Now to finally complete something that I only just started on the old version of the Aattic, here are a list of my top 20 legitimately released live CDs along with explanations as to why they are on this list. There is a heck of a lot of great live music out there to enjoy. Hopefully this will help serve to guide you in some way or another.
Maybe you agree with them, maybe you don't. Maybe this might inspire you to go and check out these little chunks of music history.
Either way and as always, please enjoy.
1. Live in Santa Monica 72 - David Bowie & The Spiders From Mars
2. What Do You Want from Live - The Tubes
3. How the West Was Won - Led Zeppelin
4. The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life - Frank Zappa
5. Seconds Out - Genesis
6. Hammersmith Odeon 75 - Bruce Springsteen
7. Live At Leeds - The Who
8. Budokan! 30th Anniversary Edition - Cheap Trick
9. Live! Bootleg - Aerosmith
10. Weld - Neil Young and Crazy Horse
11. All The Worlds A Stage - Rush
12. Made In Japan (Expanded Edition) - Deep Purple
13. The Last Waltz (Expanded Edition) - The Band
14. Welcome Back My Friends - Emerson, Lake and Palmer
15. Plays Live - Peter Gabriel
16. Pack Up The Plantation - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
17. Frampton Comes Alive 25th Anniversary - Peter Frampton
18. Crossroads 2: Live In The Seventies - Eric Clapton
19. Here And There - Elton John
20. Get You Ya Yas Out - The Rolling Stones
Live in Santa Monica '72 - David Bowie
David Bowie live in 1972. Long available as a bootleg, this seminal concert presents all that is good about his Ziggy Stardust persona. The band was still just a four piece with Mick Ronson on guitar and vocals, Mick "Woody" Woodmansey on drums, Trevor Bolder on Bass and Mike Garson on piano. This was well before he became tired of the Ziggy persona and perpatrated one of the greatest rock 'n' roll exits of all time; his legendary Hammersmith Odeon show when he announced his retirement, much to the shock and horror of his drummer and bass player.The Santa Monica concert itself was a revelation for a staid North American crowd. Ziggy took androginy to a new level. Coupled with a frenetic stage presence and the mock oral copulation during Ronson's The Width Of A Circle guitar solo... time stood still.
If you would like to find out more about this fascinating era of David Bowie then I highly recommend you check out The Ziggy Stardust Companion for more info.
Tracklist:
Hang On To Yourself
Ziggy Stardust
Changes
The Supermen
Life On Mars?
Five Years
Space Oddity
Andy Warhol
My Death
The Width Of A Circle
Queen Bitch
Moonage Daydream
John, I'm Only Dancing
Waiting For The Man
The Jean Genie
Suffragette City
Rock n Roll Suicide.
Classic rock 'n' roll at it's finest folks.
What Do You Want From Live - The Tubes
The Tubes in the 70's were a group of nine lunatics from the San Fransisco area who took theatrics in rock to the edge, and then promptly leapt over with wild and reckless abandon. Creating musical frameworks for such diverse characters as Johnny Bugger (with his band the Dirt Bags), a Cleausau like detective in Smoke (La Vie en Fumer) and the quintescential burnt out rock and roll singer Quay Lewd (the latter in 12 inch high platform boots, a massive shock of blonde hair, glasses that lit up and spelt the name Quay and a mirrored Q shaped guitar), well, let's suffice it to say that I have never, and I do mean NEVER, seen another band quite like the Tubes.Of course the fact that they are all consumate musicians only helps to enhance their legacy. If you would like to catch an in depth vision of who and what The Tubes were, then look no further than The Tubes Project, a feature length documentary currently in production and created by one time Tubes keyboard player Michael Cotton. Check out his MySpace Page for mor information and cool videos.
WDYWfL was recorded at the famous Hammersmith Odeon, London England in November of 1977.
Tracklist:
Overture: Up From The Deep / Young and Rich / Madam I'm Adam / Mondo Bondage
Got Yourself A Deal
Show Me A Reason
What Do You Want From Life
God-Bird-Change
Special Ballet
Don't Touch Me There
Mondo Bondage
Smoke (La Vie en Fumer)
Crime Medley
I Was A Punk Before You Were A Punk
I Saw Her Standing There
Drum Solo
Boy Crazy
You're No Fun
Stand Up And Shout
White Punks On Dope
How The West Was Won - Led Zeppelin
Ya know, Led Zeppelin never got the mainstream props they were due... but this fact never seemed to bother them. Their fan base always had more to do with true music afficianados than it did with top 40 kind of tripe. The self same thing that usually precludes a band from having to come up against the usual kind of time sensitive scrutiny only served to preclude the mighty Led Zeppelin from the same. They loved and embraced their blues roots.As of 1973 the Zepps were already behind four albums, an unheard of state of affairs by these days standards. I mean, let me ask you this... how many CURRENT bands do you know that have already put forth such timeless classics as; Communication Breakdown, How Many More Times, Babe I Gotta Leave You, Dazed and Confused, Whole Lotta Love, Living Loving Maid, Ramble On, Heartbreaker, Thank You, Rock 'n' Roll, Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop, Stariway To Heaven, Going To California, Gallows Pole, Celebration Day, Since I've Been Loving You in a matter of a couple of years... need I go on.
