Live and excellent music at Leeds and Woodstock

Live albums are generally among the most disappointing, but recent releases include two really fine ones competitive in quality to the now-classic “Ray Charles in Person.”

“The Who Live At Leeds” (Decca DL 79175) and “Woodstock” (Cotillion SD3-500) are both interesting and exciting performances no matter how many carpers may say "it ain’t the same as being there." Of course it ain’t, but that’s not the idea. Most of the people who say that weren’t there anyway.

The Who, probably the best driving rock band around, offers a lot of older material in its album, from Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” to Peter Townshend’s own “My Generation” and “The Magic Bus.” The only cavil a listener might have is on “Young Man Blues,” the Mose Allison song that opens the record. Mose was better. The youth/age theme might fit the Who, but the performance distorts the song clean out of shape.

The problem with “Woodstock” is that there’s so much of it, too much to discuss thoroughly in a small space. It has everything from Joan Baez’ lovely reading of “Joe Hill” and her duet on the Byrds’ “Drugstore Truck Drivin’ Man” to Country Joe and the Fish’s informal National Anthem, the “Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag,” to Jimi Hendrix’ freaky version of the real “Star-Spangled Banner.”

The records also include some material that wasn’t in the movie, like Neil Young’s “Sea of Madness,” in itself almost worth the pocketbook-wrecking price of the three-record set.

But the film points up again the inadequacies of recorded performances. The filmmakers, with good split-screen effects, made Alvin Lee’s performance on the film a hectic 10 minutes. On the record it’s not as good, and neither are the Who, probably the best example of all of an act that has to be seen live.

But both records, good as they are, would make effective advertisments for the mad scientists who are working on videotape music right now.

FAIRPORT CONVENTION: “LIEGE AND LIEF” (A&M)

Fairport Convention, which comes to the Factory June 5 and 6, is consolidating here. The group is going to its English folk roots instead of the more modern material it used in the earlier “Unhalfbricking” album.

If Country Joe can do a Woody Guthrie record, Fairport can go back too. They even do “Matty Groves.” The fine fiddle of David Swarbrick is doing things throughout. It’s a nice record, but those who aren’t into English folk and are new to Fairport might do better to listen to the earlier one. Dylan’s “If You Gotta Go” in French with Cajun-style fiddling is something to hear.