Already Gone for the win!
Here's the thing. I was always a listener of live versions of Eagles since day one (my first being Hotel California from 1977 Capital Center). It is only recently that I listened to studio versions. So I am quite biased towards live versions as a result! I cannot listen to studio versions without feeling that they are a bit empty. I especially listen to a lot of audience recorded bootlegs, and I love the rawness and lack of quality! It does not have a polish that studio recordings have. And there are a lot of differences actually, that live recordings have compared to studio versions than you'd think. And I like even the most subtle differences tbh. And lastly I feel that some live versions have a harder edge than studio recordings. Now I will enumerate differences in some On the Border song, to prove the differences:
- Already Gone- Live versions have ending solo, whereas studio fades
- You Never Cry Like a Lover- No live version with Bernie, Felder uses Les paul and plays lead differently
- Midnight Flyer- When Joe played it, the slide was a bit different
- James Dean- It was a duel guitar with Joe Walsh during the solo
Those differences are really appealing to me; they have that kind of appeal a studio recording will never. Hope I am clear with this. I also understand why you'd be weirded out by this. I am just like that, and my friends are like that. Listen to live versions everyday, not studio.