• Tuesday, April 19th
• Las Vegas Hilton

Randy Meisner

The Eagles are one of the most successful bands of all time. Their album Eagles: Their Greatest Hits is the biggest selling album of all time. More than the Beatles – more than Elvis. Randy Meisner's high harmony singing and bass (along with some guitar) were at the core of their sound. His songwriting and signature high vocal parts figured on all of their albums, starting with the haunting, impassioned "Take the Devil" and the soaring, high-energy rocker "Tryin'." Meisner's songs were widely heard as the sales of the band's LPs rose into the hundreds of thousands and then the millions, and he got his own claim on a hit with "Take It to the Limit" in 1975.

Other Meisner highlights with the Eagles include "Midnight Flyer", "Try And Love Again", and "Saturday Night". His was a founding member of POCO, an original member of Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band, has recorded with Linda Rondstadt, James Taylor, Joe Walsh, and countless others.

The four original Eagles--drummer Don Henley, guitarists Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon and bassist Randy Meisner--first played as a unit on Linda Ronstadt's 1970 Silk Purse, though they didn't form the band until after recording that album. The Eagles recorded their first album, The Eagles, for Asylum in 1972 with British rock producer Glyn Johns.

Randy Meisner can be heard on 10 Eagles albums. He has performed on recordings by James Taylor, Joe Walsh, Dan Fogelberg, Danny O'Keefe, Mac Gayden, Bob Welch, Peter Lewis, Richie Furay, Richard Marx & Electric Range. Randy joined a reformed "Poco" in 1989 to record their "Legacy" album. In 1992 he was a member of "Black Tie" along with Billy Swan and Jimmy Griffin (Bread) that had a country hit with a cover of Buddy Holly's "Learning The Game".

In 1992 Meisner joined with Billy Swan and Charlie Rich, Jr. to form Meisner, Swan, & Rich. Their first album was released to critical acclaim in 2000. Most recently Randy has been performing with the "The World Classic Rockers" which includes other major rock performers. In 1998 Randy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Billy Swan

Best remembered for his 1974 neo-rockabilly smash "I Can Help," Billy Swan had a long and varied career in the music biz, with a large percentage of it spent behind the scenes. Swan was born in Cape Girardeau, MO, in 1942 and grew up listening to country music until he discovered rock & roll as a teenager. He learned drums, piano, and guitar and also began writing songs. "Lover Please," a song he wrote at age 16, was recorded by a local group he played with called Mirt Mirly & the Rhythm Stoppers; later, when Swan's friends traveled to Memphis to record with Elvis bassist Bill Black, Black wound up cutting the tune himself.

Not long after, "Lover Please" found its way to R&B star Clyde McPhatter, who turned it into a Top Ten hit in 1962. Swan stayed in Memphis to write for Black's combo and also worked as a guard at Graceland for a time. He soon moved to Nashville, where he worked as a janitor at the Columbia studios (later handing the job over to a young Kris Kristofferson) and later as a roadie for Mel Tillis; he also wrote songs recorded by Tillis, Conway Twitty, and Waylon Jennings.

Tossed off in the studio during sessions for Swan's first album, "I Can Help" was a bouncy, rockabilly-styled number that featured Swan's distinctive electric organ work. It went to number one on both the pop and country charts in 1974, and the accompanying album of the same name also topped the country list. Swan never came close to duplicating its success, but he did reach the country Top 20 with a 1975 single, "Everything's the Same (Ain't Nothing Changed)," and cut three more albums for Monument. He later recorded an album for A&M in 1978 and another for Epic's country division in 1981. He also continued to play in Kristofferson's touring band and worked with T-Bone Burnett frequently during the '80s as well.

In 1986, Swan teamed with Randy Meisner in the country-rock band Black Tie, which released the album When the Night Falls. Taking time out from his still-active career as a session and backup musician, Swan recorded a new album at the original Sun studios, Like Elvis Used to Do, in 2000. In 2002, he teamed up with Meisner again, as well as Charlie Rich Jr., on a self-titled album from the aptly named Meisner, Swan & Rich.

Charlie Rich Jr.

