Great subject, Nigel. I am glad you moved it here.

This one really provokes me on two levels, that of a performer, as well as that of a fan.

As a performer, I know that my live performances allow me to create an environment conducive to the song I am singing. I can then use the imagery to evoke the feelings I am looking to achieve. Jerry's songs, for me, lend themselves to this amazingly well. I know that when I take his "Handful of Songs" and set it up right, in the right environment, and then interpret it the way I can, it will evoke tears, good memories and feelings. I know if I set up George Papavgeris' "Empty Handed", and perform it using the feelings I dredge up from almost 30 years of helping working folks improve their lives, I can move an audience in the direction I would like them to go. In fact, these two songwriters are mighty inspirations for me as I craft my own songs right now. An essential element of all this is being able to influence the environment, and audience, with expression, moodset, etc. The songs must be strong to begin with, and certainly these and others crafted by these two superb writers, are but a small example of why they are universally respected, but I always feel my live performances of them will be superior to any recording I could make. I believe that production values, once one has selected excellent songs, instrumentation, and cohesiveness in concept, make for a great recording. And to a limited degree, one can set the mood of a recording, but not like live.

As a fan, I can say without equivocation that my favorite recordings are the live recordings. But that is not to say that I don't enjoy the studio recordings. In fact I use them for baselines to start my own creative process of interpretation. But the live stuff is wonderful. I think of the recordings of Woody Gutherie where he is being recorded live discussing the songs and then playing them. I think of Christy Moore, and his live albums. One can hear him playing off the audience. There are so many artists whom I would never get to hear or know without those recordings, live performance or studio. The studio recordings allow me to hear the artist's vision of the song. The live performances allow me to hear the audience's response, and maybe a different take by the artist.

Sorry for the rambling nature of this. The subject is so interesting it just allows me to do a bit of free thinking.

Great thread, Nigel.

Mick