# Favorite live albums **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 16, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929 "2020-05-16T16:13:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/61 "2020-05-17T22:23:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **The Allman Brothers** - _Live at the Fillmore East_ is incomplete without “Mountain Jam” from _Eat A Peach_. Which, happily, is included on The Fillmore Concerts, though the wiki does say the songs are remixed from when they were on At Fillmore East, and presumably Eat A Peach. I guess get the 6 disc set, The 1971 Fillmore East Recordings, for the definitive version. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/62 "2020-05-17T22:24:49Z")
Vanilla Ice – _Extremely Live_. It captures the intellectual gravity of his work in a way no studio album could. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/63 "2020-05-18T00:41:18Z")
Interesting bit of Frampton/KISS live album trivia: Apparently the guys from KISS used Frampton’s equipment to do the overdubs on “Alive!”. In a 2011 interview, Peter reacted to stories that his album had a bunch of studio stuff “flown in”. While he admitted a couple of parts had to be fixed because of technical problems, he said “_…on Frampton Comes Alive! the rule was, if it didn’t make it to the tape, then we can redo it because it needs to be done. If it made it to the tape, and it sounds good, we leave it. So nothing was overdubbed on that album at all that wasn’t absolutely necessary…being known as a live performer, I’m not going to go into the studio and overdub.\*\* If you want to say that, say that about Kiss Alive, because they borrowed my guitars and my amps to do those overdubs._\*\*” ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/64 "2020-05-18T00:49:44Z")
\*\*The P-Funk All-Stars \*\*- _Live At the Beverly Theater_ If you’ve never had the chance to see George Clinton/Parliament/Funkadelic live, this is probably as close as you’re going to get. About 100 minutes of their full 3 hour set, featuring a lot of jams and medleys; it’s not just note-for-note live versions of studio songs, which most live albums are, and I think are totally pointless. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/65 "2020-05-18T02:52:54Z")
Allman Brothers: **Fillmore East** (Duane Allman’s masterpiece) Zappa:\*\* Just Another Band From LA\*\* (Zappa’s greatest band; Howard Kaylan delivers the best male vocal performance in rock, with great support from Mark Volman) Whom: **Live At Leeds** (Keith’s isolated drum tracks would be an equally great record) Simon and Garfunkel: **Concert in the Park** (too good to last but what a reunion. Perfection, if only for one night.) **The Concert For George** (George getting the tribute he deserved) Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks **Where’s The Money?** Perfection. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/66 "2020-05-18T03:22:58Z")
Damn it. I left one out: David Lindley and El Rayo-X: **El Rayo Live** A mini-album, only six tracks. String mastery by a Living National Treasure. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/67 "2020-05-18T04:11:02Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Tweet!! Flag on the play. There are so many studio over-dubs on that album I don’t think it qualifies any more. You could always go with _The Name of This Band is Talking Heads_, particularly the extended, remastered version with full concerts. _Stop Making Sense_ is perhaps more polished, but the former album includes the **Remain in Light** -Adrian Belew version of the touring band, which IMHO is peak Talking Heads. Plenty of favorites in here already, so off the beaten track slightly I’ve been listening recently to Television [_Live at the Old Wardorf_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8nfrlVp464). Good if you like that sort of guitar noodling. Which I do. The deluxe edition of REM’s _Murmur_ includes a live show from Larry’s Hideaway in Toronto in 1983 that’s excellent if you like early REM. There are a couple of bootlegs that are just as good, perhaps most notably [_Return of the Rickenbackers_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igr9GVVL6Xg&list=PLkm19r2Tz-Xg-w414-4voblfDJ5R_Wx6h&index=11&t=0s) also from 1983 in Boston’s Paradise theater. And just since I mentioned the Paradise theater, that reminds me of another fine bootleg that was recorded there - [XTC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZla-UARgg0) from 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/68 "2020-05-18T04:26:50Z")
Just thought of [_Gratitude_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smCG_RHM8X8&list=RDGQ1e6lmVluw&index=10) by Earth, Wind and Fire. Another fine album that I don’t think has been mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/69 "2020-05-18T11:17:43Z")
