When I was in the 6th form a common argument was whether live albums were better than studio albums. Of course with the certainty of youth the arguments were opinionated, heated and when you weren't winning always resorted to insults and abuse! Peter Frampton almost settled the argument once and for all when he released the appalling Frampton Comes Alive. An argument for staying at home and listening to studio albums if ever there was.
I love a lot of live albums - and the ones that I do love fall into two categories - the warts and all ones where a bands sloppiness can almost become an asset and those that capture artists and bands at a peak where they simply ROCK!. So here is my list of live albums that have me regretting no being there (but almost feeling like it at the same time). Some artists manage to do it twice in a lifetime.
Toy Love : Live at the Gluepot : This should have been awful. Should have been crap. But its not. It's fucking amazing. In my opinion quite simply THE BEST BAND ever to come out of New Zealand. Recorded in glorious mono and not released for 32 years. I originally managed to buy a copy on green vinyl and being one of only 200 made I decided not to play it and put it aside. A year later it was released on CD and I bought that. Expecting the worst it was a month or two before I slotted it in the player. Wow - just a band burning through all their hits at their last ever show. Historic!!!! Playing it again now - I have just elevated it to the top of the list!!
Van Morrison : It's Too Late to Stop Now : Devastating Show - Van at the top of his game - just stunning and shows how good a band leader Van is. I remember seeing a TV version late one Friday night at about this time. At the time I had NO idea of who Van Morrison was but remember being blown away by the performance. Tried to find the show on net and on bootlegs but to no avail. A lost gem.
The Band : Rock of Ages : Actually two shows on December 30 and 31 1971 spliced into one double album. They reworked arrangements of songs with Allen Toussaint directing a New Orleans' horn section. The updated version of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down was never bettered in my opinion. An extra highlight was Dylan guesting on the New Year's Eve show.
While now The Last Waltz is better known and more played and while I do love The Last Waltz DVD I prefer this (apart from the Staples assisted The Weight) everytime. This is the sound of a band, no THE BAND in their prime.
Little Feat : Waiting for Columbus : Another band that added horns to their songs and extracted something new and refreshing. For a band that was not from New Orleans they certainly can sound like a good second line at times.
David Bowie : David Live - At the time he quipped that it should have been called "David Bowie Is Alive and Living Only in Theory". Panned at the time and still held in low regard by many. I love it. Rock'n'roll suicide sounds deathly, Jean Genie is reworked into some sort of sloppy piece of Jazz, Sweet Thing sounds evil and while Bowie's vocals are hoarse they have something to them that they never had again - many would say - thank god! But like all good live albums it makes me want to have been there - a pity that most of the video taken has been lost!
Four years later Bowie released Stage and this time he sounded right on top of his game. This time the attraction was that I saw a show on this tour in Christchurch. Bruce Garland, his brother Ross, some other friends and I made the pilgrimage from Wellington and also looked for flats for our coming 1st year of engineering at Canterbury University. After the roughness of David Live Stage sounded almost sterile - which was how things were really at the time with Bowie - a kind of clinical perfections. The original album running order was not as it was at the show but this was corrected with the latest CD reissue. Managed to get a DVD of about 80% of this show recorded in Japan. Great Stuff.
I have videos, records and CDs of many of Bowie's tours and concerts - starting with Aylesbury in 1971 - apparently the first show with Mick Ronson, Santa Monica in 1972 which is a great show, the last Ziggy Show, A great concert on the Diamond Dogs tour - after he had recorded Young Americans so with a different set list.
The Who : Live At Leeds : The original lp came with instructions to play it loud and the useful information that the bumps and scratches were meant to be there! It also came with truckloads of paraphernalia (damage and repair bills, receipts and a fold out Maximum R'n'B poster. Was this the start of Heavy Metal? It was certainly, along with Tommy the start of The Who being more than a singles band. The re-released CD version with more songs and a full Tommy run through is very impressive stuff.
John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk : Live at Carnegie Hall : This was released on my 45 birthday, 48 years after it was originally recorded. Anyone good at maths would have figured that meant it was recorded 3 years before I was born. It brings two of my favourite jazz artists together at their peak. As I have pointed out a few times - I do not know much about Jazz but I do know what I like.
