Love You Live

History

Love You Live was overdubbed and mixed from late May to mid-June 1977. It features Billy Preston and Ian Stewart on piano. The album artwork was prepared by Andy Warhol, and the pencil smears seen across the front were added by Mick Jagger, to Warhol's dismay. Released in September 1977, the album was well received and managed to reach No. 3 in the UK and No. 5 in the US, where it went gold.

Love You Live was The Rolling Stones' final album whereby Rolling Stones Records would be internationally distributed by Warner Music. The band's next several albums would be distributed through EMI worldwide, while they remained with Warner in North America only.

The Stones decided to round out the live album by adding a second album, with live club recordings performed at the El Mocambo Club in Toronto on 4 and 5 March 1977. The intention was to play a set of the sort of classic blues and R&B covers that sealed their reputation back at the Crawdaddy Club in 1963. However, Keith Richards arrived late for scheduled rehearsals as he and his partner Anita Pallenberg had been arrested for possession and trafficking of illicit drugs in Richard's Toronto hotel room.

Despite these legal troubles, the shows themselves went well enough, though the versions that appear on album are heavily overdubbed with new guitar tracks and backing vocals by Richards and/or Ronnie Wood. Jagger overdubbed the harmonica of "Mannish Boy" as well. Only "Around and Around" is not overdubbed. April Wine opened for the band, and the Stones appeared secretly under the fake band name, "The Cockroaches" on the bill so the majority of the fans thought they were attending an April Wine concert. April Wine also recorded their live album Live at the El Mocambo at these same concerts.

Jagger and Richards sharply disagreed on the selection of tracks to include on the album. In his autobiography Richards recalled: "Collaboration was giving way to struggle and disagreement. It's a two-disc album, and the result is that one disc is Mick's and the other was mine."

Re-releases

In 1998, Love You Live was remastered and reissued by Virgin Records, and in 2010, was re-released with an updated remastering by Universal Records. In 2011 it was released on a single SHM-SACD by Universal Music Enterprises Japan.

Track listing

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where noted.

1. "Intro: Excerpt from Fanfare for the Common Man" (Aaron Copland) – 1:24
2. "Honky Tonk Women" – 3:19 (5 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
3. "If You Can't Rock Me"/"Get Off of My Cloud" – 5:00 (27 May 1976: Earls Court, London)
4. "Happy" – 2:55 (5 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
5. "Hot Stuff" – 4:35 (6 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
6. "Star Star" – 4:10 (6 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)

1. "Tumbling Dice" – 4:00 (7 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
2. "Fingerprint File" – 5:17 (17 June 1975: Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto)
3. "You Gotta Move" (Fred McDowell/Rev. Gary Davis) – 4:19 (5 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
4. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" – 7:42 (7 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)

1. "Mannish Boy" (Ellas McDaniel/McKinley Morganfield/Mel London) – 6:28 (4 or 5 March 1977: El Mocambo Tavern, Toronto)
2. "Crackin' Up" (Ellas McDaniel) – 5:40 (4 or 5 March 1977: El Mocambo Tavern, Toronto)
3. "Little Red Rooster" (Willie Dixon) – 4:39 (4 or 5 March 1977: El Mocambo Tavern, Toronto)
4. "Around and Around" (Chuck Berry) – 4:09 (4 or 5 March 1977: El Mocambo Tavern, Toronto)

1. "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)" – 4:31 (17 June 1975: Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto)
2. "Brown Sugar" – 3:11 (6 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
3. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" – 4:03 (6 June 1976: Les Abattoirs, Paris)
4. "Sympathy for the Devil" – 7:51 (9 July 1975: Inglewood Forum, Los Angeles)

Personnel