"Even today, Live at Leeds sounds so alive," remarked Rush bassist Geddy Lee. "It's a real piece of that period of rock. It's like a bootleg: the artwork, the tone… It was raw."
You Really Must listen to the Entire Quadrophenia album. IMHO it is the absolute pinnacle of Pete Townsend's writing and of the Band's performances. You heard the finale "Love Reign O'er Me", but the full thematic impact of this epic piece can only be realized by listening to the entire album For my money it is the Greatest Rock and Roll Album ever Released...Bar None!
It's one of the best British Rock n Roll songs for sure , but not the starting point, there were plenty before that. As a Rock n Roll fan, there were loads of great British Rock n Roll artists and songs in the 50s, especially Move It by Cliff Richard and Brand New Cadillac by Taylor - both were before Shakin' All Over. Also as a Rock n Roll fan, I can't stand these Who covers of Summertime Blues and Shakin' All Over. Just awful.
@@birdman1112Back when they were still known as Chad Allan and the Expressions. Their record label released the single under the gag name “Guess Who?” as a publicity stunt, and the resulting confusion over the band’s name from DJs playing the record ultimately led to the Expressions officially changing their name to The Guess Who. 😆
I can attest that it was indeed a phenomenal concert - I was there!!!! You can hear me clapping in the breaks. All four worked their ass****s off. I was on a buzz for many days. My copy of the vinyl has the University Union Shop stamp on the cover.
I was a student at Leeds University a few years after this was recorded and witnessed many fine gigs there. It was recorded in the huge dining hall and the sound in the refectory was never great but the atmosphere was always amazing. No seating, just hundreds of sweaty students rocking out. I was able to get into rock gigs free because I was running jazz gigs at the other end of the building. There would always be two headline acts per week so Robin Trower on a Wednesday followed by Ian Dury on Saturday. AND university education was free back in the day.
The Who's Live at Leeds double CD I have has the mini-opera A Quick One (While He's Away), and every song from Tommy played straight through. It's one of the few times The Who played Tommy in its entirety live. Pete's five-minute banter before A Quick One is hilarious.
Top of their game and the best rock band in the world at that point. Young man blues still blows me away as that amazing noise is just three musicians, all soloing at the same time but working together. Rodgers voice was so good and the constant tours had moulded them into something totally bombastic and unique. What it must have been like to see this
I saw them live at this time and they were untouchable.They were very ,very good and VERY loud!I saw Led Zeppelin around the same tome and they were good but not in the same league live as the Who.
It was said that The Who consisted of four individuals, each of which completely demanded attention in his own way. With Moon's maniacal performance, Townshend's antics, and Daltrey's dancing and throwing his mic around, it seemed that the entire stage would take off into the stratosphere if it were not for Entwhistle's stock-still, stoic stand (all the time putting out more notes per second than anyone could possibly count). Neither Moon nor Entwhistle was content to just keep the beat, so that kind of fell to Townshend, who developed a style where he played rhythm and lead at the same time. As a side note, Entwhistle hated red spots. The lighting techs would sometimes use this to gradually move him completely off the stage. He once complained that every member of the band had his own fans, but while the others had screaming girls, he had van-dyked, cigarette-smoking men who sat back and said, "My, he's quite good, isn't he?" The expanded version of "Live at Leeds" is a much better experience, with a nearly-complete performance of "Tommy," plus all three of the singles Townshend mentioned in that bit of stage banter. And, no, the Who were not yet at the height of their powers: that would come in the early '70s, when they toured the "Who's Next" album. Bootlegs from that period are just insane. They have actually released two shows from then, but they are only on the huge, expensive "Who's Nex/Lifehouse" box set.
Yes, together with "Made in Japan", "Rainbow On Stage", "Live & Dangerous", "Strangers In the Night", "Free Live", "Brussels Affair"", "Irish Tour", "The Jimi Hendrix Concerts", ... 😁
Doug, you absolutely must do a review of the entire Quadrophenia album. It was Pete's greatest accomplishment as a composer and the band is at the pinnacle of their abilities.
I love The Who! One aspect of their music is the ability to use spaces and quieter parts to contrast with the other super awesome parts. Yet they are so tight. Shit, this is creative magic!
The playing on this album is almost beyond words. Energetic doesn't come close. Neither does aggressive. The best description overall that I can think of is... VIOLENT.
John Entwistle once said it was his favourite Who album, mostly due to the fantastic up front bass sound. Throughout the album you hear snippets of Tommy, Shaking all over has a part during the guitar solo. Side 2 has even more. Looking forward to you hearing it.
