Randt Meisner Live 1981

Randy Meisner-Live 1981

 

Not much on this rare release.
2009 archive live release from the former member of The Eagles and Poco. Along with Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon and Don Henley, Randy and The Eagles achieved great success and Meisner was not only known for his bass playing and backing vocals but also for writing/co-writing songs on all five of the Eagles first albums. After The Eagles, Meisner had a successful solo career with albums released in 1978, 1980 and 1982. He also went on to support other big names such as Joe Walsh, Dan Fogelberg, Bob Welch and Richard Marx. This album shows Meisner at his best. 12 tracks.



Randy Meisner

Randy Meisner

Randy Herman Meisner (born March 8, 1946 in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, U.S.) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles. Throughout his professional musical career Meisner's main role has been as bassist and backing high-harmony vocalist as both a group member and session musician.
Meisner was born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, the son of sharecroppers. When he was 17, in May 1963, Randy married his high school sweetheart Jennifer Barton, and the young couple had a son, Dana Scott Meisner in November 1963. Randy and Jennifer were married for 18 years, with the marriage producing two more children (Heather Leigh and Eric Shane Meisner) born in May 1970. His first public playing experience was with a local band named The Dynamics (later The Drivin' Dynamics) in 1961. By 1965 he had moved to California with a band named The Soul Survivors, later to be renamed The Poor (because, as Don Felder later said, "...that is what they became.")

In 1968, after auditioning along side the likes of Duane Allman and Timothy B Schmit, Meisner joined Poco (originally named Pogo) with former Buffalo Springfield members Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Meisner appeared on Poco's first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, but was asked to leave the band shortly before the record was released. Meisner's exit was a result of his anger from being excluded (at Furay's insistence) from participation in the final mix playback sessions for the record, as only Messina and Furay were to complete the production. His image was removed from the painting on the album's cover,[9] and replaced with the dog seen at the far left. His bass parts and backing vocals were left in the mix, but his lead vocals were removed, and new versions were sung by George Grantham.

In 1969, Meisner joined Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band, and persuaded Nelson and producer John Boylan to hire his former band mates from The Poor, Allen Kemp (guitar) and Pat Shanahan (drums); pedal steel guitarist Tom Brumley completed the group. Meisner appears on both In Concert at the Troubadour, 1969[12] and Rudy The Fifth. Although he did not perform on Nelson's Garden Party, he did co-author one of the album's tracks. Meisner continued to support himself as a session performer, playing bass on James Taylor's Sweet Baby James album, among others. By early 1971, he would become active in Linda Ronstadt's backing band, which featured Don Henley and Glenn Frey. Bernie Leadon had already been playing with Ronstadt for some time.

Eagles songs written or co-written by Randy Meisner

    "Take the Devil" from Eagles
    "Early Bird" (co-written with Bernie Leadon) from Eagles
    "Tryin'" from Eagles
    "Certain Kind of Fool" from Desperado (co-written with Glenn Frey & Don Henley)
    "Saturday Night" from Desperado (co-written with Frey/Henley/Leadon)
    "Is It True" from On the Border
    "Too Many Hands" from One of These Nights (co-written with Don Felder)
    "Take It to the Limit" from One of These Nights (co-written with Frey/Henley)
    "Try and Love Again" from Hotel California

Eagles songs featuring Randy Meisner on lead or co-lead vocal

    "Most of Us Are Sad" from Eagles
    "Take the Devil" from Eagles
    "Tryin'" from Eagles
    "Take It Easy" - co-lead vocal w/Glenn Frey on second verse ("Well, I'm-a standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona...") from Eagles
    "Certain Kind of Fool" from Desperado
    "Saturday Night" - lead vocal in the bridge ("She said tell me, oh tell me...") from Desperado
    "Midnight Flyer" from On the Border
    "On the Border" - lead vocal in the bridge ("Never mind your name...") from On the Border
    "Is It True" from On the Border
    "Too Many Hands" from One of These Nights
    "Take It to the Limit" from One of These Nights
    "Try and Love Again" from Hotel California

