With mod-pop classics “Substitute” and “I Can’t Explain” bleeding into a slew of well-traveled covers including Mose Allison’s “Young Man Blues”, it set a standard, first and foremost, as a dazzling display of collective power and skill. To its enduring benefit, there’s no great mystery to unravel on Live at Leeds. Setting the pace for the heady ebb and flow of hits, standards, and camaraderie that defined the set’s full 33-song trajectory, few openers have felt quite as emphatic since. A John Entwistle-penned overture to everlasting life and refrains like “Why can’t we have eternal life/ And never die?” double as war whoops to immortal youth. Presented in nothing more than a stark, yellow sleeve bearing the band’s name (a direct nod to the look of late-1960s LP bootlegs and a send-up of The Rolling Stones’ Live’r Than You’ll Ever Be), Live at Leeds is seismic from the second “Heaven and Hell” erupts. Leaping into a decade that would, for better and worse, irrevocably alter their course for good, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Keith Moon ,and Townshend - flanked by 4 x 12 cabinets running through two 100 watt amplifiers - were no longer interested in showing up simply to compete. While the likes of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple continued to assert their own clout at the heavier side of the spectrum, in its molten weight and sheer roaring din, Live at Leeds was much less a statement of intent and more a declaration of preeminence from The Who. Though they may not have known it at the time, The Who were making music history. Initially mixed down as a six-track release and let loose unto the world three months later, largely as a stop-gap until Townshend could pen a worthy successor to Tommy (blessedly, that would be 1971’s Who’s Next), Live at Leeds didn’t capture the freak wave of a band unexpectedly hitting their stride: it revealed four musicians riding an alchemical, generation-spanning high of their very own design. Informed by an increased desire to beat the bootleggers pocketing from their art, Pridden was directed to roll the tapes once more when The Who stopped off at the 2,000-capacity University of Leeds, England, on Valentine’s Day 1970. I said, ‘Fuck that, I’m not going to sit though 80 hours of live stuff.’ Let’s face it, you’d get brainwashed. “When we got back, we had 80 hours of tape. “We thought that we would get the best material,” Townshend told Rolling Stone at the time. Impulsive and perfectionist in equal measure, Townshend was never satisfied with the results and ordered the band’s sound man, Bob Pridden, to burn the tapes. slot at Woodstock immortalising the spectacle of their peak-era live show, it seemed like high time to begin taping concerts for a possible live album. As the ’60s ground to a halt, and with a seminal 5 a.m. With FM-friendly Tommy A-sides “Pinball Wizard” and “I’m Free” refining their “maximum R&B” down to proto prog-inflected rock, The Who found themselves zig-zagging across the world, topping major festival bills and - full testament to their expanding appeal at the time - packing sold-out opera houses. In what must have seemed like the blink of an eye, the rock opera was born, and, with it, Pete Townshend ascended to his throne, the last high king of 1960s counterculture. With Tommy selling 200,000 copies in the first two weeks in the US alone, it was a remarkable turnaround for a band who, only a few months earlier, neared bankruptcy and calling it a day. Back from the brink, The Who are bigger than they ever imagined possible. Brian Coney’s excellent editorial, which ran in May 2020 for the 50th anniversary of the record’s release, will explain why Live at Leeds remains arguably the greatest live rock and roll recording of all time. It’s the only official live album that features the band’s classic lineup. Editor’s Note: The Who’s Live at Leeds was recorded on February 14th, 1970.
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