Project 1001: Live at Leeds by The Who
“Are you a Stones guy or a Who guy?”
This question has been asked innumerable times. My answer is, “Yes.” In other words, why do I have to choose? If someone asked, “Are you a Tyler guy or an Emily guy?” about your kids, would you pick one or the other?
In any event, this album (I listened to the expanded version, which offers fourteen tracks as opposed to the original’s six) is a pretty good representation of the Who’s live show at the dawn of the 1970s, or at least how I imagine their live shows might have been. I like all the songs from the classics from the Who catalogue to the more obscure (to me anyway) covers. And I enjoyed the amusing back-and-forth patter Daltrey and Townshend have with the audience. John Entwistle’s amazing bass virtuosity really stood out for me.
My Rating:
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
Prime Playlist: 171. Live At Leeds by The Who
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For details about this project, read this: Project 1001 Albums
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Stevie Chick wrote:
The legendary power and volume of The Who was always best sampled live. The studio tended to deaden their electricity: they recorded some fabulous singles, but no truly perfect albums; even Tommy suffered from pretentious production. Live at Leeds, then is not just possibly the greatest live album of all time; it is almost certainly The Who’s finest moment.1
Roger Daltrey explained, “We were always a very different band on stage than we were on record.” Live at Leeds is generally considered one of, if not the greatest rock concert albums of all time. Townshend called it, “one of the best and most enjoyable gigs we’ve ever done.”
The Leeds tape showed everything the band was in concert: ragged, loud, sweaty, passionate. It abandoned any whiff of pretension or high-mindedness and showcased the band stripped back to their core. People heard the tape and raved about the band more than ever. Though it was meant mostly as a stopgap between Tommy and what eventually become Who’s Next, Live at Leeds became another hit for the band. The New York Times called it, “the best live rock album ever made.”
Daltrey reflected, “I was glad people could buy a record that reflected what we were onstage.” 2
Charts
• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: #4 3
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: #27 4
• RIAA certification: 2x Platinum | February 8, 1993 5
Released on May 11, 1970. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: “American Woman/No Sugar Tonight” by The Guess Who6
• Number one album: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel7
• Number one movie: The Liberation of L.B. Jones by William Wyler8
• Most watched TV programs: Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Here’s Lucy, Mayberry RFD, Family Affair, Wonderful World of Disney, The Red Skelton Hour, Marcus Welby, MD, The Bill Cosby Show9
• NYT bestseller, fiction: Love Story by Erich Segal10
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People and Strangling Profits by Robert Townsend11
Some other albums released that month
• ABC by The Jackson 5
• Let It Be by The Beatles
• Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More by Various Artists
• In the Wake of Poseidon by King Crimson
• CJ Fish by Country Joe and the Fish
• Will You Visit Me on Sunday? by George Jones
• The World of Johnny Cash by Johnny Cash
• Writer by Carole King12
Sport
• May 12 Ernie Banks hits his 500th home run.
• May 15 International Olympic Committee votes to expel South Africa.
• May 16 95th Preakness: Eddie Belmonte aboard Personality wins in 1:56.2.
• May 17 Hank Aaron becomes 9th player to get 3,000 hits.13
Notable Births
• May 12 Jim Furyk, American golfer (US Open 2003; 17 PGA Tour titles; first to shoot 58 2016), born in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
• May 12 Mike Weir, Canadian golfer (US Masters 2003), born in Sarnia, Ontario.
• May 15 Desmond Howard, College Football Hall of Fame wide receiver (Heisman Trophy 1991, U of Michigan; Super Bowl MVP 1996, Green Bay Packers), born in Cleveland, Ohio.14
Historical Events
• May 12 Race riots in Augusta Georgia; 6 blacks killed (5 by cops).
• May 14 Harry Blackmun (61), nominated by Richard Nixon, earns seat on US Supreme Court after confirmation by US Senate, 94-0; serves until 1994.
• May 15 Mississippi Highway Patrol kill 2 students during racial disturbance at Jackson State University in Mississippi.15
Notable Deaths
• May 9 Walter P. Reuther, American worker's union leader & president of the CIO, dies in a plane crash at 62.
• May 12 Nelly Sachs, German-Swedish poet and playwright (O the Chimneys - Nobel Prize for Literature 1966), dies at 78.
• May 14 (Mary) "Billie" Burke, American radio, stage, silent and sound film actress (Ziegfield Follies; The Wizard of Oz, Glinda the Good Witch of the North; Merrily We Live), dies at 85.
• May 19 Ray Schalk, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher (World Series 1917; Chicago White Sox) and manager (Chicago White Sox 1927-28), dies from cancer at 78.16
Chick, Stevie, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Fifth printing, ed. by Robert Dimmery p. 209.
Padgett, Ray, Cover Me : The Stories Behind the Greatest Cover Songs of All Time, p. 82-85
Ibid.
Ibid.