This set has been culled from two seperate shows (June 25th, 1973 - LA Forum and June 27th - Long Beach Arena) to find out which track came from which date, or, more acurately, which part of which track came from which date then check out The Garden Tapes.
Miss this live offering at your peril...
Tracklist:
Disc 1:
LA Drone
Immigrant Song
Heartbreaker
Black Dog
Over The Hills and Far Away
Since I've Been Loving Your
Stairway To Heaven
Going To California
That's The Way
Bron-Yr-Aur-Stomp
Disc 2:
Dazed And Confused
What Is and What Should Never Be
Dancing Days
Moby Dick
Disc 3:
Whole Lotta Love
Rock And Roll
The Ocean
Bring It On Home
The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life - Frank Zappa
I don't think I could introduce this CD any better than Frank Zappa himself did on the liner notes to this CD:The 1988 road band self-destructed before U.S. audiences in the south, Midwest and West could hear it perform. It was, however, heard and appreciated by East Coast and European audiences during its brief existence (four months of rehearsal in 1987/1988, followed by a tour, February through June, 1988), and it is from those performances that this compilation has been made.
The collection features big-band arrangements of concert favorites and obscure album cuts, along with deranged versions of cover tunes and a few premiere recordings.
In a world where most of the "big groups" go on stage and pretend to sing and play, we proudly present this quaint audio artifact. Yes, once upon a time, live musicians actually sang and played this. All material contained herein is 100% live, and there are no over-dubs of any kind
A number of wicked covers are true highlights of this disk which, along with the CD's Broadway the Hard Way
and Make a Jazz Noise Here
documented this wonderful tour. A tour, I might add, that proved to be Zappa's last before succombing to prostate cancer in 1993.
I'm here to tell you right now that you really haven't lived until you have heard Zappa's arrangement of the Led Zeppelin classic Stairway To Heaven. Nuff said.
Tracklist:
Disc 1:
Heavy Duty Judy
Ring Of Fire
Cosmic Debris
Find Her Finer
Who Needs The Peace Corps
I Left My Heart In San Fransisco
Zomby Woof
Bolero
Zoot Allures
Mr. Green Genes
Florentine Pogen
Andy
Inca Roads
Sofa No. 1
Disc 2:
Purple Haze
Sunshine Of Your Love
Let's Move To Cleveland
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
"Godfather Part II" Theme
A Few Minutes With Brother A. West
The Torture Never Stops Part 1
Theme From "Bonanza"
Lonsome Cowboy Burt (Swaggart Version)
The Torture Never Stops Part 2
More Trouble Every Day (Swaggart Version)
Penguin In Bondage (Swaggart Version)
Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue
Stairway To Heaven
Seconds Out - Genesis
With the departure of lead singer Peter Gabriel after the conclusion of the 1975 Lamb Lies Down On Broadway tour Genesis were left looking for a new vocalist. Fortunately they didn't have to look far as they soon promoted Phil Collins from within their own ranks. Two successful studio albums later (A Trick Of The Tail and Wind and Wuthering) and it was time to release their second live album.Enlisting the aid of Chester Thompson (ex Weather Report, Frank Zappa) and or Bill Bruford (ex Yes, King Crimson) on various tracks Genesis flex their musical muscle with a healthy mix of old Gabriel era songs (classic version of Supper's Ready here) and newer tunes from the two post Grabriel releases.
While the album was being mixed guitarist Steve Hackett handed in his resignation, making him the third member of the band to leave (Anthony Phillips was the first in 1970).
If you like progressive rock you should definately check this double disc set out.
Tracklist:
Disc 1:
Squonk
The Carpet Crawlers
Robbery, Assault and Battery
Afterglow
Firth of Fifth
I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)
Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Musical Box (closing section)
Disc 2:
Supper's Ready
Cinema Show
Dance On A Volcano
Los Endos
Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
Following the success stateside of Springsteens seminal Born To Run release his record company were hot to introduce The Boss to the United Kingdom and Europe. To that end they organized a brief tour.The first of two dates at the Hammersmith Odeon in London England was professionally recorded and filmed on silent 16mm stock.
In 2006 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Born To Run, the record company release a special edition of the classic platter which included the aforementioned 16mm film dubed with the professional recording to produce a true treat for fans of this seminal album.
Several months later they released this two cd set with the soundtrack from that long ago November evening in 1975. Classic Springsteen with his long time partners in crime, the E Street Band.
Tracklist:
Disc 1:
Thunder Road
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
Spirits In The Night
Lost In The Flood
Mona/She's The One
Born To Run
The E Street Shuffle/Havin' A Party
It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City
Backstreets
Disc 2:
Kitty's Back
Jungleland
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
4th Of July / Asbury Park (Sandy)
Detroit Medley:
Devil With A Blue Dress On, Jenny Take A Ride, Good Golly, Miss Molly and CC Rider
For You
Quarter To Three
Live At Leeds (Deluxe Edition) - The Who
Long considered one of the best live albums ever recorded the original live album contained only six songs from this classic set.This title has seen three different incarnations on cd. The first mimiced the original LP release. For fun I have italisized the songs which were contained on the original release.
The second incarnation consisted of the entire non-Tommy section of the concert (with the exception of Amazing Journey and Sparks).
