I love the spontaneity and ambience of live recordings. Sometimes the sound quality isn't real great, sometimes it makes the recording. Live can be raw and unprocessed, live captures a moment, live gets you in there. All this from listening to Pure Prairie League - Live! Takin' the Stage.
Don't forget these live Lps: Sinatra: Seattle '57 (masterpiece!) Beatles: Sweden '63 (hey, its a bootleg...but the sound and performance is so good!) Bowie: Santa Monica '72 There are soooooo many more, but these are the goodies I was listening to this week.
Produced by Norman Granz this 4 lp set was recorded live (Jazz at the Philharmonic). As noted by OP, sometimes live really works :yes: Duke Ellington emcees and intros the musicians and their solos. Starts with Oscar Peterson trio and variously includes Zoot Sims, Paul Gonsalves, Coleman Hawkins, T-Bone Walker, Duke Ellington band, Ella Fitzgerald, and others. The intros personalize the artists and the music . . . educational with a sense of "being there". Roger
Pretenders - The Isle of View This semi-unplugged and album is very well recorded. Chrisse's voice comes through incredibly clean and unobstructed. One of my favorites.
Santana and Buddy Miles Live. Recorded in 1972, at the "Sunshine '72 Festival", inside Diamond Head crater. The recording on this album isn't that great. But the energy feeding between the crowd and band makes up for it. Sounds great cranked!
The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Concord On a Summer Night Recorded at the Concord Pavilion in his home town at the closing of the 14th Concord Jazz Festival in August of 1982. This is one of those incredible Brubeck recordings that every true fan should enjoy. 8:50 minutes of live Take Five goodness!
Atlanta Rhythm Section - Are You Ready I haven't listen to this one in a long time. A compilation of live recording, usually in large outdoor arena/stadium type venues and has that sound. Good fun!
Heart - The Road Home Unplugged club performance recordings in their home city of Seattle and produced by John Paul Jones who also sits in on mandolin. Wonderful intimate performance of their favorites.
Carl, I was thinking of starting a thread of this type myself. You beat me to it, man. If you can get one of the admins to transfer the live recordings I've reported in the "daily" (i.e., Monday-Sunday) play lists over the couple of years, this thread will be at the 1,000+ replies mark in a matter of minutes.
Edwin, I love live stuff and there are a zillion little posts all over AK. Hopefully we can consolidate some of them or at least make it easier to find. As for transferring a 1000+ replies, that would be cool but... that means I'd have to read all them all. And if not... that means you'd have to repost them all. Whatever works.
George Benson - In Concert-Carnegie Hall, Guest: Herbert Laws. Excellent almost bluesy at times live recording before he became "mainstream."
I was half joking & half serious, which makes a whole something. (but what, I do not know). :scratch2:
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (Unledded) - No Quarter, 1994. I'm kinda on the fence with this one. The bluesy songs work very well, while on others Plant's voice drives me nuts. One band that needs to be plugged in to sound great.