The Who’s 1970 concert album Live At Leeds has a lot of admirers and generally ranks pretty high on any best-of lists relating to live albums – a plaque outside the University Refectory at Leeds where the group played this show refers to it as “the most celebrated live album of its generation.” That may well be, but to my ears, this is a good-not-great record that has moments both sublime and snoozy. Which makes it a perfect candidate for a spot on the fence…
THUMBS UP: I’ve never been a huge Who fan, but even I recognize that Pete Townshend is a wicked guitarist and Keith Moon was one of the best drummers to beat the sticks. While neither are in top form throughout this set, ‘My Generation’ in particular benefits from the 14-minute live treatment presented here, and I applaud the overhaul they give the ‘Magic Bus’. The Who justified their reputation as one of the most exciting live acts of their day, and this album offers a few jolts of the energy they brought in concert. Several factors (noted below) make it something less than the greatest live album of all-time, but given the right set of expectations, this is an enjoyable document of a top-notch rock group very near their peak…
THUMBS DOWN: The LP release of Live At Leeds is such a vastly edited version of the true show it came from (represented on the two-disc Deluxe Edition of the album) that it really only hints at the ebb and flow of a real Who show. Their take of Eddie Cochran’s ‘Summertime Blues’ is wildly beloved, but it falters in places and feels sludgy in the extreme, while Johnny Kidd and The Pirates’ ‘Shake It All Over’ just gets mauled. And while Townshend and Moon generally deserve their props, lead singer Roger Daltry has only two gears and neither are exceptional. This is by no means a bad album, but for the quote-unquote greatest concert album of all-time, I expect more than a mixed bag of six songs. Call me crazy…
Album info:
Release date
16 May 1970
Producers
Jon Astley, Kit Lambert and The Who
Label
Decca Records
Side One
Young Man Blues
Substitute
Summertime Blues
Shakin’ All Over
Side Two
My Generation
Magic Bus
[Ear plugs or standing O - what's your take??]
Tags: Decca Records, Eddie Cochran, Jon Astley, Keith Moon, Kit Lambert, Live At Leeds, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, The Who
30 June 2010 at 10:32 am |
dear sir,
you are crazy….
young man blues alone is worth the price of admission….
this is a true thing of beauty, warts and all….
I’ll take this over almost all other “live” albums….
what others trump this bad boy…???
Thank you,
dd
30 June 2010 at 10:42 am |
I’ve got a list coming that answers that last question. Just off the top of my head, I’d say At Folsom Prison obliterates this on the Great Live Album scale…
You’re right, ‘Young Man Blues’ is pretty sweet, and so is ‘My Generation’. But their stumbling ‘Summertime Blues’ is far from epic, which is surprising considering how many people ooh and ahh over this version of it…
Plenty of warts on this album. If you’re not a big Who fan, those warts tend to stand out…
30 June 2010 at 11:24 am |
I’m 100% with Devil Dick. Ironically, for me, all the expanded reissues that have come out over the years (there seems to be a new one every year) pale in comparison to the original, edited, 35/40-minute version. And while I give the nod to Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out, this is an easy #2 on my greatest live albums of all time list.
30 June 2010 at 11:45 am |
i wouldn’t put Folsom Prison in the same catagory. the only real connection is that it is a live album but it is a far cry from a live “rock” album…. i happen to love the warts and all aspect of this album. its a punk rock record of sorts at heart. fueled by booze and drugs. and this pre-dates the stooges by years! take into account that this is also a live “album” and that live energy and frenzy of an actual who concert can never really be properly captured. but if you put yerself in the sounds of this ablum (warts and all) i think you can get a pretty good idea of what it was actually like….
30 June 2010 at 12:52 pm |
This actually pre-dates Fun House by only a couple of months, and came nearly a year after The Stooges’ debut, but your point is taken. I guess one of my main hang-ups is the GREATEST LIVE ALBUM sash that so many critics wrap around this one.
You’re right that it’s difficult to capture the energy of a concert on tape, but that’s one place where Folsom Prison crushes this – the electricity in the audience on that recording is palpable (whether or not Johnny Cash is rock is a lengthy discussion for another day). With Live At Leeds I get flashes of brilliance here and there, but nothing to justify the critical drool that’s been splashed all over it…
I think you have to love The Who to fully appreciate this album, but maybe that’s just me…
30 June 2010 at 12:26 pm |
Examine closer what the plaque actually read: “the most celebrated live album of its generation.” There lies the rub. “… its generation.” What was it up against? I believe Grand Funk Railroad released a live album that year as well. They were robbed!
30 June 2010 at 1:18 pm |
There are very few things I hate more in this world than The Who: tsunamis, cruelty to animals, anal leakage, George Bush, ebola, and rotting meat are the only ones I can think of really.