The third itereation, and the one I am recommending here, contains the entire concert including bits of between song banter that had been removed from previous releases. The only thing that stops this from being an all time classic is the fact that the entire Tommy set has been dedicated to the second disc rather than residing in the true concert running order.
For informational purposes the Tommy set resided between The Who's mini opera A Quick One While He's Away and their take on the old Eddie Cochran staple Summertime Blues. If you would like to get a fair representation of this then check out Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
a concert recorded the following year.Tracklist:
Disc 1:
Heaven And Hell
I Can't Explain
Fortune Teller
Tattoo
Young Man Blues
SubstituteHappy Jack
I'm A Boy
A Quick One While He's Away
Summtime Blues
Shakin' All Over
My Generation
Magic Bus
Disc 2:
Overture
It's A Boy
1921
Amazing Journey
Sparks
Eyesight To The Blind
Christmas
The Acid Queen
Pinball Wizard
Do You Think It's Alright?
Fiddle About
Tommy Can You Hear Me
There's A Doctor
Go To The Mirror!
Smash The Mirror
Miracle Cure
Sally Simpson
I'm Free
Tommy's Holiday Camp
We're Not Gonna Take It
Budokan! 30th Anniversary Edition - Cheap Trick
It was suggested by the record company that they should go and tour Japan, where all three albums had gone gold. Upon arriving in Japan the band were greeted with a frenzy approaching Beatlemania.
As a thank you to their Japanese fans the Triksters recorded their April 28th and 30th 1978 appearances at the venerated Nippon Budokan in Tokyo with an eye to releasing a Japan only release.
Cheap Trick At Budokan soon became a highly coveted U.S. Import. Such was the interest shown in the album, Epic Records capitulated and release the LP as a domestic product. Cheap Trick has never looked back since.
This 30th Anniversary edition houses one DVD filmed on that fateful evening, and three CD's. Two of which contain the Complete Concert. The third CD contains an audio companion to the DVD concert.
For anyone who, like me, wondered what gave with Robin Zander's slow "I want you... to want... me" intro to the song of the same titler, the man himself finally comes clean, admitting that he was afraid the Japanese audience wouldn't understand him speaking his native tongue. So in the great tradition of people caught in a foreign land who can only speak English, Robin talked really... really... slowly...
Tracklist:
DVD
Hello There
Elo Kiddies
Speak Now (Or Forever Hold You Peace)
Lookout
Downed
Can't Hold On
Oh Caroline
Surrender
Auf Wiedersehen
Sothern Girls
I Want You To Want Me
California Man
Goodnight
Aint' That A Shame
Clock Strikes Ten
Come On Come On
(above tracks are from the original April 28th 1978 show)
Voices
If You Want My Love
(taken from the 30th anniversary concerts performed at the Budokan in 2008)
DVD Soundtrack:
Hello There
Come On Come On
Elo Kiddies
Speak Now (Or Forever Hold Your Peace)
Big Eyes
Lookout
Downed
Can't Hold On
Oh Caroline
Surrender
Auf Wiedersehen
Need Your Love
High Roller
Southern Girls
I Want You To Want Me
California Man
Goodnight
Ain't That A Shame
Clock Strikes Ten
Complete Concert
Disc 1:
Hello There
Come On Come On
Elo Kiddies
Speak Now (Or Forever Hold Your Peace)
Big Eyes
Lookout
Downed
Can't Hold On
Oh Caroline
Surrender
Auf Wiedersehen
Disc 2:
Need Your Love
High Roller
Southern Girls
I Want You To Want Me
California Man
Goodnight
Ain't That A Shame
Clock Strikes Ten
Live! Bootleg - Aerosmith
I've always loved Aerosmith, ya know. Sure, in the 70's the original and classic line up kind of self destructed due in no small part to the copious amounts of substances they were ingesting. Especially lead singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry. Nick named The Toxic Twins for very very good reason, as messers Tyler and Perry went, so went the band.Yet, through the drug haze, Tyler must have had a vision of his bands future when he wrote a set of rather prophetic lyrics for a favorite song of mine, No More No More from their classic Toys In The Attic release. It goes sometihng like this:
It's the same old story, never get a second chance for a dance to the top of the heap
Except, in the case of Aerosmith, they did get a second chance and took full advantage of said chance in 1987, when all five original members got clean and released the classic Permanent Vacation.
Yet despite Aerosmith's relative logevity they have released a dearth of original studio material. For a band that has been around for pushing 40 years to have released a mere 13 albums of original material, eight during the heyday of vinyl records (read 30 - 35 minutes each) and then you are really in trouble.
Now, ponder this statistic. In that same time period the band have managed to release no less than eight Greatest Hit / Box set packages with an additional four live albums and a studio album of old blues / Rhythm and Blues covers and, well... what can I tell you.
Still, through it all I have remained a fan of the bad boys from Boston, primarily because of their live chops. These guys are one of THE best live bands I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. To this very day.
And, other than a popular bootleg from back in the day called Look Homeward Angel, Live! Bootleg was my first introduction to the magic which is Aerosmith in concert. Recorded at various venues during their Rocks / Draw The Line tours the sheer energy hold up 30 odd years on.
Sounds best when played loud!!!
