Greatest Stories Live
Greatest Stories Live is the first live album by the American singer/songwriter Harry Chapin, recorded over three nights at three California venues, and released in 1976. 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.
| Greatest Stories Live | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Live album by | ||||
| 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 | |||
| Harry Chapin chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
The album is popular for its extended cut 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)
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 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" | 9:59 |
| 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
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Billboard 200 | 48 |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 71 | |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2x Platinum | 2,000,000 |
| Canada | Platinum | 100,000 |
