# Songs you have only heard the live version of **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 5, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744 "2014-05-05T20:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/21 "2014-05-06T22:53:50Z")
Does “My Ding-a-Ling” even have a studio version? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/22 "2014-05-06T23:11:36Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Does “My Ding-a-Ling” even have a studio version? [Sort of.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZcdY1jP9IQ) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/23 "2014-05-06T23:12:17Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > So my little four-year-old has been singing Bertha around the house for the past few days. I figured I’d play him the studio version (they usually have clearer lyrics). It’s on an early album, no, not that, or that (that’s too late), it must be … waitasecond… there’s _no_ studio version? I knew there were tons like that, but _Bertha_? No studio Bertha? Wow, wouldn’t have thunk it. Well, you’ll always have Los Lobos. (Deadheads! How about it? What other fanbase is so out of touch with their favorite band’s studio output?? Ha-ha-ha.) ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/24 "2014-05-06T23:22:17Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > The studio version of “Lost Sailor” is on _Go to Heaven_. “Saint of Circumstance” does follow it on the album, but the two songs don’t flow together as they did live. Thanks! I would add the obligitory “Jerry!” here, but since I brought these songs up, i’ll say instead: “Bobby!” ( …and a “We Want Phil” for good measure.) :):D:) ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/25 "2014-05-06T23:37:21Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > No studio Bertha? Wow, wouldn’t have thunk it. Well, you’ll always have Los Lobos. Not only that, the Grateful Dead never recorded a studio version of “Playing in the Band”, one of their most recognizable songs. (I never knew that until I wiki’d it just now!) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/26 "2014-05-06T23:41:17Z")
That awesome blues improv Jimi did at Woodstock. And as of last night, a bunch of Cher stuff that came out after she humped that battleship on MTV. I didn’t even know she’d released anything in the last 25 years, but sure enough. Don’t judge me. The tickets were free. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/27 "2014-05-06T23:43:27Z")
The entire album **Grateful Dead** (not their debut) was live and such there were no studio versions of quite a few of the songs there – “Mama Tried,” “Me and My Uncle,” “Big Boss Man,” and their version of “Me and Bobby McGee,” among others. The Allman Brothers Band have other songs that fit the OP: “Statesboro Blues,” “You Don’t Love Me,” “Stormy Monday,” and “One Way Out.” Lee Michaels’s third album was recorded live – though in the studio, with just Michaels and a drummer and no retakes. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/28 "2014-05-06T23:43:49Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Not only that, the Grateful Dead never recorded a studio version of “Playing in the Band”, one of their most recognizable songs. (I never knew that until I wiki’d it just now!) They did, but under Bob Weir’s name. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/29 "2014-05-07T02:58:28Z")
The thread seems to have shifted from “songs you’ve only heard the live versions of” to “songs that ONLY exist as live recordings.” The latter category is interesting, particularly if you limit it to original songs by the artist in question (as opposed to covers done in concert, which many artists do). There are many possible nominations in this category, but two that come immediately to mind are “Rules and Regulations” by Donovan, from his _In Concert_ album; and “Sea of Madness,” a Neil Young song performed at Woodstock by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young but never done in the studio. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/30 "2014-05-07T14:07:15Z")
I don’t think the studio version of [Rock And Roll All Night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPfpa7WDH14) has been on the radio since 1975, if even then. I wasn’t a hit until the live version came out the same year. I guess everything on Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys album never had a studio version, unless you count those atrocities cobbled together with session musicians years after his death. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/31 "2014-05-07T15:31:58Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > The thread seems to have shifted from “songs you’ve only heard the live versions of” to “songs that ONLY exist as live recordings.” Well, technically, the latter is a subset of the former. 🙂 If it only exists as a live recording, that’s certainly the only version anyone’s ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/32 "2014-05-07T16:07:30Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > The thread seems to have shifted from “songs you’ve only heard the live versions of” to “songs that ONLY exist as live recordings.” > > The latter category is interesting, particularly if you limit it to original songs by the artist in question (as opposed to covers done in concert, which many artists do). The Frank Zappa songs that fit this category must number in the hundreds, especially if you count the many seemingly studio recordings that are actually studio overdubs on a live basic track. Zappa regularly released live albums consisting mainly of material that he hadn’t recorded in the studio, and also included live tracks on primarily studio albums (and vice versa). ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/33 "2014-05-07T16:12:10Z")
Amsterdam by Jacques Brel was popular but never recorded in a studio. There is a great live recording, though. David Bowie recorded an English version of the song. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/34 "2014-05-07T18:11:37Z")
The Star Spangled Banner ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/35 "2014-05-07T18:25:26Z")
“A Boy Named Sue”. The famous Johnny Cash version and I’ve also seen a youtube clip from his TV show where he and the writer (Shel Silverstein) sing some of it live. Shel wasn’t much of a singer 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/36 "2014-05-07T19:06:02Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > The Star Spangled Banner I take it you’re under 40? Or did you forget falling asleep as a kid and waking up to the We Bid You Goodnight playing of the anthem as television stations went off the air for the night? Yeah, get that you young whipper-snappers out there. Television stations used to go _off the air_ every single night. Sometimes twice on weekends! ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/37 "2014-05-07T19:06:39Z")
Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a studio version of [“Memphis”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAc0FKyBgks) by Johnny Rivers. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/38 "2014-05-08T15:35:18Z")
The live unreleased version of [“Vienna”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_%28Billy_Joel_song%29) on Billy Joel’s _[The Complete Hits Collection: 1973-1997](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Hits_%28Billy_Joel_albums%29#The_Complete_Hits_Collection:_1973.E2.80.931997)_ ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/39 "2014-05-08T17:25:12Z")
Before I went looking in response to this thread, the only version of “Seven Bridges Road” I had ever heard was the rendition found on _Eagles Live_. I didn’t even realize it wasn’t original to the Eagles until literally three minutes ago. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744/40 "2014-05-14T23:36:50Z")
There’s a new commercial featuring the studio version of Supertramp’s “Dreamer”. A live version made the Top 40 when I was in high school, and it’s the one I’m familiar with. Great song, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-you-have-only-heard-the-live-version-of/687744.md?page=3)