Tracklist:
Back In The Saddle
Sweet Emotion
Lord Of The Thighs
Toys In The Attic
Last Child
Come Together
Walk This Way
Sick As A Dog
Dream On
Chip Away The Stone
Sight For Sore Eyes
Mama Kin
S.O.S. (Too Bad)
I Ain't Got You
Mother Popcorn
Draw The Line
Train Kept A Rollin'/Strangers In The Night
Weld - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
While I will readily admit that Neil Young is not to everyone's taste, there is still no denying his musical legacy. To call his output prodigious would be an insult. From his earliest days with the Winnipeg band The Squires, through stints with the legendary Buffalo Springfield and on to his on again off again tenure with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young he has managed to turn out memorable song after memorable song.And we aren't even talking about his solo career yet. Nor his time with Crazy Horse, or The Stray Gators, the Trans Band, The Shocking Pinks, The International Harvesters, The Bluenotes... shit, need I go on?
Hell, Neil also recorded with the late great Rick James of "Super Freak" fame before James was arrested for being AWOL from the army.
But, as always, Neil marched very distinctly to the beat of his own musical drummer.
Weld is a two disc set recorded with Crazy Horse while touring behind his Ragged Glory offering. Inspired in no small way by the then current Gulf War, this release was drowned in a feedback distorted angst which prompted then current music heavyweights Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) and Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) to dub Neil Young as the godfather of grunge.
At the time of Weld's release a companion single disc titled Arc consisted in its entirity a sound collage of guitar noise and feedback, no doubt influenced by Young's choice of Sonic Youth as his opening act.
Listen to his feedback and siren drenched take on the old Dylan chestnut Blowin' In The Wind; his guitar solo during Cortez The Killer or Powderfinger; the mournfull dirge which is Tonight's the Night.
For a reminder that the fire still burns within some elder statesmen of rock, look no further than Weld!
Tracklist:
Disc 1
Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)
Crime In The City
Blowin' In The Wind
Welfare Mothers
Love To Burn
Cinnamon Girl
Mansion On The Hill
F*!#in' Up
Disc 2
Cortez The Killer
Powderfinger
Love and Only Love
Rockin' In The Free World
Like A Hurricane
Farmer John
Tonight's The Night
Roll Another Number (For the Road)
All The Worlds A Stage - Rush
O.K. So your name is John Rutsey. You are the drummer for a power trio from the GTA (that would be Greater Toronto Area for all you neophites). After recording your first album but two weeks before your first U.S. tour you decide to quit the band. Good career move or not so much so?Well, if the band you just quit was Johnny and the Bum Fuckers, then, yeah, maybe it was a good career decision.
If the band you just quit was Rush, well, maybe not so much so.
But here's the rub. John Rutsey's replacement Neil Peart soon became the bands primary lyracist. Which begs the question... if old JR had stayed the coarse, would Rush be the band that they currently are?
Considering the fact that Neil has put the words in Geddy's mouth time after time I would have to vote a great big NO!!!
That being said, Rutsey quit the band in no small part due to his ongoing battle with Diabetes. So there ya go.
All the Worlds A Stage was recorded during a three night stand at the bands home town venue Massey Hall in support of their 2112 release. By the bands own admission this live album marked the end of the "first chapter of Rush" and would start a trend for the band of four studio albums followed up by a live album.
If you are a fan of Rush then you owe it to yourself to listen to this, their first live offering. Everything, every hint of future glory is contained on this release.
This disc still finds it's way into my playlist with alarming frequency.
Tracklist:
Bastille Day
Anthem
Fly By Night/In The Mood
Something For Nothing
Lakeside Park
2112
Overture
The Temple Of Syrinx
Presentation
Soliloquy
Grand Finale
By-Tor And The Snow Dog
In The End
Working Man/Finding My Way
What You're Doing
Made In Japan (Remastered Edition) - Deep Purple
While I can't say for sure that the band Deep Purple have had the most major iterations in band membership I nonetheless don't feel as though I am going out on to big a limb by saying they have had their fare share.Deep Purple MK I, MK II, MK III, MK IV, MK IIb, MK V, MK IIc, MK VI, MK VII, MK VIII... well, you get the idea.
For many, myself included, the heyday of the band was the original MK II incarnation. Ian Gillan on vocals, Roger Glover bass, Ian Paice drums, Jon Lord on keyboards and the enfant terrible himself, Ritchie Blackmore on guitar.
This was the lineup that recoded the seminal In Rock
album, Machine Head
with the riff that launched a thousand guitarists, Fireball
and Who Do We Think We Are
with a personal favorite tune of theirs, Woman From Tokyo.Then there was this live album. Like Cheap Trick to follow, Deep Purple toured Japan in 1972 and recorded three nights, August 15 - 17 in Osaka and at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. Originally intended as a Japan only release the album eventually broke world wide and became one of the quintesential live albums of all time.
Drawing extensively from their Machine Head
release Deep Purple played with such ferocisty the Japanese audiences were left stunned into silence. Ian Gillan's vocal histronics on the In Rock chestnut Child In Time still sends shivers up my spine. And I dare anyone to listen to the opening Machine Head track, Highway Star while driving a vehicle and not exceed the posted speed limit.In 1993 a three cd set titled Live In Japan
was released. While the original Made In Japan release consisted mainly of tracks from the August 16th gig in Osaka (save Smoke On The Water from the 15th and The Mule and Lazy from the 17th, this triple disc offering filled in many of the gaps releasing the remaining tracks from the 15th and the 17th as well as those three non 16th tracks from the original release.In 1998 an expanded edition of the set was released which includes three encores; Black Night and Speed King from the 17th and Lucille from the 16th.
