It wasn’t quite Hotel California. But a member of the Eagles once jammed at the Hotel Riviera.

It was the mid-1990s, when the Lon Bronson Band ruled the property and Steve Schirripa (yes, the “Sopranos” and “Blue Bloods” actor) was pocketing the hotel’s $2 million annual lounge budget as entertainment director.

Bronson’s band performed every Monday until well after midnight in the hotel’s now-demolished Le Bistro Lounge. On at least a couple of occasions, Joe Walsh showed up unexpectedly, along with Drew Carey.

The two were friends. Walsh often played at Carey’s season-ending party for his network TV show in LA. The guitar prodigy occasionally appeared at Carey’s live performances of “Whose Line Is It Anyway” at the MGM Grand.

And Carey was friends with Bronson, whose band opened for Walsh at his parties in LA.

On these nights at the Riv, Walsh would take the stage unannounced and grab Jimmy McIntosh’s guitar. McIntosh would grab a spare guitar and the two would jam for the excited late-night crowd.

“He and I had these little guitar swaps, back and forth, and it was really fun,” McIntosh says. “He was really nice, funny. He’s a great musician, and the Eagles are just an incredible band.”

That will remain the case. The Eagles will open their residency at the Sphere on Friday and Saturday. The series will continue on selected weekends through January 25, spread over 20 dates.

Walsh’s Arrival

McIntosh is a highly respected, accomplished musician from Vegas and a longtime music educator. He has a history of teaching rock at UNLV since 1989. He co-authored the 2010 book “Rock ‘n’ Roll Origins and Innovators” with Tim Jones, former music professor and associate dean of the UNLV College of Fine Arts.

This book is such a rocker that Ronnie Wood’s artwork is the cover. The updated version is still the text for McIntosh’s course.

He teaches from experience in analyzing rock music. McIntosh is an Eagles expert.

“You start with great songwriting, and then you add great vocals and some talented musicianship,” he says. “But you’ve got to have the songs to begin with. If you don’t have the songs, you don’t have anything.”

McIntosh remembers the Eagles’ striking combination of different styles in the early 1970s.

“They had their own kind of California sound, and they were working with a guy who was kind of a footnote, but very important, Gram Parsons,” McIntosh says. “He joined the Byrds at one point. He introduced country music to the rock scene at the time. The Grateful Dead had those influences, the Byrds, and the Eagles were influenced by him.” (Parsons also co-founded the Flying Burrito Brothers, who performed at the ill-fated Altamont Free Concert in 1969. He died of a drug and alcohol overdose in September 1973.)

Walsh’s arrival in 1975 gave the Eagles a more traditional rock sound. Their first album with Walsh in the lineup, “Hotel California,” is one of the most critically acclaimed and successful in rock history, selling 32 million copies.

“At that point they were more of a vocal band, and they weren’t really into the rock sense,” McIntosh says. “When they added him, it gave them much more of a rock element.”

‘Very important’

Walsh, Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, Vince Gill and Deacon Frey — the son of the late Glenn Frey — make up the Eagles’ lineup for the Sphere.

“They’ve added so much. They’ve got Vince Gill on guitar, and he’s an amazing musician,” McIntosh says. “I mean, the guy is better than most people realize. He’s kind of a virtuoso guitar player.”

McIntosh isn’t surprised that the band, who shared the lounge stage with a certain Eagle, is taking over the reigns of the $2.3 billion wonder.

“They’re just so important. You could say the Eagles and the Beach Boys are the most important American bands historically,” he says. “Their songwriting, their harmonies have influenced so many other bands. With the Eagles, you just feel like the performance is going to be perfect.”

John Katsilometes’ column appears daily in Section A. His podcast, “PodKats!”, is available at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.