The Rolling Stones Release 'Got Live If You Want It!'
Got Live If You Want It! (capitalized got LIVE if you want it!
on the cover) is the first live album by British rock band The Rolling Stones. It was released in the US in late 1966.
At the time, it was not released officially in the UK; instead, the British market had the 1965 EP release Got Live If You Want It!, from which the album's name derived (a different mix of "I'm Alright" appeared on this EP.) The album had been compiled as a result of a contractual obligation with US distributor London Records, and the band themselves were not happy with it. They consequently disowned it, arguing that Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert (1970) was their true live album debut.
The performances captured for Got Live If You Want It reportedly occurred on 1 and 7 October 1966, in Newcastle upon Tyne and Bristol while on their last UK tour for three years, despite the album's assertion that the recording hailed from the Royal Albert Hall. Although the band went into the studio later in October 1966 to correct audio imperfections, Got Live If You Want It! was deemed a lacklustre and ragged live document upon release. Furthermore, to fill out the album, both "Fortune Teller" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" (which had an organ overdubbed) were unissued studio recordings overdubbed with screaming girls. Unedited versions of these tracks would be included on More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies).
The album was issued in December, as the group were nearing the end of Between the Buttons' sessions. It reached #6 in the US in early 1967 and went gold. Decca Records UK released the LP as Have You Seen Your Mother Live! for import purposes, while King Records Japan released the same LP under the title Hits LIVE.
As Brian Jones' time with the Stones (and with the rest of this world) was drawing to a close, the band was becoming both more progressive in its conception and more adept in its musicianship. Though the studio recordings from this golden period are impeccable, nowhere is the band's growth more evident than on GOT LIVE IF YOU WANT IT. Recorded by Glyn Johns at London's Royal Albert Hall, this album shows the Stones as a powerful live unit, now capable of subtle emotional shadings as well as rock & roll raveups.