Not my favorite type of music, but I like Johnny Cash live at Folsom Prison. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/70 "2020-05-18T12:54:13Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > Not my favorite type of music, but I like Johnny Cash live at Folsom Prison. A little June Carter goes a long way, but I think that’s the kind of album that makes a live album something more than just a poorly recorded studio album. Not necessarily the audience reactions but the way the performers feed off of that reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/71 "2020-05-19T00:27:58Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Allman Brothers: **Fillmore East** (Duane Allman’s masterpiece) Yes; this is important. > [@](#): > > Zappa:\*\* Just Another Band From LA\*\* (Zappa’s greatest band; Howard Kaylan delivers the best male vocal performance in rock, with great support from Mark Volman) “Billy the Mountain” is cute and clever, OK. But “Magdalena” is too triggery for many a child sex abuse survivor (the narrator does, however, cheer Magdalena with “Right on!” for resisting the abuse). _Roxy & Elsewhere_ has less comedy material and more jams. With **Ruth Underwood** and **Chester Thompson** , no less. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/72 "2020-05-19T01:02:30Z")
In case anyone wanted to know the greatest live album of all time, it’s John Coltrane’s _Live at the Village Vanguard_. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/73 "2020-05-19T10:39:35Z")
> [@cieskokid](#): > > Rush - ‘‘Exit…Stage Left"; from the "Moving Pictures’’ and “Permanent Waves” tours, Rush @ their peak hella musicianships. I’m not much of a fan of live albums, and this is one of the few that I own. Great stuff. “Xanadu” blows away the studio version. I haven’t listened to this in years, need to go pull it out of storage… ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/74 "2020-05-19T10:47:22Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > …Under a Blood Red Sky is just too short, though it’s my favorite version of Sunday, Bloody Sunday. Good call. In my view, the short running time works in its favor, as live albums can become tedious to me. ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken_1)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/75 "2020-05-19T15:53:02Z")
‘Back to the Bars’, Todd Rundgren ---
**Author:** ![doverpro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@doverpro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doverpro)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/76 "2020-05-19T16:18:33Z")
James Brown Live at the Apollo. Jerry Lee Lewis Live at the Star Club, Hamburg ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/77 "2020-05-19T16:56:12Z")
A little surprised that no one has mentioned \*\*Woodstock \*\*(the soundtrack). ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/78 "2020-05-19T17:42:04Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > A little surprised that no one has mentioned \*\*Woodstock \*\*(the soundtrack). Maybe because (IMO) most of the performances aren’t very good? ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken_1)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/79 "2020-05-19T17:46:06Z")
Two more: ‘One More From the Road’, Lynyrd Skynyrd and ‘Reach Up and Touch the Sky’, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929/80 "2020-05-19T18:00:18Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Yes; this is important. > “Billy the Mountain” is cute and clever, OK. But “Magdalena” is too triggery for many a child sex abuse survivor (the narrator does, however, cheer Magdalena with “Right on!” for resisting the abuse). _Roxy & Elsewhere_ has less comedy material and more jams. With **Ruth Underwood** and **Chester Thompson** , no less. I agree with you that Roxy & Elsewhere is arguably the better of the two albums, but I just don’t like it nearly as much. BTW, I had the pleasure of seeing Zappa (in San Diego) when the lineup included BOTH Ian and Ruth Underwood, the two best instrumentalists to ever play with Frank. (IMO) As much as I like JABFLA, I often wish the vocals were in foreign language. The musicianship on tha album is stellar, especially Kaylan and Volman, but more often than not I have to ignore the content of the lyrics. Although the music is extraordinary, the lyrics for Magdalena are of especially and profoundly disturbing, attempting to make fun of a failed attempt at incest. I often tune out the content and imagine Howard’s vocals as non-verbal guitar sounds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-live-albums/853929.md?page=5)