YMLF Live

[Macfan4life]

Let's discuss this gem of a song live in concert. Which was your favorite version. The band played 2 verses back to back for the Rumours and Tusk tours and then went to the album version for the Mirage tour. Chris went back to the over version for her solo concerts in 1984 and then I believe it all went back again to the Rumours version. I know for the Dance it did but I cant recall for the 1987 and 1990 tour without looking on youtube first.
Personally I love the 1982 version the best. It was the version that seduced me seeing Chris so elegant in red with that bar chair behind her. Stevie is not on vocals till the end which fits the song better IMHO. In the early tours she would join Chris during parts that she did in the more recent years. The earlier live versions does give the song some power in concert which is probably why they mixed it up. But I like the original version of the song with getting Lindsey on guitar battle with Chris's synthesizer. I love that it was the first song Chris did when she came back to the band (on the tour).
David is right. YMLF is definitely edited together on the Mirage show. Check out 2:48 when Lindsey yells. His mouth is not moving and his mouth is not near the microphone. Those shots of Stevie and Lindsey are from another night but edited in. Its almost flawless and if Lindsey had not made a verbal sound it would have been almost impossible to tell. Perhaps one night Stevie was off wondering the stage or something and they preferred to show them in line or something. But the audio track is amazing. I did not catch a change of clothes as David suggested but no doubt there are part of this song that are visually edited together from both nights at the Forum. There are probably more songs they did the same but we dont have an audio clue to notice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD-yCmHOVG4

[Villavic]

I love the end of the YMLF version included on Disc 2 of 2004 Rumours [Expanded], with Stevie singing “wonder why… feeling it’s time to try…”, instead of “it’s all I want to…”. I don’t know how many times she sang those lines live, but they are present in YMLF from the Rosebud film, so I’d say that’s my favorite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsDJLaqw5Tc

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I love the end of the YMLF version included on Disc 2 of 2004 Rumours [Expanded], with Stevie singing “wonder why… feeling it’s time to try…”, instead of “it’s all I want to…”. I don’t know how many times she sang those lines live, but they are present in YMLF from the Rosebud film, so I’d say that’s my favorite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsDJLaqw5Tc

That's my favorite version, too. I love the alternate lyrics, and Lindsey singing the Bb "you"s at the end.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

That's my favorite version, too. I love the alternate lyrics, and Lindsey singing the Bb "you"s at the end.

I love watching her jam at the end. Those rare times, they actually let the camera be on her for more than 3 seconds.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

I love watching her jam at the end. Those rare times, they actually let the camera be on her for more than 3 seconds.

You just like it for Stevie playing her guiro. Admit it!
She could not succeed in strumming an acoustic guitar during GYOW so they tried something else.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

You just like it for Stevie playing her guiro. Admit it!
She could not succeed in strumming an acoustic guitar during GYOW so they tried something else.

Someone recently asked me why Christine has to play tambourine on "eyes" live when Stevie has one.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

Someone recently asked me why Christine has to play tambourine on "eyes" live when Stevie has one.

I thought Christine was just clapping her hands during Eyes, while singing the intro and break in the middle. Old Goatsy was playing it during this. I remember because her titties were flopping.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

Someone recently asked me why Christine has to play tambourine on "eyes" live when Stevie has one.

Yes! And Chris hits the beat every time. Stevie is waving hers around.


Even in YMLF she falls behind the beat with her scratching
I think her talent was in the cow bell during Tusk.
Where was America's Got Talent back then?

[David]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Which was your favorite version.

One of the band’s greatest songs in a short list from 1967 to the present.

My favorite version is the one Rosebud. It may seem a little sedate, but the levels are all set perfectly and watching the band perform it is a trip down Memory Lane.

This gets a little technical: Most of the time (on tour), Christine used her Hohner on the verses (1976–1978). For this film, she was on a Roland EP-10 61-key piano. The Hohner was always great as a complement to the drums and bass, but on this song, it always sounded like an overdriven board with too much gain. You can hear what I’m talking about on the muddled and messy “You Make Loving Fun” on the 1980 Deluxe (taken from Oklahoma 1977). The EP-10 takes it all down a notch, which is welcome to my ear. The EP-10 sounds more like a Fender Rhodes with a tiny bit of bell in the upper register.

So that’s my favorite. But I also really loved the complete opposite on the 1979–80 tour, when the song would get completely pumped up by Mick and John, Chris switched to the highly controllable Yamaha CP-30 (“CP” stands for “combo piano,” I guess), and Lindsey just ripped — often deliberately off-key — like a drunken guitar god. So the song developed a Tusk-like garage energy so unlike its original studio gloss, and I was as happy as a clam with it. (Listen to it at the Hollywood Bowl, Wembley, or Mobile.)