30 June 2010 at 1:20 pm |
And I might add, fuck Tommy. Why is it that every five years or so we’re subjected to some sort of Tommy revival? We get it. He was blind. He was a pinball wizard. Write some new music, fer chrissakes. That shit is 40 years old.
Gah. My hatred of The Who is limitless.
30 June 2010 at 1:23 pm |
And: Every time I see Roger Daltry’s pouty, whiny horse face, I want to kick him in the nads.
30 June 2010 at 1:32 pm |
damn, what did roger daltry do to you kdubbie? snub you at a bar or something?
30 June 2010 at 1:38 pm |
ok yes, i got ahead of myself with the by years statement. and listen, i am by no means a staunch who advocate. I think Townsend is an overall cunt but this stands the test of time IMHO…. jackass or not you can not argue he didnt write some stellar rock songs. if you hate the who than go listen to Duran Duran or whatever it is you listen too… because you are obviously not a rock fan…. that being said… FUCK TOMMY! i mean the rock opera, not me… unless your a hawt chick…
30 June 2010 at 2:18 pm |
I also happen to love plenty of sloppy stuff like The Stooges – hell, I recommended Canned Heat yesterday, and they’re no virtuosos. My opinion of The Who and their music has nothing to do with Townshend’s personality, although I’ve heard he’s a prickly pear. Tommy bewilders me – I don’t get that one at all. However, Who’s Next is pure gold…
30 June 2010 at 2:18 pm |
Rock operas were about as good of an idea as, say, the pet rock, the Thigh Master, or anal beads.
And I *am* a hawt chick. But that won’t keep me from coming and Keith Mooning the shit out of your house if you force me to listen to a rock opera.
30 June 2010 at 2:20 pm |
I would never have thought to compare Tommy to anal beads, but I don’t think the comparison is unfair…
30 June 2010 at 4:41 pm |
What’s on second and I Dont Know’s on third.
Just give me a studio version of ‘Eminence Front’ on a loud stereo with my blind ex-neighbor practicing the drums to it; that’s as close to live as I need of them.
CSI killed The Who for me. Or did The Who kill CSI for me? I guess I never liked either of em…
1 July 2010 at 1:55 am |
Don’t like The Who? Have a listen to Who’s Next – try telling me Radiohead weren’t listening to those synth sounds when they were recording OK Computer. And I’ve heard Baba O’Reilly and Won’t Get Fooled Again played in DJ sets in eveything from electro to rock nights, and they stole the show in all of them.
As for greatest live albums, I prefer Jerry Lee Lewis at the Star Club, Thin Lizzy, Nighthawks At The Diner (if that counts), Townes Van Zandt at the Old Quarter, Get Your Ya-Ya’s Out, the Beatles BBC sessions (if that counts) and Junior Wells’ Hoodoo Man (not sure if it’s live, but it sounds it), The Clash’s From Here To Eternity, and probably some others, but this is still a great album.
1 July 2010 at 8:43 am |
It is a great album and Dan’s site rules. I love reading you people! Funny and educational posts all the way through, always. I will say that I am a Who fan and love this album.
I am not a Cheap Trick fan but I love Live At Budokan. I do. I can admit it. I love the energy of it. The screams of the crowd as it opens up. I like a live album that makes you feel like you are there in the moment. I have a few great Radiohead bootlegs that do that too. I guess I am talking about live albums in general. I don’t know if it is much about the playing of the songs as it is a moment in time that the listener gets to escape to. Live At Leeds lets you escape to a time when they were stripped down and rocked.
1 July 2010 at 9:18 pm |
the who remain the largest musical private joke in the universe that i still don’t get. the more time passes, the more i read and hear extremely educated music peeps whom i respect sing their praises.
so instead of saying i think they are the most overrated band in music history, i now feel it’s more accurate to say that i simply don’t have what it takes to appreciate the who.
roger daltrey’s voice gives me a headache faster than a wayward bowling ball. it always has and always will.
as if that weren’t torture enough, for decades, i have also had to suffer through their never-ending desire to whore themselves out for a nickel.
these musical ambulance chasers embody every rock & roll cliche to the point that enlightened music fans should waste no more words on them. they ARE spinal tap (with less talent).
it’s a shame they had to soil that whole british invasion thing, because they couldn’t clean the tour bus toilets for the kinks, the stones or the beatles.
so now that i’ve dragged them through the shitpile, let me also say that when roger shuts up and pete townsend takes the mike, i BEGIN to understand all you who maniacs a little better.
but then roger opens his mouth on the next tune and wipes out any good mojo with his overbearing, meant-for-peoria-theater vocal stylings.
i’ll take all my blogreplylumps off the air.