Harry Chapin

Greatest Stories Live is the first live double album by the American singer/songwriter Harry Chapin, recorded over three nights in Los Angeles, California, and released in 1976. 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 omitted 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 popular for its extended cut 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

1. “Dreams Go By” – 4:54
2. “W·O·L·D” – 5:04
3. “Saturday Morning” (Tom Chapin) – 3:05
4. “I Want to 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.