Bruce Springsteen : Live At Hammersmith Odeon 1975 : This was always a legendary show. The Boss's first trip to London amid all the Hype of being the first person to ever be on the cover of Time and Newsweek in the same week. Hot on the heels of Born to Run. I bought a bootleg version of part of the show in 1977 and it was not that impressive (as most bootlegs aren't) and was surprised when it was first released as a DVD as part of the 30th anniversary of Born to Run. The video was grainy and dark but certainly captured Bruce and the E Street Band in rousing form - determined not to blow it. Superb and Chris's second favourite live album.
Warren Zevon : Stand in the Fire : Recorded on his 1978 tour this is a
great recording capturing Zevon at the peak of his fame but before he peaked as a songwriter. The playing is marvelous throughout and I was lucky enough to find a copy of a video of a later show that tour. I also downloaded another better show but was a bit dumbstruck that all the one liners and improvisations were the same. Apparently after commenting on this, Dirk Hamilton, the support act on the tour was thrown off. Also worth checking out is his Learning to Flinch Album - one track of which was recorded with me in the crowd at the Gluepot.
Bob Dylan : Live At The Albert Hall 1966 : Live 1975 : Two great live Dylan albums - the famous Manchester Trades Hall show which was not there at all. Dylan was touring with The Band through England and his reception was anything but positive. Levon Helm decided not to tour as he was was not impressed with the reception they had received in the US. He was replaced by Mickey Jones who later played one of the regular guest builders on Home Improvement.Dylan played half the show acoustic and half electric. Play loud was the instruction and they did!
In 1975 it was a different show altogether, the Rolling Thunder Review. Another great show where Dylan regularly fucked with the words of both new and old songs. Helped out by David Bowie's old guitarist Mick Ronson and another guitarist, relative newcomer but currently go to producer T Bone Burnett.
Talking Heads : The Name of This Band in Talking Heads : While I love the movie Stop Making Sense - I have never been able to play the the album all the way through. Not sure why. About two years before the movie was made Talking Heads released the double live album The Name of This Band in Talking Heads. It was not a full concert performance but kind of a best of retrospective showcasing the development of the band from sketchy live performances through to the full funk version of the band supporting Remain in Light. Seldom had a band developed so quickly.
Alejandro Escovedo : More Miles than Money : I was recommended this one at Rhino Records in Timaru. Another compilation live over a two year period. A mixture of covers (I want to be your dog with a cello and Sway) and some of his own songs (Pissed off 2am, Last to Know).
Mott The Hoople : Live on Broadway and at Hammersmith Odeon. Originally this was a single vinyl album. I really enjoyed that but the 30th anniversary album expanded it to a double CD with an extra dozen tracks. Great album made better.
Neil Young : Live Rust - Great double lp and movie video from 1979 mixing acoustic and crazy horse numbers. I have a bunch of Neil Young live albums and they are all good. The continuing performance series is giving us a whole lot of old stuff and I have usually grabbed them all. I Particularly like Massey Hall - the accompanying DVD is really good as well. However I would also throw in Times Fades Away (great sloppy set) and the bootleg solo Pushed it over the end (recorded in 1974 prior to the release of One The Beach).
Drive By Truckers : Live at the 40 Watt and Live from Austin Texas :
I had the pleasure of seeing the DBTs three times over an Easter period some 5 years ago. It was at the Byron Bay Festival and they played two sets on their own and one as Booker T's back up band (having just recorded Potato Hole with him. Live from Austin Texas is from the same era - however it is Live at the 40 Watt that really rocks. At that stage Jason Isbell was still in the band and had contributed some great songs. The set was the release party for their excellent Dirty South album.
Led Zeppelin : The DVD : I keep coming back to this - particularly the Earls Court Segment. So much better than either The Song Remains the Same or the reunion show (which I could not even get through - instead swapping it out for the original DVD. So if you want to hear some more recent Led Zep(ish) music check out Robert Plant's excellent Live at The Artists Den.
Graham Parker - Live at Rockpalast : Graham Parker's show in 1978 at the Wellington Town Hall remains one of the best I have ever seen. Four encores - including a solo one with the house lights on. So when I came across this DVD with two shows recorded either side of his first visit to NZ it was a must buy. Worth every penny and really pleased when the boys asked to borrow it!
