June 1, 1974: Ayers, Cale, Eno, Nico

Love all of these artists, especially Kevin Ayers, but this album is a major let-down IMO, have listened to the Ayers side twice and not going to bother again. The Eno tracks are fine, no real interesting difference from the studio versions. John Cale does something halfway interesting with Hearbreak Hotel but I don't actively like it. So have to go for Nico"s unintentionally hilarious version of The End by The Doors, as it's the only thing I cone back to here.

The best thing about this album is the cover photo and the way Cale and Ayers look at each other after the former caught his girlfriend in bed with the latter.

that bugger with the short sleeves

one of the very first rock ("rock") LPs I owned for some inexplicable reason

(even more inexplicable: the actual first was slapp happy's slapp happy -- deprecated virgin rerecord, which to this day i prefer to the faust version -- and i vividly remember standing in the shop, which was durrants records at the top of shrewsbury's wyle cop, trying to decide between slapp happy and metal machine music)

anyway i still own slapp happy and have not owned ACNE since the mid-80s, mainly bcz like very nearly all 70s live albs it sucks immensely

OTM about Slapp Happy's Slapp Happy.

hard disagree re: the orchestral Slapp Happy!

70's live albums that don't suck: Waiting For Columbus

I think that's it

oh and It's Alive ofc

I laughed out loud at Nico's "The End". (To be fair, the source material is dire).

801 Live does not suck.

Throbbing Gristle, "At the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton", does not suck.

"number two: kiss alive1"

Kool and the Gang live at the Sex Machine and Curtis/Live! don’t suck.Though soul, funk and r&b acts have a much better hit rate.

Allman Bros. at Fillmore East doesn't suck, Roxy and Elsewhere doesn't suck.

Having Fun With Elvis Onstage

May 31, 1974: Having Fun with Miss Cindy Offstage

regarding which:

the former caught his girlfriend in bed with the latter.

According to Cale's book, he didn't catch them in flagrante delicto; he had suspicions, and asked Ayers, "between gentlemen", to confirm whether "such-and-such" had happened.

I briefly listened to this album in 1991 while a radio station volunteer, and was struck by the vigour of the version of "Driving Me Backwards", which seems like such a studio-bound track. It was the standout when I finally listened to the whole record today, though I'll listen again before voting.

I was thinking that Ayers's guest guitarist Mike Oldfield, only a year after Tubular Bells, had probably already outsold every act on the bill by an order of magnitude.

yes I voted Eno specifically because I think that track comes across better than on the LP, a bit more concise

meet me in the back of the

BUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSS

Oh, and that thing where "every photo had Cale glaring at Ayers.

Except, no there's a few that don't.

bill withers live at carnegie hall doesn’t suck

(xp) John Cale glared at everyone in the 70s.

Especially Bill Withers.

if someone had started a thread looking for great 70s live albums it would probably have less great 70s live albums than this thread

I was uncertain about when they each first released albums on Island. Here's the 1974 timeline:

February: Here Come the Warm Jets
May: The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories
October: Fear
November: The End... and Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)

There hadn't been very much in Cale's solo/collaborative career from 1970 to 1973 that would have predicted the aggressive and hysterical elements of his Island albums. Probably a lot of listeners thought he left that element of his music back with the Velvet Underground, so Cale's Elvis deconstruction might have surprised fans of Paris 1919 or his instrumental albums.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

would've participated had Jeff Lynne and George Harrison been involved

I bought this in 1976 at the height of my unquestioning Ayers fandom; by the time that Mananas came out, I’d got all the albums, first Soft Machine, Lady June, the lot. I couldn’t get on with Side One at all: my first exposure to solo Eno, but I found his voice grating and I never revised that opinion. Apart from a ragged Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes, I’ve always enjoyed Side Two: it has a sense of occasion, I can feel the mood of the room, and Oldfield’s solo is great. I finally got to see Ayers at the same venue in 1980 - supporting the Little River Band, FFS - and it was grimly disillusioning, a sad echo of a former high point.