1982 had way too much reverb on Lindsey’s signal, a problem that dogged the entire tour.

1984 was . . . nice.

1987 was . . . a little sluggish.

1997 was crystalline and sedate — I loved the song all over again. It also contains probably the best lead vocal on the entire Dance album.

After that, who knows? Myriad problems.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by David

1997 was crystalline and sedate — I loved the song all over again. It also contains probably the best lead vocal on the entire Dance album.

My favorite version is "The Dance," even if that isn't properly a live arena concert. I agree that it is probably the finest vocal on the entire reunion album, even next to "Silver Springs." 20 years later, Christine's deliver on "YMLF" still managed to be seductive and sly. The rest of the musicians cook on it, too.

The Paris soundcheck is also amazing. It's hard to find a bad version of this tune live, though sometimes she sounds tired or hoarse on vocals. To be expected, of course. But instrumentally it never disappointed. Not that I have seen, anyway.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

I thought Christine was just clapping her hands during Eyes, while singing the intro and break in the middle. Old Goatsy was playing it during this. I remember because her titties were flopping.

Christine claps and tambourines, in addition to singing the higher register call-and-response and providing some very cool keys in several places.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

Christine claps and tambourines, in addition to singing the higher register call-and-response and providing some very cool keys in several places.

Right. That whole vocal intro is amazing, live, that she could pull it off. There's no way Stevie could have sang that in a million years.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by David

One of the band’s greatest songs in a short list from 1967 to the present.

My favorite version is the one Rosebud. It may seem a little sedate, but the levels are all set perfectly and watching the band perform it is a trip down Memory Lane.

This gets a little technical: Most of the time (on tour), Christine used her Hohner on the verses (1976–1978). For this film, she was on a Roland EP-10 61-key piano. The Hohner was always great as a complement to the drums and bass, but on this song, it always sounded like an overdriven board with too much gain. You can hear what I’m talking about on the muddled and messy “You Make Loving Fun” on the 1980 Deluxe (taken from Oklahoma 1977). The EP-10 takes it all down a notch, which is welcome to my ear. The EP-10 sounds more like a Fender Rhodes with a tiny bit of bell in the upper register.

So that’s my favorite. But I also really loved the complete opposite on the 1979–80 tour, when the song would get completely pumped up by Mick and John, Chris switched to the highly controllable Yamaha CP-30 (“CP” stands for “combo piano,” I guess), and Lindsey just ripped — often deliberately off-key — like a drunken guitar god. So the song developed a Tusk-like garage energy so unlike its original studio gloss, and I was as happy as a clam with it. (Listen to it at the Hollywood Bowl, Wembley, or Mobile.)

1982 had way too much reverb on Lindsey’s signal, a problem that dogged the entire tour.

1984 was . . . nice.

1987 was . . . a little sluggish.

1997 was crystalline and sedate — I loved the song all over again. It also contains probably the best lead vocal on the entire Dance album.

After that, who knows? Myriad problems.

I agree with all your assessments. The Tusk tour was definitely a rougher, raw, garage sounding with Lindsey. It did swing back to the sulky version for Mirage. However Lindsey's The Dance and OWTS tours, not the same intensity from Lindsey. Tusk and Mirage his guitar work is on fire on the song.
I agree the 1987 was sluggish. It really showed how much the song needed Lindsey. OMG. I really disliked Stevie not on stage during Over My Head in 1987 and YMLF in 1990. She adds to the song at the end.
YMLF is one of their best songs for countless reasons. But Lindsey's guitar takes the song to another level. It still would have been a hit with some basic guitar. But his guitar parts are incredible and Chris churns away. Forgive me because I am no keyboard expert. I would classify the Tusk tour of a more of an organ sounding keyboard. I like the Mirage synthesizer sound which is more like the recording.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

I thought Christine was just clapping her hands during Eyes, while singing the intro and break in the middle. Old Goatsy was playing it during this. I remember because her titties were flopping.

Nope she does both, and you can hear Christine's instrument (in time).

[jbrownsjr]

There's a version (I think Manchester) 1990? I love it because it's a bit bluesy (er) than the normal live version. And Mick really pushes the song along. {This was a bootleg for sale on CD}

I think they extend a little and do "Oh Don't" Don't break the spell (twice)

Anyway, I'm going from memory, but I always loved that version because I felt it rocked. Who knows, I may go back and find it to be terrible. But I don't think so.