Got LIVE If You Want It! – The 45th Anniversary Edition (AVKCO-001)
(73:01): Under My Thumb, Get Off Of My Cloud, Lady Jane, Not Fade Away, Everybody Needs Somebody To Love, Pain In My Heart, Route 66, I’m Moving On, The Last Time, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Time Is On My Side, I’m Alright, Have You Seen Your Mother Baby Standing In The Shadow?, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. Bonus tracks: I’m All Right (Version 2), Route 66 (Version 2), Down The Road Apiece, I Just Wanna Make Love To You, I’m Moving On (Version 2), Around & Around, Paint It Black, She Said Yeah, Mother’s Little Helper, Under My Thumb (1966 Stereo mix), Get Off My Cloud (1966 Stereo mix), 19th Nervous Breakdown (1966 Stereo mix). The Studio Songs (Without Audience): Fortune Teller, I’ve Been Loving You Too Long, Fortune Teller (Version 2)
The Rolling Stones’ first official live releases are a muddled and confusing affair. Got LIVE If You Want It! was first a UK only EP released in June 1965 with several live tracks from live performances in March of that year. Eighteen months later the LP Got LIVE If You Want It! was released for the US market featuring recordings from October 1966.
Both releases were assaulted with much criticism for their raw sound quality and, in the case of the LP, using old studio outtakes with screaming girls dubbed in to produce a “live” feel. Both were disowned by the band (who feel Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out is their real first live album), but both EP and LP sold well and remained popular.
Got LIVE If You Want It! – The 45th Anniversary Edition (AVKCO-001) was released in 2011 as a recasting of the entire project. The main set edits the EP and LP live tracks together and omits the two studio dubbed songs, “Fortune Teller” and “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.” Bonus material includes alternate takes and the studio recordings without the overdubs to form a nice compendium of all associated material.
The live tracks are still raw, but sound as clear as possible. AVKCO starts off with the LP beginning with the Long John Baldry introduction and the first four songs. “Under My Thumb” is taking from the October 1st, 1966 show at Newcastle instead of the October 7th take from Bristol utilized on the SACD. The performances are exciting, altough the second song “Get Off Of My Cloud” from the same Newcastle show suffers from Jagger losing the beat several times.
After their great cover of the Buddy Holly song “Not Fade Away,” the original LP has “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” and “Fortune Teller,” but the label edits in the EP instead. The Stones starts with thirty seconds of “Everybody Needs Someone To Love” as an introduction to the slow paced ballad “Pain In My Heart.” The following two tracks, “Route 66” and “I’m Moving On” also come from the EP.
“The Last Time,” which has an odd snippet of “Satisfaction” at the very beginning, returns us to the LP. “Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown” is an exceptionally good performance and one of the highlights of the disc. “I’m Alright,” recorded in March 1965 in either London or Liverpool (nobody knows which), is also found on the EP, is the same performance on both EP and LP.
The ending two songs are taken from the October 7th, Bristol show. The beginning of “Have You Seen Your Mother Baby” is a bit rough, but the song itself is done very well. The show ends with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” which fades out after several minutes.
The bonus tracks don’t have much to do with the official releases. Assembled from old radio broadcasts, they focus upon many of the excellent live performances in great sound quality which should have official releases but don’t. All of the performances have been released before and can be found on such releases as Olympia ’65 – Satisfaction & Beyond (Godfather Records GR 434) and Paris Match (Dog N Cat DAC-007).
The final bonus tracks are the two studio cuts, “Fortune Teller” and “ I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” without the cheering overdubs as found on the 1972 release More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies) compilation album. Although there is nothing on this disc that hasn’t been out many times before, this is a nice collection to have for those who actually like the album.
