Redartz: Over the course of the rock era, one of the signal features of many musical careers has been the release of a "Live" album. Once you got big enough, had a few hits, you could count on the eventual release of a live performance recording; generally amounting to a 'greatest hits' collection, but often with some nice, uncommon tracks as well. Our discussion this time around will be centered upon such albums, as well as questions on concerts and preferred formats. Allow me a few words to illustrate.
Back in the Bronze Age (there's that phrase again), my favorite live album was "Wings Over America". Having been a fan of Wings (and that other band Sir Paul had been involved with) for a couple of years, the release of "WOA" in 1976 was most fortuitous. That summer I got my driver's license, and got a car with, yes, an 8 track player in the dash. Ah, but what would be the first 8 track to drive to? No question, that 2-tape set was the choice, and it got worn out in play over the months that followed. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to see the tour, but that album was a fine substitute. All of Wings' highlights, and for the first time since the Breakup, Paul included a few Beatles tunes on a commercial release. A perfect soundtrack for the Summer of '76.
Some years later, another live album (or more correctly, disc) took over the spot as my favorite live album. In 1985 I had the great pleasure to see Depeche Mode in concert in Chicago. I'd seen many shows, but none matched the magnitude and spectacle of this show in my book. They were incredible. Perhaps it was the electronic aspect of their music that made the show so appealing- unlike some live performances, the heavy use of synthesizers made the show sound as polished as a studio recording, while allowing the sheer energy of the live band to shine through. At any rate, the show was the best I'd ever seen.
Fast forward a few more years, to a local music store. While scouring bins for CD's, what do my eyes spy but a Depeche Mode disc with the title "101". As no Depeche Mode discs resided on my shelves at the time, I snatched it up, not realizing at the time that it was a live recording. A happy discovery, I assure you. It brought all the excitement of that 1985 concert right back into my living room. It's still a favorite.
I've since added numerous other 'live' recordings to my collection, some great and some little more than semi-audible novelties. It has become a source of interest to seek such recordings out now, in search of those unusual cuts and alternative arrangements you find therein. An example: Duran Duran, on "Seven and the Ragged Tiger", featured the song. "The Seventh Stranger". Subsequently that song was also included on DD's live album "Arena"; upon hearing that version, I greatly preferred it to the original studio recording. Which surprised me a bit at the time, as my experience had been that live performances often failed to match the quality of a fully engineered, polished studio cut. Love the exceptions to the rule...
To sum up, concerts are fun, and concert recordings can be as well. So, what live albums have you encountered, and which did you like? Were there any you thought fell pretty flat? How did they compare to the familiar studio albums? What rare performances, out-of-the-ordinary songs, and special appearances have you found on such albums? Do some artists sound better live, or should they stick to the studio? All these questions, and more, await your consideration...
30 comments:
Oh, DUDE---!
That WINGS OVER AMERICA double-album is 'WAY up high on my personal-favorite list as well-! And I'm pretty sure it extended the chart-life of the previous year's WINGS AT THE SPEED OF SOUND by keeping the ubiquitous "Let Em In" and "Silly Love Songs" in fans' collective consciousness. Although I've gotta say the songs where Denny Laine is featured tend to be among my favorites. And "Soily" is a completely over-looked gem of a driver. . .
BUT-- my all-time favorite is still that original vinyl release of BEATLES AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL. An album from recordings that were so difficult to salvage that George Martin basically apologized for them in the liner notes. And it produced no radio-worthy singles. And IIRC it was not well-received by most critics at the time-- although even they conceded that it was a darned accurate capturing of the the Beatles in Concert experience at the height of Beatlemania.
And it still thrills me.
The screaming Does. Not. Stop. Throughout the two recorded performances ('64 and '65). John, Paul, and George's voices are all ragged, sometimes bordering on exhaustion-- especially John's in '65. The tempos are hopelessly too fast. Lyrics are forgotten. Harmonies don't land. Mics are out of balance for 'WAY too long.
