Friday's Five — Issue №2: Live and Sweating

If someone asked me which records best capture the atmosphere of live rock, I would name these five albums. All of them convey the energy of the hall and of the band, and that primal, raw power of a live performance. There is almost no overdubbing or elaborate studio processing in them, and that is exactly their uniqueness. Live albums are the only surviving document of performances that will never happen again. Five records, five venues, five evenings that now exist only on vinyl.

1. Humble Pie – Performance: Rockin' The Fillmore (1971)

This November marks 55 years since Humble Pie released the live album recorded at the Fillmore East. The lineup on this recording is truly stellar: Steve Marriott, Peter Frampton, Greg Ridley, Jerry Shirley; engineer — Eddie Kramer.

This record is a real masterclass in rock performance, 1971 vintage, and a vivid example of how powerful the energy can be that arises between artists and audience on the best of nights.

The album went gold right away, but the band's success was short-lived: Frampton soon left the group, a few years later to hit his own jackpot with the blockbuster Frampton Comes Alive. Humble Pie scored a few more hits with new guitarist Clem Clempson on Smokin' and Eat It before finally breaking up.

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2. The Who – Live At Leeds (1970)

In fact, they are the ones who should have stood first in this list of live albums of ours — but out of politeness we yielded that place to the anniversary album, Humble Pie. Who are they? The Who, of course, with Live at Leeds. Many music critics call it the greatest live album of all time. To truly appreciate this record and feel it, you have to listen at maximum volume. Every song here is magnificent. No ballads — only live, sweat-soaked rock and roll. The only minus is that the album is too short — only 37 minutes.

Live at Leeds stands at No. 170 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time (the 2003 list), and it is included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

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3. Plastic Ono Band – Live Peace In Toronto 1969 (1969)

Live Peace in Toronto 1969 — a live album by the Plastic Ono Band, released in December 1969. It was recorded at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival, and it was the first live album released by any member of The Beatles. By an irony of fate, John Lennon's participation was the result of a transatlantic misunderstanding. The concert's organizer, John Brower, desperately trying to save catastrophically low ticket sales, asked Lennon to host the event — but Lennon misheard, decided he was being invited to perform, and… agreed. All that remained was to find a band. There was no time to think, so John simply invited his friends: Klaus Voormann, Eric Clapton and Alan White. The band managed only a short rehearsal before going on stage, where they played six songs. Every one of them is simply magnificent. Lennon's stunning rock-and-roll voice is perfectly matched here by an astonishingly hard instrumental backing. And although the band does not always achieve tightness, it is precisely this "under-rehearsedness" that conveys the audacious feeling of "here and now".

Over the years, several copies of this record from previous owners have passed through my hands. On most of them, side one was, as they say, played to death (usually in G+ condition), while side two, as a rule, was Near Mint. But that is another story…

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4. The Rolling Stones – Love You Live (1977)

Every Stones fan surely knows the story of the two "secret" concerts under an assumed name at the El Mocambo club in Toronto in 1977 — the plan was that part of those recordings would go into the live album then in preparation. Mind you, the whole world learned that story too — all because of one of the most notorious drug arrests ever (Keith Richards was arrested in his Toronto hotel room).

But not everyone knows about another secret Stones concert in Canada. In August 2005 they played Frank Clair Stadium (Lansdowne Park) on the A Bigger Bang Tour. Forty-three thousand tickets were sold out within hours. I could not buy a ticket then, so I watched — or rather listened — from outside the stadium, from the bridge over the Rideau Canal on Bank Street. Well: after the Sunday concert, the Stones did not fly out of Ottawa. On Monday, August 29, 2005, they filmed the video for "Streets of Love" at the Zaphod Beeblebrox nightclub on York Street in the ByWard Market. The director was Jake Nava, they shot on 16mm film, and the extras were recruited locally. The band did several takes of "Streets of Love" and, for their own pleasure, "Going to a Go-Go" as well; around eleven in the evening the musicians drifted away one by one, while the extras kept filming the street scene outside the club until about two in the morning.

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5. Greasy Truckers Live At Dingwalls Dance Hall (1974)

Four bands: Camel, Henry Cow, Gong and the Global Village Trucking Company — all of them representatives of the Canterbury Scene, but each with its own approach to performance.

Camel, who had just released their debut album, came on stage first, and this was one of their earliest live performances to survive on record. The 16-minute instrumental "God Of Light Revisited" is an epic, groove-laden masterclass in prog rock.

Henry Cow are the complete contrast to Camel. Three pieces, a kind of "rock in the spirit of musique concrète", were fully improvised.

Next — the Global Village Trucking Company — delivered an energetic set of polished blues rock with a tight, swinging rhythm.

And finally, Gong — a classic example of that free improvisational dynamic that was the hallmark of their live performances in the early seventies.

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And ten more — also on our shelves

Five is five, and a story needs exactly five. But a live shelf does not end at five — here are ten more live albums that did not make the issue and deserve your attention:

1. Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive (1976) — the other half of the Humble Pie story.
2. Deep Purple – Made In Europe (1976) — recorded in April 1975 before Ritchie left the group, released in November 1976, after the group had broken up.
3. The Doors – Absolutely Live (1970) — Morrison in full flight, 1969–70.
4. The Mothers – Fillmore East (1971) — the same room as album №1, recorded the month the Fillmore East closed.
5. Jimi Hendrix – Band Of Gypsys (1970) — New Year's night at the Fillmore East.
6. Peter Gabriel – Plays Live (1983) — the solo years, live.
7. Jethro Tull – Bursting Out (1978) — dynamic 1978 debut live double album recorded in Bern.
8. Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Welcome Back My Friends (1974) — a triple live album, as prog as it gets.
9. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band – Live (1975) — a strong live souvenir for the group's fans and a solid introduction to the group's highlights for the novice.
10. Tangerine Dream – Poland (1984) — an iconic performance behind the Iron Curtain at the Torwar Hall in Warsaw on December 10, 1983.

That's the five — and the ten. A new issue lands every Friday — see you next week.