Overdubs in Live Performance

 

This has always been an issue ... and the best example I can give you is that Jimmy Page didn't get it right this time. When you listen to the bootlegs the stuff came from in "The West Was Won", the quality might not be good, but the performances are energetic, and the shows are magnificent even if there are some obvious mistakes here and there that Jimmy decided to take out and overdub.

 

End result?

 

Not even close to the energy of a Led Zeppelin performance in those days. And when you hear it, your emotional sense is going to be grabbed, but there is a little something or other behind it missing that you won't be able to put a finger on ... and it is the part that only 1% of all the people will ever be able to tell and hear and figure out ... you pretty much have to be an audiophile for this ... and you will find that the parts that are really clean, are the overdubs, because the rest has background stuff that you can't erase, change or duplicate perfectly.

 

In general, the majority of bands that are not good enough to get on the stage to do their stuff, I don't bother with. But there are some bands that do really difficult things, and I have no issues with parts of their stuff being pre-recorded and they play over it or with it. I'm ok with that, since there are so many parts to deal with ...

 

There are many elements in progressive music that are not easy and it makes sense to use the technology at times, but not to change what was obviously a bad moment or performance that needs to be cleaned up in house, not on the CD that is being sold. And then there are people like the Rolling Stones, that are so bad live ... that they have to clean up the records! But if you tell me to feel sorry for a band that has cheap and easy music to have to do overdubs, I seriously would reconsider in everyone's mind their professional status -- there are a lot of bands out there that at least have some pride in their work! And the quality of its appearance!

 

Frank Zappa's situation with overdubs, more often than not had to do with some other naughty stuff ... and I doubt that the overdubs was on the music itself, since one of the things he was excellent at is making sure that the music worked, and did so in a live manner, which is something that a lot of his music has always done so well. You don't have to catch Zappa plays Zappa to know that what you are going to hear and see are musicians that are 10 steps above the majority of any classical musician you will ever see or find! And on occasion there were some funny things that are not on Roxy and Elsewhere ... like one night there was a date auction with one of the musicians, and it was meant to be fun but was the lead in to the next song! You don't really need that on the CD. Or one night, the girls danced, and that ended up staying on the album!

 

Frank also used the overdubs to create new stuff with music that he ended up bringing back to the group to play, which is often much harder to duplicate and do. This, is not always possible on the live albums, but from night to night you can see how some material often changes and improves. CAN also did this for tings like Tago Mago, and it was a way to create new music out of the air and challenge musicians to go further. And many did very well, and Frank is the best example of that process. Can does not have that many recordings of them doing Augmn or any of the real hard core experimentations. By that time, however, Frank already had way too much material to play anyway that you couldn't possibly even make up your mind as to what to use each night!