Randy Meisner

Randall Herman Meisner (March 8, 1946 – July 26, 2023) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and founding member of both Eagles and Poco. Throughout his professional musical career, both as group member and session musician, his main role was that of bassist and backing vocalist. He co-wrote and provided lead vocals on the Eagles' hit song "Take It to the Limit".

Randall Herman Meisner was born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, on March 8, 1946, the second child and only son of farmers Herman (1911–1995) and Emilie (née Haun) Meisner (1911–2010). All four of Randy's grandparents were Volga German immigrants. He had an elder sister, Carol, who died in 2005. He recalled that his mother was always singing around the house. His maternal grandfather, George Haun, was a violin teacher.

The Meisner family grew corn, beans, alfalfa, and sugar beets on their farm. Randy developed an interest in the guitar at the age of 10, after seeing Elvis Presley perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. Randy began taking lessons and playing in local bands. While attending Scottsbluff High School, one of Randy's teachers suggested he take up the bass. "I loved R&B and the bass players on the Motown stuff were great. They really inspired me. I can't read music. Once I learn a part, it's there. My bass playing came real naturally."

Meisner played bass and sang with a local band named The Dynamics (later The Drivin' Dynamics) from 1961 to 1965. Their first paying job was performing in the dance hall at Little Moon Lake in Torrington, northeast of Cheyenne, Wyoming, in December 1961. They played there regularly through 1962. In late 1962, The Drivin' Dynamics released their first record, a four-song EP with Meisner singing lead vocals on Sam Cooke's "You Send Me". It was pressed locally with only 500 copies released. In August 1965, The Dynamics signed a record deal with Sully Records from Amarillo, north of Lubbock, Texas. They recorded three songs, with Meisner singing lead on two: "One Of These Days" and "So Fine". "So Fine" was released as a single, and sold well regionally and in the Southeastern U.S. Early in 1966, Meisner moved to California with a band named The Soul Survivors, later to be renamed The Poor (because, as Don Felder later said, "that is what they became").

It was a hardscrabble existence, as Meisner later recalled: "I never had a car, I had to walk. I sold the Los Angeles Free Press on Sunset and Highland. I made about five bucks a day." The Poor was managed by Charlie Greene and Brian Stone, who also managed Buffalo Springfield and Sonny & Cher. The band released several singles on Loma Records, York, and Decca Records in 1966 and 1967 with limited success. Loma was a subsidiary of Warner Bros. and had offices in the same building. In February 1967, The Poor recorded "She's Got the Time, She's Got the Changes", written by Tom Shipley (later of Brewer & Shipley fame) while he was a staff writer for A&M Records. Three of the singles were produced by Barry Friedman (a.k.a. "Frazier Mohawk") and recorded at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. The band performed on "Study in Motion #1", which was featured in the 1967 Jack Nicholson film Hell's Angels on Wheels.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.