What are some good live albums/cds you own? Good sound is a nice bonus.
You may put down whatever you want such as "Get your ya ya's out", but are there some maybe we haven't all heard about yet?
The best I have bought lately is Delbert McClinton, "Live", a 2 CD set of a concert in Norway. Just excellent blues big band. I mean this album just smokes, Oh yeaahh, with excellent sound to boot.
Undoubtedly one of the first the comes to mind is Graham Parker Live! Alone in America.
Simple (Basically Graham and a guitar on stage) and very powerful music. Ive had this disc for years and can always listen to it! Id put it in as one of the best live recording of all time without a doubt!
I really like live recordings! Something about nowhere to hide.......
Right now, I really like Eva Cassidy's "Live at Blues Alley". A simply stunning vocal performance!
Patricia Barber's "Companion" is really nice. Both the PB and EC disk give you that "you are there" feeling.
To understand The Indigo Girl's, I suggest their live "2000 Curfews" 2-disk set. Nice!! It puts me back in the front row every time I listen to it.
Of course there are the old classics like Little Feats "Waiting for Columbus". How disappointing to find out years later that it was "doctored up" significantly in the studio.
Don't know the album they originally came from, but there are some live cuts on Willie Nelsons "Revolutions of time" compilation that I think are outstanding. Of course, you might need to be a Willie fan to enjoy them!
Some albums that I've always liked.... Streetheart-''Live After Dark'', and BB King- "Live at Cook County Jail''. Also Thin Lizzy ''Live and Dangerous'',and Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington ""Ella and Duke At the Cote D'azur''
My favorites are Neil Diamond: Hot August Night (remastered), Peter Frampton: Frampton Comes Alive (SACD), and Fletwood Mac: Live. For visual and sound quality it is Eagles: Hell Freezes Over Live
The Who - Live at Leeds Hendrix - Winterland & Monterey Van Morrison - Too Late To Stop Now Nirvana - Unplugged B.B. King - Regal Neil Young - Live Rust Otis Redding - Europe
The most recent live album i've been impressed with is dave matthew's band 'live in central park'. these 3 discs really seem to capture the magic of that evening. they just have a great 'live' feel to them, that some live discs lack...
I like my live recordings to have an element of rawness and improvisation.
Allman Bros... "Live at Filmore East" (I love improvisation and no other rock band has ever done that better than the Brother's, especially with Duane... incidently I saw them live last year and it was by far the best show I've seen in years... they still got it) Johnny Cash... "Folsom Prison Blues" Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes... "Live at the Creek" Eva Cassidy... "Live at Blues Alley".
My all time favorite is a live bootleg Grateful Dead recording at Cornell University in 1977. This recording really captures their "wall of sound" they had during that time and their improvisational prowess which makes their live stuff so great. I am by no means a Dead Head... but when you listen to their good live recordings it is obvious that Jerry Garcia is a stone cold genious.
One recently released and just totally shocked me is by pianist Michel Camilo, "Live at the Blue Note". I was at the used cd store, rifling thru the bins and noticed this one because it is on Telarc. After further examination, it is also processed in DSD. I sampled it at the store with headphones and as soon as playback started, I jumped startled as I thought someone was sneaking up behind me in the store but it was actually the MC introducing the band on the disc. The "air", the width and especially depth of soundstage on this disc is uncanny and mind boggling! Even though this is not my favorite style of jazz music, I bought it because I figured that if it sounded soo amazing through the the poor quality equipment used and abused to sample discs in a pre-owned cd store, then it would provide nirvana and extascy when played back on my high resolution system...and boy was I right on...it has earned benchmark status as a demo disc of the thousand+ that I own and I don't mean one cut of the whole 2 cd set...the whole thing is killer!!! Check it out..you'll be soo glad you did...Jeff
Minor correction to Lokie: The Dead were no longer using the Wall of Sound PA in 1977. At the time of that deservedly-famous Cornell show, they were playing through the reinforcement system operated by Bill Graham's FM Productions. If your tape is off the board, as opposed to an audience recording, it doesn't really matter.
Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men- "Out in California" Also the Dick's Picks series is outstanding from top to bottom and is a fabulous musical and historical feast for anyone who loves live music, the Grateful Dead, or both.
There are several great jazz albums that were recorded at the Village Vanguard. John Coltrane's, Bill Evans', and Sonny Rollins' recordings there are especially recommended.
Since no one else has mentioned it Peter Gabriel "Plays Live" is a great live recording. This was my introduction to his music and I've played it far more than other CD/LP in my collection.
Lokie: The wall of sound had been retired by the 5/8/77 Dead show you speak of. The 2nd set is especially amazing for that period. Surprising that Dick's Picks hasn't issued this show.
Waltersalas, I've heard a lot about the Village Vanguard as far as a jazz venue, are the performances recorded there usually of high quality, music/sound wise?
My favorites are: 1) Lou Reed - Rock'n Roll Animal 2) Climax Blues Band - FM Live 3) Marshall Tucker Band - Where We All Belong (only disc 2 is live) 4) Mountain - Twin Peaks 5) Grateful Dead - Reckoning 6) Allman Bros. - At Fillmore East
1&2 were recorded at the same venue - Howard Stein's Academy of Music NYC.
Jsonic, Having a bit of inside info, the reason 5/8/77 hasn't been released as a Dick's Pick is that they try to shy away from shows that have really high quality recording already in circulation. That being said, they'll eventually get around to releasing just about everything givben enough time.
One current fav is Peter Gabriel "Secret World Live" DVD (10-yr-old concert released in 2003). Also comes on CD, so I'm not cheating too much. Paula Cole helps make it memorable, as do top-notch renderings of Solsbury Hill, Come Talk to Me, Steam, Don't Give Up, etc.
I own a number of these recordings, so the only one I'll add to the list is Simon & Garfunkle's "Concert In Central Park". The album has some great music, and is exceptionally well recorded for a live, open-air concert.
I remember reading a huge thread about that 5/8/77 show saying how it never happened. The argument was that it was too perfect in both performance and sound quality and was merely a compilation of different songs from other shows. It was pretty entertaining, but when you listen to the show you can tell that every track has the same sound and couldn't possibly come from different recordings from different venues.
Bauhaus - 'The Sky's Gone Out', Double Album with extra live album , (Press The Eject And Give Me The Tape)-Label:Beggars Banquet. It's got 'The Spy In The Cab','Kick In The Eye', Stigmata Martyr' and 'Bela Lugosi Is Dead (UNDEAD)'. It's the kind of music that keeps me together!
A few of my favs: Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club Alison Krauss/Union Station Live Roger Waters' The Wall Live in Berlin King Curtis Live at the Fillmore West Live Stock by Roy Buchanan
If you like Dave Brubeck you have to own Bravo Brubeck, there is something very engaging about his music and this is a terrific performance with very nice song selections.
I too very much like Eva Cassidy's Live at Blues Alley and her amazing voice.. but just prefer the style of Brubeck so I list it first.
Speaking of Brubeck, my favorite live LP is We're All Together Again For The First Time.
This LP was recorded in 1972 in Germany and the drum solo by Alan Dawson on Take Five is one of my favorites of them all. The audience enthusiasm is excellent on the selections on side two.
I also like Live at Blues Alley; Jimi Hendrix: Live at Winterland Ray Brown: Summer Wind Stanley Clark & Billy Cobham: Live at the Greek Patricia Barber: Companion
Here's 2 in the same vein: Smokin at The Fillmore by Humble Pie and what is probably the best selling live album ever the now dated "Frampton Comes Alive". You may be reluctant to admit it now but you bought it and loved it when it came out.
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