New Wax Wednesday

So put me on a highway, and show me a sign. If you know your Eagles music, then you know that’s a key line from the quintessential California band’s “Take It to the Limit,” one of the hit singles from June 1975’s chart-topping One of These Nights LP. Well, the sign is this: Rhino has just announced that One of These Nights (Deluxe Edition) will be released as a 3LP set on May 1, 2026.

The 3LP One of These Nights collection, which has been produced by co-founding Eagles vocalist/drummer Don Henley, includes a new mix of the original album by Rob Jacobs on LP1 and an unreleased, 16-song concert recorded at Anaheim Stadium in 1975 on LPs 2-3. (The original Nights LP was produced by Bill Szymczyk and recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami and the Record Plant in Los Angeles.)

The new Nights lacquers have been cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering (though we await additional word on the specific pressing plant locale). For the digitally inclined and/or Eagles completists amongst us, a companion 3CD/1BD edition features the above-noted new album mix and the full Anaheim concert recording alongside new Dolby Atmos and hi-res stereo mixes.

The One of These Nights (Deluxe Edition) 3LP set sports an SRP of $79.99, and it can be preordered from Music Direct here, and/or via the MD link graphic that appears ahead of the tracklisting section below. (The 3CD/1BD set, also available via MD, boasts an SRP of $39.99.)

More specifically, the unreleased live recording on LPs 2-3 comprises the Eagles’ performance at the Sunshine Festival in Anaheim, California, on September 28, 1975. Recorded at the end of the One of These Nights tour, this show features vocalist/drummer Don Henley, guitarist/vocalist Glenn Frey, bassist/vocalist Randy Meisner, guitarist/vocalist Bernie Leadon, and guitarist/vocalist Don Felder. The set blends songs from the Nights album such as “Lyin’ Eyes” and “Take It to the Limit,” along with hits from the group’s first three albums including “Take It Easy,” “Witchy Woman,” “Already Gone,” and “The Best of My Love.”

The Anaheim show also found the Eagles in a significant transition period, as it marked Leadon’s final performance with the band. Meanwhile, Joe Walsh, who would become an official bandmember a few months later and make his studio-recorded Eagles debut on December 1976’s Hotel California, joined the group for the encore, performing his hit solo track “Rocky Mountain Way.” The penultimate song of the Anaheim set is a rousing cover of Chuck Berry’s “Carol” — which was a live staple of the band’s at the time — and this release marks the first time a recording of the song has ever been included on an Eagles album. As a preview of the live set on Nights LPs 2-3, you can check out “Carol” via its official YouTube clip below.

My own original 1975 One of These Nights LP on Asylum (7E-1039) is well-worn, and lovingly so. I always had a special affinity for the texture of its toploader album cover, which was similar in vibe, presentation, and feel to that of its two direct predecessors, March 1974’s On the Border and April 1973’s Desperado — and how could you not also love the dramatic, fully raised cover image of the painted skull, wings, and feathers that was done by Boyd Elder?

Some of you may also recall that producer Bill Szymczyk was the one who instituted the practice of ensuring “secret messages” were engraved in the runout grooves on both sides of the Nights LP, something that appeared on its initial runs. I won’t spoil that two-part message here if you’ve never come across it other than to say, “What, me worry? Fine!” Alas, those call-and-response messages do not appear on decades-later reissues such as the Nights LP that was part of October 2013’s The Studio Albums 1972-1979 6LP box set on Asylum/WEA International, as distributed by Rhino (RRM1-536271), and its own subsequent individual reissue. In the runout groove of that latter version, you will instead find “BG” etched on both sides, for, of course, Bernie Grundman. (I’m afraid I don’t yet have a copy of the 180g 45rpm 2LP edition released by Mobile Fidelity in September 2022, but it’s on my “someday” list.)

While I of course can’t give a pre-release rating for the Sound of the forthcoming Deluxe Edition, I can give the Music for the core One of These Nights album a solid 8.5. Besides the affinity I have for the trio of its hit singles, my actual favorite track on the album is Randy Meisner’s “Too Many Hands” (Side 1, Track 2) — I continue to dig that vocal echo and how Meisner is just a tick back in the mix as he’s singing, in relation to how more outfront Henley and Frey’s leads are on some of their own respective tracks — followed by Bernie Leadon’s still mesmerizing, banjo-driven 6½-minute instrumental, “Journey of the Sorcerer” (Side 1, Track 4).

More stats now, via the official press release, along with the usual MM sweeteners. One of These Nights achieved 4x platinum certification (i.e., 4 million copies sold), and the ubiquitous single “Lyin’ Eyes” won the band’s first Grammy Award, this one for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Nights was also the first of the Eagles’ four consecutive No. 1 albums.

This Deluxe Edition is being released in advance of the Eagles’ headlining performance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 2, 2026, and their upcoming stadium dates in Atlanta (May 5), Nashville (May 9), and Arlington (May 16) that are part of The Long Goodbye, Act III. Oh yeah, and before all that, the Eagles have a half-dozen more dates slotted at the Sphere in Las Vegas as well — a recurring residency of sorts that recommences on March 20. One of these nights, I swear I’ll get out there to see it. . .

EAGLES
ONE OF THESE NIGHTS (DELUXE EDITION)
3LP (Warner Music Group/Rhino)

LP1: One Of These Nights

LP1, Side 1
1. One Of These Nights
2. Too Many Hands
3. Hollywood Waltz
4. Journey Of The Sorcerer

LP1, Side 2
1. Lyin’ Eyes
2. Take It To The Limit
3. Visions
4. After The Thrill Is Gone
5. I Wish You Peace

LP2: Live At Anaheim Stadium (9/28/75)*

LP2, Side 1
1. Intro
2. Take It Easy
3. Outlaw Man
4. Doolin-Dalton / Desperado

LP2, Side 2
1. One Of These Nights
2. Ol’ 55
3. Lyin’ Eyes
4. Take It To The Limit

LP3: Live At Anaheim Stadium (9/28/75) – ctd.*

LP3, Side 1
1. Blackberry Blossom
2. Midnight Flyer
3. Already Gone
4. Too Many Hands
5. James Dean

LP3, Side 2
1. Witchy Woman
2. Rocky Mountain Way – With Joe Walsh
3. Carol
4. The Best Of My Love

* Previously unreleased