Psychedelic Live Albums
This category catches the live albums that comes the groups that were successful in the drug addled late sixties like Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and The Doors. Many of these groups gathered in the San Francisco area but not all. I’m including Velvet Underground in this category as well.
I have a poll to find the best psychedelic live albums
Loading ...Dick’s Picks Volume 4 is a live album by the Grateful Dead.
It was recorded at the Fillmore East in New York City on February 13 and February 14, 1970 and features the third sets from both concerts. It was released in February 1996.
Dick’s Picks are archival live recordings selected by the Grateful Dead tape vault archivist Dick Latvala and were named after him.
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Happy Trails is a live album by Quicksilver Messenger Service.
This is a notorious studio edited album recorded at the Fillmore East in New York and the Fillmore West in San Francisco in 1968. Full details of the edits and amendments are available from Wikipedia.
Purists are probably horrified but it is recognised as a thrilling album by most people.
Continue reading Quicksilver Messenger Service Happy Trails 1968
Live Fillmore West 1969 is a live album by Country Joe & The Fish.
Continue reading Country Joe & The Fish Live Fillmore West 1969
Janis Joplin In Concert is a live compilation album by Janis Joplin and two of her backing groups.
It features songs recorded in 1968 with Big Brother And The Holding Company and in 1970 with the Full Tilt Boogie Band.
Live at Winterland ’68 is a live album by Janis Joplin with Big Brother & The Holding Company.
As the album title suggests, it was recorded at the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco on April 12, 1968, and April 13, 1968 but not released until 1998.
Joplin left Big Brother in after concerts in December 1968 and performing with the Kozmic Blues Band and the Full Tilt Boogie Band, she died on October 4, 1970. She was just 27 years old.
Welcome To The Canteen is a live album by Traffic. It was recorded at Fairfield Halls, Croydon and the Oz Benefit Concert, London in July 1971 and released several months later.
The band had released the John Barleycorn Must Die studio album the previous year and a few months later recorded The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.
In fact, originally it wasn’t recognised as a Traffic album… just the names of the musicians as you can see from the album cover.
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Live From The Time Coast is a compilation of live recordings made between 1989 and 1994.
The band still included Randy California and Ed Cassidy.
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Continue reading Spirit Live From The Time Coast 1989 to 1994
Since Lou Reed was the main singer and songwriter for The Velvet Underground and has understandably continued to play plenty of VU songs live when he was a solo artist, I’ve decided to put them together in one poll.
This article includes a readers poll where you can vote for the best of the Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground live albums and then see the results of those who have gone before you.
The Velvet Underground recorded four legendary studio albums between 1966 and 1970 whilst Lou Reed was a member – The Velvet Underground & Nico, White Light/White Heat, The Velvet Underground and Loaded.
Some will argue that all are essential in a well balanced music collection. I would only say that for the first one.
The Velvet Underground Live Albums
The band didn’t release any live albums whilst they were together but Live at Max’s Kansas City appeared in 1972 and 1969: The Velvet Underground Live was released in 1974. The first of these featured Doug Yule rather than John Cale Maureen Tucker had also left by the time the second was recorded in August 1970.
Since then many more have appeared.
Lou Reed Studio Albums
As a solo artist, Lou Reed has also recorded some excellent albums including Transformer, Berlin, Coney Island Baby and New York.
Lou Reed died on October 27, 2013.
Lou Reed Live Albums
The popularity of live albums in the 1970s meant that Reed could follow rather than set this trend.
What Are The Best Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground Live Albums?
Some of these are much better known than others and some are recorded radio broadcasts that can be released through a loophole in the copyright laws.
The choice however, is overwhelming.
Loading ...What Are The Best Live Albums Of All Time?
I classify the Velvet Underground as a proto-punk and psychedelic band so some of their albums feature in the polls to find the best proto-punk live album and the best psychedelic rock live album.
Loading ...I’ve included Lou Reed’s Rock n Roll Animal with its full blown guitar wok-outs of the classic Velvet Underground songs in the poll for the best hard rock and heavy metal live album.
Loading ...Both Rock n Roll Animal and Live recorded at the same concert have been included in the poll for the best glam rock live album with the pumped-up sound and the close link to the Transformer studio album.
Loading ...Some of his gentler albums perhaps should be included in the singer songwriter live albums poll.
Special things were happening in the late 1960s with the development of drug inspired psychedelic music in San Francisco and London.
The Beatles popularised it with songs like Strawberry Fields Forever, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and I Am The Walrus.
Other groups like the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and The Doors were taking it much further. Sometimes to happy, relaxing places and sometimes to the darker, scarier side.
Loading ...You can see the complete list of readers polls at Live Album Polls.
Europe 72 Vol. 2 is a second live album by the Grateful Dead to come from the European tour after the highly regarded Europe 72.
Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux, who produced this 20-track compilation, says he only chose song titles that did not appear on Europe ’72 as a way to complement the original.
“I think this album, coupled with Europe ’72, represents a complete overview of the tour in every way,” he says. “In fact, songs like “Beat It On Down The Line,” “Next Time You See Me” and “Sing Me Back Home” were selected by the Grateful Dead for the first set, but were left off because there wasn’t enough room.”
This has the more psychedelic songs on it like Dark Star.
The European tour of 1972 is a high point in the history of the Grateful Dead but it was also the last time Pigpen was a functioning member and he died the following year.
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