THE WHO "Live At Leeds" 1970 UK 1st PRESS - 12 INSERTS

	£		46
	$		61

THE WHO "Live At Leeds" 1970 UK 1st PRESS w/12 INSERTS
SUPERB 'RED STAMP' McNeill GF, A1-B3 MATRIX, TOP AUDIO


THE WHO
Live At Leeds

HERE WE HAVE AN EXCELLENT, UK TRACK (2406 001) ORIGINAL PRESSING (May 1970) OF THE WHO'S TREMENDOUS "Live At Leeds" LP - CONSISTENTLY VOTED THE GREATEST LIVE ALBUM EVER MADE

THE LP, DESIGNED TO LOOK LIKE A BOOTLEG, HAS PLAIN WHITE LABELS WITH HANDWRITTEN TRACK LISTING, MATRIX: 2406001 A//1 / 2406001 B//3 AND IS HOUSED A THIN CARD GATEFOLD SLEEVE STAPLED TO CREATE TWO POCKETS FOR THE RECORD AND INSERTS "Printed and made by MacNeill Press Ltd., London, S.E.1"
ALL 12 INSERTS ARE PRESENT INCLUDING THE OFTEN ELUSIVE 'MAXIMUM R&B' POSTER

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 worthwhile at the one show. As it turned out, even here they generated an embarrassment of riches -- the band did all of Tommy, as audiences of the time would have expected (and, indeed, demanded), but as the opera was already starting to feel like an albatross hanging around the collective neck of the band (and especially Townshend), they opted to leave out any part of their most famous work apart from a few instrumental strains in one of the jams. Instead, the original LP was limited to the six tracks named, and that was more than fine as far as anyone cared.

And fans who bought the original LP got a package of extra treats for their money. The original album's plain brown sleeve was, itself, a nod and nudge to the bootleggers, resembling the packaging of such early underground LP classics as the Bob Dylan Great White Wonder set and the Rolling Stones concert bootleg Liver Than You'll Ever Be, from the latter group's 1969 tour -- and it was a sign of just how far the Who had come in just two years that they could possibly (and correctly) equate interest in their work as being on a par with Dylan and the Stones. But Live at Leeds' jacket was a foldout sleeve with a pocket that contained a package of memorabilia associated with the band, including a really cool poster, copies of early contracts, etc. It was, along with Tommy, the first truly good job of packaging for this band ever to come from Track Records; the label even chose to forgo its usual black/silver label, carrying the bootleg pose to the plain label and handwritten song titles, and the note about not correcting the clicks and pops. At the time, you just bought this as a fan, but looking back 30 or 40 years on, those now seem to be quietly heady days for the band (and for fans who had supported them for years), finally seeing the music world and millions of listeners catch up.


Track Listing:
Side 1: YOUNG MAN / SUBSTITUTE / SUMMERTIME BLUES / SHAKIN' ALL OVER
Side 2: MY GENERATION BLUES / MAGIC BUS

LABELS: The labels are in SUPERB condition - CLEAN and BRIGHT with NO unwanted marks/writing and only some light spindle traces evident when angled under a bright light
VINYL Visual: The vinyl still retains its original DEEP, GLOSSY SHEEN. There are a couple of superficial light marks (on Side Two) but these have NO major audio consequence WHATSOEVER
VINYL Audio: OUTSTANDING audio delivery - CRYSTAL CLEAR, VERY SHARP and VERY STRONG. TREMENDOUS POWERFUL SOUND. Continuing the 'bootleg' theme it is unclear how much of the occasional crackle and surface noise is actually meant to appear on this record (the label does state: "CRACKLING NOISES OK, DO NOT CORRECT") and there are NO scratches, NO jumps, NO sticks. The audio delivery is OUTSTANDING THROUGHOUT. Plays BEAUTIFULLY with GREAT CLARITY, NO distortion and NO groove-wear. Must be graded EXCELLENT to (+) for audio (but it could be better if the occasional crackle is intentional!!!!)
SLEEVE: The 'bootleg' cover is in BEAUTIFUL condition. Very hard to find this original sleeve in much better condition than this as it is so easily worn and even split along the gatefold edge. This copy is however, GOOD and SOLID with little wear and NO splits. The original owner has (very neatly) written out the track listing on the inside of the gatefold (see pics) but that almost looks like it was meant to be there and fits in perfectly with the 'bootleg' design
INSERTS: All 12 inserts are in GREAT condition with little evidence of being handled

PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I USUALLY TAKE QUITE A FEW SO YOU CAN GET A CLEAR INDICATION OF EVERY DETAIL OF THE ITEM
THIS REALLY IS AN EXCELLENT COPY!! AND AS A UK ORIGINAL PRESSING COMPLETE WITH ALL 12 INSERTS - VERY NICE!!!
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PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER AUCTIONS FOR MORE RARE AND COLLECTABLE VINYL
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THANKS FOR LOOKING, CHEERS

POST & PACKING
UK: 1st Class: £4.00 (Recorded Delivery)
EU: Airmail: £5.00 (Insured & Signed For: £8.50)
INTERNATIONAL: Airmail: £8.00 (Insured & Signed For: £11.50)

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 236 (GS 5.0.3 (236))