Live at Red Rocks [Live]

Rickie Lee Jones | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 4, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Artemis Records
• ASIN: B00005RIKB
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #258,207 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not like the live stuff from her Web site, December 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Live at Red Rocks (Audio CD)

If you like Rickie Lee, make sure you visit her web site where
she sells MP3 live recordings, direct to you. There you will
find the opposite of this one: quieter, looser, quirkier. The
offerings there (www.rickieleejones.com) are also often complete
shows. This one *is* as the other reviews suggest: (high-)
powered, poppy, punchy. The thing is, I don't know Rickie Lee
and neither do you (and neither do these other reviewers). So
who can comment on her wishes, and who knows but what she wants
all of these sides of her performance persona exposed. In this
performance, she took pains to put together a *very* slick band,
complete with muted trumpet ornaments, multi-part harmonies,
etc. And it rocks. And if you feel like complaining about the
slick production, save your breath and your time, go to her
website, and download the quiet sensitive stuff until your
fingers go numb. That stuff is great, too!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great (but not perfect) look at the art of RLJ, December 4, 2001

By 

Karl Miller "kemspeaks" (Phoenixville, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live at Red Rocks (Audio CD)

Imagine looking at the painting "Nighthawks" without one of the patrons at the counter. That's the visual equivalent of listening to "Live at Red Rocks".
This is a great CD, to be certain. Rickie is in excellent voice, and it's clear that she was having a good time on the night this show was recorded. And a band setting presents a much richer experience than "Naked Songs", her first full live album. It's just that, once again, Pirates and The Magazine are as forgotten as the cotton candy left on the ground after the carnival pulls out of town.
If you're a fan of the infamous beret popularizing first album, or if you joined the show circa 1989, with the release of Flying Cowboys, there is much to enjoy. "Weasel and the White Boys Cool" is the best track on this CD, and it's always fun to sing along with a live version of "Youngblood". But with 2 legal and quite a number of "alternative" live albums in my possession, I've heard Chuck E.'s in Love recorded in every style, every manner for one lifetime. Likewise, the Flying Cowboys choices sound great ("Rodeo Girl" could very well be the "Lush Life" of our generation), but overreliance on this material serves poorly the fact that Rickie has grown and changed with each new release. This fact hits home hardest when listening to "We Belong Together", from Pirates, her strongest album in her near 25 year career. You just wish more of this type of adventurous material (as well as songs from The Magazine and Ghostyhead, which are totally neglected) would have been included.
The choice of Van Morrison's "Gloria" as one of two covers (the other is "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying", which is also on FLying Cowboys) was quite clever. Having heard countless other versions of this song, it is nice to hear what a "good" interpreter can do with a classic.
After listening, I wish that I had been at this show. That's generally a good indication of the value of a live album. Had I been, however, it would have been me yelling "Play "Living It Up" from the cheap seats.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great performance, poor recording, March 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Live at Red Rocks (Audio CD)

This must have been a great show. The band is tight. It's wonderful to hear Rickie in a live ensemble setting. Her voice is strong and lovely. This would be a favorite CD of mine if not for the quality of the recording itself.

I enjoy "raw" live recordings like those from bands like moe. But this CD could have used a scrubbing in post-production. It sounds like a bootleg. And that would be okay, too, but for the too frequent dropouts in the left or right channel (really noticeable with headphones), and the subtle but all too present hum of the amplifiers in the background.

My advice is to check out this recording for yourself before buying it. You may love it. But it left me feeling a bit annoyed and disappointed.