Confused yet? No need. Just let the boogie take your soul and you will be just fine!
Tracklist:
Made In Japan
Disc 1
Highway Star (Osaka 16th)
Child In Time (Osaka 16th)
Smoke On The Water (Osaka 15th)
The Mule (Tokyo 17th)
Strange Kind Of Woman (Osaka 16th)
Lazy (Tokyo 17th)
Space Truckin' (Osaka 16th)
Disc 2 (The encores)
Black Night (Tokyo 17th)
Speed King (Tokyo 17th)
Lucille (Osaka 16th)
Live In Japan
Osaka, August 15th 1972
Disc 1: Good Morning
Highway Star
Child In Time
The Mule
Strange Kind Of Woman
Lazy
Space Truckin'
Black Night (encore)
Osaka, August 16th, 1972
Disc 2: Next week, we're turning professional
Highway Star
Smoke On The Water
Child In Time
The Mule
Strange Kind Of Woman
Lazy
Space Truckin'
Tokyo, August 17th, 1972
Disc 3: Can we have everything louder than everything else?
Highway Star
Smoke On The Water
Child In Time
Strange Kind Of Woman
Lazy
Space Truckin'
Speed King (encore)
The Last Waltz (Expanded Edition) - The Band
In 1976 Robbie Robertson, erstwhile leader of The Band decided, unilaterally as it turns out, to have one final big shindig before calling it quits.The Band had been there in Toronto when Ronnie Hawkins was looking for a backup band, The Hawks.
The Band had been there when, in 1965, Dylan first eschewed his acoustic folksy roots and plugged in his Fender Strat and blew away all the allusions his fans had of who it is that he was.
Freed of Dylans reigns The Band toured and recorded in their own right. Moondog Matinee, Songs From Big Pink... The Band had been there, done that and then done that again. By 1976 they were tired of the road; tired of the musical grind. Robertson convinved the other members that maybe it was time for them to hang up their hats while they were on top.
Fried as they were, Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko and Garth Hudson agreed. The Last Waltz, recorded at Bill Graham's Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976 was to have been The Bands swansong.
Director Martin Scorsese was there to capture the proceedings for posterity sake.
Inviting a number of friends and special guests, The Band turned in one of the, if not musically best, most emotionally charged rock 'n' roll concerts of all times. Bar none.
Don't believe me? Check out the tracklisting of this remastered and expanded version of the original double lp set.
Tracklist:
Disc 1
Theme From The Last Waltz (w/ Orchestra)
Up On Cripple Creek
The Shape I'm In
It Makes No Difference
Who Do You Love (w/ Ronnie Hawkins)
Life Is A Carnival
Such A Night (w/ Dr. John)
The Weight
Down South In New Orleans (w/ Bobby Charles)
This Wheel's On Fire
Mystery Train (w/ Paul Butterfield)
Caldonia (w/ Muddy Waters)
Mannish Boy (w/ Muddy Waters)
Stagefright
Disc: 2
Rag Mama Rag
All Our Past Times (w/ Eric Clapton)
Further On Up The Road (w/ Eric Clapton)
Ophelia
Helpless (w/ Neil Young)
Four Strong Winds (w/ Neil Young)
Coyote (w/ Joni Mitchell)
Shadows And Light (w/ Joni Mitchell)
Furry Sings The Blues (w/ Joni Mitchell)
Acadian Driftwood
Dry Your Eyes (w/ Neil Diamond)
The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show
Tura Lura Lural (That's An Irish Lullaby) (w/ Van Morrison)
Caravan (w/ Van Morrison)
Disc: 3
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
The Genetic Method/Chest Fever (Excerpt From Movie Soundtrack)
Baby Let Me Follow You Down (w/ Bob Dylan)
Hazel (w/ Bob Dylan)
I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) (w/ Bob Dylan)
Forever Young (w/ Bob Dylan)
Baby Let Me Follow You Down (Reprise) (w/ Bob Dylan)
I Shall Be Released (Finale)
Jam #1
Jam #2
Don't Do It
Greensleeves (From Movie Soundtrack)
Disc: 4
The Well
Evangeline (w/ Emmylou Harris)
Out Of The Blue
The Weight (w/ The Staples)
The Last Waltz Refrain
Theme From The Last Waltz
King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
Tura Lura Lural (That's An Irish Lullaby) (w/ Van Morrison)
Caravan (w/ Van Morrison)
Such A Night (w/ Dr. John)
Rag Mama Rag
Mad Waltz (Sketch Track For "The Well")
The Last Waltz Refrain (Instrumental Version)
The Last Waltz Theme (Sketch)
Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends, Ladies and Gentlemen Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Emerson, Lake And Palmer
A litle bombast anyone? A little prog rock goodness? A little excentric noodling?Emerson, Lake and Palmer were all that was good and all that was bad with the genre. But when they were good, they were very very good. Kind of like they were on this 1974 release. A rare triple LP recorded during their Brain Salad Surgery support tour, the tri-gatefold from the original release was Quite unlike anything we had ever seen.