Hi Doug, I've been following your channel for about a year now, I love your analysis on vintage progressive rock stuff, but by the way I'm a die-hard fan of The Who and I'm glad you try that one, as to me it's the very best live album ever recorded in the history of rock and roll. It just has everything : energy, wit, insane musicianship, cheerfulness and loud volume ! It was recorded just a few months before my Dad was lucky enough to attend their show at the Isle Of Wight Festival, which happened to be one of the most memorable musical experiences he ever had. But however spectacular the IOW show was, and judging from the many bootleg recordings from the 1964-1973 period I've been collecting through the years, I think I've never ever heard a better concert by The Who than the one from Leeds. Some of the songs here (Summertime Blues, Magic Bus, Young Man Blues for instance) hardly got any better treatment, in my opinion. Have some more great fun next time with side two, it's awesome and even more amazing ! Best wishes from France and thank you so much for that fantastic job you do.
My favorite version of this album is the 1995 Deluxe version that begins with "Heaven and Hell". The later version that includes all of the Tommy songs is good too but a bit overwhelming. Greatest hard rock album ever for me.
i am so glad to have been there! ... in a very different state that evening from my arrival in Leeds as a disciple of Chinese Communism (and promptly nicknamed Chairman) ... this was one of so many amazing gigs in the Refectory ... thank goodness i got turned on!!!
One of my favorite album and very influential to me as a 12 year old drummer. I would discover Peart shortly after and Moon was his hero. Between the two the mold was cast for the direction I would take.
Fun fact: Shakin' All Over was covered in Canada by a band called Chad Allan & The Expressions in 1966. They would shortly thereafter become The Guess Who - arguably Canada's greatest band. The piano in the Chad Allan version always reminds me of the piano on Iggy & The Stooges' Now I Wanna Be Your Dog - an inspiration to the Stooges perhaps?. Also worth checking out for great 70s live efforts is The James Gang - Live At Carnegie Hall. To my mind the very epitome of 70s rock.
I saw The Who in concert in July 1970 in Kansas City, about two months after this album. But half of the songs were from Live at Leeds and half were from Tommy. I also saw The Who in 1980 and 2019. Even in 2019 Roger Daltrey still had it. He can really sing.
Another great live album from the 1970s that many people are unaware of is "What Do You Want From Live" by The Tubes. It features their early material which is much more interesting than their later, more mainstream songs. It was also recorded in the UK at a show in London in 1977. One of the noticeable things about the album is the sound quality, which is outstanding for a live album of that era. It was a double LP on vinyl, so there's a lot of material there.
wouldn't you like to play piano behind these guys, like Ian Stewart did with the Stones in the 60s, just filing the sound, adding accents to help enhance, provide another sound?
That's NOT The Deluxe Edition. This is the original tracklisting from 1970. The Deluxe one starts with "Heaven And Hell" and has it and three other songs before "Young Man Blues". It's also 2 discs. It's got almost the whole Tommy album performed.
It is cool seeing Tommy sing Magic Bus at Live at Leeds. Amazing Journey into Sparks with a nod to Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady is classic Townsend, Daltrey, Entwistle, Moon.
The only way to hear this is the complete hi resolution download. I believe it is the only version that has the entire show..AND in original concert running order!!! That makes a huge difference!!! One of the great rock albums of all-time. They had no peer during this period! And remember this was recorded in what we could call a student union area or cafeteria today. To be in that crowd and feel the amount of air coming off that stage would have been life changing!!!!! "Young Man Blues" might be my favorite moment in all of rock history!!!
I thought Substitute was on an album (LP) and I just checked and according to Wikipedia they put it on Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy released 1971. This is of course, is if Wikipedia can be trusted!
Heh. When home stereo systems were all the rage, I always used this album to test every speaker, amp or turntable I ever considered buying at the showrooms.
If you enjoyed Tommy, you'll love Quadrophenia. As a musical story, it's much more cohesive and the music is even stronger. It is my favorite Who album hands down.
Oh man. I understand your approach to recreating the album side for reaction. However there is an interesting intro to Young Man Blues which sets everything up. Worth a listen on your own or a separate review Thanks for the content
I can’t change your mind, I love em both, both bands had the best components, 2 of the greatest frontmen/singers, 2 of the greatest bassists, 2 of the greatest drummers and 2 of the greatest guitarists, both bands recorded incredible albums as well as not so good albums, both were incredible live, Jimmy Page and Pete Townsend both had a great vision for their respective music, as cool as Jimmy page is though Pete Townsend resonates more with me.
