A List of Live Albums of Interest

The Who – Live At Leeds

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  • A hard-rockin’ copy – this British Track pressing boasts powerful Double Plus (A++) DEMO DISC sound on both sides
  • The recording is huge and lively with startling dynamics and in-the-room-presence like nothing you’ve heard
  • Drums so solid, punchy and present they put to shame 99% of the rock records on the planet
  • Cited as the best live rock recording of all time by The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, the BBC Q magazine, and Rolling Stone. In 2003, it was ranked number 170 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Vintage covers for this album are hard to find in clean shape. Most of them will have at least some amount of seam wear, edge wear or crushed corners. We guarantee that the cover we supply with this Hot Stamper is at least VG, and it will probably be VG+. If you are picky about your covers please let us know in advance so that we can be sure we have a nice cover for you.

Get ready to rock out, as this is one of the BEST SOUNDING live albums ever recorded. Young Man Blues on a copy such as this has drums that are so solid, punchy and present they positively put to shame the drum sound on 99 out of 100 rock records! Keith Moon lives on!

The bass is AMAZING on this record. Present vocals and clear guitars in both channels are key to the best copies such as this one. Most pressings do not get the guitars to jump out of the speakers the way the best can. Few copies get the highest highs and the lowest lows but this one had it going on from top to bottom.

The seven minute long Magic Bus that finishes out the side is The Who at their best. Rock fans will have a hard time finding a better sounding Who pressing than this one, on either side. (more…)

Getz Au Go Go – A Bossa Nova Classic

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  • Truly superb sound for this incredible recording, Triple Plus (A+++) on the second side and Double Plus (A++) on the first
  • Amazingly present, immediate and REAL — musically and sonically, this is one of our favorite jazz albums
  • This is an incredibly tough album to find with the right sound and decent surfaces, which is the main reason it’s been years since we did the shootout
  • 4 stars on Allmusic: “Highly recommended for all dimensions of jazz enthusiasts.” [We would of course give it the full 5 Stars]

This Stan Getz record has the kind of LIVE JAZZ CLUB SOUND that audiophiles like us (you and me) dream of. More importantly, this ain’t no Jazz at Some Stupid Pawnshop — this is THE REAL THING. Stan Getz, Gary Burton, Kenny Burrell and the lovely Astrud Gilberto, the living embodiment of Cool Jazz, are coming to a listening room near you.

This is about as good a copy as has ever hit the site. Fans of cool jazz — in point of fact, some of the coolest jazz ever recorded — take note. 

Cool Jazz Is Right

I’ve gotten more enjoyment out of this Getz album than any other, including those that are much more famous such as Getz/Gilberto (which doesn’t sound as good by the way). This one is (mostly) live in a nightclub and it immediately puts you in the right mood to hear this kind of jazz.

Listening to side one I’m struck with the idea that this is the coolest jazz record of cool jazz ever recorded. Getz’s take on Summertime is a perfect example of his “feel” during these sessions. His playing is pure emotion; every note seems to come directly from his heart.

What really sets these performances apart is the relaxed quality of the playing. He seems to be almost nonchalant, but it’s not a bored or disinterested sound he’s making. It’s more of a man completely comfortable in this live setting, surrounded by like-minded musicians, all communicating the same vibe. Perhaps they all got hold of some really good grass that day. That’s the feeling one gets from their playing. As one is listening, there’s a certain euphoria that seems to be part of the music. This is definitely one of those albums to get lost in. (more…)

Humble Pie / Performance – Rockin’ The Fillmore

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  • This original pressing on the custom A&M label is ROCKIN’ with superb Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) grades on all four sides – just shy of our Shootout Winner – mostly quiet vinyl too
  • Performance is one of the best sounding – perhaps even THE best sounding – Hard Rock concert albums we’ve ever heard
  • Engineered by the legendary Eddie Kramer, what other live rock record sounds this good?
  • 4 1/2 stars: “… [O]ne of the classic double-live albums of the ’70s: a two-LP set from a band that were earning a reputation as in-concert monsters, grinding out a living on a circuit that brought them from coast to coast in America… this was heavy, improvised blues rock where live moments trumped the studio… “

Performance – Rockin’ The Fillmore on the right original pressing is one of the best — if not THE best — rock concert albums we have ever played. Can you imagine if Frampton Comes Alive sounded like this? If you want to hear some smokin’ Peter Frampton guitar work from the days when he was with the band, this album captures that sound better than any of their studio releases, and far better than FCA on even the best copies.

Grungy guitars that jump out of the speakers, prodigious punchy deep bass, dynamic vocals and drum work — the best pressings of Rockin’ The Fillmore have more live FIREPOWER than any live recording we’ve ever heard. Who knew?

Eddie Kramer, King of the Rockers

What Eddie Kramer did for Led Zeppelin II he’s done for Humble Pie on this album, and that’s saying a lot. If Zep II is the hardest rocking studio album in the history of the world, Rockin’ The Fillmore is its close companion, the hardest rockin’ live album in the history of the world.

