The Who
The Who, ‘Live At Leeds’, 1970. The ‘Orrible ‘Oo! Rated still as one of the best live albums ever. 50 years old and it still kicks thunder out of the speakers. The Who had been touring their previous album, ’Tommy’, for a year and were a tight, drilled force by the time this was recorded on Valentine’s Day 1970. It’s just bass, guitar, drums and Daltrey’s voice, but it sounds like an army rampaging. ‘Young Man Blues’ kicks it off. An old Mose Allison tune. The original was a jazzy blues and was the basis for the Who’s ‘My Generation’. It’s all stop/start dynamics with Keith Moon drums exploding and Townshend’s hands a riffing blur. ‘Substitute’ follows, their mid Sixties power pop single made bigger, Moon’s drums filling in all the spaces. ‘Summertime Blues’ the old Eddie Cochran tune turned into power chords and Rock Pig workout, Entwistle’s bass fast and furious. Blue Cheer had already done a proto-Heavy Metal version of the tune and it was fashionable then for bands to take ‘old’ rock n roll tunes and give them a modern kicking. Coming straight out of this the band launch into Johnny Kidd & The Pirates’ ‘Shakin’ All Over’. The original riff gets expanded and the band jam with big slashing chords, dirty lead guitar and Moon’s drums tight and sloppy simultaneously. It out-Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin in its heaviosity, man. Side 2 is mainly a 15-minute version of ‘My Generation’, the song morphing into snippets of ‘Tommy’ tunes, breaking down into single guitar chords then erupting into fast blasting riffage. It’s an air-guitarists’ dream. ‘Magic Bus’ ends proceedings, starting with percussion then blowing up with Daltrey’s harmonica wailing. Bootleg albums were getting big then so the band made the cover look like one: dodgy fun.
The Who
The Who, ‘Live At Leeds’, 1970. The ‘Orrible ‘Oo! Rated still as one of the best live albums ever. 50 years old and it still kicks thunder out of the speakers. The Who had been touring their previous album, ’Tommy’, for a year and were a tight, drilled force by the time this was recorded on Valentine’s Day 1970. It’s just bass, guitar, drums and Daltrey’s voice, but it sounds like an army rampaging. ‘Young Man Blues’ kicks it off. An old Mose Allison tune. The original was a jazzy blues and was the basis for the Who’s ‘My Generation’. It’s all stop/start dynamics with Keith Moon drums exploding and Townshend’s hands a riffing blur. ‘Substitute’ follows, their mid Sixties power pop single made bigger, Moon’s drums filling in all the spaces. ‘Summertime Blues’ the old Eddie Cochran tune turned into power chords and Rock Pig workout, Entwistle’s bass fast and furious. Blue Cheer had already done a proto-Heavy Metal version of the tune and it was fashionable then for bands to take ‘old’ rock n roll tunes and give them a modern kicking. Coming straight out of this the band launch into Johnny Kidd & The Pirates’ ‘Shakin’ All Over’. The original riff gets expanded and the band jam with big slashing chords, dirty lead guitar and Moon’s drums tight and sloppy simultaneously. It out-Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin in its heaviosity, man. Side 2 is mainly a 15-minute version of ‘My Generation’, the song morphing into snippets of ‘Tommy’ tunes, breaking down into single guitar chords then erupting into fast blasting riffage. It’s an air-guitarists’ dream. ‘Magic Bus’ ends proceedings, starting with percussion then blowing up with Daltrey’s harmonica wailing. Bootleg albums were getting big then so the band made the cover look like one: dodgy fun.