Taking tracks liberally from their first four studio albums Welcome Back My Friends... offers up a blend of shorter rolicking tracks "Hoedown" (Trilogy)
and "Jeremy Bender" (Tarkus)
/The Sherif" (Trilogy) "Still... You Turn Me On" (Brain Salad Surgery)
and "Lucky Man" (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
. But the corner piece, the anchor of this set are the epic numbers, of which there are three. Tarkus is played here in it's 20 odd minute entirity. Take A Pebble from their debut release is performed in two parts. From it's unique opening string section (created by Keith Emerson dragging a pick down the length of the strings of a grand piano) it then incorporates the aforementioned Still... You Turn Me On and Lucky Man, as well as a Piano Improvisation section before wrapping up with the conclusion of Take A Pebble.The highlight for me is when their new epic composition off the Brain Salad Surgery release closed off the set.
Karn Evil 9 was performed in three parts, in the studio and live. The First Impression itself was actually devided into two unique pieces. Most people don't even realize they have heard this song before but the "single" release from this album started off with those famous lyrics, encorporated in a fashion for the title of this disc.
"Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, we're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside."
Heard it, haven't you.
If you are feeling like a trip back to one of the original movers and shakers of progressive rock and roll, you need go no further than this live offering.
Tracklist:
Disc 1
Hoedown
Jerusalem
Toccata
Tarkus
Eruption
Stones Of Years
Iconoclast
Mass
Manticore
Battlefield
Aquatarkus
Take A Pebble incl. Still You Turn Me On and Lucky Man
Disc 2
Piano Improvisations incl. Friedrich Gulda's "Fugue" and Joe Sullivan's "Little Rock Getaway"
Take A Pebble (Conclusion)
Jeremy Bender / The Sherif
Karn Evil 9
1st Impression
2nd Impression
3rd Impression
Plays Live - Peter Gabriel
In the summer of 1983 I got my first job in computers after graduating from the Honeywell Institute for Continuing Studies. It was with a company called Microplace. The whole idea behind Microplace was to train people, well, kids mostly, about the joys of computers and what it was exactly that you could do with said computers.Being as it was 1983, the computer of choice was the Commodore 64; mocked now I'm sure but at the time the C64 was well ahead of it's time in computing power, multi voice sound and, for the era, cutting edge graphics.
As happens so often, the owners of Microplace opened up far to many locations from the get go. Those centered around larger populations like the one in Oshawa at Camp Samac flourished. Those centered in far flung regions, such as the one that I was originally assigned to in Peterborough... well, not so much so.
While making the daily hour long trek (give or take) up Highway 35/115 from Oshawa to Peterborough, I discovered and fell madly in love with a tape of Peter Gabriel Plays Live. That tape became the soundtrack of my life that summer. At the time it was quite unlike anything else that I had ever heard. Gabriel, the erstwhile former lead singer for Genesis, was now behind four solo albums; Peter Gabriel (Car), Peter Gabriel (Scratch), Peter Gabriel (Melt) and Security (sorry, not Peter Gabriel by this point) and obviously felt the need to express himself in a live context.
And what a context it was. Starting off with his hypnotic drum intro for The Rythm Of The Heat and ending with the haunting strains of his gut wrenching ode to the memory of noted anti-aparthied activist Stephen Bantu Biko the entire concert tape struck a chord so deep within me that it still reverberates in my soul to this very day.
Mellodramatic? Maybe... Hell, probably... but that dosen't diminish in the least, the fact that it is true. Peter Gabriel Plays Live is, for me if for no one else, one of those rare and special musical experiences that can best be described as a religious experience.
Check it out, I beg of you. It might just etch itself upon your psyche as deeply as it has mine.
If it dosen't, I none the less promise you that it will be a musical journey well worth your time.
Tracklist
Disc 1
The Rythm Of The Heat
I Have The Touch
Not One Of Us
Family Snapshot
D.I.Y.
The Family And The Fishing Net
Intruder
I Go Swimming
Disc 2
San Jacinto
Solsbury Hill
No Self-Control
I Don't Remember
Shock The Monkey
Humdrum
On The Air
Biko
Pack Up The Plantation Live! - Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
Right. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I've always been a bit of an on again, off again Tom Petty fan. At times he can be so unique, so, if not cutting edge, certainly honing the edge. Then again, at times he can be so lame, so contrived, so predictable.The live set Pack Up The Plantation was recorded primarily at the Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles in 1985 with a handful of exceptions as noted below.
Fantastic takes on The Byrds "So you Wanna be A Rock 'n' Roll Star", The Searchers "Needles And Pins", The Animals "Don't Bring Me Down" and The Isley Brothers "Shout". Coupled with live versions of TP&tHb "Breakdown", "The Waiting", "American Girl" and "Refugee".
Southern fried rock at it's best.
Tracklist:
So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star
Needles And Pins
The Waiting
Breakdown
American Girl
It Ain't Nothin' To Me
Insider
Rockin' Around (With You)
Refugee
Southern Accents
Rebels
Don't Bring Me Down
Shout
The Stories We Could Tell
Frampton Comes Alive - Peter Frampton
One thing that I love about all these remasters and deluxe editions of CD's that seem to be quite prevalent these days is the oppertunity they afford the powers that be to "do it up right". For proof possitive of this suposition look no further than the Deluxe Edition treatment afforded the quintessential live album "Frampton Comes Alive" (or as we used to like calling it when in my youth, "Frampton Comes All Over The Place").The original album has not only been expanded with additional tracks not included in it's initial release, but all the songs have been rearranged and put back into the original running order of the concert itself.