And it's fantastic. As Red mentions, there are two numbers here that I prefer here over their studio versions. "She's A Woman" truly takes off with a live audience feeding energy into it, and Paul's more-raw vocal works great in this setting. But the high-point of the album for me is Ringo's Best-Take-Of-His-Life "Boys". Hard to believe, yes, but Ringo is guy in the best vocal shape of the group ('cause he doesn't sing nearly as much, naturally-- and his instrument is not at all bad in the first place), and he surrenders to the number with joyful, gleeful abandon-- To the point where you forget that HE'S ALSO PLAYING THE HELL OUT OF HIS DRUMS THROUGHOUT. No drummer, me-- but even my ear can hear a LOT going on with that simple kit, very fast, while he's singing with as much energy as your average vocals-only front man could normally muster.
So. . . yeah. . . that's my favorite live album, then. . . .heh. . .
HB
I've never been a massive fan of live albums so haven't listened to many. But some favourites if mine are:
Nirvana: Unplugged in New York ( with an excellent version of Bowie's Man who sold the world).
Ramones: it's alive
Johnny Cash: live at Folsom prison
Belle and Sebastian: if your feeling sinister live at the Barbican
Simon and Garfunkel The Concert in Central Park
I think the only live albums I've ever heard are Wings Over America and Dire Straits' Alchemy.
Wings Over America's great but too long to get through in one sitting. I do have to say the tracks from Wings at the Speed of Sound are all better on the live record than they are on the original studio album.
I haven't heard Alchemy in decades, thanks to no longer having a record player, but I enjoyed it at the time. It had quite a nice cover too.
A friend of mine was a huge Judas Priest fan and played Priest ... Live so many times he wore out the cassette. To this day, the album versions of those songs just sound a little wrong to me.
"Stop Making Sense" by the Talking Heads is my favorite live album, and my favorite Talking Heads album. There's just so much energy in those performances, it's really a tour de force.
I'd also give The Doors' "Absolutely Live" an honorable mention - it used to be my favorite, and I still like it quite a bit, esp. their cover of "Who Do You Love?" with Robbie Krieger's off-the-hook guitar work.
HB, my older brother had the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl album. Sorry, I don't share your appreciation - to me it always just sounds like a relentless wall of screaming. It's certainly interesting as a historical artifact, i.e., audio testimony to the Beatlemania phenomenon, but not something I like to listen to, in whole or part, on a regular basis.
Oh, I can TOTALLY respect that, Edo, believe me. Your opinion of it lines up with the mainstream take on the album at the time. And even the producer(s) considered it more Artifact than Music-- they were pretty upfront about that. I daresay your brother may have been more in my camp, though, eh? If he played it enough times to grate on your nerves? Heh---
It was capitalizing on one of the early HUGE waves of retro-Beatlemania, and sold really well for a few weeks, IIRC--- and then disappeared forever, practically. You couldn't even find it in used record shops for the longest time. . . And I don't recall ever seeing that original issue on CD--- just the much more recent re-release, with a bunch more added tracks. (All full of screaming. . . yikes. . . ).
We have a local Pirate/Folk group in Maryland (well. . .HAD. . . they've mostly disbanded recently)called PYRATES ROYALE, who have released a lot of albums (CDs) over the past 20+ years. . . but one of their earliest was recorded live in a pirate pub in Wheaton, MD (the name escapes me at the moment). And I may have to bump that up to #2 on my list. It sounds exactly like what you would expect-- albeit they are so musically tight that the bawdiness does not overpower the musicality. Nor does the clear drunkeness. . . ha. . . If that type of folk music is anyone's fancy, I HIGHLY recommend that album and that troupe in general--
HB
Ok... I don't really have a fav live album. However 3 that I played several times back in the day were:
-Frampton Comes Alive
-Cheap Trick Live at Budokahn
-Kinks - It was a live double album around 1979?
Now... if we want to talk about fav singles... I can start opining!
Hi Charlie (above) I am curious about fav live singles that you might have in mind?
Sure Charlie... I was thinking... like...
Deep Purple "Smoke on the Water"
Regarding the McCartney Chatter above...
Sir Paul personally sent me an email two weeks ago advising me he was re-releasing RAM for its 50th anniversary!
It is remastered at double half speed on pure recycled virgin vinyl.
