Can someone enlighten me? I always hear Get Your Ya Ya’s Out praised as being The Stones greatest live album. The musicianship, to me, is decent, but not noteworthy. What am I missing? Jagger sounds strained and slightly off key at best. Keith’s guitar sounds muffled and also slightly out of tune. Bill’s bass is great, but poorly recorded. Same for Charlie’s drums. Mick Taylor sounds like he’s a very talented 19 year old practicing his lead licks over the best band in the world’s worst recorded live performances. His guitar also sounds muffled to me. The Gimme Shelter film sounds like the same thing to me. And all the songs seem to be in slow motion. What am I missing?

context

sounds like you only have your pre-amp turned on ….



ROCKMAN

No. I have a great surround system. I love the album and the film, but is the sound quality really considered good? Every other live recording they ever released sounds light years ahead of these two to me. It’s puzzled me for years!

I’m watching Shelter on Blu-ray right now. Ike and Tina sound amazing, but it just doesn’t seem to work for The Stones sound.

<Every other live recording they ever released sounds light years ahead of these two to me>

Got Live If You Want It, too? The Paris 1967-show? Live In England '65?

Look, this was their first tour with a PA-system. Early days for big sound systems and good recordings. There aren't many mics to capture Charlie's kit, for instance.

It's the performance that is great.

Maybe,it's ears problem?

So help me please doctor i'm damaged...

The audio quality of this 1969 tour is absolutely great. Great dynamics!

Sounds like him have heap big problem …..



ROCKMAN

Maybe one of the connections to your loudspeakers is out of phase? That would cause the lack of clarity you described. I think this album sounds great considering the year and circumstances under which it was recorded. I believe it was an 8-track 1-inch tape machine and a 16-input mixer. No doubt Keith's guitar was out of tune at some points as was Bill's bass. They usually tuned up bacstage before the show with a strobe tuner and afterwards relied on their ears to re-tune. And PA/monitor system technology was in its infancy in 1969 so I doubt Mick could really hear his own vocals let alone Keith, and at the volume level they played at nobody would notice or care if they were out of tune. And most of the vocals were re-recorded later in the studio. Also keep in mind the shows recorded for GYYYO were at the tail end of a whirlwind tour so naturally the band would sound a little frayed around the edges. It's a great recording of a great performance of a band at the peak of its prowess, IMO.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-28 13:37 by TornAndFried.

D



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-28 12:45 by Palace Revolution 2000.

Did some liquor get spilled on the system?
Yay-Yas has some of Charlie's best sounding snare ever recorded. It is live after all; also before the day of booming reverb on drums. There isn't much out of tune or off key on album.
Maybe, maybe Keith's lead guitar on 'Satisfaction" in movie/ yaya extra outtakes is a bit whiny.

Oh, good call by Tornand Frayed about out of phase on a speaker



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-28 12:46 by Palace Revolution 2000.

You guys are too picky
I remember buying double LP bootleg 'We never really got it until Detroit' packaged in a paper bag
Now that I call bad sound

Sounds Great to me !

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The Joker
You guys are too picky
I remember buying double LP bootleg 'We never really got it until Detroit' packaged in a paper bag
Now that I call bad sound

Or the early versions of "Paris '65' - OMG you talk about speed warble. Forget about the lo quality audio, that was the least of your worries at that point.
There are some '70 shows too; I think Milano and/or Vienna, that are truly epic in their squalor.

…. … try listening to Blind Lemon Jefferson



ROCKMAN

at the exit of get yer, we sought more to know which sound had the group playing live, the tempo faster, the evolution of the piece compared to the studio version, the approach was not audiophile, often it was how could I know how the band sounded overall on stage?
I remember the sound of my first bootleg in 74, "Burning at the Hollywood Palladium 72", the sound was rotten, but this is the first time I heard the pieces of exile on stage, fabulous.

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LovingCupola

context

Best answer so far. Decent sounding recordings of live rock music do not even exist prior to 1967. By 1969 standards, Ya Ya's and Gimme Shelter are state of the art.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-28 15:01 by tatters.

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TornAndFried
Maybe one of the connections to your loudspeakers is out of phase? That would cause the lack of clarity you described. I think this album sounds great considering the year and circumstances under which it was recorded. I believe it was an 8-track 1-inch tape machine and a 16-input mixer. No doubt Keith's guitar was out of tune at some points as was Bill's bass. They usually tuned up bacstage before the show with a strobe tuner and afterwards relied on their ears to re-tune. And PA/monitor system technology was in its infancy in 1969 so I doubt Mick could really hear his own vocals let alone Keith, and at the volume level they played at nobody would notice or care if they were out of tune. And most of the vocals were re-recorded later in the studio. Also keep in mind the shows recorded for GYYYO were at the tail end of a whirlwind tour so naturally the band would sound a little frayed around the edges. It's a great recording of a great performance of a band at the peak of its prowess, IMO.

I think your observations are spot on.
I am a long time audiophile nut and I have listened to Ya Yas through my current system consisting of B & W 803 series speakers, Marantz SA 10's SACD/CD player, and McINtosh amp and pre amp system and Ya Yas (given the time/circumstances that it was recorded in) sounds great for a live album.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-28 15:37 by Sighunt.

I'm not a fan of YaYa's either...I'll take No Security over it any day...

As for the Gimme Shelter film, the sound never bothered me. That version of Wild Horses is my absolute favourite on there (not sure if that's the same one as on the bonus disc of Sticky Fingers).

It's the same version of WH, without the overdubs.

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Sighunt

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TornAndFried
Maybe one of the connections to your loudspeakers is out of phase? That would cause the lack of clarity you described. I think this album sounds great considering the year and circumstances under which it was recorded. I believe it was an 8-track 1-inch tape machine and a 16-input mixer. No doubt Keith's guitar was out of tune at some points as was Bill's bass. They usually tuned up bacstage before the show with a strobe tuner and afterwards relied on their ears to re-tune. And PA/monitor system technology was in its infancy in 1969 so I doubt Mick could really hear his own vocals let alone Keith, and at the volume level they played at nobody would notice or care if they were out of tune. And most of the vocals were re-recorded later in the studio. Also keep in mind the shows recorded for GYYYO were at the tail end of a whirlwind tour so naturally the band would sound a little frayed around the edges. It's a great recording of a great performance of a band at the peak of its prowess, IMO.

I think your observations are spot on.
I am a long time audiophile nut and I have listened to Ya Yas through my current system consisting of B & W 803 series speakers, Marantz SA 10's SACD/CD player, and McINtosh amp and pre amp system and Ya Yas (given the time/circumstances that it was recorded in) sounds great for a live album.

It's pretty well known amongst audiophiles (I'm one myself) that (distorted) music sounds horrible through HI-End set-ups . Acoustic instruments and voice, that's what it's made for, basically.

The live tracks on December’s Children sound so much more alive to my ears. It’s not an out of phase speaker. The recordings in 1969 just seem to take all the life out of the performances to me.

Movie Sound Technology has improved since 1969.

GYYYO is just what rock n roll sounded like in '69, I assume. Personally I think both guitars sound very good, but it's typical of the time period. I remember that friends of mine ca. '80 who only knew how ER or TY or SL sounded, never liked GHS or EOMS or SF when I played those records to them, because they sounded so 'old'. And it is, after all, a live album, recorded at a time when 1. few live albums had been made yet, and b. live albums weren't considered important and didn't sell.

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TheflyingDutchman

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Sighunt

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TornAndFried
Maybe one of the connections to your loudspeakers is out of phase? That would cause the lack of clarity you described. I think this album sounds great considering the year and circumstances under which it was recorded. I believe it was an 8-track 1-inch tape machine and a 16-input mixer. No doubt Keith's guitar was out of tune at some points as was Bill's bass. They usually tuned up bacstage before the show with a strobe tuner and afterwards relied on their ears to re-tune. And PA/monitor system technology was in its infancy in 1969 so I doubt Mick could really hear his own vocals let alone Keith, and at the volume level they played at nobody would notice or care if they were out of tune. And most of the vocals were re-recorded later in the studio. Also keep in mind the shows recorded for GYYYO were at the tail end of a whirlwind tour so naturally the band would sound a little frayed around the edges. It's a great recording of a great performance of a band at the peak of its prowess, IMO.

I think your observations are spot on.
I am a long time audiophile nut and I have listened to Ya Yas through my current system consisting of B & W 803 series speakers, Marantz SA 10's SACD/CD player, and McINtosh amp and pre amp system and Ya Yas (given the time/circumstances that it was recorded in) sounds great for a live album.

It's pretty well known amongst audiophiles (I'm one myself) that (distorted) music sounds horrible through HI-End set-ups . Acoustic instruments and voice, that's what it's made for, basically.

Absolutely! And sadly, high end equipment can pick up imperfections and blemishes of lesser recorded music (garage in, garbage out as my audio dealer used to say), but for what Ya Yas is, it sounds pretty good on my system.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-28 17:50 by Sighunt.

It’s not perfectly recorded and the instruments blend together many times. And it’s still the best sounding live album ever. Perfect with all its imperfections. Little Queenie is more or less a studio fabrication, but it ranks among the very best they’ve ever recorded.

JumpingKentFlash

It's top five best all time live albums, ever. Band of Gypsys. Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East. Bob Marley Live at the Rainbow. David (Bowie) Live. But it is a product of its time and recording capabilities. I was disappointed when I get Ya Yas in SACD. SACD did so much for the studio albums, but there was little difference for Ya Yas.

Out of Tune? I'm not a musician so I can't tell. Bill recorded badly? I hear him, and man it's devastatingly good. (See Live With Me). Charlie was indeed good tonight. Mick Taylor soared. Love it.

In my humble opinion the versions of JJF and SFD are definitive on Ya Ya's. They surpass the studio recordings and any live versions that I have heard since.

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JimmyTheSaint
In my humble opinion the versions of JJF and SFD are definitive on Ya Ya's. They surpass the studio recordings and any live versions that I have heard since.

JJF on Ya Yas lacks both the melody and the intro, though. It's great anyhow, but I have to give a nod to the studio version.