This is VERY hard rock, recorded, mixed and mastered to be played good and loud. If you have the system for it this record can sound like you wheeled a stack of Marshall amps into your listening room and cranked them up to 10.

If you like the raw, distorted guitar sound that Free captured so well on their albums you are going to love Frampton’s guitar tone here. (I saw him in concert about twenty years ago and he played a set like this one — all hard rockin’, all of the time, and very, very loud. By all accounts he deeply loves that kind of music, even though for the most part he gave up recording it a long time ago.)

Top 100? Next time we update the list this album has got to go on it. (more…)

The Doors – Alive, She Cried

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  • This KILLER copy of The Doors 1983 release boasts Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from the first note to the last
  • This pressing has the kind of powerful low end that lets the wild music of the live Doors really take off
  • Gloria and Little Red Rooster, in particular, sound exceptionally good – big, lively and immediate
  • Exceptionally quiet vinyl – Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus on both sides – they don’t come quieter in our experience

The recordings here come from different concerts, so naturally some songs sound better than others. Gloria and Little Red Rooster are probably the best sounding songs on here, and that works out well because The Doors are on fire for those two numbers!

Many copies we played lacked bass in a big way, but this one’s got a strong bottom end that lets the music work. The sound is richer and fuller than most of what we heard elsewhere. Many copies were so clean that they sounded like CDs.

This pressing really communicates the energy of a Doors concert, which is exactly what we want from a live album. The clarity, presence, transparency, and energy are all outstanding on this original pressing. (more…)

Poco – Deliverin’

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  • Poco’s superb surprisingly well-recorded live album from 1971 finally makes its Hot Stamper debut here with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it throughout – fairly quiet vinyl too
  • It’s rich and natural, which is something you can’t say for the average Poco album, especially the first two they put, which tend to be bright and edgy
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Poco had originally made their name as a live act, and they’d always been at their best and most easygoing on-stage. The result is this live album of new and old material, featuring Jim Messina’s swan song with the band and some of the tightest playing and best singing in their recorded history. About as perfect an album as they ever made and, not coincidentally, by far the biggest seller the early group ever had.”

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The Doors – Live at the Hollywood Bowl

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  • Two amazing sides each earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades; exceptionally quiet vinyl too!
  • Both sides here are full-bodied, rich and Tubey Magical with plenty of extension on both ends
  • This is actually a pretty darn good live rock recording, with sound that’s quite lively and engaging — especially for 1968
  • “Like Alive, She Cried, it covered ground that was missed by Absolutely Live, most notably familiar fare such as “Moonlight Drive” and “Unknown Soldier”…” – All Music

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Al Di Meola et al. – Friday Night in San Francisco

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A KILLER copy of this Columbia red label pressing with both sides earning Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades.

“… a meeting of three of the greatest guitarists in the world for an acoustic summit the likes of which the guitar-playing community rarely sees… All in all, Friday Night in San Francisco is a fantastic album and one of the best entries in all of these guitarists’ fine discographies.” (more…)

Joan Baez – Joan Baez in Concert

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  • Joan’s live release from 1962 makes its Hot Stamper debut here with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from start to finish
  • We just did a big shootout for this album, compiled from different shows Baez performed in 1962, and we’re pleased to report that the sound was SUPERB on both sides of this early stereo Vanguard pressing
  • So transparent, open, and spacious – nuances and subtleties that may have gone unnoticed are now revealed as never before
  • 4 stars: “In Concert, Pt. 1 captures the undisputed queen of folk music at the onset of her fabled career… The exhaustive selection of material represents her diverse influences… Baez’s performances still retain freshness and vitality after four [make that five] decades.”

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Paul McCartney & Wings – Wings Over America

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  • A stunning copy with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound from start to finish and the first to ever hit the site!
  • SIX sides of live Wings music, phew! As I’m sure you can imagine, this Shootout was quite the undertaking
  • All six sides here sounded far better than the competition; clean, clear and full-bodied with a solid bottom end, tons of energy and lots of space around all of the instruments
  • “… the Beatles mystique was still very much attached to record and artist alike… and it seemed like McCartney represented the part of the group’s legacy that came closest to living up to fans’ expectations. Thus the album ended up selling in numbers, rivaling the likes of Frampton Comes Alive and other mega-hits of the period, and rode the charts for months.” – All Music

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Gary Burton Quartet – In Concert

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  • This sensational jazz album boasts outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER from first note to last
  • Captured live at Carnegie Hall, this recording eloquently communicates the space of the concert hall with stereo precision
  • Big, rich, and Tubey Magical, this pressing lets us hear Burton’s quartet with the energy and clarity these classic jazz performances deserve
  • 4 stars: ” The material (by Mike Gibbs, Burton, Coryell and Bob Dylan) is quite strong, and there are some hints of the avant-garde. “

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