So I told Paul to send me one and it just came in the mail! I did have to contribute $35 to something or another though. Anything for Paul!
RAM ON! (And I do enjoy playing that particular song on my Uke, LOL!)
The thing that ‘Frampton Comes Alive’ and ‘Cheap Trick At Budokan’ have in common (and ‘Kiss Alive’ too) is that those acts hadn’t had much success with their studio albums, and their live albums were what put them on the map. The Frampton album especially was a MONSTER smash. I’d never even heard of the guy and suddenly he had three smash hit singles in pretty much constant rotation on the radio. (Y’know, come to think of it — I don’t think I’ve ever heard the studio versions of ‘Do You Feel Like I Do’, ‘Baby I Love Your Way’ and ‘Show Me The Way’. Huh. Maybe I should YouTube ‘em and see if they’re any good....)
Charlie: yes, ‘Smoke on the Water’ was the first ‘live single’ that popped into my head. Blackmore was supposedly 100% AGAINST the idea of doing a live album, was convinced it wasn’t possible to capture the energy of their live performances on a live recording. He didn’t even bother to attend the mix sessions. And then the live version of ‘Smoke’ became Deep Purple’s all-time best-selling single. Go figure!
Queen resisted doing a live album for years, for basically the same reason that Blackmore didn’t want to do one. Plus, Queen of course were known for spending months in the studio multi-tracking and over-dubbing to get that majestically dense, immersive sound, so they were especially nervous that the live recording would sound thin and cheap by comparison. I saw them in concert I think three times and they always sounded AMAZING live, so I was really looking forward to ‘Live Killers’ when it was finally announced. But it turns out their fears were well-founded — I thought the album was TERRIBLE.
I’ve mentioned this previously, but I saw Kiss at the Inglewood Forum in ‘77, where they recorded ‘Kiss Alive II’. It was my very first concert, so theoretically my 16-year-old mind-blown enthusiasm is recorded for posterity (along with thousands of other screaming fans).
b.t.
The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East is my favorite live album, and maybe one of the best of all time. I’ve heard several listed here (Cheap Trick Live at Budokan, Frampton Comes Alive, Stop Making Sense) and they’re also very good. I’ve only heard selected tracks from Wings Over America, but would like to hear more.
Graham: I forgot about the Allman Brothers and that live album - totally agree it's a classic . I will need to check out that Kinks album CH mentioned as not heard that.
Ted Nugent's "Double Life Gonzo" was pretty popular among us teens in the 70s. Songs like "Cat Scratch Fever" "Wang Dang Sweet Orange Tang" and "Stranglehold" were blasting out the car windows that's for sure. I'm not sure such songs are allowed on radio anymore?
Perhaps my favorite of the bunch though was "Great White Buffalo." Old Charlie (and Red I assume) are partial to the buffalo. There used to be so many in our home state that they are on the State of Indiana Seal! (Harkening back to Red's nostalgia column a few weeks ago!)
I'm not sure our UK contingent knows this, but there is quite a story in what happened to the buffalo in the USA. Worth a read.
McScotty - I wore two of the 4 sides of that Kinks album! It's worth a listen.
IT's called "One for the Road." I was really fond of "Catch me now I'm falling!"
Lyrics
I remember, when you were down
And you needed a helping hand
I came to feed you but now that I need you
You won't give me a second glance
Now I'm calling all citizens from all over the world
This is captain America calling
I bailed you out when you were down on your knees
So will you catch me now I'm falling
Charlie, my father once told me that the American government killed a lot of buffalo so the Indians would have nothing to eat. So I've just been reading about buffalo on Wikipedia and what he said was true!
The Wikipedia article also mentioned the Ghost Dance which was an Indian ceremony intended to boost morale at the time that the buffalo were being killed by the US government. By an amazing coincidence I first heard of the Ghost Dance just two days ago - after getting my Covid vaccine injection I was passing a supermarket called ALDI (a German supermarket chain which has become big in Britain) and I decided to go in and look around as I'd never been in that particular shop before. In the beers section was a brand of beer called Ghost Dance with a Native American chief in feathered headdress on the can and an explanation of what the Ghost Dance was on the back of the can.
