Hi again.. First of all, this will seem like a dumb question 'cause I'd never heard Live at Leeds until today. Having got that out of my chest, I must ask, I picked up an LP of it today for cheap at some thrift store, and it has what.. five songs in it?!?!? I'd always thought it was longer, in fact I believe I've read so. What's the story behind all this? TIA, Damián
Live at Leeds Actually six songs as I recall. There was an reissue that came out around '95 or so I believe that had about twice as much material. For my money, Magic Bus alone is worth the money. But that's just me. Enjoy! Peace Norm Inching ever closer to the elusive thousandth post and forum immortality.
Well, remember that some of the performances are fairly lengthy; "My Generation" clocks in at, what, over fourteen minutes? It doesn't take long to fill an album with a handful of songs, and for whatever reason the band chose to issue it as a single album rather than a double, limiting how many songs they could include on it. Of course, the concert itself was much longer and Live at Leeds has since been reissued in longer form on CD, first in 1995 and again as a 2-CD "Deluxe Edition" a couple of years back. There's also a 2-CD bootleg floating around that carries most of the entire peformance, minus the controversial mixing/mastering/overdubbing anamolies on the Deluxe version.
The LP or original version is somewhat raw and edgy, but it was made to be as loose and quirky as a normal who bootleg.... which the original concept tried to emulate. The Polydor "deulxe" is horrible, but yes, the bootleg has been talked about before (Midas Touch) being closer to the organic experience of the original tapes.
The versions of "Magic Bus" and "My Generation" are rather long! When the CD issue was remastered, additional tracks were added, and some sonic issues cleaned up. The remastered CD is probably the best-sounding item in the current Who catalog (although I have not heard the DELUXE edition of MY GENERATION). Eventually a DELUXE EDITION of LIVE AT LEEDS was released featuring an additional disc of the previously unreleased TOMMY portion of the set. The DELUXE EDITION has received significant criticism on this forum, though, especially for the TOMMY disc.
I just obtained a home-made remastered version of the "Live At Leeds Complete" bootleg set, and it's marvelous! It has all the problems of the bootleg (speed-correction, balance, dropouts) fixed. The sound is A+ stereo quality...crackles, warts and all! I want to point out that the official single-CD remixed/remastered version is also excellent. It is the best-sounding of all the Who reissue CD's, which admittedly isn't saying much. Avoid the official "Deluxe Edition" as it is poorly mastered...the Tommy disc especially, where there is a "tin can" effect on the vocals. As previously mentioned, all the official releases are full of edits. Check this page out! It compares the "original" (non-remastered) bootleg to the single-CD version... http://www.lukpac.org/lal.htm
Having given it a few spins.. ..this is the ****! The only other Who I'd listened to was a trashed half of Tommy (found only one of the two LPs), and I couldn't get 'Christmas' out of my head, specially Keith's drumming, it's just so driving and energetic But listening to the 'My Generation' trip on 'Live at Leeds'.. man! I didn't know these guys rocked this hard! John Entwistle's bass playing is amazing.. Pete is just a couple steps down the ladder from Jimi as far as I'm concerned.. Keith's drumming unfortunately doesn't come across very good on my copy, sounds sort of muffled ..the LP sounds quite a bit worse than it looked but hey, I paid thrift store change for it. I was quite puzzled by the backwards bits on 'Magic Bus' .. was that done live (tapes)? Anyway, just felt like posting my first impressions on it. I'm sure you guys don't find people who've just listened to LaL for the first time in their life too often . Um, BTW, .. what are all those songs they go into on 'My Generation'? Cheers, good luck Damián
Re: Having given it a few spins.. The backwards bit on "Magic Bus" was some nifty editing by Pete, in the studio, to fix what he thought was a timing problem in the live version. After listening to the unadulterated version on the amazing boot "Live At Leeds Complete (really the best way to hear this incredible show), I don't really understand why he thought he needed to fix it. Having said that, I don't mind this little bit of studio trickery and it does sound cool! If possible, avoid the Live At Leeds deluxe (they ruined the Tommy disc with bizarre mastering that makes it sound "boxey" and almost out of phase. When I first heard it, I was mortified that they could actually release it in that condition. It was, according to Astley, an attempt to even the sound of the show since the band used to begin the Tommy segment at a lower volume designed to gradually build to a louder climax. In other words, the band's original dynamics were squashed for the deluxe edition. One listen to Live At Leeds Complete and you realize how unnecessary the deluxe botch job mastering really is.
PS--the songs that make up part of the extended "My Generation", aside from the "See Me Feel Me" reprise, are just bits of tunes that the band used to jam to. Townshend had an arsenal of riffs that would lead to similar jams and would periodically pull them out on the long version of "My Generation". I've heard many different versions of MG live from this period and few, if any, are exactly alike. Daltrey would join the jam with semi improv lyrics (depending on the riff, the jam and the rhythm of the song).
