One More Song/Randy Meisner

Having landed himself in two of the more high-profile California country-rock bands in the '70s, Poco and the Eagles, Randy Meisner was more than a bass player and harmony singer in both, and with the Eagles in particular, his talent for writing weary, earnest and often gorgeous ballads like "Take It to the Limit" really came to the fore. His solo work after he left the Eagles continued in the same vein, and with the possible exception of Don Henley, he did as well as any of his ex-bandmates on the solo front. This set combines two of his solo LPs, 1980's One More Song and 1982's Randy Meisner (this was Meisner's second self-titled LP -- he issued one under his name in 1978, as well), and the two fit together fairly seamlessly. It's all competent California singer/songwriter country pop, no more, no less, and if Meisner isn't exactly the second coming of Jackson Browne, he's refreshingly unassuming and at times, as with the striking "Playin' in the Deep End," he raises the ante on all of his cohorts. ~ Steve Leggett