Colin, there's a book called Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown that covers the 19th Century "Indian Wars" including the Ghost Dance and is well worth a read.
After bashing Queen’s ‘Live Killers’ double album the other day, I was curious to see if they’d ever released any others. Turns out there’s quite a few! At YouTube I sampled a few tracks from an album called ‘A Night At The Odeon’, which was originally broadcast on the BBC in 1975. It was recorded during their ‘Night at the Opera’ tour but curiously most of the songs are from their first three albums. So far I’ve listened to ‘Ogre Battle’ and ‘Liar’ and they sound GREAT. I may have to get this on CD so I can crank it up in my car.
Thanks to the miracle of YouTube, I also listened to the studio version of ‘Do You Feel Like I do’. It’s quite a bit slower than the live version we’re all familiar with, but once i got used to the relaxed pace I kinda liked the lazy, funky vibe.
For some reason, I’ve never been particularly keen on watching live performances on video. But there have been a few over the years that have stood out in my YouTube wanderings:
Heart (and friends), ‘Stairway to Heaven’ at the Kennedy Center. This one is just ridiculously Over The Top. It’s the Wilson sisters and a bunch of top-notch session players, with Jason Bonham on drums, plus an orchestra, plus a frickin CHOIR — in the audience are Barack and Michele Obama, Jimmy Kimmel, Yo Yo Ma, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Robert Plant. Jimmy and Jonesy are clearly having a GREAT time, but Robert is so deadpan throughout you can’t tell if he’s thinking Deep Thoughts or just bored out of his skull. The Everything But The Kitchen Sink performance itself is pretty dang rousing.
Santana, ‘Soul Sacrifice’ at Woodstock. Blisteringly epic performance.
Joni Mitchell, ‘Both Sides Now’ on the Mama Cass Show, 1969. She wanted to go to Woodstock but couldn’t because she’d been booked to perform on Mama Cass’ TV show. It’s a hauntingly beautiful performance, simply staged and shot. And Joni looks just lovely with her bangs and high cheekbones and adorable overbite.
Bob Welch (and Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood), ‘Ebony Eyes’ at California Jam 2. This one is interesting for all the wrong reasons. Bob and his band are pretty good (and I’ve always liked this song) but poor goofy gangly Bob is upstaged by Stevie at the height of her bohemian charm and sex appeal, singing back-up and shaking her tambourine. She’s not even TRYING to hog the limelight, but she’s so smiley and upbeat she seems to be glowing. There’s a longer version that has Bob, Mick and Stevie being interviewed on camera by Jeff Conaway immediately after the performance, and Conaway (with an appalling lack of tact) just comes right out and says it : ‘So Bob, you’re with Fleetwood Mac for like four years, you quit and then suddenly they’re the hottest band in the world, selling millions and millions of records...’ Mick says something diplomatic, Stevie rubs Bob’s shoulder in a ‘Jeez, man, I’m sorry, he shouldn’t’a said that’ kinda gesture and Bob tries to brush it off with a self-deprecating joke about being the dumbest dude ever, right? — but you can tell Conaway’s comment cuts DEEP.
b.t.
Colin - Like Steve, I recommend Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. However, I found it extremely depressing like Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. I was only able to read it in measured doses, taking a break every few days.
Charlie is very sensitive.
Colin, there is a very, very successful grocery chain here called Trader Joe's. It is now owned by Aldi's of North Germany.
The Aldi brothers, like the Adidas brothers, had a falling out and split Germany in half.
They started in the USA in the 70s (60s) as basically a warehouse environment with pallets full of cans that simply said Pears, Corn, Spinach, whatever in black letters on a white label. So they developed a reputation as a "low budget" grocery store.
But now... they've totally changed their marketing strategy and are plunking down in low and high-earning zip codes across America. Anyhow I have three Aldi's within 2 miles of my home (one next door the Trader Joe's where I normally shop) and they are very well attended by folks of all ages and means. I like to go for chocolates and spaetzle.
I did see the "Ghost Dance" beer a few weeks ago, was intrigued, but honestly I have an adverse reaction to anything I perceive seemingly exploiting Indian lore for profit.
