EAGLES.

Description

February 1976 Japanese concert tour program + poster

Large original vintage program book lavishly produced for American rock group Eagles’ February 1976 Japanese tour, presented by Kyodo Tokyo as part of their “Keep Japan Beautiful” series. The 6-date tour kicked off with two consecutive shows at the Festival Hall in Osaka on 2nd & 3rd February, and ended at the City Public Hall in Nagoya on 9th February, 1976. The tour was Eagles’ first visit to Japan and was highly significant due to a major shift in the band’s lineup and its association with Kyodo Tokyo’s iconic environmental branding. The most critical aspect of the 1976 Pacific tour (which also covered New Zealand and Australia) was that it served as the official live debut of Joe Walsh as a member of the Eagles. Walsh had just replaced original founding guitarist Bernie Leadon in December 1975. Because Walsh brought a much harder, rock-focused edge compared to Leadon’s country-folk style, Japanese audiences were the very first to witness the Eagles’ transformation into a powerhouse stadium-rock band. As part of Kyodo Tokyo’s mid-70s strategy, the Eagles were heavily promoted under the “Keep Japan Beautiful” umbrella campaign. Posters and promotional materials prominently featured the slogan. Tickets were routed through the Kyodo Musicthon hotline system, making the tour a massive commercial success that dominated Japanese music magazines like Music Life. The final concert in Nagoya was professionally recorded for both Japanese radio and television broadcasts. Because the audio quality was pristine, this specific show has been heavily bootlegged for decades and was eventually released in various multi-disc vinyl and CD collector bundles, such as Live in Japan 1976. The program comes with the original folded “Keep Japan Beautiful” promotional poster, which was issued with the program, but so often is missing.

In original illustrated coated wrappers, staple bound, 25.5 x 36.3 cm, 24 pp. All text in Japanese. In excellent complete condition, tightly bound and clean.