Though already celebrated as one of rock's greatest drummers from a three-year run in Cream and Blind Faith, Ginger Baker's curiosity brought him from England to war-embattled Nigeria to learn more about rhythm. "I don't dance," he said about hearing his old friend Fela Kuti's new band Africa 70, "but I just had to dance to […]

Though many of his phases have great live albums to complement them, Roxy & Elsewhere is the apotheosis of mid-Seventies Zappa, oozing proof of his ability to recruit a first-rate ensemble (keyboardist George Duke, percussionist Ruth Underwood and, um, guitarist Frank Zappa), to follow through with unorthodox methods (he seamlessly collates recordings from Hollywood with ones from "elsewhere," occasionally editing […]

This rainy Friday night in October 1972 was less than a year and a half after Bill Withers' commercial breakthrough allowed him to quit a day job in an aircraft parts factory, but the rising soul star holds the stage at one of the world's most prestigious venues like a seasoned pro. Withers reminisces about his […]

Bob Seger had released eight albums and had been on the road for nearly a solid decade when he played Detroit's Cobo Hall on September 4th, 1974 — but he was still largely unknown outside of the Midwest. The main problem was that he simply couldn't capture the magic of his stage show on in a […]

Led Zeppelin are undoubtedly one of the greatest live acts of the 1970s, but their only live album from the era — the soundtrack to 1976's The Song Remains The Same — captured them on a rather limp night. This situation was finally resolved in 2003 when Jimmy Page combed through hours of tapes from the band's 1972 […]

Blues guitarist Mick Taylor had joined the Rolling Stones in 1969, and they entered a new deep groove, one sparked by guitars nipping each other like wolverines in a barrel. The concept of Ya-Ya's was just to document their brilliant sound: "It's about as un-tampered with as possible," Keith Richards said. Live, every part of the band was […]

Recorded at one of the Hamburg clubs where the Beatles cut their teeth two years earlier, Live at the Star Club remains one of the most electrifying performances from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's inaugural class. The concert took place six years after the rock icon's career plummeted after the public learned he had married his […]

Strip away the fuzz and bluster and Nirvana were nothing but raw emotion. For a taping of MTV's Unplugged series, they gave the most legendary performance of their brief career, stripping down deep cuts and select covers to acoustic guitars, softly played drums and Kurt Cobain's gravelly, heartbreaking voice. Special guests and underground heroes the Meat Puppets joined […]

A guy who once said "I cannot allow myself anything less than to produce the best live LP ever," Bruce Springsteen had a lot to prove on his first live album. He had built a reputation around his live shows, and when it came time to illustrate the point on record, he thought big: assembling 40 songs spanning Hollywood […]

Steppin' Out was the original title of this triple-vinyl distillation of the Dead's first extended European tour. With Bill Kreutzmann masterfully drumming alone following the resignation of Mickey Hart, and augmented the previous fall by Keith Godchaux's elegant piano, the Dead leaned toward the pared-down sound they'd perfected on their previous studio albums, Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. Indeed, Europe […]