Muddy Waters : :Live at the Checkerboard 1981 and Classic Concerts : Two great DVDs with the former having the Stones get up for an impromptu Jam and some great playing from Buddy Guy. The latter includes Muddy's legendary set at Newport.
I have many other live albums - some of the better ones include....
Lucinda Williams : The live album with the deluxe Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.
Deep Purple : Made in Japan and Rainbow On Stage
Elvis Costello : Live at Hollywood High
Bob Marley and the Wailers : Live
Tom Petty : Pack Up the Plantation
Leonard Cohen : Live at the Isle of White and Live in London
I love a lot of live albums - and the ones that I do love fall into two categories - the warts and all ones where a bands sloppiness can almost become an asset and those that capture artists and bands at a peak where they simply ROCK!. So here is my list of live albums that have me regretting no being there (but almost feeling like it at the same time). Some artists manage to do it twice in a lifetime.
Toy Love : Live at the Gluepot : This should have been awful. Should have been crap. But its not. It's fucking amazing. In my opinion quite simply THE BEST BAND ever to come out of New Zealand. Recorded in glorious mono and not released for 32 years. I originally managed to buy a copy on green vinyl and being one of only 200 made I decided not to play it and put it aside. A year later it was released on CD and I bought that. Expecting the worst it was a month or two before I slotted it in the player. Wow - just a band burning through all their hits at their last ever show. Historic!!!! Playing it again now - I have just elevated it to the top of the list!!Van Morrison : It's Too Late to Stop Now : Devastating Show - Van at the top of his game - just stunning and shows how good a band leader Van is. I remember seeing a TV version late one Friday night at about this time. At the time I had NO idea of who Van Morrison was but remember being blown away by the performance. Tried to find the show on net and on bootlegs but to no avail. A lost gem. The Band : Rock of Ages : Actually two shows on December 30 and 31 1971 spliced into one double album. They reworked arrangements of songs with Allen Toussaint directing a New Orleans' horn section. The updated version of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down was never bettered in my opinion. An extra highlight was Dylan guesting on the New Year's Eve show.While now The Last Waltz is better known and more played and while I do love The Last Waltz DVD I prefer this (apart from the Staples assisted The Weight) everytime. This is the sound of a band, no THE BAND in their prime.
Little Feat : Waiting for Columbus : Another band that added horns to their songs and extracted something new and refreshing. For a band that was not from New Orleans they certainly can sound like a good second line at times. David Bowie : David Live - At the time he quipped that it should have been called "David Bowie Is Alive and Living Only in Theory". Panned at the time and still held in low regard by many. I love it. Rock'n'roll suicide sounds deathly, Jean Genie is reworked into some sort of sloppy piece of Jazz, Sweet Thing sounds evil and while Bowie's vocals are hoarse they have something to them that they never had again - many would say - thank god! But like all good live albums it makes me want to have been there - a pity that most of the video taken has been lost!
Four years later Bowie released Stage and this time he sounded right on top of his game. This time the attraction was that I saw a show on this tour in Christchurch. Bruce Garland, his brother Ross, some other friends and I made the pilgrimage from Wellington and also looked for flats for our coming 1st year of engineering at Canterbury University. After the roughness of David Live Stage sounded almost sterile - which was how things were really at the time with Bowie - a kind of clinical perfections. The original album running order was not as it was at the show but this was corrected with the latest CD reissue. Managed to get a DVD of about 80% of this show recorded in Japan. Great Stuff.I have videos, records and CDs of many of Bowie's tours and concerts - starting with Aylesbury in 1971 - apparently the first show with Mick Ronson, Santa Monica in 1972 which is a great show, the last Ziggy Show, A great concert on the Diamond Dogs tour - after he had recorded Young Americans so with a different set list.