Contrary to some folks belief artists don't just throw a wack of songs together and hope that something sticks. Setlists are a living breathing thing. Even if the exact same songs are played night in and night out they may not always be played in the same order. An artist tweaks here, adjusts there, until the entire concert experience is honed to a place that said artist wants it to be.
As much as I loved the original release, the running order afforded by this deluxe release makes much more sence to me sonically.
Frampton Comes Alive always has been and always will be right there with my favorite legitametly released live albums.
Tracklist:
Disc 1
Introduction/Somethings Happening
Doobie Wah
Lines On My Face
Show Me The Way
It's A Plain Shame
Wind Of Change
Just The Time Of The Year
Penny For Your Thoughts
All I Want To Be (Is By Your Side)
Baby, I Love Your Way
Disc 2
Nowhere's Too Far For My Baby
(I'll Give You) Money
Do You Feel Like We Do
Shine On
White Sugar
Jumping Jack Flash
Days Dawning
Crossroads 2: Live In The Seventies - Eric Clapton
After mediocre reviews for the album and a tour which degenerated into a haze of drug and alcohol abuse (despite rave reviews and an incredible live album Live at the Fillmore
) Eric went into a prolonged period of self impossed seclusion.It wasn't until early 1973 when close friend and fellow guitar hero Pete Townsend of The Who fame organized a coming out party of sorts for Eric at the London Rainbow Theatre. Townsend put together a group of stellar musicians to act as Clapton's backup band. Clapton, Townsend and Ron Wood (Traffic, Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones) on guitar, Ric Grech (Blind Faith) on bass guitar, Steve Winwood (Traffic, Blind Faith) on keyboards and vocals, Jim Capaldi (Traffic) on drums, Jimmy Karstein on drums and Rebop Kwaku Baah (Traffic) on percussion.
They produced a killer live album called Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert.
Following this coming out (again) party Clapton started a solo career which has never stopped since.This four disc set is culled from a variety of concerts played during Clapton's early solo days, anywhere from July 20th 1974 at Long Beach Arena in southern California through to November 28th, 1978 at the Victoria Hall, Hanley with four studio tracks thrown in for good measure.
I knew that I was going to love this set while I listened to it for the very first time. During The Sky Is Crying / Have You Ever Loved A Woman / Rambling On My Mind you can hear Eric calling out chord changes to his band mates, just as though he was teaching the song to his buddies in a rehersal hall somewhere. To me that captured a certain purity to live music.
You can almost sense Clapton thinking to himself "this is fun, let's try this..." and calling an audible to his bandmates.
If that was the only thing that I liked about this release, for me, it would be sufficient. The fact that the rest of the music just rocks your world is a decided bonus.
And if you can't believe in 'g'od, then who can you believe in?
Tracklist:
Disc 1
Walkin' Down The Road
Have You Ever Loved A Woman
Willie And The Hand Jive/Get Ready
Can't Find My Way Home
Driftin' Blues/Rambling On My Mind
Presence Of The Lord
Rambling On My Mind/Have You Ever Loved A Woman
Little Wing
The Sky Is Crying/Have You Ever Loved A Woman/Rambling On My Mind
Disc 2
Layla
Further On Up The Road
I Shot The Sherrif
Badge
Driftin' Blues
Eyesight To The Blind/Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad
Dics 3
Tell The Truth
Knockin On Heaven's Door
Stormy Monday
Lay Down Sally
The Core
We're All The Way
Cocaine
Goin' Down Slow/Rambling On My Mind
Mean Old Frisco Blues
Disc 4
Loving You (Is Sweeter Than Ever)
Worried Life Blues
Tulsa Time
Early In The Morning
Wonderful Tonight
Kind Hearted Woman
Double Trouble
Crossroads
To Make Somebody Happy
Cryin'
Water On The Ground
Here And There - Elton John
I think that I mentioned somewhere in my book Not Only Am I With The Band... that my first true musical love was Elton John. I think that I also mentioned somewhere in that tome that Elton John was my introduction to bootleg recordings.Given the fact that I am now enraptured with live recordings, that first introduction must well have made an impression.
Elton's first legitamitly released live album was 11-17-70
. As his popularity grew the fact that there would be a second live release was a no brainer.Here And There is that second release. Recorded at two venues (Here being the Royal Festival Hall in London, England, There being Madison Square Garden in New York City) it captured two very different kinds of shows.
Here was recorded before a rather staid audience in London, when Elton and band put on a basic history of his career, starting out solo on the piano for Skyline Pigeon, switching to the late great Dee Murray on Bass guitar and vocals and his long time (and still current) drummer Nigel Olssen for the next three tracks.
A duet with Leslie Duncan on "Love Song" marked the first time (at the time) that Elton had written a song with anyone else other than Bernie Taupin, let alone done a duet with.
Davey Johnstone (guitar and vocals) and Ray Cooper (percussion) rounded out the band for the remained of the show.
