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 in history." "Seven Bridges Road," a Steve Young cover, was released as a single and became a top-40 hit.
Background
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 : Henley, Frey, Joe Walsh, Meisner and Schmit. Songs from each Eagles studio album except one 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.
Track listing
;LP notes
The album cover is the image of a band-equipment storage chest used during a concert tour. It includes two elements hinting at the Eagles' breakup : 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 this 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:
#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
The run-out groove of the fourth side did not fade to silence as was customary. Instead, the crowd noise continued into the final-loop groove. Thus, for those listening on manual turntables, the applause would not end until the listener removed the stylus from the disc.
A poster included with the LP featured an aerial photo of a June 14, 1980, concert at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, but the Eagles aren't performing in the photo. The concert featured the Little River Band as the opening act, followed by Heart, with the Eagles closing the show. The Little River Band's set featured a white backdrop, Heart a black backdrop and the Eagles a backdrop with an image of a tree-lined roadway. In the poster, the stage has the white backdrop, meaning the photo was taken during the Little River Band's performance.
