10 Live Versions Of Songs That Are Better than the Original

WatchMojo

Sometimes magic happens when artists hit the stage! Join us as we count down our picks for live versions that outshined their studio counterparts. Our list includes Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," KISS's "Rock and Roll All Nite," Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me," and more! Which live performance changed your perception of a song?

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we'll be discussing instances where songs took on a

00:08life of their own when performed in front of an audience.

00:18Rock and roll all night — KISS Alive Yes, it may be true that KISS Alive was

00:24heavily doctored in the studio to achieve the best possible sonic outcome.

00:28But does that fact lessen its cultural impact?

00:37The LP actually helped save the group, which had, up until that point, not been reflecting

00:42their live reputation with comparable album sales.

00:46Alive changed all that, and effectively made live versions of studio songs like Rock and

00:51Roll All Night staples.

00:57Not only within KISS's concert set, but also concerning their future legacy.

01:04The performances captured and assisted here on Alive ensured that KISS's best musical

01:10foot was always put forward, effectively allowing them to continue on down their path to becoming

01:15the hottest band in the world.

01:19No Woman, No Cry, Bob Marley and the Wailers, live.

01:24The chances are probably pretty good that most casual fans of Bob Marley and the Wailers know

01:28this live version of No Woman, No Cry better than the studio cut included on Marley's Natty

01:34Dread LP from 1974.

01:41That's because the live album from 1975 managed to capture Bob Marley and the Wailers' kinetic

01:47energy on stage and distill it into an audio essence.

01:50Of course, it also helped that this live version of No Woman, No Cry was released as a single,

02:00with its subsequent radio play further ingraining the song into the public consciousness.

02:04Bob Marley's legacy as a reggae legend may be secure, but it was live performances like

02:14this one that helped carve it into the history books.

02:17No Woman, No Cry.

02:2010th Avenue Freeze Out, Bruce Springsteen, live 1975-85 box set.

02:26One of the aspects about seeing an artist live, particularly one of the caliber of Bruce

02:30Springsteen, is the chance to hear established studio songs in a looser and more relaxed setting.

02:35The studio version of 10th Avenue Freeze Out from Springsteen's Born to Run LP is fairly

02:45short, but this just makes it more exciting checking out other live performances from the

02:49Boss' classic era.

02:51Then make that change of town and the big man join the band.

02:58The version of 10th Avenue Freeze Out included on Springsteen's 1986 box set collection, live

03:031975-85, is a slightly extended cut that makes the most out of Bruce's onstage relationship

03:09with the saxophonist Clarence Clements.

03:12It's great stuff.

03:13I love you, me, I'm just…

03:17Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell, Miles of Isles.

03:21Joni Mitchell's love of jazz music was explored thoroughly within the Canadian singer-songwriter's

03:26diverse discography.

03:27This live album from 1974 was released during the early years of Mitchell's incorporation

03:37of this approach.

03:38And this allowed for older songs like Both Sides Now to sparkle with new and vibrant colors.

03:43The LA Express were Mitchell's backup band during this era, and their jazz fusion chops

03:53were clearly felt on miles of aisles.

03:56Their instrumentation allowed for Mitchell's vocals to spread out along the musical meter,

04:00particularly on the verses.

04:02I've looked at love from both sides now.

04:06This loose and energetic feeling really captivates and essentially makes Both Sides Now sound brand-spankin'

04:11new.

04:17Seven Bridges Road, Steve Young, Eagles Live, Eagles.

04:21It reads like a textbook, really, a schematic on how to achieve perfect vocal harmonies in

04:26the live setting.

04:28And yes, it's been attested that the live version of Seven Bridges Road present on Eagles Live

04:37retains an arrangement that was swiped from the Monkees' Michael Nesmith and Ian Matthews'

04:421973 version.

04:43There is moonlightin'.

04:49This live adaptation wasn't properly credited by any Eagles members until Glenn Frey addressed

04:54the issue within the liner notes of a Greatest Hits package.

05:01Now, does this take away from how Seven Bridges Road works on Eagles Live?

05:09Not really.

