Years ago I was shopping for CD’s at a pawn shop and the owner/salesman
remarked that he hated live recordings, and I was genuinely surprised.
I had never thought someone would really exclude live shows from their
collection. Now, I know studio and live recordings are different
animals, even if they share the same skin, but a live recording comes
closer to revealing a band’s real ability and character (alot harder to
hide the flaws under the big lights). And I also know that what many
bands pass off as live today is in fact lipsynched-enhanced play by
numbers stuff. So amid the rough and poorly done recordings and the
slick and fake shows I guess I can understand this guys ambivelance.
But then again he doesn’t know what he’s missing……If I had to
eliminate most of my collection (saving one box for the life-raft), I’d
keep the live recordings. Here are the ones I’d take…..My
favorite bands are those that do it best live. And while many have
better quality studio recordings some are really only great live – THE
RADIATORS Earth vs. The Radiators: The First 25is one, THE GRATEFUL DEAD Europe 72
< ASIN: B000003CKL>, are others. Many “jambands” are way better
live than when scrutinized by the light of day, such as WIDESPREAD
PANIC Live in the Classic CityLets look more closely at some really good classic live recordings;
PAUL BUTTERFIELD East-West Live
FRANK ZAPPA’s Roxy & Elsewhere
ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND (then) At Fillmore East
LOU REED Rock N Roll Animal
JIMI HENDRIX Live at Winterland
LITTLE FEAT’s definitive Waiting for Columbus
BOB DYLAN Bob Dylan Live 1975 (The Bootleg Series Volume 5)
THE BAND The Last Waltz
DAVE MATTHEWS The Central Park Concert
NEIL YOUNG Weld (2 disc set)
MUDDY WATERS Muddy “Mississippi” Waters Live
ERIC CLAPTON UnpluggedThen there are less well known recordings but amazingly powerful;
MACEO PARKER Life on Planet Groove
PHIL MANZANERA’s 801 Live
JOHNNY WINTER Second Winter
THE FLECKTONES Live Art
GOV’T MULE Deepest End (with Bonus DVD)
NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS Hill Country Revue: Live at Bonnaroo
Old & In the Way
Buena Vista Social Club
Remember Shakti: Saturday Night in BombayAs well as these obvious jewels there are a bunch of fine recordings from famous and obscure artists;
DAVID LINDLEY Live in Tokyo
(a good stand-in for the better EL RAYO X -Live! – (1986), and current
collaberation with WALLY INGRAM – Live in Europe! – (2003), available
on his website)
RICHARD THOMPSON Small Town Romance
KELLY JOE PHELPS Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind
MARTIN SIMPSON Live
TONY FURTADO Live Gypsy
SONNY LANDRETH Grant Street
DEREK TRUCKS Live at Georgia Theatre
ROBERT RANDOLPH Live at the Wetlands (Dig)
JOHN PRINE Live on Tour
WARREN ZEVON Learning to Flinch
GREG BROWN The Live One
CHRIS SMITHER Live As I’ll Ever Be
EVA CASSIDY Live at Blues Alley
KATE WOLF Give Yourself To Love (Volumes 1&2) (Live In Concert)
ALISON KRAUSS Alison Krauss & Union Station – Live
DAN HICKS Where’s the Money?
GUY CLARK, TOWNES VAN ZANDT, STEVE EARLE Together at the Bluebird Café
as well as others too numerous to list; JOHN HIATT (Comes Alive at
Budokan), JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, PACO DELUCIA, AL DIMEOLA (Friday Night In
San Francisco), HARRY MANX (Road Ragas), PHIL LESH AND FRIENDS (There
and Back Again, with a nice bonus live disc, similar to current music
from THE DEAD), JAZZ IS DEAD (Great Sky River, live instrumental covers
of Dead songs), FROGWINGS (Croakin’ At Toads), FUJI MARINERS (Live),
ROXY MUSIC (Viva!), KING CRIMSON (USA and Great Deceiver box set)),
CARAVAN (BBC Radio 1), BRAND X (Livestock),HENRYCOW (Concerts), SANTANA
(Sacred Fire, Live in South America), BOB MARLEY (Live At The Roxy),
BIG HEAD TODD AND THE MONSTERS (Live Monsters)….I guess to
sum it up,if you like an artist get their live recordings, shop around
for the best performance and sound quality and you’ll see how good they
really are. At least you’ll get to imagine or remember being there, and
thats way more fun than imagining being in the studio!
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