''Got Live If You Want It!'' (stylized on the front cover as ''got LIVE if you want it!'') is a six-track, four-song

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP) release by

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

featuring live recordings from 1965. The title is a pun on the

swamp blues Swamp blues is a type of Louisiana blues that developed in the Black communities of Southwest Louisiana in the 1950s.Malone, Evelyn Levingston, "Swamp Blues: Race And Vinyl From Southwest Louisiana" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertatio ...

song "I Got Love If You Want It" by

Slim Harpo Slim Harpo (born Isiah Moore or James Isaac Moore; February 11, 1924 – January 31, 1970)Martin Hawkins, "Slim Harpo at 100", ''Blues & Rhythm'', No.384, June 2024, p.23 was an American blues musician, a leading exponent of the swamp blues styl ...

; the Stones recorded his "

I'm a King Bee "I'm a King Bee" is a swamp blues song written and first recorded by Slim Harpo in 1957. It has been performed and recorded by numerous blues and other artists since. In 2008, Slim Harpo's original recording received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. ...

" for their 1964 debut album."I Got Love If You Want It" backed with "I'm a King Bee" was Slim Harpo's first single, released by

Excello Records Excello Records was an American blues independent record label, started by Ernie Young in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, in 1953 as a subsidiary of Nashboro, a gospel label. History It recorded such artists as Louis Brooks, Lightnin' Slim, ...

in 1957. ''Got Live If You Want It!'' reached number one in the UK and was the group's last EP. Although not issued in the US, three of its songs were included on albums released there by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

in 1965: " I'm Alright" on ''

Out of Our Heads ''Out of Our Heads'' is the third studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in two editions with different covers and track listings. In the US, London Records released it on 30 July 1965 as the band's fourth American ...

''; and "

Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

" and " I'm Moving On" on ''

December's Children (And Everybody's) ''December's Children (And Everybody's)'' is the fifth American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in December 1965. It is primarily compiled from different released tracks from across the band's recording career ...

''. With different tracks mostly recorded in 1966, London used the title for a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

released in December 1966.

Recording

Renowned for its raw-sounding quality, ''Got Live If You Want It!'' has endured as a live artifact, more for its historical than musical appeal. Reportedly

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

Glyn Johns Glyn Thomas Johns (born 15 February 1942) is an English recording engineer and record producer. He has worked with many of the most famous rock recording acts from both the UK and abroad, such as the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Who, ...

had hung microphones over the balcony for the recording; however, this is called into question as "I'm Alright" on the '' Got Live If You Want It!'' LP (recorded and released a year later) contains the same backing track but with different vocals. This would have been impossible if the recordings were made as described. Additionally, " I'm Moving On" features (at the very least) a harmonica overdub as the instrument can be heard underneath Jagger's vocal during the first verse while Brian Jones (the group's other harmonica player) is playing slide guitar. These two tracks may even be studio recordings re-tooled to give the impression of being live. The lack of studio documentation relating to The Stones' Decca recordings makes this difficult to confirm, but this approach was used the following year on the US ''Got Live If You Want It!'' LP.

Release and reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...

gave the EP three out of five stars. He noted, "The EP was crudely recorded, but the raw energy of the group's early performances does shine through, particularly on the two best tracks, the cover of Hank Snow's 'I'm Moving On', and

o Diddley's O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), p ...

'I'm Alright'.""Route 66" and "I'm Moving On" appear on ''

'' (1965) and "I'm Alright" on ''

'' (1965, US edition) Unavailable for decades, ''Got Live If You Want It!'' was reissued on CD in 2004 on the ''

Singles 1963–1965 ''Singles 1963–1965'' is a box set compilation of the singles and EPs by The Rolling Stones spanning the years 1963 to 1965. Part of a series of repackages by ABKCO Records, who licence The Rolling Stones' 1963–1970 recorded works, '' ...

'' box set. In November 2010, it was made available digitally and in 2011 as part of the ''60's UK EP Collection'' digital compilation. On 29 November 2013, the EP was reissued on 7-inch vinyl record as a part of

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

Black Friday 2013.

Track listing

Personnel

The Rolling Stones *

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

– lead vocals, harmonica, percussion *

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

– guitars, backing vocals *

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English musician and founder of the Rolling Stones. Initially a slide guitarist, he went on to sing backing vocals and played a wide variety of instruments on Rolling Stones r ...

– guitars, backing vocals *

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

– drums

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control 1965 EPs Albums produced by Andrew Loog Oldham Live EPs The Rolling Stones EPs 1965 live albums Decca Records live albums Decca Records EPs The Rolling Stones live albums