Items18The creator’s order
  1. 1Live at the ApolloLive at the ApolloThe 1962 Apollo performance, first released in 1963, makes the Harlem audience part of the record. On “Lost Someone,” Brown keeps the band close while he speaks and sings to the room. The late-set medley turns familiar songs into a single stretch of momentum. Listen through both sides to hear how…0
  2. 2Live at the Regal (1965)Live at the Regal (1965)Released Jan 1, 1965King treats the audience at Chicago’s Regal Theater like another voice in the band. The guitar answers him on “Sweet Little Angel,” and the room answers too. “How Blue Can You Get?” shows what he can do with a pause before the payoff. The exchanges are part of the timing you’re listening for.0
  3. 3At Folsom Prison (1968)At Folsom Prison (1968)Released Jan 1, 1968The original 16-track sequence opens with “Folsom Prison Blues” and ends with “Greystone Chapel,” written by Folsom inmate Glen Sherley. In between, jokes, spoken remarks, and June Carter’s entrance on “Jackson” shape the pace. The last song gives the people Cash is singing to a place in the set…0
  4. 4’Nuff Said!’Nuff Said!Much of this album comes from the Westbury Music Fair performance three days after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. “Why? (The King of Love Is Dead),” written by bassist Gene Taylor, is the reason to hear that concert in context. The album also contains studio tracks, but the performance at…0
  5. 5Band of Gypsys (1970)Band of Gypsys (1970)Released Jan 1, 1970The six-track Fillmore East album catches Hendrix with Billy Cox and Buddy Miles playing material that gave the trio a sound of its own. Hear how long the groove holds on “Who Knows,” then how much space it leaves for the guitar’s changing textures on “Machine Gun.” The record has the feel of…0
  6. 6Live!Live!The original four tracks were played live at Abbey Road in front of invited listeners. “Let’s Start” gives you time to hear the layers settle together before the voices arrive. Follow the percussion through “Black Man’s Cry” and hear how the band can keep a pattern steady while the accents around…0
  7. 7LiveLiveThe original eight tracks bring together shows at the Troubadour in Hollywood and the Bitter End in New York. The crowd takes up the chorus of “You’ve Got a Friend,” and the long “The Ghetto” makes room for another exchange. Hathaway and the band leave enough space for the listeners to affect the…0
  8. 8Amazing Grace (1972)Amazing Grace (1972)Released Jan 1, 1972At New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, Franklin sings with the Southern California Community Choir and the Rev. James Cleveland. Listen for how the choir answers on “Mary, Don’t You Weep,” then hear how far Franklin stretches a phrase on the title hymn. The original two-LP program…0
  9. 9Live at Carnegie Hall (1973)Live at Carnegie Hall (1973)Released Jan 1, 1973“Use Me” opens up into an eight-minute groove on the album. Later, Withers explains the situation behind “I Can’t Write Left-Handed” before he sings it. That change from playing with the band to speaking straight to the room gives the set a pace all its own.0
  10. 10Shadows and Light (1980)Shadows and Light (1980)Released Jan 1, 1980At the Santa Barbara County Bowl, Mitchell brings a band with Jaco Pastorius on bass and Pat Metheny on guitar into songs written for different studio settings. Follow the quick turns in “The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines,” then hear the Persuasions’ voices take over the texture of “Shadows and…0