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UNIVERSITY PROGRAM COUNCIL

YES, EAGLES

Memorial Coliseum
October 1, 1972
By Dave Muscari

The unlikely paring of bands was a bit of a surprise for concertgoers who attended the Sunday afternoon show overwhelmingly to see the surging English prog rock band perform in Tuscaloosa.

The opening act was the Eagles, a California country rock band whose members were no strangers to the University of Alabama campus having performed the prior year as Linda Ronstadt’s backing band. They performed at a Woods Quad show alongside Louisiana fiddler Doug Kershaw, swamp rockers Potliquor and Goose Creek Symphony. The Eagles had dropped their debut album about five months before the Tuscaloosa concert. They performed “Take It Easy,” which was released on May 1, 1972, and had received airplay on rock radio stations. As guitarist Glenn Frey introduced the song that he’d co-authored with Jackson Browne, he remarked that he’d “written this song with a friend,” before smirking and adding, “Well, at least I think he’s a friend.” At this point the Eagles had a limited repertoire, however, they played all the songs they had to offer: “Witchy Woman,” which was led by Texas musician Don Henley, multi-instrumentalist Bernie Leadon's banjo-infected “Midnight Flyer,” and Frey’s “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” all from the band’s eponymous album.

The English ensemble had released Close to the Edge, the band’s fifth album, on September 8, 1972. It was a bit of a departure from previous recordings but was met with critical acclaim. While the stage was sparce compared to future shows, the concert spotlighted the players: vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Alan White, guitarist Steve Howe, and keyboard wiz Rick Wakeman, who had joined the band only a few months earlier. The show started with a tape of Stravinsky’s dramatic Firebird Suite that segued into an energized version “Siberian Khatru,” the opening track from the new album. From there Yes dipped into past material such as “I’ve Seen All Good People,” a pair how Howe-driven acoustic numbers, including “Mood For a Day” and “The Clap.” Other songs were “And You and I,” “Heart of the Sunrise,” and the biggest Yes hit to date, “Roundabout.” At one point, band members left the stage as Rick Wakeman, surrounded by rows of various electronic keyboards, performed a series of solo baroque pieces that would eventually form his sensational solo album, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, which was released in early 1973.

Lily Tomlin

Randy Newman

Woods Quad

Jimmy Buffett

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