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NICOS
It's more important what is better live then on record Stray Cat Blues for an example........and Carol ..........

true...and Midnight Rambler.

Moonlight Mile, Sway (horrible live versions).
CYHMK (with Ronnie on lead guitar).

And since almost ten years, and especially since 2013 : SFTD... A little nightmare.

The stones are known for their live show, and rightfully so. But I tend to think they are underrated (Oh dear, I said it) as a studio band. As great as their live stuff is, I think a lot of it doesn't surpass the ablum version.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-04-26 23:04 by ryanpow.

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MartinB
IORR. I have never heard a really satisfying live version.

I find the SNL Jagger w the Foo Fighters version turned into something interesting.

You Can't Always Get What You Want
To me they have never been able to capture the studio versions feel. Now that I think about the same can be said of "Let It Bleed". LIB has sort of a barroom drunken feel that all of the live versions I have heard have failed.

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71Tele

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NICOS
It's more important what is better live then on record Stray Cat Blues for an example........and Carol ..........

true...and Midnight Rambler.

+1

Nobody mentioned Start Me Up...
I like some of the 1981/82 live versions but not the the ones from the following years! And I prefer the studio version.

I agree with these mentioned Anybody Seen My Baby, Love Is Strong & Mixed Emotions, for sure. Probably why they stopped playing them so quickly (for the most part). MEZ

l don't know why,but from 69 to 78,the band live would do mostly great versions of their recorded stuff with a great groove to them,but starting in 82 and the whole stadium era,all the songs suffered from a rush to finish,the tempo on most was way to fast,with no groove, like lets just get this over with,and it has continued to this day...

"You know who l am, say it"

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mitch

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MartinB
IORR. I have never heard a really satisfying live version.

I find the SNL Jagger w the Foo Fighters version turned into something interesting.

Yes, that one was better than I've heard it with the stones live.

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treaclefingers

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mitch

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MartinB
IORR. I have never heard a really satisfying live version.

I find the SNL Jagger w the Foo Fighters version turned into something interesting.

Yes, that one was better than I've heard it with the stones live.

I liked " It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It) " best live as a concert closer early on during the A Bigger Bang tour. .......

Extended with extra Chuck Berry style guitar play. The boots from that period probably do not do it justice.

Now,these days,this song could use a break. Replace it with D.L.S. or Time Waits for No One.

Still,I prefer the version from the promo video most. ( Probably over-familiar with the album version. )

Better on record than live ...........

1) MISS YOU

2) Hang Fire >>>> so far in concert ; Maybe they can take another shot at it .

3) Anybody Seen ......

4) Sympathy for the Devil >> post-1970 ( Especially these days. )


Rocks Off sounded great to me in 2006. It actually sounded pretty good
on the Licks Tour as well,just not the 1 version from Twickenham on August 24th,2003
used on Four Flicks and the same version used edited on Live Licks . They should not
have selected that version for official release. Maybe it was difficult to avoid using it for
the concert film but,with a little effort,they could have produced a different rendition for
the Live Licks CD set.

I think over-all the Stones perfected the art of making records in their 'golden era' that I don't think there is not many songs, if any, that can be called being bettered when doing live. The stuff from BEGGARS BANQUET to EXILE ON MAIN STREET, including singles, it is just so strong and perfect by their own terms. In best cases, the songs got a new life, almost like a double existence, in their live shows, but still I wouldn't call them 'better' (even though sometimes as good), since the originals were so striking. Just different. Probably some cases, such as "Love In Vain" and especially "Midnight Rambler", the live versions had such a new life of their own, that one could say the live versions are more significiant.

It is not until certain weaknesses started to occur in their recorded output, that the whole issue started to make sense (that the originals had some problems in them, which were straightened out by playing them live). Thinking of "Dancing With Mr. D", maybe "If You Can't Rock Me", "Dance Little Sister".. I think this tendency has continued ever since ("Mighty Get Juiced", "Streets of Love"), but still I think bulk of the material they have done in studio has been so perfect that the idea of them sounding better live is a bit odd. I mean how "Angie", "Miss You" or "Start Me Up" can sound any better than they do in their original versions? Probably some SOME GIRLS era rockers have so much live potential, which was realized better in a hot night due the nature of the numbers (a'la "When The Whip Comes Down"), but then again, when the band seemingly lost some of their earlier energy, I think they could not do such justice for tracks like "Sad Sad Sad" or "Love Is Strong".

So nothing to take out of this thread, but I think it would be easier to ask which songs are better as live versions... The list is shorter... But, of course, it is all up to one's taste...

- Doxa

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treaclefingers

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mitch

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MartinB
IORR. I have never heard a really satisfying live version.

I find the SNL Jagger w the Foo Fighters version turned into something interesting.

Yes, that one was better than I've heard it with the stones live.

The SNL version reminds me of how it sounded in the 70's.

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latebloomer

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Bastion

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HonkeyTonkFlash
I suppose I'll be in the minority here but I prefer live versions of any Stones song. Don't get me wrong, the studio versions are great, but even if they are technically greater than the live versions, there's something about live Stones that just knocks me out; that energy, the roar of the crowd - it all reminds me of what a gas actually being at a Stones concert is all about.

