| Greatest Stories Live |
|---|
 |
|
| Released | April 23, 1976 |
|---|
| Recorded | November 7, 1975 (San Diego Civic Auditorium, San Diego, CA)
November 8, 1975 (Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA)
November 9, 1975 (Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA) |
|---|
| Genre | Pop/rock |
|---|
| Length | 70:32 |
|---|
| Label | Elektra |
|---|
| Producer | Stephen Chapin, Fred Kewley, Paul Leka |
|---|
|
Portrait Gallery
(1975)
|
Greatest Stories Live
(1976)
|
On the Road to Kingdom Come
(1976)
| |
Professional ratings| Review scores |
|---|
| Source | Rating |
|---|
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Greatest Stories Live is a 1976 greatest hits live album by the American singer-songwriter Harry Chapin. It was recorded over three nights at three California venues in November 1975. Certain elements had to be re-recorded in the studio due to technical problems with the live recordings. The original LP release featured three new studio tracks, two of which ("She Is Always Seventeen" and "Love Is Just Another Word") were excluded from the CD release. "A Better Place to Be" was released as a single, and did manage to crack the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The album is notable for its extended version of "30,000 Pounds of Bananas", infamous for Chapin's recounting of his brothers' remarks after hearing the original ending: "Harry...it sucks." The quote became so popular with Harry Chapin fans that concert shirts were sold with the quotation on it.
Track listing (CD release)
| Title |
|---|
| 1. | "Dreams Go By" | 4:54 |
|---|
| 2. | "W·O·L·D" | 5:04 |
|---|
| 3. | "Saturday Morning (Tom Chapin)" | 3:05 |
|---|
| 4. | "I Wanna Learn a Love Song" | 5:04 |
|---|
| 5. | "Mr. Tanner" | 5:17 |
|---|
| 6. | "A Better Place to Be" | 9:17 |
|---|
| 7. | "Let Time Go Lightly (Steve Chapin)" | 4:56 |
|---|
| 8. | "Cat's in the Cradle" | 4:04 |
|---|
| 9. | "Taxi" | 6:53 |
|---|
| 10. | "Circle" | 7:21 |
|---|
| 11. | "30,000 Pounds of Bananas (Extended with two alternate endings)" | 11:28 |
|---|
| 12. | "The Shortest Story (Studio track)" | 2:25 |
|---|
- "She Is Always Seventeen" and "Love Is Just Another Word" appear between "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" and "The Shortest Story" on side 4 of the original 1976 vinyl release.
Personnel
- Harry Chapin - guitar, vocals
- Ron Bacchiocchi - synthesizer, percussion, clavinet
- Ed Bednarski - clarinet
- Stephen Chapin - synthesizer, piano, vocals
- Tom Chapin - guitar, banjo, vocals
- Christine Faith - vocals
- Cheryl Ferrio - vocals
- Howie Fields - drums
- David Kondziela - vocals
- Paul Leka - piano, clavinet
- Michael Masters - cello
- Tim Moore - piano
- Mark Mundy - vocals
- Ronald Palmer - guitar, vocals
- Don Payne - bass
- Kathy Ramos - vocals
- Tim Scott - cello
- Allan Schwartzberg - drums
- Frank Simms - vocals
- George Simms - vocals
- Ken Smith - percussion
- Bob Springer - percussion
- John Tropea - guitar
- Betsy Wager - vocals
- Doug Walker - bass, guitar, vocals
- John Wallace - bass, vocals
- Sue White - vocals
- Christopher von Koschembahr - vocals
Charts and certifications
Charts
Certifications
| Region
|
Certification
|
Sales
|
| United States
|
2× Platinum
|
2,000,000
|
| Canada
|
Platinum
|
100,000
|
References
|
|---|
- Ron Palmer
- Tim Scott
- John Wallace
- Stephen Chapin
- Tom Chapin
- Mike Masters
- Doug Walker
- Howie Fields
- Ron Evanuik
- Kim Scholes
- Yvonne Cable
|
| Studio albums | |
|---|
| Live albums |
- Legends of the Lost and Found
|
|---|
| Posthumously produced |
- Harry Chapin Tribute
- The Last Protest Singer
- The Bottom Line Encore Collection
|
|---|
| Compilations |
- Anthology of Harry Chapin
- Remember When the Music
- The Gold Medal Collection
- Story of a Life
- Onwards and Upwards
|
|---|
| DVDs |
- Rockpalast Live
- Remember When: The Anthology
|
|---|
| Singles |
- "Taxi"
- "Could You Put Your Light On, Please"
- "Sunday Morning Sunshine"
- "A Better Place to Be"
- "W.O.L.D."
- "Cat's in the Cradle"
- "I Wanna Learn a Love Song"
- "What Made America Famous?"
- "Dreams Go By"
- " A Better Place to Be (Live)"
- "Dance Band on the Titanic"
- "Flowers Are Red"
- "Sequel"
- "Remember When the Music"
- "Story of a Life"
|
|---|
| Other songs |
- "30,000 Pounds of Bananas"
- "Corey's Coming"
- "Circle"
- "Halfway to Heaven"
- "The Mayor of Candor Lied"
- "Mr. Tanner"
- "Six String Orchestra"
- "Sniper"
|
|---|
| Related articles |
- Discography
- The Night That Made America Famous
- Cotton Patch Gospel
- Harry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Something
|
|---|
| Authority control databases | |
|---|