The Who Live at Leeds
Recorded live at Leeds University on February 14, 1970.
The Band:
Pete Townshend – Guitar, Vocals
Roger Datlrey – Vocals, Harmonica
John Entwistle – Bass, Vocals
Keith Moon - Drums
Centuries before any type of recording equipment was invented, music was something always performed in a live setting. It was art meant to be heard during a performance while musicians played it. Live music provides an element to music that can never be replaced by a studio – the connection between the musicians and the audience and the atmosphere. Fast forward hundreds of years to the 1960’s. Rock was growing at an exponential rate as bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, etc were pushing the boundaries or rock music in all directions. Yet with all the evolution in music since its primitive years, all major rock and roll acts except the (Beatles in their later years) retained the element of the live show. Besides the Beatles, it is no coincidence that some of the greatest rock bands had the best ability to perform in a concert setting. Cream, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers, and the Grateful Dead are all remembered as monsters of classic rock, and all put on stunning live shows.
And then there was the Who. 1970 found the Who at a major turning point in their career. In the previous year the group had finally reached major success with the release of
Tommy, which hit huge both in England and in America. The Who were always known for their live show, and in the mid-60’s they were considered the loudest rock band in the world. Their incredible energy and passion was showcased through the aggression of destroying equipment, namely Pete Townshend smashing his guitar and Moon kicking over his drum set.
Tommy propelled their concerts from loud and bombastic to magical, while still retaining the rock and roll essence of the band. Their shows in 1969 and 1970 entered a completely different element of concerts, one only documented by very few other artists (such as the Allman Brothers on their famous
Live at the Fillmore album in 1971).
Put simply, Live at Leeds is the greatest live rock album ever. Its one of the heaviest and most energetic performances ever captured on tape, and the recording does a Who concert justice by capturing the true element of the band. The crowd noise only contributes to the atmosphere and excitement generated by listening to this record. The sound quality is superb for a live album of its time, and accomplishes the nearly impossible goal of recreating the full Who sound. With Entwistle’s monster bass, Moon’s wall of sound, Townshend’s hammering power chords, and Daltrey’s booming vocals, the Who’s sound was hard to retain when put into a recording.
The roar of the crowd starts the record, along with Entwistle’s four notes and a few hits on Moon’s drums. Out of nowhere the band crashes into
Heaven and Hell, a signature live opener written by Entwistle. The powerful riff and amazing drumming set up the reoccurring sound on this album. Being an Entwistle song, John gives himself a chance to shine. He sings part of the lyrics in the verse and his constant bass fills carry the song into a frenzy of sound, amazingly generated by only three instrumentalists. Townshend, given freedom to do what he wants with Entwistle and Moon behind him, throws in a few solos in short bursts.
Lightening the mood but still retaining the same energy,
I Can’t Explain follows. One of the Who’s more famous songs and an early hit single, it is performed much like the studio version only with a live feel and much more power behind it. Although short, the message gets across, and with authority. Live at Leeds features three more singles played in succession (though at a later point in the running order),
Happy Jack,
I’m a Boy, and
Substitute. Like
I Can’t Explain, all are performed in similar fashion when compared to their studio release, but all still fit well into the live setting. Despite the general serious mood of the concert, these often comical pop songs show the other dimension to the Who, a joking side that they would never lose.
Substitute, unfortunately, runs shorter on this album than the original recording, but the quality makes up for lack of quantity. The song has always featured one of Pete’s more famous riffs, and a great layer of the vocals creates a strong lyrical effect.
Happy Jack gives Moon a chance to show off one of his most unique rhythms in the short catchy tune from the Who’s second album. The vocals harmonize well yet again on this song, making it seem more like a pop song than most other tracks from this album.
I’m a Boy is another humorous song set in a fictional world where parents can choose the gender of their children. The narrative is based on a boy whose parents chose all girls, and the effects and adventures of this boy in their world. The backing vocals here are similar to those heard in
Happy Jack.
Getting back in order,
Fortune Teller is the third song on the album. The song seems to be the only point on the album where the Who come up short, although the song is still great rock and roll. It only suffers from being a little to generic and possibly unknown to Who fans, as it was never released on an album or as a single. Still, Daltrey shines, and near the end a tempo change picks the song up and makes it very intense till the end, when it quickly crashes and Townshend starts the beginning riff to the next song.
