EAGLES : EAGLES LIVE

 

Disc One (37:30)

  1. Hotel California
  2. Heartache Tonight
  3. I Can't Tell You Why
  4. The Long Run
  5. New Kid In Town
  6. Life's Been Good

Disc Two (38:52)

  1. Seven Bridges Road
  2. Wasted Time
  3. Take It To The Limit
  4. Doolin-Dalton (Reprise II)
  5. Desperado
  6. Saturday Night
  7. All Night Long
  8. Life In The Fast Lane
  9. Take It Easy

Label : Asylum Records

Venue : The Fourm, Inglewood, California, USA + Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California, USA + Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, California, USA

Recording Date : October 20-22, 1976 + July 27-29, 1980 + July 31, 1980

Release Date : November 7, 1980

Review (AllMusic) : Although Eagles Live includes four tracks recorded in the fall of 1976 (thus allowing for the inclusion of departed singer Randy Meisner on "Take It to the Limit"), the bulk of the album comes from the end of the Eagles' 1980 tour, just before they broke up, and it reflects their late concert repertoire, largely drawn from Hotel California and The Long Run. The occasional early song such as "Desperado" and "Take It Easy" turn up, but many of the major hits from the middle of the band's career - "The Best of My Love," "One of These Nights," "Lyin' Eyes" - are missing, replaced by such curiosities as two extended selections from Joe Walsh's solo career, "Life's Been Good" and "All Night Long." At least Walsh introduces some live variations to his material; the rest of the Eagles seem determined to re-create the studio versions of their songs in concert, which may work for them live but almost makes a live recording superfluous. The previously unrecorded rendition of Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road" is welcome, and the album would have benefited from more surprises as well as a livelier approach to a live recording.

Review (Wikipedia) : Eagles Live is the first live album by the American rock band Eagles, a two-LP set released on November 7, 1980. Although the Eagles were already in the process of breaking up, the band owed Elektra/Asylum Records one more album and fulfilled that contractual obligation with a release of performances from the Hotel California and The Long Run tours. Eagles Live was mixed by Glenn Frey and Don Henley on opposite coasts in Los Angeles and Miami, respectively, and as producer Bill Szymczyk put it, the record's harmony and instrument fixes were made "courtesy of Federal Express." The 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide said it is "perhaps the most heavily overdubbed [live album] in history." "Seven Bridges Road," a Steve Young cover, was released as a single and became a top-40 hit. The album provides a balanced document of the band's musical history, recorded in two phases. Five of the tracks were recorded in October 1976, during three performances at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The other 10 tracks were recorded in July 1980, from three shows at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and one at the Long Beach Arena in California. The band had different line-ups in 1976 and 1980; Timothy B. Schmit joined in 1978, replacing original bassist Randy Meisner. Five lead singers are featured in the 14 vocal songs on the album [excluding the brief musical interlude of "Doolin Dalton (Reprise II)"]: Henley, Frey, Joe Walsh, Meisner and Schmit. Songs from each Eagles studio album except one (On the Border) are included, as well as two Walsh solo tracks and one cover song: the acoustic harmony-laden "Seven Bridges Road." Plagued for years by internal strife, the band had reached a breaking point by July 31, 1980, when it performed a concert in Long Beach, California that served as a fund-raiser for then-Senator Alan Cranston's campaign. The version of "Life in the Fast Lane" for Eagles Live was recorded at this show, which was most notable for a dispute between bandmates Frey and Don Felder that culminated backstage, when they nearly came to blows. Frey then refused to even speak to the other band members, let alone join them to record overdubs for Eagles Live; therefore, the recording was done piecemeal. Frey was in Los Angeles while the rest of the band was in Miami, with Henley overseeing the post-production sessions. Tapes were sent back and forth between the two locations until the album was completed. Szymczyk said: "I had my assistant in Los Angeles with Glenn, and I had the rest of the band fly to Miami. We were fixing three-part harmonies courtesy of Federal Express." Five different lawyers were thanked in the liner notes. The Eagles rejected a $2 million offer from the label to record two new songs for the album. The only previously unreleased song in the album is a version of "Seven Bridges Road". The song was a showcase for the band's close harmony singing, as the verses of the song feature a cappella vocals from all five members.