Eagles Founding Member Randy Meisner -- Friend Claims Wife Keeps Him Drunk

The wife of Randy Meisner -- original Eagles bassist -- wants to "buy him a bottle of vodka and hopes he drinks himself to death" ... so claims an alleged friend who's seeking a conservatorship, but Randy thinks he's really after cash.

James Newton claims in new legal docs his good friend Randy is in desperate shape and his wife, Lana is not doing anything to help him. He says Randy, an alcoholic who has been in and out of rehab and diagnosed with brain damage -- often goes unbathed for a month, thanks to his wife.

Newton says the wife keeps Randy in a "state of near-constant inebriation" because she says "he is easier to control when he's drunk."

And get this. Newton says Lana is frittering away much of his royalties and other income -- estimated between $300k and $500k a year -- on things like remodeling, vacations and cosmetic surgery.

But Randy and Lana tell TMZ ... Newton's full of it. Randy says he's "doing great" ... no longer drinks hard alcohol, and his wife treats him well. He says Newton is not a close friend, and believes the guy's most likely in cahoots with people trying to discredit Lana, and jack their money.

Newton wants a professional conservator to step in to take care of Randy, who was the lead singer on "Take It to the Limit" and famously walked out on the group after fighting Glenn Frey backstage during a 1977 concert.