Poco songs featuring Randy Meisner on lead or co-lead vocal

    "Make Me a Smile" - high-harmony with Richie Furay from Pickin' Up the Pieces (written by Richie Furay/Jim Messina)
    "Short Changed" - high-harmony with Richie Furay from Pickin' Up the Pieces (written by Richie Furay)
    "Anyway Bye Bye" - original lead before leaving group from Poco (album) (written by Richie Furay)
    "Nothin' To Hide" from Legacy (written by Richard Marx, Bruce Gaitsch)
    "Rough Edges" from Legacy (written by Young, Radney Foster, Bill Lloyd)
    "Nature of Love" from Legacy (written by Jeff Silbar, Van Stephenson)

Website
www.randymeisneronline.com/

Poco- Pickin' up the pieces

Pickin' Up the Pieces

On this album Richie Furay and Jim Messina literally pick up the pieces of their former band Buffalo Springfield and create a landmark in the history of music. Furay and Messina rounded out their band with pedal steel guitar great Rusty Young (whose great steel solo on Kind Woman, the finale of the last Springfield album, helped set the direction for what would later become Poco), the great Randy Meisner (who would later become famous to a generation of country-rock fans as the high harmony voice of the Eagles), and George Grantham, whose steady drumming and fantastic harmonies were a perfect fit for what would become a very tight band. The term "soaring harmonies" never fit as well as with Furay/Meisner/Grantham on this album. For fans of great guitar and steel guitar, the interplay that developed between Young and Messina on this album will truly amaze you. On this album, perhaps more than any other Poco album that was to come, Furay took center stage as the #1 songwriter, contributing to almost all of the tunes on this set. He truly set the stage for Poco's trademark upbeat music.

If there is a downside to this album it may be the fact that it actually could have been even better. A rift developed between Meisner and the band during the completion of the album and his lead vocals and some of his other contributions were erased from the final product. Messina was also never particularly happy with the fact that his hands were somewhat tied from a production/engineering perspective. There is also a noteworthy lack of anything even remotely resembling a candidate for hit status on AM radio, a fact that would haunt the band for years. There are also a couple of weaker tracks, but the power and energy of the title track, Calico Lady, Consequently So Long, What a Day, Make Me a Smile, and Rusty Young's instrumental Grand Junction more than make up for them.

This album is also interesting from the standpoint that nobody had ever really created a full-length album of rock music infused with the elements of country music prior to this album's release. The Byrds's Sweetheart of the Rodeo and the International Submarine Band's Safe at Home came close, but they both lacked the down home rock foundation of this album. Poco spent months perfecting the sound that you will hear on this work, and it stands out as a true milestone in the history of music.

Randy Meisner- One more song

One More Song

Randy Meisner shines on this album. Indeed, this album may be the best of ANY Eagles solo album. Great vocals and melodies throughout. Some of the best songs that Randy's ever done. And, by far the best of his 3 solo albums. This album is as enjoyable today as it was when it was released. Its hits--"Deep Inside My Heart" and "Hearts on Fire"--remain great listens today. Many of the others tracks are memorable--"Gotta Get Away" and "One More Song" (featuring some familiar Eagles voices) in particular. There's nothing on this album with quite the same feel as "Take It to the Limit," but just about every track is as strong. For those who like the Eagles/Poco sound, this is a "must have" album. Twenty years after its release it still soars.

Randy Meisner 1978

Randy Meisner 1978

This is Randy Meisner's first recordings after leaving the Eagles in 1978. Previously, it was only released in Japan and available in the USA by bidding... For some reason, this release was overlooked, but now it is available here ... at a reasonable price and is well worth checking out if you are a fan of Randy's. It was the first time he was the lead vocalist on all of the tracks and his first experience at picking all the material to record. He did a new rendition of "Take It To The Limit" with guitar, piano and vocals and another song that was in the Eagle's vein, "Every Other Day". "Bad Man", written by J.D. Souther and Glen Frey, is a real rocker. There are some great players - John Hobbs, Victor Feldman, Ernie Watts, Byron Berline, Steve Edwards and background singers like David Cassidy and J.D. Souther. This is the best version of "Lonesome Cowgirl" I've heard and it really cooks. There are a couple of nice ballads and his versions of a few oldies. This cd shows Randy in transition to becoming a hit artist on his own. The production is good and I recommend it.