05:10But it does remind us of a certain dude's opinion on the matter.

05:13I had a rough night and I hate the f***in' Eagles, man.

05:17Show Me The Way.

05:18Peter Frampton.

05:19Frampton Comes Alive.

05:21Single, double, and even triple live albums were big business back in the 1970s.

05:26But there's perhaps no example of this medium that was as monumental to a musician's career

05:31as Frampton Comes Alive from 1976.

05:33The former humble pie guitarist had released four studio LPs prior to this point in his career.

05:46Can you recall the last time you heard the studio version of Show Me The Way?

05:56Frampton Comes Alive.

05:58Contained the definitive version of not only this tune, but others, like Baby I Love Your

06:02Way and Do You Feel Like We Do, all of which essentially replaced the studio albums in the

06:07collections of fans.

06:16Turn the Page.

06:17Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.

06:20Live Bullet.

06:21The career of Bob Seger was one that explored everything from raw garage rock to soul-searching

06:26acoustic Americana over the course of a multi-decade discography.

06:35The studio version of Seger's Turn the Page wasn't released as a single back in 1973, but

06:41that didn't stop the tune from being famously covered by artists such as Metallica.

06:46Fans of the Silver Bullet Band will likely point to this live version from 1976 as the turning

06:51point that made Turn the Page a hit, thanks to the atmosphere at play.

06:56See, here I am, on the road again.

07:02Live Bullet feels surprisingly intimate for a 70s rock live album, embracing the audience

07:07and pulling them close.

07:09As Seger sings the song of the road, its perils, and its consequences.

07:14Maybe I'm Amazed, Paul McCartney, Wings Over America.

07:25Sometimes, it takes a little while for a song to become a hit.

07:34Maybe I'm Amazed wasn't initially released as a single back when it was included on Paul

07:38McCartney's first solo LP.

07:40It took until the former Beatles started a new band, Wings, that a live version of Maybe

07:45I'm Amazed took flight towards the pop charts.

07:48Maybe I'm Amazed with the way you pulled me out of time.

07:53The studio version featured McCartney performing all of the instruments, whereas the cut on

07:58Wings Over America feels comparatively fuller and with a stronger band dynamic.

08:03Hey, my man, baby, I'm a lonely man who's in the middle of Sunday.

08:10This allowed for Maybe I'm Amazed to reach its full potential as one of McCartney's

08:13most defining solo tunes.

08:16Won't you help me to understand?

08:20I Want You to Want Me, Cheap Trick.

08:22Cheap Trick at Budokan.

08:24Cheap Trick may have formed in Rockford, Illinois, but it took a trip to Tokyo, Japan to make them

08:29superstars.

08:30I Want You to Want Me didn't do much business when it was released as a single from Cheap

08:39Trick's second album, In Color.

08:41The band found a rapturous reception overseas, however, and the resulting live album, Cheap

08:46Trick at Budokan, took cobbled together audio sources and created magic.

08:51The crowd noise is what really turns this version of I Want You to Want Me from good to great,

09:02as frontman Robin Zander enjoys a back-and-forth with a very receptive Japanese audience.

09:07The rest, as they say, is rock and roll history.

09:33Fulsome Prison Blues, Johnny Cash at Fulsome Prison.

09:42It was the album that helped signify a new era for country music legend Johnny Cash, while

09:47also revitalizing one of the Man in Black's signature songs for a new generation.

09:56The original studio collaboration with arranger Gordon Jenkins was released as a single in 1955,

10:02while also being included on Cash's debut solo LP in 57.

10:06And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when.

10:11Some fans might point to this live version recorded within the actual walls of California's

10:15Fulsome State Prison as being even better, however, thanks largely to the energy captured

10:21on tape.

10:22When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry.

10:28The backing of his wife June Carter, Carl Perkins, and the Tennessee Three really fill

10:33everything out here, while Cash himself sounds in great form, bringing the house down on this

10:38tune.

10:39Have you ever been to a concert where an artist took a song you loved to a whole noter level?

10:51Shout out your favorite memory in the comments!

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