Despite always looking in harmony from afar on stage with their matched suits and vocals, the Beatles had numerous personal feuds, turbulences, and creative differences by the 70s. George Harrison, for instance, often complained that Paul McCartney always wanted his tracks recorded, and he could never find the right time to share his own pieces.
The guitarist wasn’t also as close to his former buddy John Lennon, as much as he used to be, so it wasn’t much later that the creative partnership between McCartney and Lennon started bothering him since George also wanted to have his share of the spotlight and record his tracks, but with Paul and John getting all the attention, it was a tough mission.
So, what followed after those thoughts were his famous departure in mid-recording sessions as he came to the conclusion that he could never have all the spotlight to himself. However, it’s also important to note that Paul and John’s firm held on the band, and successful creative leadership wasn’t the only reason Harrison left the Beatles, but it surely played an important note.
When it comes to the Eagles, however, the band was going through issues that were both a bit similar yet unfamiliar. The act, like the Beatles, also had two names that led the band through their creative sessions, as the Eagles’ counterparts to the McCartney-Lennon duo was the partnership of Don Henley and Glenn Frey.
The pair also had most of the spotlight to themselves, and their partnership proved fruitful as the band became one of the most celebrated acts among their peers. However, one member of the band struggled with having decent relations with Henley and Frey in his last days with the Eagles, and it was none other than their bassist, Randy Meisner.
Now, you might think that Meisner, like Harrison, a bit envied Henley and Frey as he wanted to have a share of their spotlight. However, it was the complete opposite, as Randy didn’t want any piece of attention, and he even despised singing the lead on one of the Eagles’ hits, ‘Take It To The Limit.’
So, when Don and Glenn wanted the bassist to perform the track while they toured for their then-new record ‘Hotel California,’ Meisner, who remarked to be quite shy, hated his bandmates’ offer and refused the sing the lead. However, things came to a halt after things got physical between him and the Henley-Frey duo, and he quickly left the band after that incident.
Still, even after a fistfight broke out backstage and the trio possibly said not-so-nice-words to one another, Meisner still regretted the way his departure came into play, as he recalled the incident while chatting with Rock History Music in 2018 and wished how things had turned out differently.
Meisner’s on how he regretted the way he departed the band:
“I wish I coulda left in a different way. It’s like you do it, and you have to stand with what you did. Probably the worst part of this whole deal is the books that were put out; like, at the time, they caught us at a wrong time, I thought, when everybody was kinda angry at each other.
So you say things that you really don’t mean, you spill all the dirt…and then years later, like now, it’s like, ‘Why the hell did I say that’ or ‘Why did Henley say that’ or ‘Why did Glenn’ or anybody. It’s like goddamn it, we’re just people, and when you get older, it’s like, why even think about it anymore? Enough is enough.”
The only reason Randy left the band wasn’t, of course, because he hated singing lead on numerous songs, but he had also got tired from touring for long periods and was homesick, wishing he’d spend more time with his family and friends. Still, after all these years that he and his bandmates punched one another, he regretted how things played out, wishing things could’ve been more subtle.