The Who : Live At Leeds : The original lp came with instructions to play it loud and the useful information that the bumps and scratches were meant to be there! It also came with truckloads of paraphernalia (damage and repair bills, receipts and a fold out Maximum R'n'B poster. Was this the start of Heavy Metal? It was certainly, along with Tommy the start of The Who being more than a singles band. The re-released CD version with more songs and a full Tommy run through is very impressive stuff.Bruce Springsteen : Live At Hammersmith Odeon 1975 : This was always a legendary show. The Boss's first trip to London amid all the Hype of being the first person to ever be on the cover of Time and Newsweek in the same week. Hot on the heels of Born to Run. I bought a bootleg version of part of the show in 1977 and it was not that impressive (as most bootlegs aren't) and was surprised when it was first released as a DVD as part of the 30th anniversary of Born to Run. The video was grainy and dark but certainly captured Bruce and the E Street Band in rousing form - determined not to blow it. Superb and Chris's second favourite live album.Warren Zevon : Stand in the Fire : Recorded on his 1978 tour this is a great recording capturing Zevon at the peak of his fame but before he peaked as a songwriter. The playing is marvelous throughout and I was lucky enough to find a copy of a video of a later show that tour. I also downloaded another better show but was a bit dumbstruck that all the one liners and improvisations were the same. Apparently after commenting on this, Dirk Hamilton, the support act on the tour was thrown off. Also worth checking out is his Learning to Flinch Album - one track of which was recorded with me in the crowd at the Gluepot.
Bob Dylan : Live At The Albert Hall 1966 : Live 1975 : Two great live Dylan albums - the famous Manchester Trades Hall show which was not there at all. Dylan was touring with The Band through England and his reception was anything but positive. Levon Helm decided not to tour as he was was not impressed with the reception they had received in the US. He was replaced by Mickey Jones who later played one of the regular guest builders on Home Improvement.Dylan played half the show acoustic and half electric. Play loud was the instruction and they did!
In 1975 it was a different show altogether, the Rolling Thunder Review. Another great show where Dylan regularly fucked with the words of both new and old songs. Helped out by David Bowie's old guitarist Mick Ronson and another guitarist, relative newcomer but currently go to producer T Bone Burnett.Talking Heads : The Name of This Band in Talking Heads : While I love the movie Stop Making Sense - I have never been able to play the the album all the way through. Not sure why. About two years before the movie was made Talking Heads released the double live album The Name of This Band in Talking Heads. It was not a full concert performance but kind of a best of retrospective showcasing the development of the band from sketchy live performances through to the full funk version of the band supporting Remain in Light. Seldom had a band developed so quickly.Alejandro Escovedo : More Miles than Money : I was recommended this one at Rhino Records in Timaru. Another compilation live over a two year period. A mixture of covers (I want to be your dog with a cello and Sway) and some of his own songs (Pissed off 2am, Last to Know).Mott The Hoople : Live on Broadway and at Hammersmith Odeon. Originally this was a single vinyl album. I really enjoyed that but the 30th anniversary album expanded it to a double CD with an extra dozen tracks. Great album made better.Neil Young : Live Rust - Great double lp and movie video from 1979 mixing acoustic and crazy horse numbers. I have a bunch of Neil Young live albums and they are all good. The continuing performance series is giving us a whole lot of old stuff and I have usually grabbed them all. I Particularly like Massey Hall - the accompanying DVD is really good as well. However I would also throw in Times Fades Away (great sloppy set) and the bootleg solo Pushed it over the end (recorded in 1974 prior to the release of One The Beach). I had the pleasure of seeing the DBTs three times over an Easter period some 5 years ago. It was at the Byron Bay Festival and they played two sets on their own and one as Booker T's back up band (having just recorded Potato Hole with him. Live from Austin Texas is from the same era - however it is Live at the 40 Watt that really rocks. At that stage Jason Isbell was still in the band and had contributed some great songs. The set was the release party for their excellent Dirty South album.Graham Parker - Live at Rockpalast : Graham Parker's show in 1978 at the Wellington Town Hall remains one of the best I have ever seen. Four encores - including a solo one with the house lights on. So when I came across this DVD with two shows recorded either side of his first visit to NZ it was a must buy. Worth every penny and really pleased when the boys asked to borrow it!Muddy Waters : :Live at the Checkerboard 1981 and Classic Concerts : Two great DVDs with the former having the Stones get up for an impromptu Jam and some great playing from Buddy Guy. The latter includes Muddy's legendary set at Newport.I have many other live albums - some of the better ones include....
Lucinda Williams : The live album with the deluxe Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.
Deep Purple : Made in Japan and Rainbow On Stage
Elvis Costello : Live at Hollywood High
Bob Marley and the Wailers : Live
Tom Petty : Pack Up the Plantation
Leonard Cohen : Live at the Isle of White and Live in London
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