Charlie Rich Jr is the son of the late great Charlie Rich, "The Silver Fox". Rich Sr.'s classic hits "Behind Closed Doors", "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" made him one of country music's greatest superstars. During this time Charlie Jr was his father's bandleader. He would go on to be a highly sought after musician and artist in his own right.

He recently won the Sam Phillips Award for Best Newcomer presented by The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The Grammy™ People). He's grown proficient in many diverse forms of music - from Rhythm & Blues to Country to Tex-Mex to Rock N' Roll. Respected as a world class musican and songwriter, Charlie's services have been in high demand by some of today's biggest stars.

He has played with some of music's most legendary names, including Freddy Fender, Smokey Robinson, Dan Fogelberg, Charlie Rich Sr., Ronnie Milsap, Johnny Lee, Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Swan, Randy Meisner, Johnny Rodriguez, Tommy Cash, Jack Greene, Stonewall Jackson, Flaco Jiminez, Jimmy Griffin, and countless others. Rich, like his father before him, is a musician's musician.

In 1991, Rich's friend Billy Swan of "I Can Help" fame, invited producer Reggie Fisher to see Rich play at the legendary Palomino Club. Fisher was blown away by Rich's talent. He offered a recording contract on the spot, requesting that Charlie, Jr. be a component in the superstar ensemble Fisher was promoting - Black Tie. The budding ensemble consisted of Billy Swan, Randy Meisner (Cofounder of The Eagles and Poco), and Jimmy Griffin (formerly of Bread).

Since Griffin had just signed a record deal with The Remingtons, Fisher thought that Rich would be the perfect compliment, and eventual replacement. Black Tie recorded tracks for an album that bore several chart favorites, including "I'm Sure of You". The recording, CO-written by Rich and Swan, featured Rich, Jr. as vocalist and topped the charts in 1993.

Subsequent to the success of Black Tie, Meisner, Rich, and Swan formed their own group. With a heavy emphasis on vocal harmonies and stellar song writing, they drew their respective supporters to the shows, gaining new fans all the while. Their sold-out performances in the United States and Europe built upon their reputation as true innovators in the West Coast country-crossover sound. Meisner's earlier success with the Eagles, Poco and the Stone Canyon Band proved invaluable in procuring a diverse following. The combination of harmonies reminiscent of the Eagles and the southern roots influences of Rich and Swan proved greatly beneficial when composing. Meisner, Rich, and Swan recaptured the exquisite euphony of their artistry in the studio recently while recording their first album.

Augie Meyers

Augie Meyers' style and his Vox Continental has become one of music's most distinctive keyboard sounds around. Augie can be heard with the Sir Douglas Quintet, Texas Tornados, Meyers' solo efforts as well as on landmark albums by Bob Dylan ("Time Out of Mind" and "Love and Theft") and John Hammond ("Wicked Grin"). Echoes of the Meyers' style and sound can be heard in the music of the Doors, the Kinks, the Animals as well as the Beatles just to name a few.

Rolling out of San Antonio, Texas in the early 60's, the Sir Douglas Quintet, a musical partnership formed with Doug Sahm, brought such hit tunes as "Mendocino" and "She's About a Mover." by fusing Tex-Mex, Conjunto and soulful rock together along with the power of Meyers' distinctive Vox organ, an impact that is still being felt in rock 'n' roll today. While the Sir Douglas Quintet never broke up and never succumbed to the lure of the oldies circuit, when Meyers and his musical cohorts decided they wanted to do something different, they did.

That led to the formation of The Texas Tornados and a Grammy award-winning South Texas sound. Meyers penned and sang lead vocals on two of the Tornado's biggest hits, "Hey Baby Que Paso", and "Guacamole".

Augie's first taste of fame came with fellow Texas legend Doug Sahm. They formed The Sir Douglas Quintet. As an aside, Texas Monthly voted their song, "She's About A Mover" the best Texas song ever. Augie met The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix during his years as a Farfisa playing rock icon. After a few other hits, the members of The Sir Douglas Quintet broke up and went their separate ways. Doug and Augie each pursued solo careers. While they each had a large fan base in Texas, they weren't known as well outside of the state. Years went by before the "next big thing" would propel them to national stardom once again. It was The Texas Tornados.

© 2005 Orban/CRL Systems, Inc.