New York Dolls - possibly the only band ever whose live bootlegs beat the studio albums

As much as I love the New York Dolls, I find myself listening to the bootleg live CDs more than the studio albums. I'm talking about things like French Kiss '74 and Hard Night's Day, which you can buy on Amazon.

Maybe they just weren't meant to be a studio band, or maybe their producers couldn't catch the energy, humor, and downright tightness that made them such a hit with audiences. These guys knew how to work an audience, and they were one of the all-time fun bands to watch.

If the Dolls never really did it for you, or if you've only heard the two Mercury albums, you owe it to yourself to spend a couple of bucks checking these out.

 

Thanks for the advice! I will!

 

A Hard Night's Day is from the studio, it's not a live album.

 

i think both their studio albums are great.i also saw them live twice.
once in a small south jersey shore club in somers point.place was packed and rocking.
then a few years later in a small theater in philly.place was empty they still rocked!

 

This show at My Father's Place is probably the best live recording I've heard of them.

 

I still love the 2 studio lps self title'd and Too Much Too Soon. The Shm cds from Japan of these are really good with excellent mini sleeves. Hard Nights Day is excellent. I would like to see Rhino do a box of studio recordings like The Stooges Fun House.

 

You're quite right, bad example. It's still great, though.

From Here To Eternity, for all its flaws, has some great live performances. Also available on Amazon.

 

Hard Night's Day is definitely my favorite Dolls release

 

Mine too. It may be in the studio, but these were whole performances, recorded and performed "live" in the studio.

My second favorite is "Live in Paris" (or any of its numerous titles - it's been released so many times on different labels).

The two 'proper' studio albums are great, there's no mistaking they're great, but those two releases edge them.

 

"Où est la bibliothèque ?"

 

What's the sound like on the French Kiss '74 release? Not necessarily in terms of mastering but record quality.

Are there any multi-tracked live recordings available? Wouldn't mind checking it out, but I put my bootleg ears to rest awhile back so I think I can only get through stuff that was recorded properly, or close enough to it

 

I won't agree with this, as much as I love the dolls and their live stuff. I like the studio versions better.

That said, "Red Patent Leather", the NY Dolls live album, is the closest thing we have to the 3rd New York Dolls studio LP that almost happened in 1975, since sooo many of those proposed new songs appeared live here.

 

Simply awesome. Why didn't these guys take over the world, anyways? Maybe a little too far ahead of their time methinks...

 

I have that as "Seven Day Weekend" (Receiver Records 1992). Exactly the same thing I suppose.

 

not sure
Hard Night day is the Norton release

 

The best thing I've ever read about The Dolls was by Paul Nelson, it was called "Valley Of The New York Dolls" and explains everything that went right and then wrong in heartbreaking detail. It can be found in the "Everything Is An Afterthought" collection of his writing. Some of the best rock journalism ever put down on paper.