In contrast, Elton and his full touring band let their hair down and cut loose on the Thanksgiving Day concert at Madison Square Garden. I love this part due in no small part to the inclusion of rarely if ever played anymore songs Grey Seal and You're So Static.
More importantly this night in NYC Elton had a guest star come up and sit in on three songs with him and the band. He had recorded a song with this guest and, on a whim, bet said guest that if the song they had just recorded ever went to number one that this guest would have to join Elton onstage.
The song was Whatever Get's You Through The Night. The song did go to number one. So, on this Thanksgiving concert the guest, one John Lennon, joined Elton and his band on stage to run through their hit song, Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds and I Saw Her Standing There.
John Lennnon was terrified but still managed to go through with his end of the bargain.
Introducing the final number Lennon said I'd like to thank Elton and the boys for having me on tonight. We tried to think of a number to finish off with so I can get out of here and be sick. And we thought we'd do a number of an old estranged fiancee of mine called Paul. This is one I never sang; it's an old Beatle number and we just about know it.
As it turned out, this was to be Lennon's last live public performance.
As far as I'm concerned, that is reason enough to grab this disc.
Tracklist
Here
Disc 1
Skyline Pigeon
Border Song
Take Me To The Pilot
Country Comfort
Love Song
Bad Side Of The Moon
Burn Down The Mission
Honky Cat
Crocodile Rock
Candle In The Wind
Your Song
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
There
Disc 2
Funeral For A Friend
Love Lies Bleeding
Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long Long Time)
Take Me To The Pilot
Bennie And The Jets
Grey Seal
Daniel
You're So Static
Whatever Get's You Through The Night
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
I Saw Here Standing There
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Your Song
The Bitch Is Back
Get You Ya Yas Out - The Rolling Stones
Over the years The Rolling Stones have released more than their fair share of live offerings. From 1966's Got Live If You Want It,through Love You Live, Still Life, Flashpoint, Stripped, The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, No Security, Live Licks right up to their most recent offering Shine A Light.While a number of those releases have their merits, there is far to many lost oppertunities on the bands part to release a definitive live recording. The closest they ever came was on their 1970 release Get Your Ya Yas Out, recorded over two days and three shows (one on the 27th and two on the 28th) at New York City's Madison Square Gardens in November of 1969.
These recordings were made a mere eight days before the infamous Altmount Free Concert at the Altmount Motor Speedway in Livermore California. And we all know how that ended, don't we.
After having been off the road for the best part of three years The Stones found themselves in a situation where they could actually be heard. No longer were bands playing to packed houses just off the output from their individual amplifiers. Bands could now tour with their own custom made sound system and all in attendance could hear them. Coupled with the fact that audiences were now more content to sit and listen to the music being played for them rather than screaming their heads off all the way through the show The Stones found themselves in unfamiliar but invigorating territory.
The playing on the album is universaly great. Jagger is in fine voice, Keith Richards pulls off licks the way only he can and new addition Mick Taylor played the type of lead guitar that helped define the Stones sound during this period.
However, the term "live" should be taken with a small grain of salt when talking about this release. The amount of studio sweetening has been kept to a minimum, but songs and in between banter have been pieced together from best sources and the likes.
Does this detract? Listen to the blistering guitar solos in Sympathy For The Devil, or the intensity of Midnight Rambler and ask me that question again. This coupled with the excellent documentary Gimme Shelter shot by Maysles brothers Albert and David of the 1969 North American tour stand as one of the best documented rock 'n' roll tours in history.
And now, with this the album's 40th anniversary release, the album is returned to the concept which Mick Jagger originally had in mind when it was first set loose upon an unsuspecting public. Conceived as a double album with opening acts BB King and Ike and Tina Turner's sets comprising the first album and The Stones set comprising the second, it has taken until now to finally realize this vision.
An additional CD contains five tracks not released on the original, rounded the set out to the bands full set.
An additional DVD presents video for those five songs which make a perfect companion piece to the Maysles Brothers excellent documentary, Gimme Shelter. If ever there was a doubt that, once upon a time anyway, The Rolling Stones were The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band, then this anniversary edtion should lay them to waste.
For more great information on The Stones and this seminal release then check out this wonderful website Revelations On The Rolling Stones.
Tracklist
Disc 1
Jumpin' Jack Flash
Carol
Stray Cat Blues
Love In Vain
Midnight Rambler
Sympathy For The Devil
Live With Me
Little Queenie
Honky Tonk Women
Street Fighting Man
Disc 2
Prodigal Son
You Gotta Move
Under My Thumb
I'm Free
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
Disc 3
Everyday I Have The Blues (B.B. King)
How Blue Can You Get (B.B. King)
That's Wrong Little Mama (B.B. King)
Why I Sing The Blues (B.B. King)
Please Accept My Love (B.B. King)
Gimme Some Loving (Ike and Tina Turner)
Sweet Soul Music (Ike and Tina Turner)
Son Of A Preacher Man (Ike and Tina Turner)
Proud Mary (Ike and Tina Turner)
I've Been Loving You To Long (Ike and Tina Tuner)
Come Together (Ike and Tina Turner)
Land Of 1,000 Dances (Ike and Tina Turner)
Disc 4 (DVD)
Prodigal Son
You Gotta Move
Under My Thumb
I'm Free
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
Backstage footage (shot by Albert and David Maysles) with in-studio footage from album cover shoot
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