Issued in 1977, Status Quo’s first official live album, ‘Quo…Live!’ has long been a favourite among fans. Completely without any overdubs – a rarity for a live album from the era – its raw and dirty sound captured The Frantic Four line up in the most natural way possible, and for years held its place as the definitive record of the ‘Blue For You’ tour. The much-missed Rick Parfitt shared the fans’ enthusiasm for this rough and ready recording, but Francis Rossi disagreed. Rossi has also thrown a spanner in the works regarding the official word that the original 2LP set was sourced from the best performances captured during a three night stint at the Glasgow Apollo in October ’76, claiming that when the time came for the track selection, they “just picked the first ones”. This statement has led to a little confusion over the years, as to whether he meant “first” as in “chose the performance from the 27th October in its entirety”, or “chose the first versions of each of the thirteen tracks [he and Rick] were played”.
The 8CD super deluxe version of ‘Quo…Live!’ puts the latter mystery to bed. From tapes long considered lost, the box set allows fans to experience every note from all three of those now legendary shows, and it;s actually obvious, when Alan Lancaster throws out an odd vocal interjection after delivering a particularly ropey sounding verse, that the version of ‘Backwater’ from the 27th isn’t the the one from the original release. That said, if everything from the original double LP were sourced from that first show, there would be no point in replicating it here on discs one and two.
There will be very few fans unfamiliar with the original release, but the opportunity to hear these shows “as played” each night creates a new excitement, and there are some great moments to be heard from across discs 3-8. Naturally, some of the most thrilling moments come from the extended show piece ‘Forty Five Hundred Times’. The version from the second show (28th) is home to some wilfully sloppy lead guitar work; the speed driven boogie in the middle of the rendition from the third show (29th) appears to come with more amphetamine fuelled place than the previous nights, and the ‘Race With The Devil’ section on both nights really captures the sweat from a mid 70s Quo gig. Both performances are arguably superior to the one used for the ’77 LP release (27th). As with other tracks, the new mix/master used for this set makes everything sound far less like a bootleg than the original LP; the rhythm section really punches through, and the vocals no longer sound like they’re half buried. There will be stalwart fans who think this sounds “wrong” after so many years, of course, but if that’s the case, nobody is taking that original release away; this merely adds to the experience.
With John Coghlan absolutely smashing the hell out of his kit and Parfitt opening the performance with some absolutely incendiary vocals (albeit rarely in tune), the third night’s ‘Big Fat Mama’ is chaotic at best, making the version chosen for the original LP (27th) sound polished by comparison, but as with the best bits of a good ‘Forty Five Hundred Times’, it’s the sheer force of The Frantic Four that brings its own rough charm here, and this definitely sounds like a band running on pure adrenaline. In terms of picking favourites, ‘Little Lady/Most of The Time’ is fairly consistent each night, but on every occasion, this highlight of Quo’s finest album ‘On The Level’ provides the Glasgow gigs with an enthralling twofer, and although the same can be said – at least musically – for the crowd pleasing, maximum participation, all mates together experience of ‘Bye Bye Johnny’, Lancaster sounds a little worse for wear by the end of the second night. Not that it would’ve harmed the original ‘Quo…Live!’ if the performance had been chosen instead of the one from the 27th. If anything, it could’ve added to the feeling of “being there”.
The other show piece from these gigs – a cover of The Doors’ ‘Roadhouse Blues’ – varies slightly from night to night, though never quite as much as you’d hope it might. Audio wise, the third night sounds a little flatter than the first two performances, and the original LP version (sourced from the second night) is arguably the best. For those hoping to delve a little deeper and discover a variation on the familiar, the performance on the 29th is the most entertaining with Rossi bantering with the crowd a little more. The band run through all of the expected set pieces here, moving from the core boogie, through audience participation and into a rough as bollocks jig, where the lead work rarely settles, dropping in a snatch of ‘Shakin’ All Over’, and finally, returning to base to allow Alan the opportunity to shout through the lyrical refrain for a huge climax. The differences may be slight – almost negligible from the point of view of a less obsessive fan – but since this box set release provides a significant leap in audio quality, each version of ‘Roadhouse Blues’ offers its own magic. The performances captured here aren’t necessarily as good as the version from a year earlier [recorded at an uncredited location, found on the expanded edition of ‘On The Level’], but the best of these comes close enough.
The weak link from the ‘Quo…Live!’ LP was always a leaden trudge through ‘In My Chair’ – one of the oldest tunes to remain in the setlist – which, measured against the material sourced from the ’73-’75 LPs, sounds positively archaic. The previously unreleased versions of the track, captured on the 27th and 28th respectively, add very little to the overall experience. ‘In My Chair’ is still the moment where you’d chose to go to the bar if it were an actual gig, or when listening at home, you’d perhaps go and boil the kettle to relieve the boredom. Listening closely, it’s actually easy to hear why the performance from the 29th is the best from a rough bunch. Had Rick and Francis paid more attention when picking tracks, rather than choosing the first performances they heard (assuming that tale is true), they probably would’ve still binned the one second night anyway since it has a few feedback issues.
You’d think that by 1976, having played it incessantly, the Quo could’ve hammered through ‘Caroline’ on autopilot, but the unreleased tapes show off a really fudgy introduction from the second gig, but this is made up for with one of the finest drum solos where Coghlan sounds like an absolute powerhouse. It’s certainly not as good as the version on the original LP overall, but again, obsessive fans will definitely welcome the opportunity to discover something slightly different, and the same can be said for regular set opener ‘Junior’s Wailing’. Lancaster sounds about the same whichever night you favour, but the MC introductions are arguably more rowdy on the previously unreleased takes, and the newly created mix allows the lead guitar work to come through in a much more direct way during the third night’s performance.
On each of the three nights, the remainder of the material sounds solid, and with so many decades’ distance, it could even be called stately, but there’s not anything too remarkable regarding unreleased versions of ‘Don’t Waste My Time’, ‘Roll Over Lay Down’, ‘Is There A Better Way’ and ‘Rain’. So many years later, the latter plays like an odd choice within the chosen setlist, given that the likes of the also then-new ‘Rollin’ Home’ and ‘Mystery Song’ might’ve been bigger crowd pleasers. It’s easy to say this in retrospect, of course, and at the time these gigs were captured for posterity, ‘Rain’ was the more successful of Quo’s semi-recent singles, so that would certainly have been a major factor in choosing it over a couple of arguably superior tracks.
Naturally, with three full gigs and absolutely no variation present in the setlist, much like those huge Elvis Presley box sets of live shows from 1969 and 1972, this collection can feel incredibly repetitive. Then again, it’s not designed to be ploughed through in one hit. The Quo fans who’ve loved the double LP for decades – and have deeper pockets in their worn out denim – will definitely relish the chance to get their heads down and lose themselves in this warts ‘n’ all, absolutely complete experience.
As a footnote, it’s worth mentioning that even with a hefty price tag at the time of release, this doesn’t allow for retiring the previous expanded release, since discs three and four from the 2014 box set feature the previously Japanese only ‘Tokyo Quo’ and a bootleg recording from Australia (both sourced from later dates during the ‘Blue For You’ tour), but then, when was there ever such a thing as too much peak 70s Quo…?
Buy the box set here.
April 2025