Originally posted at Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries
I guess I started to think about “Live” albums after listening to Live at Gruene Hall earlier in the week. So I listened Friday to one of my favorite live albums Ray Wylie Hubbard’s Live at Cibolo Creek. Now this is a great album not only because of the music and there are a lot of great tracks and some good picking, too, from the likes of Stephen Bruton, Paul Pearcy and the great Lloyd Maines. But what really makes this album stand out for me is the between songs banter by Ray Wylie. From the story about playing “Without Love” at a wedding to the tale of living in Poetry, Texas and goats during an electric storm, that segues into “Last Train to Amsterdam”, to the talk about songwriting in the Obligatory Encore “Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother”. When I saw Ray several years ago in Haddon Heights he told many of the same stories but I didn’t know them until I bought the album after the show. I loved them during and after the show!
I continued listening to live albums from the iPod and next up was Robert Earl Keen‘s Live at the Ryman A good live album that includes most of Keen”s best songs including “Feeling Good Again”, “Shades of Gray”, “Gringo Honeymoon” and of course “The Road Goes on Forever”. But the best audience participation is probably on “Merry Christmas From The Family” always a fan favorite!
Later that night I switched genres and listened to a little live blues from one of my favorites Gary Moore and his album Blues Alive and Nick Moss and the Flip Tops Live at Chan’s which does a good job of capturing the feel of a live concert and then a little jazz from Gary Burton’s Quartet Live.
I kept the live theme going this morning and listened on the way back from the store to Roger Creager’s Live Across Texas. This album I think really captures the feel of a Roger Creager concert and leaves me feeling that I’ve been to one, when alas that is not the case! The concert has good covers of Guy Clark “La Freeway” and Buffett’s “A Pirate Looks at Forty”. But the two songs that seem to generate the most crowd participation are “Mother’s a Redneck, Too” and “The Everclear Song” which is probably the crowd favorite!
The first Pat Green album I bought and maybe still my favorite Live at Bill Bob’s Texas concluded this mornings “live” listens. I have a lot of favorite tracks on the album including: “Here We Go”.,”Dancehall Dreamer” and “Songs about Texas”.
I was going to listen to John Prine’s Live on Tour so I could hear the crowd participation on “Illegal Smile” but somehow it is not on the iPod, an omission that will be corrected later today! So the question is what is your favorite live album? In addition to the above, one of my favorite all time “Live” albums is Absolutely Live by The Doors. Prior to seeing them live for the first time I learned about Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers’ music from their live album “Live at Billy Bob’s Texas”. So your favorite is?
Here’s Roger Creager “The Everclear Song” and remember I live vicariously through the songs of others!!
