As you know by now, I like to write opinion pieces about music on Fridays. The good, the bad and yes, the ugly. Usually, I get suggestions or comments about my various selections. This is the part I love most about writing a Substack, it’s the feedback. Surprisingly, the columns about live music have sparked the biggest response and while I have given a total of fourteen albums that I think are the best of the best, I decided to dig a little deeper and I did come up with a few more really good live records.
Let’s start with The J Geils Band’s Full House. If I have mentioned it before I apologize but this is a really solid live recording by a band that I have been told, puts on a great show every time. From Peter Wolf to Magic Dick, this band plays every song as if it’s the finale. “First I Look at The Purse” opens the album and it never lets up. My favorite song is “Serves You Right To Suffer”. A bluesy take on an old John Lee Hooker song that may just be one of my favorite live songs ever.
Jimi Hendrix, Band Of Gypsys has to be on this list. Hendrix left The Experience and hooked up with Buddy Miles and Billy Cox and recorded this masterpiece on New Years Eve of 1970 at the Fillmore East. I know Hendrix is not a favorite of a lot of people but this album is a prime example of why Hendrix was such an icon. He does all his little guitar tricks but allows the band to be as big a part of the show. Critics complained it was very flawed but it sold very well and was a major touchstone for a lot of artists in the 70’s. Side one with “Machine Gun” and “Who Knows” is well worth the 21 minutes. Lastly, Buddy Miles will always have the best Afro in rock and Roll.
Having been there, I can attest to how good Led Zeppelin was as they recorded The Song Remains The Same. Loud and proud, Zeppelin put on quite the show and while this album probably sits in some dusty pile in almost everyones house, it should be listened to again to see how a real rock and roll band does a rock and roll show. They didn’t need pyrotechnics, they had Jimmy Page and John Bonham and that is all you really need to know. A side note, I had a friend who had looked forward to seeing Zeppelin play “Black Dog” at this show and he ended up falling asleep (or passed out) during “Dazed and Confused” and never saw the band play his song. Pity, both songs were great.
The back story to this next concert album was almost as important as the show itself. The Concert in Central Park, with Simon and Garfunkle was a reunion concert of one of the best duos in music history and over a half million people saw it first hand. The album is clear, the harmonies are perfect and the set list covered almost everything. Honestly, you don’t even have to like Simon and Garfunkle to appreciate what a milestone this concert was.
I am going to include Under A Blood Red Sky by U2 on this list mainly because this album has just eight songs and each one, in it’s own way, is a perfect example of how good U2 is. Rattle and Hum is another example of what U2 can do live but I think there are probably four or five songs on that album that are filler while Under A Blood Red Sky has none. Just give a re-listen to “Party Girl” and you will see even the simplest songs by Bono are still amazing.
One More From The Road by Lynyrd Skynyrd is a perfect example of Southern Rock at its best. This album was recorded before the band lost two of their founding members and shows that they could play rock, blues and country with ease. Forget “Free Bird” and listen to “Tuesdays Gone”. Vocals and great guitar work and this song epitomizes the band.
Okay, I have to include Frampton Comes Alive by Peter Frampton. I didn’t want to but I had to. This record sold like 7.8 billion copies and everyone on the planet has one and every song on this album was played to death on every radio station in America in the 70’s and every classic rock station now. Whew, I got that out. Now, let me be straight with you. This album became popular and overplayed because it actually was a great live album with great songs and people “discovering” Peter Frampton even though he had been around for 15 years before this album was released. What people “discovered” is that Peter Frampton was an excellent guitarist and an equally good songwriter and solo performer. There aren’t really any lesser known tracks but I still love “I Wanna Go To The Sun” and “Lines On My Face”.
There are still a few more albums on my list but I will leave it here for now. You can send me suggestions and please do not send me anything with KISS, I will delete it.
And yet The J. Geils Band is still NOT inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Totally bogus!