Great Live Performers Who Have No Outstanding Live Album

One thing that I hate is the multiple live releases that are just some random tracks from a tour not really reproducing an entire concert or any other meaning in it.

stones and dylan have plenty of those in their discographies.

but the archival series of both removed them from this thread...

 

Asbury Park is "outstanding" (cleaned up "bootleg" or not)

 

I want this bottled up in a live album.

 

One of my favorite bands were Chase (Bill Chase and company). However due to their deaths their album output was minimal. No live albums as far as I can tell.

 

My choices for this thread were Yo La Tengo & St. Vincent... I was just referencing Wilco, alongside Yo La Tengo as one of my absolute fave live acts- very familiar with the "Roadcase" series/shows (have a few dozen of them) & love the official live album- probably my fave live album ever!

 

The best way to get a sense of the Beatles performing capabilities during your mentioned years is through the bbc recordings, up to the final performance in June 65.

Def a much better live performing band then the existing “tour” recordings would have many believe.

As you mentioned, there were a lot of elements working against them at that point on the road, house PA systems, touring logistics( other performers/ stage changes/abbreviated sets/cavernous venues), screaming fans, afterthought recordings… The entire idea of large scale arena concerts was a brand new concept at the time.

I know dec 63 is early by a month on your timeline but they could even pull off a solid 3 part harmony live when they wanted to…

 

Julie Driscoll /Brian Auger and the Trinity.
the Original King Crimson with Lake and Giles.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Emitt Rhodes (he dd play club dates around the time of his first lp)

Nico at the Dom -- backed by either Jackson Browne or Tim Buckley !!

 

Massive Attack

 

I'd say Violent Femmes. There were a few random live songs on "Add It Up" , but no whole concert from the original trio, which was a killer live act.

 

Only LPs and CDs allowed

 

Love

 

It makes total sense to me that he didn't put out a live album back then - it would have meant one less studio album the record company would have let him release. He was ridiculously prolific back then, putting out several albums a year between one album released under his own name, and ghost-releasing another album or two (or three) where he wrote and recorded everything but the lead vocal.

Under his own name he wanted to release AT LEAST one album per year - in an era where the record companies didn't want (especially superstar) artists to do that anymore, and preferred to have artists only release an album every two years or so (so they could milk each album for as many singles as possible over a year to a year and a half (usually 5-7 singles). Releasing only one album a year (like was previously the norm) would limit albums to 2-3 single releases.

The 'Purple Rain' album came out in June 1984. The follow-up album was released in April 1985 - less than a year later. The final Purple Rain album single came out only three months before the next album, which delayed the first single from that album until a month after the album's release.

Part of why Prince had such a beef against WB and wrote the word SLAVE on his cheek was because they were limiting his number of releases....so why would he have chosen to limit his own releases further by releasing a live album which would have meant one less studio album the record company would allow him to release?

 

I acknowledge that I overlooked a set from his 2002 tour, when he'd dropped out of the limelight; apparently it did not chart in the US. Evidently he also put out a short, live jazz album, initially as a fan club download, in 2003; and a CD of highlights from 2007 after-show parties in London, included with a coffee table book. Mea culpa. No need to be a jerk. I asked if the 2002 box was outstanding because that's the word chosen by the OP in the thread title:

Great Live Performers Who Have No Outstanding Live Album

Does it meet the OP's terms? I don't know, although I'd guess that a live comp recorded at least 10 years after Prince's prime probably falls short of what might have been. If it were really outstanding, it probably would be more famous.

The OP can decide, but I don't really think of concert videos, TV broadcasts, or feature films "shot largely in a studio but representative of a live show" as being the same as a live LP/CD. They're different media, different experiences, and lists of Greatest Live Albums usually don't include video.

 

They have a live release of two partial shows. I saw them in 1983. IMO, a better live band than U2 and R.E.M. And I’ve seen all three several times.

 

The Police live in 1982 was interesting. When they toured with the horn section, they sometimes sounded a little mechanical to me. Did they have a horn section when you saw them?

 

nrbq

 

Genesis seen them many times live nothing comes close to the live bass pedals sound, its unable to capture on record. This includes seconds out. It you don't agree then you've never sat next to a Genesis live stage back when the speakers were there in front of the floor seats

 

Fishbone: incredible live act.
Original Funkadelic: only live release features a woefully underrehearsed band debuting new members
Arcade Fire: I've never seen them in person, but on TV they are always compelling live
Ryan Adams/Whiskeytown: hit or miss live I understand, but Whiskeytown was scorching when I saw them at Bumbershoot

 

I have no memory of that at all. Doesn't mean there was no horn section, but if there was, I completely forgot it existed.

I just remember the 3 of them!

 

The Mekons can be incredibly good live, depending on how much of their rider has been consumed pre-show, but the New York CD (originally a ROIR cassette I believe) and a band-authorized limited CD release of their 2004 show in Hoboken don't really capture their full impact. And the OP's rules exclude the bonus live show on their wonderful DVD... Thank God for Live Music Archive!

 

James Montgomery, a great blues singer. To my knowledge, no great live album.

 

Disagree.I am a big Radiohead fan and use their Public Library a lot.It doesn’t negate the need for a series of live albums with a curated selection of recordings from a tour or even a really well mixed and mastered live album of a show where the audio isn’t just an adjunct to film of a show.
And in physical forms -both CD and vinyl.

 

I’m a fan of both that one and the Apollo (Glasgow) show.

 

Crowded House’s Farewell To The World is a great release, as is Neil’s collaboration with Paul Kelley.

to the OP’s comment, I’d add the Tom Johnston 70’s Doobie Brothers to the list of artists with no live albums.