EAGLES : HOUSTON 1976

 

Disc One (49:43)

  1. Hotel California
  2. Lyin' Eyes
  3. Wasted Time
  4. Take It To The Limit
  5. Desperado
  6. Midnight Flyer
  7. Turn To Stone
  8. Already Gone

Disc Two (53:39)

  1. One Of These Night
  2. Funk #49
  3. Good Day In Hell
  4. Rocky Mountain Way
  5. Witchy Woman
  6. James Dean
  7. M.C. Introducing J.D. Souther
  8. The Best Of My Love
  9. Walk Away
  10. Tequila Sunrise

Label : Mid Valley Records

Venue : The Summit, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

Date : November 16, 1976

Quality : soundboard recording (A+)

Review (Collector's Music Reviews) : The Eagles finished recording their fifth studio LP Hotel Californiain October 1976 and it would be released in December. The band immediately started touring with a setlist that was heavily skewed toweards the older, more familiar songs. These two discs are sourced from the video soundtrack and have excellent, very clear sound. The music is upfront and the audience cheering pushed way to the back so there is a bit of a sterile feel to it. Mid Valley is the only silver pressing of this show. It's an interesting show to have. Even though they were already stars by this point with One Of These Nights nominated for album of the year and "Lyin' Eyes" winning an award, Hotel Californiawould propel them to even more sucess. And it seems as if the band knew it would be a hit since they start off the show with the unfamiliar song. It's an act of confidence, and it is received well by the audience. "Lyin' Eyes," their biggest hit to date, follows along with three relatively mellow songs "Wasted Time," "Take It To The Limit" and "Desperado." Afterwards Glenn Frey says "There's nothing more we appreciate than being able to play four or five ballads in a row early on and have you listen to them. So we're gonna kick off our shoes now." The up tempo "Midnight Flyer" follows with Don Felder taking over the banjo part originally recorded by Bernie Leadon. "Turn To Stone" reaches almost ten minutes and is a perfect illustration of the late seventies Eagles aesthetic. Instead of the laid back country L.A. music pinned on them, with Felder and Walsh in the band they were more hard rock - guitar oriented, and those two play an effective duel in the song. Later in the set they play Walsh's solo tune "Rocky Mountain Way" (which Walsh changes to "Houston Texas Way"). J.D. Souther comes out for "The Best of My Love" and wishes Frey a happy birthday (28 years old). Frey also adds a verse to "Tequila Sunrise" about Mexico in the encore. Overall, since Eagles titles are hard to find this is worth having.