''Eagles Live'' is the first live album by the American rock band

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

, a two-LP set released on November 7, 1980. Although the Eagles were already in the process of breaking up, the band owed

Elektra Electra was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology. Electra or Elektra may also refer to: Greek mythology *Electra (Pleiad), one of the Pleiades * Electra, one of the Danaids, daughter of Danaus and Polyxo * Electra (Oc ...

/ 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 Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. He is the drummer and one of the lead singers for the Eagles. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles hits such as "Witchy Woman", "Despe ...

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 FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...

." The 1983 ''

Rolling Stone Record Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' said it is "perhaps the most heavily overdubbed ive albumin history." " Seven Bridges Road," a Steve Young cover, was released as a single and became a top-40 hit.

Recording

Five of the tracks were recorded in October 1976, during three performances at The Forum in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

. The other ten tracks were recorded in July 1980, from three shows at the

Santa Monica Civic Auditorium Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is a multi-purpose convention center at 1855 Main Street in Santa Monica, California, owned by the City of Santa Monica. It was built in 1958 and designed by Welton Becket and as a concert venue, it has a seating cap ...

and one at the Long Beach Arena in California. The band had different line-ups in 1976 and 1980;

Timothy B. Schmit Timothy Bruce Schmit (born October 30, 1947) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He has performed as the bassist and vocalist for Poco and the Eagles (band), Eagles, having replaced bassist and vocalist Randy Meisner in both cases ...

joined in 1978, replacing original bassist

Randy Meisner Randall Herman Meisner (born March 8, 1946) is a retired American musician, singer, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles. Throughout his professional musical career, Meisner's main role was that of bassist and backing high-harmony vocal ...

. Five lead singers are featured in the 14 vocal songs on the album xcluding 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 ''The Long Run'' tour concluded with a concert in Long Beach, California, that served as a fund-raiser for then-Senator

Alan Cranston Alan MacGregor Cranston (June 19, 1914 – December 31, 2000) was an American politician and journalist who served as a United States Senator from California from 1969 to 1993, and as a President of the World Federalist Association from 1949 to 1 ...

'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

." 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 ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

vocals from all five members.

Cover

The album cover is the image of a band-equipment storage chest used during a concert tour. It includes the number 86 on both sides and " MIA" written on air-freight stickers on the back. The record labels were custom, showing a bird's nest filled with eggs and hand grenades. Original pressings of the vinyl double-album had text engraved in the run-out grooves on each side, as had been the band's tradition since their 1975 album ''

One of These Nights ''One of These Nights'' is the fourth studio album by the Eagles, released in 1975. In July that year, the record became the Eagles' first number one album on ''Billboard''s album chart, yielding three Top 10 singles: " One of These Nights", "Lyi ...

''. Side 1: "Is it illegal to yell "Movie!" in a firehouse?"; "Side 2: "Hello, Federal? ... Ship it!"; Side 3: "Not Tonight, thanks ..." ; Side 4: "... I've gotta rest up for my monster".

Track listing

Personnel

Sourced from original album liner notes. Eagles * Don Felder – guitars, harmony and backing vocals * Glenn Frey – rhythm guitar, keyboards, vocals *

– drums, percussion, vocals *

– bass guitar, vocals (1976 shows; "New Kid in Town," "Wasted Time," "Take It to the Limit," "Doolin'-Dalton (Reprise II)," and "Desperado") *

– bass guitar, vocals (1980 shows; all other songs) * Joe Walsh – guitars, keyboards, vocals Additional musicians *Jage Jackson – rhythm guitar, percussion *

Phil Kenzie Phil Kenzie is a British multi-saxophone player and rock and roll musician. He has been voted by fans as "one of the greatest rock 'n' roll sax players of all time."

– alto saxophone on "The Long Run" * Vince Melamed – electric piano on "New Kid in Town" *The Monstertones – backing vocals on "All Night Long" *

J. D. Souther John David "J. D." Souther (born November 2, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He has written and co-written songs recorded by Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles. Souther is probably best known for his songwriting abilities, especi ...

– vocals and acoustic guitar on "New Kid in Town" * Joe Vitale – piano, organ, drums, percussion Production * Bill Szymczyk – production * Ted Jensen – mastering engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1980 live albums Eagles (band) live albums Albums produced by Bill Szymczyk Asylum Records live albums Elektra Records live albums Albums recorded at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium