Who Live At Leeds CD

The Who: Roger Daltrey (vocals, harmonica), Pete Townshend (guitar, vocals), John Entwistle (bass, vocals), Keith Moon (drums).
Reissue producer: Jon Astley.
Recorded live at Leeds University, Leeds, England on February 14, 1970. Includes liner notes by Chris Charlesworth. Originally released on Decca (79175) in May 1970.
All songs written by members of The Who except "Fortune Teller" (Naomi Neville), "Young Man Blues" (Mose Allison), "Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran/Jerry Capehart) and "Shakin' All Over" (Johnny Kidd).
The Who: Pete Townshend (vocals, guitar); Roger Daltrey (vocals, harmonica); John Entwistle (vocals, bass); Keith Moon (drums).
Producer: The Who.
Reissue producer: Jon Astley.
Recorded live on February 4, 1970. Includes liner notes by Chris Charlesworth.
This 2-CD Deluxe Edition of LIVE AT LEEDS, recorded on February 14, 1970, contains the entire show including all of TOMMY which was previously unreleased.
The Who: Pete Townshend (vocals, guitar); Roger Daltrey (vocals, harmonica); John Entwistle (vocals, bass); Keith Moon (drums).
Reissue producer: Jon Astley.
Recorded live at Leeds University, Leeds, England on February 14, 1970. Originally released on Decca (79175) in May 1970.
Digitally remastered by Jon Astley.
The Who: Roger Daltrey (vocals, harmonica); Pete Townshend (guitar, background vocals); John Entwistle (bass instrument, background vocals); Keith Moon (drums).
Rushed out in 1970 as a way to bide time as the Who toiled away on their follow-up to Tommy, Live at Leeds wasn't intended to be the definitive Who live album, and many collectors maintain that the band had better shows available on bootlegs. But those shows weren't easily available whereas Live at Leeds was, and even if this show may not have been the absolute best, it's so damn close to it that it would be impossible for anybody but aficionados to argue. Here, the Who sound vicious -- as heavy as Led Zeppelin but twice as volatile -- as they careen through early classics with the confidence of a band that finally achieved acclaim but had yet to become preoccupied with making art. In that regard, this recording -- in its many different forms -- may have been perfectly timed in terms of capturing the band at a pivotal moment in its history.
There is certainly no better record of how this band was a volcano of violence on-stage, teetering on the edge of chaos but never blowing apart. This was most true on the original LP, which was a trim six tracks, three of them covers ("Young Man Blues," "Summertime Blues," "Shakin' All Over") and three originals from the mid-'60s, two of those ("Substitute," "My Generation") vintage parts of their repertory and only "Magic Bus" representing anything resembling a recent original, with none bearing a trace of its mod roots. This was pure, distilled power, all the better for its brevity; throughout the '70s the album was seen as one of the gold standards in live rock & roll, and certainly it had a fury that no proper Who studio album achieved. It was also notable as one of the earliest legitimate albums to implicitly acknowledge -- and go head to head with -- the existence of bootleg LPs. Indeed, its very existence owed something to the efforts of Pete Townshend and company to stymie the bootleggers.
The Who had made extensive recordings of performances along their 1969 tour, with the intention of preparing a live album from that material, but they recognized when it was over that none of them had the time or patience to go through the many dozens of hours of live performances in order to sort out what to use for the proposed album. According to one account, the band destroyed those tapes in a massive bonfire, so that none of the material would ever surface without permission. They then decided to go to the other extreme in preparing a live album, scheduling this concert at Leeds University and arranging the taping, determined to do enough that was worthwhileRolling Stone (12/11/03, p.136) - Ranked #170 in Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time"
Rolling Stone (7/9/70, p.40) - "...a tour-de-force of the rock and roll imagination....The album is a document, as it ought to be..."
Rolling Stone (4/6/95, p.62) - "...the newly remastered LIVE AT LEEDS comes across as a great live show that happens to include some singles-quality material..."
Entertainment Weekly (2/17/95, p.59) - "...Few bands ever moved a mountain of sound around with this much dexterity and power. If you ever wondered what made these guys a big deal, here's where to find out..." - Rating: A+
Village Voice (2/20/96) - Ranked #6 on the Reissues list of Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.