Earlier the band Guess Who did a popular cover of Shakin All Over. Then people would go to Who concerts and ask for the song. The band would say “that song is not from us, that is from Guess Who. Eventually The Who relented and added the song to their set list.
"Substitute" is available on "Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy", a compilation album of their hit singles that was released in 1971. Panned by some critics and fans as nothing new, it became something of a gateway drug for a new generation of Who fans, myself included.
You're right Doug. The original release didn't have any of the band's chatter with the audience, just the songs. Once you've finished with side 2 I encourage you to go back and listen to the full deluxe edition in your own time. Even the 1995 reissue which didn't include anything from Tommy still had 80 minutes of excellent rock n roll, more than double the original release. This album is an excellent encapsulation of The Who's live act, as their studio recordings never really captured the band at their best. Most notably you hear John basically performing lead bass for the entire performance while Pete tends to play rhythm while slipping in short solos and fills whenever he feels.
IMO, the only way to properly hear 'Live at Leeds' is with the extended version that includes "Heaven and Hell", "A Quick One While He's Away", and the full "Tommy" performance. It's a more balanced offering compared to the original where side 1 is mostly covers (admittedly, all of the covers got loads of play from FM radio DJ's.) Granted it's a LOT longer than the original, but totally worth it. BTW, they didn't include Pete's banter before "Substitute" because he introduces three songs when the original album only had the one. And yeah, that's how the song ends because they then immediately go into "Happy Jack".
The original Live At Lees is great, but the expanded edition is even better. A must see Who live performance is "A Quick One" fromth e Rock and Roll Circus Show: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RJv2-_--EY4.htmlsi=ED21DhQywVjlgOjK
The reason they did not include the spoken intro to Substitute on the original album was that Pete intros 3 songs at once (Substitute, Happy Jack and I'm A Boy). Only Substitute was on the original album, so why include an intro to songs you weren't going to hear?
Great choice for a Friday. This record and Little Feat's Waiting for Columbus are my two favorite live albums!! Now that you've listened to it on Live at Leeds, I encourage you to watch a version of the song, it's nearly identical to the LaL version, but you can see them in all their manic glory, dressed like they probably were dressed for the LaL show: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-M9boFzhUVG4.htmlsi=HaQxBD2pDvRdJVOG
@doughelvering review Burn by The Cure, see their live Glastonbury performance, its a stand alone single from the film The Crow. It gives me goosebumps. Sorry not sure how else to contact you as I'm not literate in RU-vid!!
The live version of "My Generation" on the Live At Leeds album is one of the most intense and bombastic performances ever recorded. Every time the song seems to be calming down a bit, a few seconds later - the band kicks the door open and escalates the song to the next level of intensity. It's one of those songs which causes normally responsible drivers to go from driving 68mph or so to over 100mph whenever the song starts playing on the speakers in the car.
Live at Leeds was originally conceived to look like a bootleg with abrupt edits between the songs and flimsy, cardboard-looking album cover. The reissues are very much polished reimagining and a completely different experience.
The 'My Generation' medley is one of the highlights of this album. Also, I think the reason that the banter before Substitute was not on the original album is because only Substitute was on the original record. On the extended version the other 2 songs mentioned (Happy Jack and I'm a Boy) were included. Also there is a 'Live at Leeds 40th Anniversary Super-Deluxe Collectors' edition which include the (almost complete) performance of Tommy (20 of 24 song).
Entwistle's bass is just so, so good. I've listened to Who tracks on repeat just to try to focus on it. Moon on drums was if anything underrated, it's so sad his demons got to him so soon. And I love Townshend's solo work as much as his Who material. He gets left out of too many of the "great guitarist" discussions and he should be in there for great songwriting as well. Add in Daltrey, one of the greatest front men ever, what a voice. What a group! And here we get a recording of their early peak. I love this album.
I loved live albums in the 70s. Favourites were Live At Leeds and Made in Japan (Deep Purple). Two mega rock bands, both with their classic line-ups. Nothing better. Ever.
One of the best live albums ever. 'My Generation' is one of my personal all-time favorites. It has seven or eight different 'sections' to it. The Who is one of theose bands where seeing them play adds so much more to the experience. There's no live video of Leeds, there are some videos where they sync up the Leeds version of a song to footage from The Isle of Wight. If you want the full Who experience from that era you have to see the Woodstock stuff and The Isle of Wight. Their energy is amazing. There was no one else quite like them.
