Classic Rock: Live Albums
Published April 15, 2003
Superfluous. Meaningless. Pointless. Redundent. Obligatory.
No, I haven't been playing with my thesaurus. These are just some of the words that are often used to describe live recordings.
Me, I've always loved them. Way back in high school and college I was gripped by the rawness and urgency in some of my favorite concert albums...an electricity that sometimes rendered their studio counterparts, well, superfluous.
(By the way...this isn't to say that there haven't been some superfluous, meaningless, pointless, redundent and obligatory live records. There sure have. But that's another day's topic.)
So here are some of my favorite live records (and they were indeed records when I first bought 'em). No special order here. This ain't a competition. And they're all from the era of so-called Classic Rock...because that's when I fell in love with them.
Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya Ya's Out/Love You Live
Get Yer Ya Ya's Out might have been the first Stones record I bought. It was a leap of faith, really. Up to that point most of the music I'd been listening to had that "chainsaw" sound (Black Sabbath, Ted Nugent, Led Zeppelin (but only the loud tunes...none of that strummy acoustic guitar crap!)). But I had spent a lot of time injesting every rock magazine I could get my hands on. With years of Rolling Stone and Creem under my belt I was bound to run across something about the Stones. So I took a chance and was rewarded with a record that definitely expanded my (narrow) horizons. This is the Stones at their loose-yet-tight best. I've included Love You Live here because, being so enthused about my new discovery, I went right out and got some more. It's not as cohesive as Get Yer Ya Ya's Out, and certainly a little sloppier, but the El Mocambo side is a load of fun.
The Who - Live At Leeds
This one makas a lot of folks' top ten lists. It should. The Who at their most ferocious. At times coming close to metal on a blistering My Generation. Then getting a little loose on a trippy Magic Bus.
Little Feat - Waiting For Columbus
Many years after my chainsaw-only phase had passed, my cousin turned me onto Little Feat. Wow. How did I manage to not hear about these guys? I might have heard "Dixie Chicken" on the radio (but of course ignored it..I mean..where's the slammin' power chords?!) but that's about it. This record yet again opened me up to the possibilities of blues, maybe a little jazz and even a little country. Damn, I wore that thing out....and replaced it not too long ago with a nice new 180gram vinyl copy.
Grateful Dead - Dead Set
Not the typical Dead choice. Most people rate Live Dead or Europe 72 above this. But I always thought that the playing, while less 'experimental', was just so tight and funky (plus, the version of Samson and Delilah is, as Ferris would say, so choice).
Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsies
Two words: Machine Gun.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From The Road
If you leave out the southern rock Stairway To Heaven, Free Bird, this record is full of great dixie-fried rock. All those guitars, all that hollerin'!
Mark Saleski is a writer and music obsessive based out of the Monadnock region of New Hampshire. On his best day, he hopes to channel the ghosts of Lester Bangs and Jack Kerouac. He spends the hours of 9:32PM to 1:37AM carving out music reviews and essays for Jazz.com, Blogcritics.org and other publications.- Classic Rock: Live Albums
- Published: April 15, 2003
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- Section: Music
- Writer: Mark Saleski
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Comments on this articleComments
Great list, within classic rock I would add Neil Young's Live Rust and Santana's Moonflower, and away from classic rock, Roxy Music, Talking Heads, James Brown, Otis Redding, Stiff Live, Urgh, and the Two-Tone live ska album.
gotta go with the Johnny Cash live classics, "At Folcom Prision" and "At San Quien".
and I got a live The Who cd with the deluxe edition of Who's Next that's really good.
peace.
please add Fillmore East by the Allman Brothers Band and Lotus by Santana
What about Van Morrison's 1974 double-CD, "It's Too Late to Stop Now..."? It's the only recording that makes you feel you are actually standing on stage with The Man and his band instead on in the audience.
You forgot Bob Dylan's "Judas" concert (Live 1966), where punk was born.
I would add "Take No Prisoners" by Lou Reed, if only for the review by Robert Christgau.
In addition, in the last couple of decades, there are great concert videos. "Stop Making Sense" is one of my favourites, though Lou Reed's "New York" is special because it was filmed in Montreal, and I was sitting by the camera in the balcony, so when I watch it, most of the shots are from the same perspective I experienced at the show.
On "Get Your Ya-Yas Out" I'm sure when Mick is talking about the fly in his trousers being busted, the crowd is yelling "We want to suck your cock, Mick!"
Speakin' of Uncle Lou, I'd add Rock 'N' Roll Animal to that list: it taught me to love "Heroin."
I'd have to say the definitive version of "Heroin" is on "1969 Live", along with "Sweet Jane", though the guitar work on "Rock and Roll Animal" is a milestone.
Thinking about Unca Lou, what if he was one of Donald Duck's renegade nephews? Hewey, Duey, Louie and Lou, just Lou, what's it to you, punk?
Oh, okay, Motorhead, "No Sleep Til Hammersmith".
Plus The Ramones, "It's Alive", the album which started punk rock, all of it, well, except for "Metallic KO" by The Stooges, but that is the exception which proves the rule since nobody knew about it until after the fact.
I few I'd add, but none I would take away.
I hate to admit it, but Journey's "Captured" live album is a great recording from the time befoer the band became known for sappy, insipid ballads and could actually rock 'n' roll.
It's a good thing that you put "waiting for Columbus" in the list, that is the epitome of a great live album.
ACDC Live--"Thunderstruck" is unreal.
