Too many live cds coming in the same time (in France)

[tontonfranck]

Hi people.

I recently discovered here (in France) a lot of new JA live albums.
I'd need your opinion about them all before buying.
Are they official?
Is the sound ok?
Were the shows good?
etc...

At The Family Dog Ballroom
http://www.amazon.fr/Family-Dog-Ballroo ... 474&sr=1-9

Sweeping Up the Spotlight: Jefferson Airplane Live at the Fillmore East 1969
http://www.amazon.fr/Sweeping-Up-Spotli ... 74&sr=1-10

Last Flight
http://www.amazon.fr/Last-Flight-Jeffer ... 90&sr=1-13

At Golden Gate Park
http://www.amazon.fr/Golden-Gate-Park-J ... 90&sr=1-16

Flight Box
http://www.amazon.fr/Flight-Box-Jeffers ... 90&sr=1-20

Cleared For Take Off [Best of] [Live]
http://www.amazon.fr/Cleared-Take-Off-J ... 58&sr=1-32

Feed Your Head - Live 67/69 [Best of] [Live]
http://www.amazon.fr/Feed-Your-Head-Liv ... 01&sr=1-46

Live at the Fillmore East
http://www.amazon.fr/Live-Fillmore-East ... 62&sr=1-54

There are so many best of live or different versions of one single show (I can see 5 or 6 Monterey and the one I bought 15 years ago is not in the list)
And my bad english can't help me to find the really important CD to get so please people, help me to make my choices.

Thanks

[Dormouse]

Bonjour!

Here are my thoughts on the albums:

At The Family Dog Ballroom
An absolute must have. They play an amazing version of Ballad that leads into the beautiful Starship song.

Sweeping Up the Spotlight: Jefferson Airplane Live at the Fillmore East 1969
Nice, but its kind of forgettable. The only thing that stands out is a cool version of Other Side.

Last Flight
I got it for completeness, but never listen to it. I try to stick with the sixties scene. The name itself is depressing.

At Golden Gate Park
Get if only for the only known existing version of Good Shepard song by Grace. The rest of the performance is pretty good, showing a more jovial side of the band.

Flight Box
Cleared For Take Off [Best of] [Live]
Feed Your Head - Live 67/69 [Best of] [Live]
I would be careful of compiliations, you could probably find them on their respective albums. I don't have either of these.

Live at the Fillmore East
Yet another one I would recommend.


Speaking of live albums, I would suggest Bless Its Pointed Little Head (You probably already have though), their complete Woodstock performance, and their performance at Monterey.

A Bientot.

[tontonfranck]

Speaking of live albums, I would suggest Bless Its Pointed Little Head (You probably already have though), their complete Woodstock performance, and their performance at Monterey.

I don't have the Woodstock one yet but yeah I have the two others.
Thanks for the answer, it helps me a lot in this absurd list. In France we don't see any new material for 15 years and then everything arrives in one month (thanks Woodstock's birthday I'm sure!!)!!

[JoeD80]

They were pretty much released all at the same time in the US too (around 2007). As for official, both Sweeping Up the Spotlight and Live at the Fillmore East were released by BMG/RCA, the Airplane's official record company, and I believe Bill Thompson himself assembled the material on Sweeping Up the Spotlight. According to Jorma's Fur Peace Ranch store, which I assume is approved by him, the Charly ones were authorized by the band as well (At the Family Dog Ballroom, At Golden Gate Park, Last Flight).

Skip Flight Box (it's just Last Flight & At the Family Dog in a box-set) and Feed Your Head (it justs rips off tracks from the studio albums and Bless Its Pointed Little Head). However, "Cleared for Takeoff" might be interesting - it has recordings from the Fillmore in March 1967. The sound quality varies a lot though, and I'm pretty sure that one is not official. I like the Golden Gate Park one, just beware of the "We Can Be Together" track where there's a bit of a sound problem. Also the last track isn't "Mexico" as labeled on the case, it's actually "3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds." I loved At the Family Dog Ballroom and I think Last Flight is a good listen for the live versions of "Blind John", "Walking the Tou Tou", and "Papa John's Down Home Blues" among some good performances of "Have You Seen the Saucers" and "Feel So Good." A lot of the live material on that one is from Bark and Long John Silver.