“The Stones hold the record for releasing the most ‘worst’ live albums:  five, excluding 1970’s worth entry, Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out.  What makes Still Life so abysmally still-born is that it will forever mark the moment when the Stones transmuted from rock band to Las Vegas music review.  U2, beware.” - “Not So Essential Live Albums”, Guitar, September 1997

While the author of the above piece certainly makes a point about the number of bad Rolling Stones live albums (and more bad ones yet to come), I’ve never felt that Still Life was never a bad live album although I wouldn’t put it on my best-of list.  The album starts off with an incredible version of “Under My Thumb” that rocks harder than the original ever did and continues on with some Stones classics (”Shattered”, “Let’s Spend the Night Together”) and some surprising covers for a live album (”Twenty Flight Rock”, “Going to a Go-Go”).  Things start to peter out toward the end which keeps this from being - in my eyes at least - a classic live album.

Reading the above article made me think about the number of bad and just boring Rolling Stones live albums that have come out over the years.  By comparison, a fair amount of live movies/videos have come from the same tours (Let’s Spend the Night Together showcased the same tour as Still Life) and they blow the recordings out of the water.  Despite the huge stadiums the Stones are shown playing in, their live show comes across incredibly well on Let’s Spend the Night Together.  While they’re obviously known for their live shows it never occurred to me before that the visual portion of the performance was so important to it.

On a similar note, I saw that a box set of Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out came out last week that includes five Rolling Stones songs not found on the original as well as the opening sets by B.B. King and Ike & Tina Turner.  I’m torn about whether or not to get this.  Five extra songs isn’t a lot and part of me wonders if the money would be better spent on B.B. King’s Live at the Apollo.

“About the time that a few folks were beginning to pay a little bit of attention and back up and say ‘Wait a minute, maybe he’s saying something’, along came Hee Haw.  That set me back.  It also set me up.”

- Roy Clark

It seems that there’s three types of music Roy Clark puts out:

1.  Country-tinged songs with incredible guitar/banjo/fiddle playing
2.  Novelty songs
3.  Schmaltzy, Perry Como-lite songs

The first type is unbelievably good - Roy’s playing is a real pleasure to listen to. I can handle the second type, and the third type varies from tolerable to cringe-inducing.

Timeless:  the Classic Concert Performances was released this year and combines what are presumably the best performances off two of his live albums, Roy Clark Live! (1972) and In Concert (1976).  Both shows took place in Las Vegas (except for two songs off In Concert which, according to the linear notes, were recorded in a Nashville studio) which gives the music an interesting sort of vibe.  In addition to his band, Roy is backed up by a full Frank Sinatra style orchestra.  I imagine that this album contains the only versions of “Alabama Jubilee” and “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” with orchestral backgrounds that I will probably ever hear.  In another Vegas show tradition, Roy tells jokes and stories between songs.

Some of the songs here are stellar, mostly the standards he covers, including “Rocky Top” and “Orange Blossom Special”.  Luckily, the schmaltzy songs are kept to a minimum so they don’t detract from the other performances.  There’s something great about listening to shows that were recorded in Vegas showrooms.  The smaller venue size lends itself to a more personal experience, and even though he probably played the exact same show dozens of times his performance is full of emotion and enthusiasm.

Listening to this confirms my opinion that Roy Clark is an incredibly underrated guitarist.  He’s also great playing the fiddle and banjo.  His playing on “Under the Double Eagle” and “Dueling Banjos” is incredible.  The latter is one of the highlights here with Roy laying down a challenge to Buck Trent to follow his licks, all the while warning Buck of the dangers of playing better than your boss.

As good as this recording is, another of his live albums, Live at Billy Bob’s Texas is so much better in every way.  It has better performances and less of a Vegas influence, so if I was going to go out and buy a Roy Clark album that would be it.