You are the first person I've read in 25 years who even admits to still playing Frampton Comes Alive!, let alone giving it a place of honor in a Best-Of list.
Jim Carruthers cites Reed's Take No Prisoners, which really brings back memories -- I have never felt so ripped off by the effort and money I put into acquiring a disc. I was still so jazzed on Street Hassle that when Prisoners came out I scraped together money I could not afford to spend and begged my mom to drive 50 miles to the mall at Myrtle Beach, which was the only place selling it. Man, what a horrifying disappointment that record was when I got home; what a brutally cruel lesson in how little Reed thinks of his fans. A grindingly unfunny drunken two-hour comedy act where Reed bitches about Christgau and Rockwell. I attended a Southern Baptist college back then, and when the day came that a group of students fell under the semi-annual spell of rock-is-evil record-burning fervor, I cannot tell you with what joy and happiness I pitched Take No Prisoners onto the raging pyre.
My picks: Bruce Springsteen's Live Set, Bob Dylan's 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert, and Cheap Trick's rightly mentioned Budokan concert. To this day, Bun E. Carlos's drum solo on "Clock Strikes Ten" is my number one rock fantasy; in my version, of course, the lead vocalist says: "On the drums -- Mister RODNEY WELCH!!!!!!"
isn't Take No Prisoners the one that was released on red vinyl? i might have a copy of that somewhere.
as for Frampton Comes Alive...i might have to blame that on "That 70's Show". in fact, i may have to blame my recent jones for all things 1978 on that damned show.
Great comments all - I can't believe I forgot Velvets Live '69, Reed's R&R Animal, Allman's Fillmore! I also love Not-Traffic's Welcome to the Canteen and Wishbone Ash's Live Dates.
Mark,
That's a great list--here are my additions:
I'll second Bill Sherman's mention of Lou Reed's Rock and Roll Animal, as Hunter and Wagner are such a ferocious guitar duo on that album.
While Get Your Ya-Yas Out is one of the Stones' best live albums, there are a number of great songs from that period that didn't wind up on it. (I've read they initially thought about making it a double album--too bad they didn't.) Criterion's Gimme Shelter DVD has several songs, not the least of which are its title song, and an nifty extended version of "Satisfaction" that were used in the movie, but not on the album.
Led Zep's The Song Remains The Same and The Who's Kids Are Alright soundtracks are also fun live albums, as is Zep's BBC Sessions CD.
Ed
I've always loved Rainbow's "On Stage"; a massive self-indulgent guitar wig-out, I know, but Richie Blackmore really was at his peak at the time.
Also Blue Oyster Cult's "Some Enchanted Evening", again recorded when band were at their peak.
Agree about Journey's "Captured", it somehow manages to turn what were sludgy power-ballads in the studio into rock anthems. I feel Journey are a critically underrated band; they don't deserved to be judged by their singles - they could be a superb hard rock act when they wanted to be.
Eric,
You can't believe you forgot VU's 1969? Hell, I wrote about it at length on this very site and didn't remember it until I just read your comment. Damn. Yes, yes, greatest live album ever. I just wasn't thinking.
Ah well, we are damaged
ok, you guys have to stop. i can't be buying any more cd's right about now!!!
Looks like we've got pretty similar taste in rock & roll. That is one awesome list! I've got every one of those albums except for The Dead and The Tubes. I never really liked The Dead although I saw them back in 1983.
Man, whenever someone revives a dead thread, I get a severe case of temporal distortion.
For me, a live album just never felt right unless it were a double album.
Some more that got a lot of play among my circle of friends:
Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
UFO - Strangers In the Night
Blue Oyster Cult - On Your Feet Or On Your Knees
Yes - Yessongs
Scorpions - Tokyo Tapes
Pat Travers - Go For What You Know
Deep Purple - Made In Europe
Sammy Hagar - All Night Long
Al DiMeola/Paco DeLucia/John McLaughlin - Friday Night In San Francisco
The Mothers - Fillmore East, June 1971
There are some great albums listed above - some of which I reveled in at the time, some of which I still love today, and some of which I've never been able to stand. Following are a few that were missed, neglected, deliberately omitted or forgotten, or that I missed in reading:
The Last Waltz by The Band
On the Road and Welcome to the Canteen* by Traffic
Jeff Beck and the Jan Hammer Group Live - though the vocals are shaky at best, the guitar, keys and drums are amazing
Blues Alive by Gary Moore
Bring 'em Back Alive by Dixie Dregs
and the greatest live blues album I have ever heard (and probably will ever hear) - Live at the Regal by B.B. King. Also the best B.B. album, and one of the best blues albums live or studio, ever recorded, IMHO.
* - Technically, Welcome to the Canteen was not a Traffic album, but a live recording by all the members of Traffic, playing Traffic tunes. Go figure.
yes JR, i've got every one of the records on your list (hmmm, maybe not the Mothers, gotta check).
taloran: that Jeff Beck album is friggin' great! the vocals are kinda scary though.... "full moon boogie, you know what i mean.." yikes!!
A few of my favorites have not been mentioned:
Mad Dogs & Englishmen - Joe Cocker
Bless Its Pointed Little Head - Jefferson Airplane
Live Bullet - Bob Seger
The Concert - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Live at Winterland - Jimi Hendrix (out of print)
The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl (also out of print)
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I've gotta go with Jackson Browne's Running on Empty. I like original live material, which is a rarity.