Red Mosquito

See if you can find the re-release of Folsom Prison. It contains both complete shows including the Statler Brothers’ set.

makeshift wrote:Rolling Stones - Get yer ya ya's out

On the list even before there was such a thing as the list.

warehouse wrote:how many dave albums are on your list? i would def include luther college.

I listen to this a surprising amount, and I'm no huge Dave Matthews fan. Excellent set.

Bruce Springsteen Live 1975-85

Monkey_Driven wrote:Bruce Springsteen Live 1975-85

On the list, especially because I have only heard parts of it.

That is an EXCELLENT suggestion, and one with an inordinate amount of happy personal memories for this little black duck.

So many memories of my dad playing the LP box set when I was really young.

I had it on cassette. My dad, not a Springsteen fan, got it for me, not a Springsteen fan. I listened to his cover of War more than anything else on there. It’s still one of my favorite covers ever.

wease wrote:I had it on cassette. My dad, not a Springsteen fan, got it for me, not a Springsteen fan. I listened to his cover of War more than anything else on there. It’s still one of my favorite covers ever.

Was it an 8 cassette collection?

Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison

Not sure I have the bandwidth to tackle the super deluxe version of this. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy this. I quite did. The dark sense of humor that Cash excelled in, hell he has a prison humor that makes you feels like he’s been serving with his cell mates this whole time. And the crowd really eats that up. It has that spontaneous feel in part on his ability to comment without losing stride and just kind of live in the moment. Really a fantastic live album that I surely will go back to the super deluxe some day after this all is done.

The Essential Performance: Cocaine Blues

Next Up: Rolling Stones’ Rock N Roll Circus

Monkey_Driven wrote:

wease wrote:I had it on cassette. My dad, not a Springsteen fan, got it for me, not a Springsteen fan. I listened to his cover of War more than anything else on there. It’s still one of my favorite covers ever.

Was it an 8 cassette collection?

IIRC, it was 4.

liebzz wrote:Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison

Not sure I have the bandwidth to tackle the super deluxe version of this. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy this. I quite did. The dark sense of humor that Cash excelled in, hell he has a prison humor that makes you feels like he’s been serving with his cell mates this whole time. And the crowd really eats that up. It has that spontaneous feel in part on his ability to comment without losing stride and just kind of live in the moment. Really a fantastic live album that I surely will go back to the super deluxe some day after this all is done.

The Essential Performance: Cocaine Blues

Next Up: Rolling Stones’ Rock N Roll Circus

Oh yeah, the big set also contains Carl Perkins’s set.

The Rolling Stones’ Rock and Roll Circus

Mick Jagger apparently had a great idea to promote Beggar’s Banquet - produce a television special complete with some of the biggest rock stars on the planet. Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, The Who, and a supergroup under the moniker The Dirty Mac (Lennon, Clapton, Richards, Yoko Ono, and more) support the Stones, who finish the show with their own mini set. The Who, Taj Mahal and Dirty Mac’s Yer Blues are all phenomenal, though giving space for Yoko to tunelessly scream was a bit unfortunate, especially since the instrumental backing was also great. Apparently due to the length of time it took to actually record the thing, the Stones were half asleep by the time they got to play, though on a few of their songs, especially No Expectations and Parachute Woman, it actually worked in their favor. You Can’t Always Get What You Want and Jumping Jack Flash don’t really cross over into that other dimension, but Sympathy for the Devil sure does. Then a nice little closing Salt of the Earth with everyone and that’s a wrap. Take this for the fun it is. I enjoyed it.

The Essential Performance: Yer Blues and Sympathy for the Devil

Next Up: The Beatles - Get Back (The Rooftop Concert)

The Beatles - Get Back (The Rooftop Concert)

One of the most legendary live shows, in part because of who was playing, in part because it was their last, in part because it seemed impromptu on a rooftop. However you slice it, an important moment for live rock music. The performances are pretty good. One After 909 and when they finally get onto Dig A Pony are sleepers here among the multiple takes or Get Back, Don’t Let Me Down, and I’ve Got A Feeling. The documentary that accompanies this is quite surreal.

The Essential Performance: Get Back (take 1)

Next Up: Grateful Dead - Live / Dead

The Who A Quick One While He's Away is a great moment from that.

Another suggestion:
Ted Nugent-Double Live Gonzo

rick malone wrote:The Who A Quick One While He's Away is a great moment from that.

Another suggestion:
Ted Nugent-Double Live Gonzo

Very true. The Who were spot on. As was Taj Mahal. Added Nugent.

neil diamond hot august nights

doug rr wrote:neil diamond hot august nights

Added

Grateful Dead - Live / Dead

At the apex of the Dead’s psychedelic period, Live / Dead is their first official live album, essentially a second set from the Fillmore West if I am correct. Notwithstanding that fact, right or mistaken, this seems like a big moment, an almost true beginning of the golden age of the live album. The Dead channel the best of their free thinking and open concept of their songs throughout this one, be it the well regarded Dark Star, a long Turn On Your Lovelight complete with Pigpen’s stream of horny consciousness riffing, or Death Have No Mercy which here comes off as a quasi-blues experiment - Pigpen’s keys really coming through. Though this one is famous for its Dark Star, give me the face melting The Eleven here as the most mind blowing of many wild performances.

The Essential Performance: The Eleven

Next Up: The Velvet Underground - 1969: The Velvet Underground Live with Lou Reed

The Velvet Underground- 1969: The Velvet Underground Live with Lou Reed

There was a moment in time, when this band dominated my music listening and I couldn’t get enough of them. It was one of those moments when a rock music fan has discovered Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, and the like, and is ready to sort of dig a little deeper. I was sold after just a couple listens and they stuck with me for a long time. At this point, it’s been a long time since I picked the Velvet Underground back up. Even with that absence, I can immediately appreciate the recalibration these songs take live - slightly different energies and arrangements yet they nearly all work nicely, even if the recording is not perfect. Really once they settle into a rhythm and groove, like on What Goes On in Volume 1, they are really addicting. They succeed at this most of the way through 2 volumes and 2 hours, never more so than on White Light White Heat expanded to 8 minutes of rhythm based jamming from the 2 min studio shot in the arm.

The Essential Performance: White Light White Heat

Next Up: The MC5 - Kick Out the Jams