20 Live Pieces Released in the 1970s

For this topic I took nine of my favourite live "prog" albums that were released in the the 1970s, plus one non-Prog (Douji Morita) one I love for variety, and went with a favourite track or piece. Then I went through the PA charts for the top love album of the 1970s there and choose a song/piece/ track off each live. PA's chart also has Ricochet and Hhai listed in it top ten 70s live albums, so I skipped those for its list, and Miles Davis' Black Magus would have been included had I not included another Miles Davis in my list. And second Zappa could have played in but I just wanted the one top ranked album per act.

In the case of Tangerine Dream, while the original release at least has Ricochet in two tracks, I would rather have it in one and I have a video with both parts so doing it for both parts. Not sure how much of that album is "properly live" rather than studio, but it is listed as a live. For others like The Snow Goose portion of Camel's A Live Record, that could be treated like a suite, but I'm going with a favourite Camel part and it follows what I have found on youtube. And I could have gone with a more broken down version of ELP's. Solar Music Live can be thought of as a suite (and the track Solar Music has more than one part), but going with my favourite part, but had I found, say, all three of these parts on youtube, then I would have added that.

While both Prog Archives and Rate Your Music rank Seconds Out higher than Genesis Live (Seconds out is ranked fifth for the 70s and Genesis live is at 22, I much prefer Genesis Live. With Renaissance, I adore Mother Russia and Scheherazade, but I like how different Ashes Are Burning is from the studio counterpart on this live.

My top 10

Magma "Hhaï" Magma Live (released 1975)
Tangerine Dream "Ricochet (parts 1 and 2)" Ricochet (released 1975)
Area "Cometa rossa" Are(A)zione (released 1975)
Hawkwind "Brainstorm" Space Ritual (released 1975)
Geinoh Yamashirogumi "Osorezan" Live ''Hirakareta Gassho'' Junen No Tenkai (released 1979)
Miles Davis "Prelude (Parts One and Two) Agharta (released 1975)
Kraan "Lonesome Liftboy" Kraan Live (released 1975)
Gong "Master Builder" Live Etc (released 1977)
Henry Cow "Beautiful as the Moon, Terrible as an Army with Banners" Concerts (released 1976)
Douji Morita "Sentimental Street センチメンタル通り" Tokyo Cathedral Saint Mary Live (released 1978) (not in PA)

PA's Top Ten (nit including any that found its way into my top ten)

Gentle Giant "So Sincere" Playing the Fool - The Official Live (released 1977)
Grobschnitt "Solar Music II" Solar Music - Live (released 1978)*
Yes "Heart of the Sunrise" Yessongs (released 1973)
Frank Zappa "Be-Bop Tango (Of The Old Jazzmen's Church)" Roxy & Elsewhere (released 1974)
Genesis "Firth of Fifth" Seconds Out (released 1977)*
Camel "La Princesse Perdue" A Live Record (released 1978)
Kansas "Song for America" Two for the Show (released 1978)
Emerson Lake & Palmer "Karn Evil 9 (i. 1st Impression, ii. 2nd Impression, iii. 3rd Impression)" Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends (released 1974)
Renaissance "Ashes Are Burning" Live at Carnegie Hall (released 1976)
Barclay James Harvest "Summer Soldier" Barclay James Harvest Live (Live, 1974)

Multiple choice enabled: Please try to vote for five tracks if you can, but more or less is fine too. Also I would like to hear about other 70s songs/tracks/pieces off live releases that you enjoy either if they are different songs from the albums I chose or different albums altogether.

Here is a playlist with all of the selections in the poll. You don't need to check any of this out before voting, or know much to vote, but some might wish to (all tracks can be found at least in my region in the embed).



https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXcp9fYc6K4Jn6zs8EixYpfhOsQQxE3mk

Edited by Logan - 22 hours 40 minutes ago at 16:55

1. Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning

Hawkwind - Brainstorm

What a great selection.  My first love has to be ELP closely followed by Henry Cow (lucky to see them do this live early 77).  Love that Magma track as well but discovered much later in life.

Logan wrote: ... In the case of Tangerine Dream, while the original release at least has Ricochet in two tracks, I would rather have it in one and I have a video with both parts so doing it for both parts. Not sure how much of that album is "properly live" rather than studio, but it is listed as a live.  ...

Blimey.... a poll from Greg where I could have voted for half of them!!

Thanks all. ^ yes, I went with the Zappa loving the beginning and thinking some find it interesting due to the audience reaction when going through the playlist, but I could do without that too.

moshkito wrote: Logan wrote: ... Barclay James Harvest "Summer Soldier" Barclay James Harvest Live (Live, 1974) ... Hi, Strange to see this listed and the piece right after "Medicine Man" left behind ... it should be the whole side or it won't matter. That version of MM is fantastic.

Of course I am happy to see people try to vote for five from the list if they can (or more or less) and mention any other choices. I actually find it quite strange that you would expect those two tracks to be listed together as an option given my approach. Strange would have I think equalled, "Given what I know of your approach, and how you tend to do things, and maybe based on what music you are most into, I would have expected such-and-such." Not sure why given my approach it "should" be as you say, and I hope you take the time to enlighten me. But I guess you just mean, that it looked strange to you, maybe not based on what seems most obviously rational given the premise.

They seem to be separate songs to me and even come from different studio albums. And I have not looked for video which combines the two as one song.

What's strange-looking to me about my poll, which maybe I should have delved more deeply into in my OP so people would understand better what I was going for and then be less likely to find the results strange, but already it risks being "too long, didn't read" is that some of these which can be treated as one piece (like an epic) or a suite is that in some cases I have releases where the piece or suite was broken up on albums and I have it in full form, whereas in others I have part of it. I have a piece of The Snow Goose, but both parts of Ricochet. I could have gone with a broken up version of Osorezan under different track names but it is one epic and I have a video with the whole live epic.. I did tie that in with the playlist and what I found that I could or wanted to work with. While I like to listen to full album, including full live albums, a problem with making a playlist with such long videos as I have is that it makes it harder for people to find the time to listen to what already is there (as some tasters based on my tastes)).

BY the way, of course the top ten were my particular choices and the PA charts determined the other ten. Three of those in PA's top ten I knew quite well, the BJH live was new to me. Based on one listen to it, I was happy with my choice and never would have thought to put all of side one together as piece of music in two sections or as a suite. Maybe I don;t see as much connection between these tracks as you do.

Maybe I should have just done this as individual tracks to avoid any confusion, and I guess I'm not really following your argument based on my OP for why those two should be combined. Of course the easiest way it just to do albums, but this exercise is more challenging and individualistic for me and I like to do things differently.

Maybe I should listen again to those two tracks to hear how they work together as this was based on one spin of the album. Or maybe my intent/ thinking did not come through well enough in the OP. Even as is, this poll took quite a few hours to foment. Sorry if it turned out badly or strangely. Anyway, hopefully someone will discover something they like thanks to this and find some music that they enjoy from the list and mention others that they like (in that case, embeds or links to youtube are much appreciated).

If it seems illogical given my approach not to include all of side A for BJH, well then that probably just comes down to my ignorance.

Edited by Logan - 4 hours 52 minutes ago at 10:43

Jared wrote: Grobschnitt (CANNOT believe that mine was the first vote... what is WRONG with you people?)

I was late.

So much good stuff! Ashes are Burning was my first impulse, so I'll vote for that, and then dunno. I may well come back voting for more as there are certainly more than five worth voting for.

Lewian wrote: So much good stuff! Ashes are Burning was my first impulse, so I'll vote for that, and then dunno. I may well come back voting for more as there are certainly more than five worth voting for.