 | Ellington At Newport 1956 by Duke Ellington
Buy new: $15.93 / Used from: $8.90 When Duke Ellington took his orchestra to the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956, the band was in need of an uplift ... and got it. "Diminuendo in Blue" with set-closer "Crescendo in Blue" tacked on the end where saxophonist Paul Gonsalves created the most famous sax solo in jazz history.
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 | Live at the Apollo by James Brown
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $4.17 The hardest-working-man-in-show- business proves he deserves the title. Brown was born in the hometown in which I graduated high school, Barnwell, SC. Barnwell's other claims to fame are Cliff Hollingsworth, who wrote the screenplay for the movie Cinderella Man starring Russell Crowe, and the birthplace of Henry Wallace, convicted serial killer of nine women in Charlotte, NC in 1993.
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 | At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $3.47 One of the seminal events in country (and popular) music. By turns funny, maudlin, rocking but always with attitude. This LP paved the way for Waylon, Willie and the Outlaw music of the 1970s. Rolicking versions of "Cocaine Blues" and "Twenty-four Minutes to Go," one of the greatest execution songs ever written.
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 | Live at Leeds by The Who
Buy new: $9.99 / Used from: $3.50 Four guys, three instruments and a wall of noise. Loud, loud and louder! Heavy metal bands are still trying match this. You can almost visualize Townsend's trademark pinwheel guitar playing and Roger Daltrey swinging the mic like a lariat.
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 | Mad Dogs & Englishmen by Joe Cocker
Buy new: $11.99 / Used from: $7.76 Recorded live at New York's Fillmore East in the spring of 1970 the bandleader is Leon Russell, playing some of the best rock piano ever waxed. And the rhythm section become known as Derek & the Dominoes
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 | Fillmore East: June 1971 by Frank Zappa & the Mothers
Buy used from: $12.99 This was a quick peek behind the curtain of the life of a rock band on the road as narrated by Frank Zappa. Frank and the Mothers portray stereotypically egotistical members of a rock band "negotiating" with a groupie and her girlfriends for a quick roll in the hay. One of the funniest LPs ever!
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 | Made in Japan by Deep Purple
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $3.50 This is often in the top five in "Greatest Live Album" lists. One listen you will understand why. Definitive heavy metal with master musicians.
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 | On Your Feet or on Your Knees by Blue Öyster Cult
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $4.99 As non-mainstream (for the 70s) as this music was, "On Your Feet Or On Your Knees" was Blue Oyster Cult's first album to break into the Top 30, a stunning document of the innovations to come. Sonic bombast on par with their obvious model, the aforementioned "Made In Japan." Bands like Judas Priest and Dokken built a career copying this model.
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 | Frampton Comes Alive! (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) by Peter Frampton
Buy new: $26.99 / Used from: $12.90 What else do you need to know? The album became the biggest selling live album at the time of its release. 6 million copies in the US, and 16 million worldwide and stayed on the Billboard charts in total for 97 weeks. It was so successful it took Frampton almost 20 years to recover professionally.
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 | Live Bullet by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $5.98 Frampton got most of the sales records and press, but Live Bullet stands the test as one of the all time great live recordings. Bob Seger is one of the best songwriters in rock and roll, and one of the greatest vocalists also ...
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 | One More from the Road by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Buy new: $26.99 / Used from: $19.95 Again, one of the greatest live recordings of one of the all time great bands. Those of who that have only seen the current version of Skynyrd have NO IDEA how great the original line-up was on stage. Happy that I got to see them twice. In 1976, and the next year, in their next-to-the-last performance before the fatal plane crash.
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 | Seconds Out by Genesis
Buy new: $22.99 / Used from: $14.96 The last great Genesis LP before they became nothing more than Phil Collins' back-up band. If you can only own one Genesis release ... this is the one. It includes an amazing version of the 29 minute end-of-the-world opus "Supper's Ready".
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 | The Last Waltz by The Band
Buy new: $22.99 / Used from: $9.63 How amazing can live performances get? The Band's last performance with guest stars galore - my personal favorite being Dr. John. This is also one of the great concert movies.
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 | Waiting for Columbus by Little Feat
Buy new: $14.98 / Used from: $2.89 The funkiest bunch of west coast (mostly) white guys. Smoking hot versions of Little Feat classics like 'Fat Man In The Bathtub", "Dixie Chicken" and "Oh Atlanta." Lowell George's last great performance.
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 | Live and Dangerous by Thin Lizzy
Buy new: $19.99 / Used from: $3.87 These guys may qualify as the greatest rock and roll band that ALMOST made it. Sure, everybody has heard "The Boys Are Back In Town", but Lizzy is so much more. Phil Lynott was the Irish Springsteen / Seger. Guitarist Brian Roberson later provided guitar fireworks for Motorhead. One of my regrets is that I never got to see these guys live.
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 | Full House: Aces High by The Amazing Rhythm Aces
Buy new: $38.99 / Used from: $12.43 I may have listened to this LP more than any other live recording! This has been responsible for kicking more parties into high gear, and provided the greatest soundtrack for cruising. God bless the Aces.
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