The Rolling Stones: Live At El Mocambo - 1977

For years and years, 1977’s official live album Love You Live was all that was available to the public of Rolling Stones live material from 1975-77. All that has changed in recent years. First we got the truly excellent From The Vaults release, L.A. Forum, from 1975 and then came this even better full show from 1977, recorded before a comparatively small, competition-winning audience at Toronto’s legendary El Mocambo venue. Once in possession of this, Love You Live becomes somewhat redundant, existing for nostalgic reasons only and a familiarity with the track listing. 

We were all familiar with some of the tracks from their appearance on Love You Live - Mannish Boy, Crackin’ Up, Little Red Rooster and Around And Around - but this gives us the full, glorious set and glorious it is too. The sound is superb. No, actually, I tell a lie, it’s fucking superb. It has that small venue vibe - no soulless stadium rock here. No sir. 

Listeners are treated to several numbers not normally heard on Stones live albums - the wonderful rockers Hand Of Fate and Crazy Mama, the underrated fun of Dance Little Sister Dance, the saucy Star Fucker, the funky Hot Stuff and a cover of Maceo Merriweather’s blues standard Worried Life Blues. Chuck Berry’s Route 66 (covered on The Stones' 1964 debut album) is also given a rare airing and extras after the full set has finished include Luxury, Melody and Worried About You, a track which would not appear in studio form until 1981’s Tattoo You album. Just how damn good does Crazy Mama sound, by the way?

The regular tracks/usual suspects are all played with a vigour and energy which give us the feeling that The Stones were really enjoying themselves. You can just tell.

Well, my opinion is that this is up there with The Brussels Affair and the afore-mentioned L.A. Forum as the best Rolling Stones live albums. As for other reviewer’s views, here’s a small selection -

Doug Collette of All About Jazz summarized the album as "recordings worth waiting for all these forty-five years since they happened" and felt that it is "quite conceivable that, in fairly short order, this title will become the go-to choice for both aficionados and curious dilettantes".  Hal Horowitz of American Songwriter called the twenty-three tracks a "solid, diverse set" that has "rightfully gone down in the tome of the Rolling Stones, and by extension rock and roll overall, as two of the most desirable times fans fantasize about being in the presence of a once-in-lifetime event". David Browne of Rolling Stone wrote that the band "play with a ferocity that proves they were more than bored, disconnected rock stars" and the album "rolls out a band that was living in the moment, trying hard not to suck in the Seventies".

We all seem to concur, don’t we? It’s a great one. Essential Stones for beautiful and discerning people. Like me. I seriously can't get enough of this, regularly playing all the way through, unable to take it off "play". It gets my spirits up every time.

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