The eagles first meeting

[sodascouts]

I've heard so many different stories! Here's a few I've heard regarding Boylan (Linda's then-manager):

Boylan has said that he approached everyone separately himself with the idea of eventually forming a group he would then manage, although initially he just hired them to back Linda. Don and Glenn say that they cooked up the idea of creating a group, THEN asked Boylan for suggestions.

Boylan says it was his idea to bring Don along on Linda's tour, but both Glenn and Don say that it was Glenn's idea.

Boylan says it was his idea to bring in Bernie, but Bernie says he suggested himself to Boylan (ie, he called Boylan; Boylan didn't call him).

It seems only Randy credits his inclusion totally to Boylan.

The truth is somewhere in the middle!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

This is interesting stuff. I agree that there are different accounts about exactly how the band all came together. One thing that seems to be consistent though is that Boylan initially wanted a permanent band to back Linda. However, I think Glenn was always planning on forming his own band after Geffen had advised him to do so. I also agree that Don and Glenn's recollection is that Glenn approached Don at the Troubadour about joining Linda's band.

I remember that Glenn told a related story at the Verizon Center show in D.C. in Nov. 2008 that I was at. I went back and looked up my review and the way he told it is that in 1971, he and Don joined Linda Ronstadt’s touring band. After practicing for a few weeks, their first dates were at the Cellar Door club "right here in Washington, D.C". One night in that bar after a couple of Tequilas, the two of them decided to form a band. Then, he just shrugged his shoulders, and broke into Take It Easy.

[GettheLeadonOut!!]

I think I read on allmusic that Glenn and Don toured with Linda in the spring of '71 and Randy & Bernie toured with her the summer of '71. And I’m willing to bet that Bernie was the one who called Boylan as he had just quit the Flying Burrito Brothers weeks earlier and saw the idea of playing in a band with Glenn, Don and Randy as his meal ticket to fame and fortune...which of course it was. Talk about a supergroup!

[bernie's bender]

Boylan, while not as well known to most, is a really pivotal and important person in the history of country rock (heck, even rock)...

He was the person who was brought in to resurrect Ricky Nelson's career and use Dylan songs as a catalyst for creating (along with some others) the seed that became country rock... a lot of credit for that sound has to go to Boylan.

Meisner was in that band and was always loyal to John and I think it is makes sense that both Bernie and Randy were brought to the Ronstadt band by John... but, Linda (like emmylou harris) is a strong band leader and I'm totally confident that she had a firm voice in the choices.

Her crowd back then included JD, Lowell, JB, etc..

Glenn and Don both held Randy and Bernie in high respect and knew they had a far more 'legit' past from the bands they'd played in so, it is reasonable that they'd be thrilled to get to play with 'heroes'. The shiloh and LBP stuff was not in the same league as where Bernie and Randy had been band wise....

As for Boylan, he did a great job moving Ronstadt along toward her eventual sound which was perfected with Peter Asher (of Peter and Gordon fame) and with Marni Nixon's son, Andrew Gold playing the daylights out of a ton of instruments... and discovering tonal icons like Bob Warford (Clarence White's friend) Eddie Black, Russ (surfer boy) Kunkel and so on...

Boylan's career is pretty phenomenal, no one could be that lucky, he clearly has great ears and a strong mind and will... He produced the first Boston album... there a ton of bands who had their biggest hits with him producing and "Boylan's rules" are still in tons of studios!

here they are:



If you've never heard Ricky Nelson sing "She Belongs To Me" check it out... it is magic... and Randy is on bass on several of the recordings...

[Scarlet Sun]

I love the Association album he produced

[sodascouts]

This is the anniversary of the Eagles playing together, before they were a band, when they were backing Linda Ronstadt. Pretty momentous, eh?

I've posted this elsewhere but I thought, for the purposes of organizational clarity (which as many of you know, I'm a BIG fan of, lol), that I would re-post it here and revive this thread. Here goes:

As you can tell from earlier in the thread, there's different stories as to how things went down. According to Ronstadt's manager John Boylan, the reason that those four were playing together at Disneyland was to see if they gelled enough to form a band.

You see, although Randy and Bernie had backed up Linda in the past, they weren't in her backing band at the same time as Glenn and Don. When Boylan heard that Glenn and Don were talking about starting a band, he told them about Bernie and Randy and approached them about doing the Disneyland gig in order to see if it worked out between the four of them. All four men played that gig understanding that, if things clicked, there was the potential for a new band there.

To commemorate the first time Glenn, Don, Bernie, and Randy played together, here's some treats:

Glenn and Don backing Linda Ronstadt in 1971
(from Before They Were Rock Stars)
Download .mpg (4 megs)
Download .wmv (1 meg)


Linda Ronstadt - Rescue Me (Live 1971) - you can hear Glenn singing backup; he goes back and forth with Linda at the end


Linda actually let Glenn sing lead on this one, even though it was during her set and he was part of the backing band:
"(Get Up) Kate" (Troubadour 1971)


And even though this was years later, it gives you the vibe of what it was like that evening at Disneyland (just pretend Felder isn't there):

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLoj5qxURw[/ame]

[Brooke]

Thanks for all of that Soda! I enjoyed listening and watching and remembering how it all started. Man, 40 years is a long time! I still can't believe it, but I can remember it!

[TimothyBFan]

(just pretend Felder isn't there):

Why did this make me laugh so much?

[GlennLover]

Love that entire performance (Don Kirshner's Rock Concert). Too bad the clips of "Ol'55" & "Your sweet Baby Blues" aren't still up on TouTube.

40 years! Go Eagles!!!

[zeldabjr]

Have you read the Burritos book? I'm basing my assumption on Bernie's recollection of that time. I'm not sure I read it 100% correctly, but I think I did . . .

looking at this old thread is very interesting...does anyone know what book Scarlet Sun is talking about here?