Tattoo, the fourth song in the running order, is similar the singles mentioned earlier. The song is perhaps the most interesting choice for this album, for two reasons. First of all,
Tattoo was never a live favorite or even a hit single for the Who. Secondly, the studio version of the song is very soft (especially for the Who) and seems like it would fall out of place with the hard rock of Live at Leeds. The group compensates for that by adding in Moon’s pounding drums and making the song heavier in general, while somehow managing to retain the original nature of the song.
After a short vocal introduction, Pete’s amazing riff comes in and starts a song paralleling the intensity first heard on
Heaven and Hell. The stop-start rhythm at the beginning the defiant power of
Young Man Blues help make it one the best performances on the record. Again, the way Townshend, Entwistle and Moon carry the sound through the instrumental sections of the song is just mind-blowing. The stamina of all the performers (and especially Moon, with his constant thrashing of the drums) is just incredible.
A Quick One, While He’s Away, Townshend’s original “mini-opera” follows after
I’m a Boy. The song is one of the band’s more ambitious works, as they combine several short songs into one long concept. The theme deals with a girl whose man has been away for a long time, and despite her best efforts she ends up cheating on him with an engine driver. When he comes back, however, he ends up forgiving everyone and all is well again. The song is driven by the vocals, which of course tell the story, and the back up vocals which add even more dimension to the track.
Two grinding and powerful Who songs follow,
Summertime Blues and
Shakin’ All Over. Both are classic live songs for the band. Another signature Pete riff starts off
Summertime Blues, and Daltrey’s vocals soon kick in. Entwistle does his classic deep voice (similar to the one from Boris the Spider) to mix things up a bit. Overall, this song is very intense and belongs in the same league as
Heaven and Hell or
Young Man Blues.
Shakin’ All Over is similar to these songs in both force and sound. Probably the most standout aspect of the song are Daltrey’s growling rough vocals, almost similar to his raw sound from the early 60’s.
Regardless of the all the astounding tracks leading up this point, the climax of the album is a 15-minute version of
My Generation, possibly the definite Who song. The band starts the song at a much quicker tempo than the version of 1965. All members shine here, as again the instruments provide a wall of sound, while Daltrey exhibits some of the power that earns him recognition as one of the greatest front-men in rock and roll. Entwistle’s loud and distorted bass shines on his fills in the early part of the song. After only two and a half minutes, the music quickly shifts to the
See Me, Feel Me finale of
Tommy. The track includes a few other pieces of great improvised riffs from Townshend and the band joining in to produce some great rock and roll. The
Sparks/Underture theme is recreated in bits here as well, one of the most powerful parts on a Who performance.
After such a colossal hard rock song, it seems hard to imagine that the Who would decide to end their set with anything else. Interestingly enough, the group decided to end with
Magic Bus, the simple and entertaining single from 1968. The instrumentals are quiet and allow the dueling vocals of Townshend and Daltrey to take center stage. The song is stretched to over double the original length and is quite entertaining to listen to. Eventually Moon gets one last chance to bash his drums as the Who gives the audience one final show of their outstanding force, featuring Roger on harmonica.
Any owner of the single CD will notice that I skipped over
Amazing Journey/Sparks. This is because on the recently released deluxe edition of this album, there is an entire second disc that captures their performance of Tommy almost in its entirety. I will not take the time or the space to review the live documentation of what I feel is one of the greatest albums ever, but I will say a few things about it. First of all, any musical aspect of the studio album that comes up short is fulfilled in the live version. The same energy heard on tracks like
Heaven and Hell,
Young Man Blues, etc can be heard echoing throughout the Tommy set list. Unlike the reserved nature of the album, the songs are played loud and to their fullest potential. Moon plays like he does everywhere on this record, and Daltrey is low and powerful rather than high and melodic. Horns and keyboards are nowhere to be found – they’ve been replaced by just the simple instrumental set of up the Who in a live environment. I personally enjoy the studio complexities of the original Tommy, but to many people the album truly comes alive in concert setting, and it isn’t hard to see why.
To wrap this up, nothing I could say here would be different from what I’ve already said about this album. The power, intensity, and pure raw energy of the group in their prime is really just stunning. For any doubters of the Who’s ability that have only heard their studio material, I strongly encourage you to listen to this album just to get an idea of what the band was capable of. This album is amazing and deserves a perfect score.
5/5.
