Celebration of "Love Me Or Leave Me Alone"

[sodascouts]

i just listened to this recently for Randy's birthday. It's a real shame that none of these songs were ever released while he was still active!

My fave album of his, though, is One More Song.

[sodascouts]

Love Me or Leave Me Alone was released 10 years ago today!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Happy 10th Anniversary to Love Me or Leave Me Alone!

[NightMistBlue]

I really enjoy the whole album and wish there was more info about who played on it, when it was recorded, etc.

One of my favorite songs is Randy's "One Less Fool." It could have been a hit, I would think - it sounds commercial, but very passionate too.

What puzzles me is that the song cuts off before the end. I imagine it's a technical flaw in the CD process, does anyone else's copy have this problem?

[Funk 50]

I actually bought this album twice. I bought a Japanese release, very nicely packaged but mainly because it had extra tracks (total 14) then a few months later it was re-released with even more tracks (17).

The 17 track version has got the track timings all over the place. Some tracks end very abruptly (no fade out), Midnight Rain has 40 seconds of silence after it finishes.

I like, One Less Fool too, NightMistBlue. A bit too unpolished to be released really but definitely a potential hit. If you PM me, I could send you an mp3 of the full (3:40min) track.


Times are for; 17t / 14t
01 Long Time Blue 349 / 347
02 In A Minute 424 / 424
03 Don't Keep It Inside 452 / 451
04 Love Me Or Leave Me Alone 258 / 258
05 Midnight Rain 506 (last 40 sec is silence) / NA
06 My How Things Have Changed 400 / 401
07 Walk Of Life 249 / 246
08 Trust Your Heart 330 / 325
09 Leaving on Tuesday 506 / 508
10 Salt In My Tears 326 / NA
11 All Alone In Paradise 409 / 421
12 Ain't Gonna Take It 409 / 411
13 Lonely Alone 355 / 357
14 Take It Easy 339 / 337
15 One Less Fool 327 / 340
16 Take It to The Limit (L) 438 / 436
17 When The Damn Breaks 356 / NA


I haven't any recording dates but I have got some track players. I must admit, I haven't heard of most of these;

Tracks 1 to 4 + 15:
d - M Derosier
b - G Shelton
k - B Lizotte, G Reeves
g - J Morton, R Fisher
s - G Reeves (15)

Track 6:
d - J Molo
b - R Meisner
g - B Swan
sg - V Monnett
v - Meisner, Swan, C Rich Jnr

Tracks 7-9 + 11-13 + 16:
d - R Wikso
b - R Meisner (I presume)
k - S Stewart
g - K Griffey
ag - M St Nicholas
bv - Rosalee + All

It's a bit sketchy as the players are only listed under some tracks. I think Steve Porcaro (Walk Of Life) and Spencer Davies (Take It Easy) are on the album too.

I hope this isn't Randy's last album. Sadly, his post Eagles career has been a procession of failed projects.

[NightMistBlue]

Drummer Michael Desrosier - my goodness, another connection to Heart. Randy seems to have been friends with a number of people connected with that band, several of whom played on Randy's 1982 solo record.

Thank you for the info, Funk. I was impressed with a lot of the guitar playing.

[Delilah]

A little late, but Happy Anniversary to Love Me or Leave Me Alone!

There's a bit of conflicting info on what year it was 1st released--2003 or 2004? Anyway, I wasn't sure what to expect from this but there are some catchy melodic tunes here! Midnight Rain, One Less Fool, When the Dam Breaks are my favorites. I really like Long Time Blue also. I think the title track could have been a hit. Randy didn't write it but he sure belts it out. There are some production glitches but I don't think these were meant to be the final product.

Anyway, this album shows some gems that highlight Randy's singing and songwriting!

[NightMistBlue]

There is much to enjoy and treasure.

Quoting the Funk: "Some tracks end very abruptly (no fade out), Midnight Rain has 40 seconds of silence after it finishes." Is that a mastering problem?

[Funk 50]

One of the tedious functions of making a record is to listen to the final product all the way through before it goes to the presses.

I'm sure top artists like the Eagles wouldn't trust this task to anybody other than themselves. It's obvious that this wasn't done on the 17 track version of Love Me Or Leave Me Alone. (other versions seem to be fine). As it's his name on the disc, it's got to be Randy's responsibility. If as not involved in the release, somebody would have signed it off as ready to be mass produced.


Joe put ILBT's on his You Bought It You Name It album to see if any execs at his record company would bother listening to his album before he released it. They didn't

Phil Collins' solo version of Behind The Lines came from the final product run through of Genesis's Duke album. They listened to it at double speed to ease the tedium and Phil was rather taken with the opening track played at double speed, so he turned it into a solo track.

[NightMistBlue]

Thank you, Funk. I wondered if it was the fault of whoever did the Japanese mastering. Have you ever read engineer Ken Caillat's book on the recording of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours? Lindsey Buckingham cared obsessively about every detail of the record, even how it was manufactured.

To be fair, Randy was reportedly having health issues with his heart at the time, so maybe he wasn't able to oversee all aspects of the project. I know what it's like to be part of a team effort, and if someone makes a bad decision, it makes everyone look bad. That's why I prefer to work alone.

I'm going to listen to You Bought It You Name It now.