Yep a cracker album that one
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Same here! I’ve tried to like him… Have to turn off Radio Paradise when he come son…
Van Morrison and his music are a bit of a dilemma for me. I never used to be a fan, and I’ve never seen him live.
My dilemma is that I have come to like some of his more recent albums very much indeed (thanks to Roon/Tidal), but I find the man and his well publicised views about the Covid epidemic both incomprehensible and disturbing.
Mind you, I do still listen to the albums!
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Many musicians, or any other artist in the public arena, have views and lifestyles that we may not agree with. Is it really necessary to stop listening, viewing or attending theatres and shows because of that?
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A good live album, shouldn’t necessarily be an audiophile experience, but it shouldn’t be garbage either. You should just feel the singer is in the room or you are in the club/theatre
Listened to this yesterday
Superb
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Makes a note…
Even better is Nightbird, in effect the extended version of LABA, with loads more tracks…but I’m sure you already know that 
The replay on Nightbird is far better IME. There have been a few versions of LABA over the years and some (on CD) sound a tad different to others - generally like more gain/volume has been added.
@Neil0001 – IMO Nightbird is the version to explore. This was produced much longer after LABA was released and benefits from much better overall production standards, befitting of Eva’s immense posthumous popularity.
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I’ve got Nightbird too - highly recommend it
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Van Morrison Live at Austin City Limits Festival. This is my favorite live CD.
I have it and you will want it after you hear this link at YouTube. Sorry about your wallet. You can get it on Discogs, sometimes on Amazon, or at a Live Van Morrison show. Not available at retail and does not stream anywhere that I have found. 2 CD’s and every song rocks. When you hear it a couple of times you can’t believe how well sorted the band and the music are and how well it all works. And they do know a little about putting on a live set at Austin City Limits, since that is what they do every day.
Check it out.
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Nightbird arrived yesterday - many thanks for heads up
Thanks for the recommendation of Nightbird, just arrived yesterday
For the many who include the Allman Brothers ‘Live at the Fillmore’ album in their list of best ever live albums, I suggest checking out the recently released ‘Layla Revisited’ album by the Tedeschi Trucks Band.
Available on CD & Hi Res download from HD Tracks. Derek & the Dominoes album was good but the recording quality was ‘of it’s time’. OK but nothing more. The TTB version is superb in both performance & sound quality. Worth it’s place near the top of any best live recordings list.
Saw Trucks (was about 27 but looked about 14!) backing Clapton live in 2006 & my wife, who is not a fan of electric blues/rock, said ‘who is the young lad? He was better than EC on all but a couple of songs’. She wasn’t wrong. EC had to work hard on several numbers to show he was still the better blues player but Mr. Trucks showed he could play blues just about as well as Eric & demonstrated extraordinary versatility in other styles with both acoustic & electric guitars.
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Yes, very nice album indeed. And I think Derek Trucks is an extraordinary guitarist - really love his work.
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I came here to post this… totally agree that Layla Revisited is way up the list of great live albums, as well as sparkling and stunning cover albums. The combination of “exactly right” guitar tones and runs with “wow, I see what they did there” changes and adjustments really works well. On top, they do a fab version of Bell Bottom Blues, which EC never did live as it was too hard to nail apparently.
I got this on vinyl, lovely, but am streaming it in the car while out and about too…
Worth it.
Regards alan
ps - some may rescale the live covers sets done by Phish back in the day (notably DSotM); those were good… this is great. Trey A and Derek T are truly on to something here…
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I’ve added this on my Tidal list.
Just a small comment about EC. On a good day, he could be an extraordinary player. As the 70s moved on, the good days became few and far in between. I was fortunate enough to catch one of his good days (and others not so good). However, listening to some of his older material still shows what an amazing blues player he was.
I think the drugs & then drink did him few favours right up to his performance at Live Aid in 1985, which introduced him to a new world wide audience & gave him fresh musical impetus.
I saw him 3 times live at the then Birmingham NEC, between 1998 & 2006. Great each time.
As he aged the fire/anger in him seemed to dampen down & produced more variety to his song writing & playing as well as introducing the acoustic EC. I thought the ‘Unplugged’ album was outstanding with all these amazing new tunes. At the time I didn’t realise I had virtually all the tracks by original artists on a series of blues CDs I mistakenly signed up for, which I did not enjoy in the slightest. When comparing the Clapton versions with the originals I felt the big difference, & why ‘Unplugged’ was so successful, was the feeling he gave to the music that I just didn’t hear in the originals & his tasteful guitar embellishments that bought them to life for me.
I didn’t particularly like this at first, being bought up on his fearsome blues playing. However, having so many EC albums I now often enjoy his ‘softer’ more laid back side. When I want the fiery playing it’s still there on all the old stuff & on some of the newer output if you look for it!
I cringed when he did his Christmas album a coupe of years ago but bought it because he was Clapton. Surprisingly, despite a couple of cringeworthy tracks, the rest was OK & even contained a couple of tracks I really enjoyed. Must be getting old…
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just finished playing this. It’s a really good recommendation, so thank you.
It’s been yonks since I played the original album, and I’d forgotten just how many wonderful songs they wrote. The band here are certainly going great guns and then, for me anyway, from Tell The Truth onward everything is set to 11. Really cooking.
If I have one quibble, it’s that the bass guitar gets a bit short-changed in the mix (until Layla Pt. 2)
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Agree about Layla Revisited.
All the talk of Trey A on the Layla album.
Here he is with his band Phish on the live album Slip Stitch and Pass.
The Wolfman’s Brother is a standout track.
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a favorite of mine and superbly well recorded.
Blockquote …this intimate effort is one of the best and best-sounding jazz vocal albums to come along in many a day. By the way, the small audience applauds enthusiastically enough after the last chords of a song die away, but the attendees never interrupt or make themselves known while a song is going on. No doubt they were completely mesmerized into silence, as was I. Rad Bennett Sound Stage
CD available at https://carmengomes.bandcamp.com/
And a one to one copy of the 24/96 hi-res studio master can be downloaded at https://soundliaison.bandcamp.com/
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