I'm not too surprised that Johns was swayed by a song with Randy as lead. His voice is just so pure.
This article promoting Randy's One More Song album has a reference to the 1969 Poco show at the Troubadour with Randy singing Anyway Bye Bye. It also has some good tidbits on the Eagles start. One in particular caught my eye:
That's when John Boylan entered the picture. He was producing both Rick Nelson and Linda Ronstadt, and one day in 1970, Ronstadt's bass player mysteriously fell ill. Meisner was asked to sit in at a show at Chuck's Cellar in Los Altos. "I still don't know if that was planned or not," Meisner says.
Regardless, this gig brought Randy together with Ronstadt's guitarist, Glenn Frey, and her drummer, Don Henley. Frey, according to Meisner, remembered hitching a ride on Sunset Boulevard from Randy during the Poco days. Meisner still doesn't remember the incident, but he'll never forget this gig.
"Ronstadt hated my bass playing," Randy recalls. "She gave me some looks that could kill. It may not have worked out with her, but it sure got The Eagles together."
I didn't know Ronstadt was not a Randy fan. Fortunately Glenn and Don liked him!