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Saturday Night Classics: Take it to the Limit
There are a lot of excellent Eagles songs, and on a different day, I may have chosen to go with I Can’t Tell You Why or One of These Nights. But tonight’s selection is Take it to the Limit. Randy Meisner wrote most of the song but needed bandmates Glenn Frey and Don Henley to help him finish the composition. Evidently, they were still fine-tuning the lyrics in the recording studio, just before recording it. There are few Eagles songs where Randy sang lead vocals, and this is the only one of their hits I can think of where he sings lead. If you like Meisner’s voice, you may want to listen to the Hotel California album, where he does a beautiful job on Try and Love Again.
As great as the studio version of this song is, this live version is even better. The best version of all (in my opinion) is the one from the 1980 Live album, but it doesn’t look like that is available on YouTube. Anyway, here is a live version, from 1977 in Landover, Maryland.
P.S. I don’t know if @jasonrudert likes The Eagles or not, but let’s wish him a Happy Birthday!
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@jasonrudert
This was only a couple months before Meisner left the band.
The sound is really good. I’ve seen shows in Landover and it’s cavernous.
We were there! (about 3 months before our wedding)
Meisner had become a bit queasy (afraid?) of singing this one with the very high notes at the end and got into a dispute about it with Glenn Frey.
I was thinking of the wrong song … altogether!
I was thinking of the wrong song.
Saw Disco Bob Dylan in Landover about that time. Hilarious white flair pants and disco lighting to go with the quasi-disco arrangements. Almost as funny as Cosby a couple of years before. It was hard to take “Like a Rolling Stone” or “Stuck Inside of Mobile” seriously after that experience. Love him to death, not his best night. Cosby, on the other hand, made my ribs hurt for three days. Lord have mercy.
Well, you’ve stumped me.
I have a good memory of my mom driving me around OKC, trying to find the 45 of “Take It to the Limit, only to level-up with the “Eagles Greatest Hits” LP.
Funny how Meisner, a guy who admitted country wasn’t his jam, spread it anyway in the group. “Midnight Flyer”, “Certain Kind of Fool”…he did country rock purty well.
What a great choice, Randy! Love the song. And it’s the first time I could understand all the lyrics! Thanks!
You can spend all your time making money
You can spend all your love making time
If it all fell to pieces tomorrow
Would you still be mine?