''Live! Go For What You Know'' is a live album by the

Pat Travers Band Patrick Henry Travers (born April 12, 1954) is a Canadian rock guitarist, keyboardist and singer who began his recording career in the mid-1970s. Early life Travers was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Soon after picking up the guitar at ag ...

, released in 1979 on

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

. It reached platinum status in the US, and was re-released on CD in 1993.

Background

The album was recorded on tour in the US in early 1979, and featured the guitar tandem of Travers and

Pat Thrall Patrick Thrall is an American rock guitarist. Thrall began his recording career in 1972. He played guitar, vocals, and percussion with the group Cookin' Mama, which had his brother, Preston Thrall, on percussion. They released the album ''New Day ...

, who had joined the Pat Travers band in 1977 and had recorded ''

Heat In The Street ''Heat in the Street'' is a rock album by the Pat Travers Band. It was released in 1978 on Polydor Records. It is the first with the most popular of Travers' band line-ups, Travers on guitar, Peter "Mars" Cowling on bass guitar, Pat Thrall also o ...

'' (1978) with them. According to ''Legends of Rock Guitar'', on this album and the follow-up, '' Crash and Burn'' (1980), the duo of Travers and Thrall bridged the gap between what it calls "dramatic changes" in metal in the late 1970s: Travers emblematized "the blues-rock sound of sixties and seventies metal" whereas Thrall's playing represents the newer wave in metal (represented by Eddie van Halen): "The combining of the two players' solos during this time showed a rare detente between two generations of hard rockers and, although short-lived, it was extremely exciting." The album was produced by

Tom Allom Thomas James Allom is an English record producer and sound engineer. His best-known work was in the 1970s and 1980s, working with artists such as Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Krokus, Loverboy, Def Leppard, Kix and Rough Cutt. Allom is a memb ...

, who had worked on the first five

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

albums as a sound engineer, had produced two albums by

The Tourists ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, and would afterward produce nine albums by

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

and the debut album ''

On Through the Night ''On Through the Night'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released on 14 March 1980. The album was produced by Tom Allom. It charted at No. 15 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 51 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album ...

'' by

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), a ...

. Besides praising the guitar playing of Travers and Thrall, critics have also hailed

Tommy Aldridge Tommy Aldridge (born August 15, 1950) is an American heavy metal and hard rock drummer. He is noted for his work with numerous bands and artists since the 1970s, such as Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Whitesna ...

, a drumming pioneer who after leaving the Pat Travers Band played with

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

; one critic called him "the definitive

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

drummer" on the basis of this album.

Critical reception

The album garnered positive reviews. It came recommended by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine, and received positive reviews in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' and ''

The Daily Collegian The ''Daily Collegian'' is a student-produced news outlet, with a newspaper and website, that is published independently at the Pennsylvania State University. The newspaper is printed twice a week during the fall and spring semesters, and once ...

''. Years after its release, the live album is often referred to by critics as the pinnacle of Pat Travers' career. Especially the "live classic" song "Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)" (a Stan Lewis cover), which was released as a single, is frequently associated with him and continues to be an audience favorite. The song was included on a 2001 compilation CD called ''Goin' South''. In July 2007, a forum of ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print si ...

'' magazine readers voted ''Live! Go For What You Know'' in their top 40 of live albums.

Track list

Side one #"Hooked on Music" (

Pat Travers Patrick Henry Travers (born April 12, 1954) is a Canadian rock guitarist, keyboardist and singer who began his recording career in the mid-1970s. Early life Travers was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. Soon after picking up the guitar at ag ...

) – 6:26 #"Gettin' Betta" (Mars Cowling, Travers) – 4:52 #"Go All Night" (Travers) – 4:02 #"Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)" (Stan Lewis) – 5:05 Side two #"Stevie" (Travers) – 6:21 #"Makin' Magic" (Travers) – 4:00 #"Heat in the Street" (Jeffrey Lesser, Travers) – 4:24 #"Makes No Difference" (Travers) – 7:03

Personnel

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Mars Cowling – bass *

– guitar, backing vocals *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Production

*Recorded in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, and Gainesville *Produced by Pat Travers and Tom Allom *Design by Stephanie Zuras

References

{{Authority control Pat Travers albums 1979 live albums Albums produced by Tom Allom Polydor Records live albums