I'll go with this.

Me too!

+1

Everything on Beggars Banquet is better on that album, although some live versions (such as Sympathy, Street Fighting Man and Stray Cat Blues on Ya-Ya's) have been fantastic.

One Hit To The Body is great in the studio, lots of layers...couldn't quite capture that live....although they only played it a few times here and there.

Most everything except Street Fighting Man 69-72/3.

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Doxa
I think over-all the Stones perfected the art of making records in their 'golden era' that I don't think there is not many songs, if any, that can be called being bettered when doing live. The stuff from BEGGARS BANQUET to EXILE ON MAIN STREET, including singles, it is just so strong and perfect by their own terms. In best cases, the songs got a new life, almost like a double existence, in their live shows, but still I wouldn't call them 'better' (even though sometimes as good), since the originals were so striking. Just different. Probably some cases, such as "Love In Vain" and especially "Midnight Rambler", the live versions had such a new life of their own, that one could say the live versions are more significiant.

It is not until certain weaknesses started to occur in their recorded output, that the whole issue started to make sense (that the originals had some problems in them, which were straightened out by playing them live). Thinking of "Dancing With Mr. D", maybe "If You Can't Rock Me", "Dance Little Sister".. I think this tendency has continued ever since ("Mighty Get Juiced", "Streets of Love"), but still I think bulk of the material they have done in studio has been so perfect that the idea of them sounding better live is a bit odd. I mean how "Angie", "Miss You" or "Start Me Up" can sound any better than they do in their original versions? Probably some SOME GIRLS era rockers have so much live potential, which was realized better in a hot night due the nature of the numbers (a'la "When The Whip Comes Down"), but then again, when the band seemingly lost some of their earlier energy, I think they could not do such justice for tracks like "Sad Sad Sad" or "Love Is Strong".

So nothing to take out of this thread, but I think it would be easier to ask which songs are better as live versions... The list is shorter... But, of course, it is all up to one's taste...

- Doxa

I think that what you point out is pretty accurate for me as well. With the exception of Midnight Rambler, which has taken on a life of its own in concert (and in my estimation makes the studio version sound plodding in comparison), I can't really say that the live versions of many of their songs (especially from the classic era of 1968-72) trump their studio jobs. Many of the Stones best studio tracks typically had multi-layers of musicianship consisting of additional instruments/added vocals, etc. that didn't carry over to the concert stage. Not until the Steel Wheels over-production era did the warhorses begin to really sound like their studio counterparts with the advent of additional musicians, new technology, and new arrangements of these classics (Sympathy for the Devil, You Can't Always Get What You Want, Gimme Shelter, etc).

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dandelion1967
Nobody said Angie yet? A true studio gem and a very low live number.

They did a great but very different live Version during the 1973 Tour of Europe. I like both Versions as well.

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MartinB
IORR. I have never heard a really satisfying live version.

+1

cause Mick's vocal, how he use to sing it (whispering ...etc), was fantastic on the studio version ... nothing magic like that on any live version ...

Might As Well Get Juiced.

Let Me Go, on record, on "Emotional Rescue", a perfect rocker, live 81/82 rather lame ..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-04-28 16:43 by RobertJohnson.

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RobertJohnson
Let Me Go, on record, on "Emotional Rescue", a perfect rocker, live 81/82 rather lame ..

I would have agreed with this ..... until the official Leeds '82 recording was issued.

There is some guitar work in there by Richards worth very honorable mention.

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RoughJusticeOnYa
Might As Well Get Juiced.

For me,the studio version of " Might As Well Get Juiced " is very hard to listen to most of the time.

I much prefer the 1 live version from New York City despite some minor issues. It is unfortunate that they didn't play it a few more times in '98 / '99 .

(I could say the same thing about the recent performance of Silver Train.)

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Winning Ugly VXII

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RobertJohnson
Let Me Go, on record, on "Emotional Rescue", a perfect rocker, live 81/82 rather lame ..

I would have agreed with this ..... until the official Leeds '82 recording was issued.

There is some guitar work in there by Richards worth very honorable mention.

Without any doubt ...

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ROPS
l don't know why,but from 69 to 78,the band live would do mostly great versions of their recorded stuff with a great groove to them,but starting in 82 and the whole stadium era,all the songs suffered from a rush to finish,the tempo on most was way to fast,with no groove, like lets just get this over with,and it has continued to this day...

...except that it hasn't continued to this day at all? The songs are currently being played the slowest they've ever been played live, which isn't surprising at their age. They haven't played the songs in the coked-out manner they did in 81-82 *since* 81-82.

I agree with Doxa and Sighunt, it would be easier to make a list of songs better live than in record and the list would be much shorter. Most songs sound better on records. Notable exceptions are: Midnight Rambler, Love In Vain, You Gotta Move (occasionally), When The Whip Comes Down (late 70s, early 80's), You Got Me Rocking.
Little Queenie on Get Yer Ya Ya's also sounds better than anyone live or on record ever played it.

"Under my Thumb"(Altamont)has such a great groove to it,that for me it beats the recorded version.....

"You know who l am, say it"

MISS YOU