It's the first few hours into 2010 and i'm listening to Bruce Springsteen & The E Street band Live 1975-85 , as i have been over the last couple of days. Its been a few months since I last heard The Boss and a good few years , possibly more than a decade actually,since I heard this live double/triple album. And I'm just effing thrilled hearing it now! Full-on, straight and no frills is the Rock and Roll Bruce Springsteen kicks up and it can be nothing short of liberating when it gets you. Listening to it now , i'm struck by how very very close to the studio original the live versions are. That a good thing ? Dunno. I've read reviews where some of these cats have had their shirts ripped off for not innovating on stage but i'm not sure I agree. Bad live versions when very different from the original can be lacklustre at best and hideous at worst. There are notable exceptions of course - think that live accoustic version of Dylan's Visions Of Johanna for instance -but i guess they're exceptions that prove the rule. All things considered, i guess i prefer live versions that are close to the original. All things considered , i guess Bruce Springsteen is amazing and his best stuff is timeless ! Happy 2010 , be dancing in the light !
for me, it depends on the musicians actually....for example Knopfler (Dire Straits) is great both in studio and stage wherein they doe 13 minutes version of 'tunnel of love'. similarly, Allman bros, who are once again great on both platforms (Whipping Post live at Filmore is extraordinary). and then you have Dylanman, who isnt as great in his stage perormances, coz he does funny things to the song (the fellow nver sings a soong in the same manner).
ReplyDeleteand the world of jazz and indian classical is absolutely different, coz no two performances of the same track are the same.
hi , very true meraj , totally agree with that...yeah ,and allman's statesboro blues , possibly their best known track, doesn't even exist outside of the Filmore live album.agree on dylan too , i don't like 99% of those innovative live versions ...cheers
ReplyDeleteRoop had this on lp, the whole damn collection - in that great music sale of his, when I picked Dylan albums for 10 bucks, Sunny grabbed this - and I can still see myself eying the booty!
ReplyDeleteOh how I chased that Filmore album, needed a visa to some phoren land to buy that.
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