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Greatest Stories Live

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Greatest Stories Live
Live album by
ReleasedApril 23, 1976
RecordedNovember 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)
GenrePop/rock
Length70:32
LabelElektra
ProducerStephen Chapin, Fred Kewley, Paul Leka
Harry Chapin chronology
Portrait Gallery
(1975)
Greatest Stories Live
(1976)
On the Road to Kingdom Come
(1976)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
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)

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No.TitleLength
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

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Charts and certifications

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Charts

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Year Chart Position
1976 Billboard 200 48
Canadian Albums Chart 71

Certifications

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Region Certification Sales
United States 2× Platinum 2,000,000
Canada Platinum 100,000

References

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  1. ^ D'Angelo, Peter J.. Greatest Stories Live at AllMusic