Liking It Live Rock ‘N’ Roll Is Alive And Kicking With Cd Reissues Of Classic Albums

At its best, rock ‘n’ roll seethes with fire and energy and goes way over the top. And this happens onstage, in front of screaming fans.

Live!

Over the decades, “live” albums have attempted to capture this whitehot energy, with varying degrees of success. Two of the all-time best - the Who’s “Live at Leeds” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Band of Gypsys,” which came out 25 years ago - have just been re-released, capping the wave of live discs in record stores.

The new “Live at Leeds” is an expanded version of the original, with eight additional songs and almost twice the amount of music (77 minutes), all of it remastered from the original tapes.

The CD offers a stirring aural picture of the Who’s live act of the time (minus a full-length rendition of “Tommy” that was sandwiched into that act). Roger Daltrey’s heroic vocals slam against Pete Townshend’s power chords, John Entwistle’s jagged bass lines and Keith Moon’s irrepressible drumming, enabling a new generation of listeners to discover the Who’s magic.

“Band of Gypsys,” released on CD for the first time Tuesday, is the same as the 1970 original. No frills - just the inspired, other-worldly guitar wizardry of Hendrix. Backed by drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox, Hendrix pulled out all the stops at this New Year’s show at the Fillmore East, displaying a new maturity and intensity. Most of the gimmicks of his psychedelic period were gone. What was left was a sheer improvisational grandeur that still burns brightly.

These two albums are essential parts of any rock collection, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s a guide to more, including some impostors and some no-shows.

The greatest live albums that never were: These are the ones by Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and the Everly Brothers at their prime. When the rock era dawned in the ‘50s most producers were hard-pressed to capture the music in the studio, much less at a concert. So don’t bother to look for these - they were never made.

The greatest live album that wasn’t:”Chuck Berry on Stage” (1963). While Berry was cooling his heels in prison after being convicted of transporting a minor across state lines for immoral purposes, his record label released this “live” album. In fact, it was a fake. The label recorded crowd noises on top of Berry’s studio tracks. Nonetheless, it became Berry’s first chart success.

The first great live album: “Live at the Apollo” (1963). This disc, which established James Brown as the Godfather of Soul, is a masterpiece with astonishingly intense performances such as “Please, Please, Please” and “Try Me.” Ironically, live albums were such a questionable commercial commodity at the time that Brown’s label, King Records, refused to finance the project. Brown put up the money himself, and his gamble paid off. “Live At The Apollo” topped the R&B charts and reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart.

Five of the livest: The Yardbirds made their name with live albums. In 1964, the British blues quintet recorded “Sonny Boy Williamson & The Yardbirds.” The group’s own debut disc, “Five Live Yardbirds,” featured legendary guitarist Eric Clapton. The second side of the group’s second U.S. album, “Having a Rave Up With the Yardbirds” (1965), included four songs from “Five Live” In 1971, three years after the Yardbirds disbanded, Epic released what would become:

The rarest live album of all time: “Five Live Yardbirds Featuring Jimmy Page” (1971). Recorded during the group’s 1968 U.S. tour, this album was pulled from shelves four days after its release, when Page - by then a star with Led Zeppelin - hit the ceiling because of what he reportedly felt were substandard performances. He was wrong. With pre-Zep renditions of “Dazed and Confused” and Yardbirds’ hits such as “I’m a Man,” this disc was a dazzling example of the group’s experimental approach.

The most successful live album of all time: “Frampton Comes Alive!” (1976). Fair-to-middling British rocker Peter Frampton sold 10 million copies of a mediocre album with middle-of-the-road music. No one can explain why.

Got screams if you want ‘em: “Got Live If You Want It!” (1966). The Rolling Stones sounded ragged in this 1965 London concert, but then they couldn’t hear themselves over the screams of thousands of Mickcrazed fans. The raw excitement makes this record one of the greatest live sets. Maybe it was too raw. Bill Wyman later said the 1965 concert was cut short by a riot, forcing two of the cuts - “Fortune Teller” and “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” - to be recorded in the studio, with “authentic” screams added.

Clapton is God: “Wheels of Fire” (1968). The live record from this twodisc set launched a thousand jams by a thousand groups, none of which came close to the virtuosity of the rock deities of Cream. Clapton’s guitar solo on “Crossroads” is arguably the finest ever and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker are just as impressive in this tour-de-force of improvisation.

B.B. is king: “Live at the Regal” (1965). With his trusty guitar, Lucille, B.B. King turns in the greatest album of electric blues ever - one that influenced a generation of rock guitarists.

Mayall would be king: “Turning Point” (1969). Having revolutionized rock and the blues in the mid-‘60s, John Mayall put aside drummers and electric guitarists and made what’s arguably the first “unplugged” album. The result was a blues-rock classic of remarkable subtlety.

Music for the masses: “Woodstock” (1970). By the time they left Woodstock, Santana, Ten Years After, Sly and the Family Stone and others were stars, thanks to the performances included on this record of the legendary festival.

Music for the masses, Vol. 2: “Woodstock ‘94” (1994). By the time they left this Woodstock, old timers like Bob Dylan and Traffic and newcomers such as Green Day and Primus made us appreciate the past.

The biggest live album of all time: “Live/1975-‘85” (1985). Weighing in with five discs and 40 songs, this set was the record equivalent of the marathon concerts performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. There can be no doubt the Boss and the boys put on quite a show, but there’s something offputting and pretentious about it all. The album went multi-platinum anyway.

Greatest live album by an unknown group: “801 Live” (1976). Roxy Music’s Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera and some of their avant-garde British rock friends tape-loop their way through smashing renditions of the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” and their own odd songs.

Un-impressive: “The Unplugged Collection Volume One” (1995). MTV’s “Unplugged” series begat the live-album phenomenon of the ‘90s. From Elton John and Paul McCartney to Soul Asylum and Lenny Kravitz, everyone, it seemed, wanted to reinterpret their songs in a live, acoustic context. Clapton and Rod Stewart produced smash hits, and so did Nirvana. This new set is a compilation of most of the programs (not including Nirvana). It was a nice idea, but most of the performers sound notably uninspired.

It was a long wait: “The Beatles Live at the BBC” (1994). The wait was worth it. This two-disc set traces the Beatles’ live (studio) performances for the BBC from 1962 to ‘65. It captures the four just as they were becoming fab, performing rock classics and their own soon-to-be classics with an affection and exuberance that still charm those who love rock ‘n’ roll.