Steve and Charlie, I hadn't heard of that book but I did know about Wounded Knee.
Charlie, I didn't realise you had ALDI stores in America. I'd heard that ALDI stores had really low prices but they didn't seem any lower than the Tesco supermarket where I usually shop.
Charlie, I googled Trader Joe's and apparently they have no stores in the UK.
Am loving the ranging topic action, guys!
To address a couple of the ongoing tangents-
Regarding the "Ghost Dance", I wonder if anyone knows of any graphic novel treatments of the issue. Seems like it would be a natural format...
As for ALDI, we have one about a mile from here. A good place to shop for very low priced groceries. Had no idea of their German connection. Learn something new each day...
Trader Joe's started in California.
There is an excellent podcast explaining why it is America's favorite and most profitable grocery chain. There is an episode on the Podcast referred to as Freakonomics. Highly recommend it!
Aldies has a tremendous expansion program in place in the USA, I think nationwide. I do agree the prices are not bargain basement anymore, though certainly the "canned goods" are cheaper than most grocery chains. But they also have organics! Far cry from pallets stacked with cans.
Chiming in as a generally satisfied customer at the three (!) fairly new Aldis near our home! Yep, low prices. Yep, zero ambience. Produce can be as unpredictable as whack-a-mole on a Red Bull bender. . .
I'm currently reading the latest issue of Fortean Times ("The World's Weirdest News") which always features an archaeology section (which isn't weird and seems to belong to another magazine entirely) - among this month's archaeological articles is the story of the discovery of Italian beads in northern Alaska which have been dated to several decades BEFORE the "discovery" of the Americas by Christopher Columbus (other items found with the beads were carbon-dated to AD 1440-1480). It is believed that the Italian beads were transported eastwards across Europe, Asia and Russia until they finally crossed the Bering Strait into Alaska. This is further proof that the existence of the Americas was known about before Columbus. The Vikings definitely landed on the shores of eastern Canada around AD 1000 but they didn't stay for some reason.
Red, I apologise for ignoring the actual topic but I can't stand live music. Give me the proper recorded music!
Colin - hold on a minute pardner! You do not like live music or recording of live music or both?
Trader Joe's is an experience: narrow aisles, longer than usual waiting to check out, clerks who chat you up while soooo carefully packing your bags. Prices are better than most places, lots of organic goods, very limited selections e.g., there is one type of ketchup, one brand of jelly, etc.
TJ's Company is traditionally secretive, as is Aldis. But after Aldi North (Theo Albrecht) was kidnapped and ransomed for several $MM he became a recluse. Not sure if that's why they have little info out there on the www. This was like 50 years ago.
(Please note CHarlie is referencing the www of like 7-8 years ago. TJ and Aldi North might be loose lipped on the www now, for all I know. LOL)
Charlie, I've never been interested in actual live music or recordings of live music. But now and again I've watched live music on TV such as the 'Live Aid' concerts from London and Philadelphia in July 1985 (but even during those historic concerts I switched over to the rival channel, ITV, to watch 'Battle For The Planet Of The Apes'). And in June 1988 I watched a live concert to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday (he was still in prison in South Africa at the time) which took place in Wembley Stadium, London. On that day Whitney Houston was on the bill and she sang "Didn't We Almost Have It All" which is one of my favourite songs of hers but her live version was absolutely atrocious and sounded like a cat being strangled. I'll never understand why people are prepared to pay large amounts of money to see a live concert. Stay at home and listen to the records instead :D
I knew ALDI was a German company but I didn't know anything about the brothers!
Oh I think you’re missing a lot not going to a live concerts Colin (unless you have been to them and they are just not your thing) live concerts are more than just the music it’s the atmosphere that can be electric and trigger a joint feeling of comradery similar to football (but better for me as my team almost always lose) plus you can have a wee pint and talk rubbish about how many times you’ve seen that particular performer, your favourite album etc with likeminded fans. I enjoy the odd concert on the TV but I'm not a fan myself ditto live albums and I am certainly not into concerts like Glastonbury, T in the Park etc where the acts are miles away.
Post a Comment