Randy Meisner made the Eagles great
With Randy Meisner, the Eagles were one of the greatest rock groups in American history. After the founding bassist left the band, they became merely very good.
The Eagles were the closest thing to the Beatles this country ever produced. Where Britain’s Fab Four blazed trails, the Eagles mostly carried forward trends established by others. Both groups boasted remarkable musical chemistry. In both bands, a dynamic duo dominated, but every member wrote and sang some songs, lending pleasing variety to each album. And in both cases, it was the quiet ones who brought the secret sauce.
Stunning creativity allowed the Beatles to excel despite merely good pipes and chops. The Eagles augmented capable in-house writing with polish from pros like Jackson Browne and J.D. Souther. They surpassed the Beatles as musicians only by adding ringers — Don Felder and Joe Walsh — to contribute scorching guitar.
Of course, the real key to the greatness of the Eagles lay in that magical mix of incomparable voices. Meisner’s high harmony vocals comprised the key ingredient in that blend.
Consider their first hit, “Take It Easy” (1972). There is nothing remarkable about Glenn Frey’s lead vocal; it’s the backing harmonies that set the song apart. The Eagles really take flight for the first time when Meisner joins Frey on the…
