidt came along too late for that offer to be made. So Felder owned a third of merchandising and all. And they were f*cking him(as you'd expect). He kept demanding to see the books....
THAT'S WHAT GOT HIM FIRED.

And who was right in the middle of everything? Good old Irving. They’re all just horrible humans

They truly are. Don, Glenn, and Irving. Absolute scum.

When I watch pre 1980 stuff, Glenn comes across as a complete ASS. I see nothing likable about him. Self absorbed PRICK.

Some would say Irving just does his job. But Irving is not an ARTIST’S manager, Jon Landau is. Irving doesn’t believe in his legacy clients presenting new material.

Landau supports Bruce doing whatever he wants with his concert presentations.

I loved the Eagles’ Eden Tour because of the amount of new songs they did. It was a #1 album and they were proud of it but then after 2 years of touring it, they did the oldies. History of the Eagles was a good tour and was supposed to be their last tour, per Henley. But Glenn’s vocals were so bad, straining for notes.

In the documentary I thought they did nothing to not look like complete assholes. It was refreshing that they didn’t try to hide it I suppose.

Being in these bands seems exhausting. At least the money is good.

I actually appreciated it, too. Kind of shocking that they'd let the world see that they(Glenn, especially) were f*cking assh*les.

You know, they DO have the top selling album of the last century...... think about that for a minute. A century! I think that leads us down the path that you have to be a ruthless, self absorbed ASSH*LE to truly become a household name.

Or you could just sleep your way to the top, like $tevie.:p


I've said it before, and I'll say it again.... what if $tevie had been UGLY? SERIOUS question.

If she was ugly, let’s face it, she’d never have been in Fritz or started dating Lindsey in the first place. She’d probably be a teacher or something. There’s very little room for truly ugly people in the celebrity world. And while the double standard is wrong, there’s a lot more wiggle room for an ugly man vs an ugly woman, especially in music.

You're correct on all counts.

She's very lucky the entire world wanted to sleep with her, and she was willing to do so. :woohoo:;)

I liked how you brought the thread full circle back to the Eagles

Well we know for certain that she slept with two, and aborted one of their babies. I'll bet she slept with more than two of them.

Not an official member but also JD Souther was about as close as one could get to being an Eagle without being one.

And Don Felder played guitar on The Highwayman, so I'm sure that's all the opportunity she needed to sink her claws into him as well.

hE
 

I have seen the Eagles 3 times. The first was mini tour in 2010 where they came to the Skydome in Toronto with The Chicks and JD and The Straight Shot. They didn't play their usual 3 hour show but a simple 2 hours of mostly hits.

The next time it was the History of The Eagles Tour in 2013 in Ottawa and I liked that they did pull out some deep cuts like These Shoes, Doolin Dalton, Pretty Maids... Train Leaves This Morning .

The last time I saw them was last September on the Hotel California tour. It was my least favorite concert. Joe was struggling to hit notes early on and even Timothy wasn't very good on I Can't Tell You Why.

I did read Felder's book and watched the Eagles Documentary. I came away thinking that Henley and Frey were real pricks were full of themselves and became bullies. They only reunited in 94 for money and then tried to screw the others out of less money simply because as Frey put it they had kept the Eagles music alive by selling out arenas and stadiums. I would argue Henley was the only one who had consistent hits in the 80's. Frey peaked in 85 and albums released after that didn't sell and there little to no big hits. Plus he opened up for some of Tina Tuner's Private Dancer tour. Did he ever headline Stadium's or Arenas on his own name?

I also never got why Frey got so pissed off re Felder's Nice to meet you... I guess comment to Allan Cranston and his wife. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as he makes it out to be and it seemed like in 94 he was still pissed off about it. Then Henley gets all bent out of shape over Felder writing a tell all book. He's only mad because Felder told the truth. I don't recall them suing for slander over what he wrote in the book.

The reason Felder was fired was he wouldn't sign the contract for the Selected Works Box Set. He was CFO of the Eagles Corporation and asked to see the financial records and was refused.

I found it pretty insulting when they were given the Kennedy Center Honor's but the band Excluded Felder, Leadan and Meisner. Schmidt only played on one album before the breakup and wasn't even there during the beginning or even when they blow up thanks to Hotel California.

Irving is a terrible Manager and human being. He thinks endless nostalgia tours as sky high prices is better than being creative and making new music. Though if I was under his Management I wouldn't be thrilled knowing that not once but twice a long term member of a popular band is fired and then the band has to settle a lawsuit and pay out big bucks to fired band member.

The Current version of the Eagles is nothing but a nostalgia act. They need Leadon and Felder back to make it a little more legit if it is the final tour.

Irving even says in "History" that Henley's career was "you know, really, REALLY successful". There's no doubt he was much more successful than Frey.

I've always maintained that the real reason they broke up, and Glenn was such an ass, was that he was jealous that Don became THE VOICE of the Eagles. Glenn was supposed to be the star!:laugh:

When Glenn made the comment in the documentary about him and Henley keeping the Eagles alive during the 80’s - come on - some of his solo work is fun. I’m a child of the 80’s…give me The Heat is On or You Belong to the City any day, but his solo career wasn’t ever half of what Henley accomplished between 1980-1994 and everyone knows it. Some of his stuff is pure cheesy sugary garbage.

I never saw the Eagles until they reunited, and even then, not until Glenn was dead! When they got back together, tickets were just so expensive. I wasn't willing to pay $300, 30 years ago. I think my FM Dance ticket was $100. That was a lot of money back then...I was willing to die to see FM, but not the Eagles.

BUT...I saw Henley solo 6 times. He's in the top 5 male vocalists of all time.

Even if he's an ass...:laugh: