Duke Ellington, ‘Ellington at Newport’

Duke Ellington is famous for his place in jazz music history. Ellington remained a mainstay for jazz enthusiasts and the live album Ellington at Newport helped solidify his career. Destined for stardom, Ellington recorded this live album at the Newport Jazz Festival.

After recording this masterpiece, Ellington ended up on the cover of Time magazine, and two years later, he released a follow-up album called Newport 1958. Over time, in 2022, Ellington at Newport was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry.

Eric Clapton, ‘Unplugged’

The 1992 album Unplugged by Eric Clapton was recorded at Bray Studios in England for the wildly popular music television show MTV Unplugged. Clapton worked with bassist Nathan East, drummer Steve Ferron, and pianist Chuck Leavell on this album. He also worked with guitarist Andy Fairweather Low on the album.

Many fans were enamored with acoustic versions of his hits Layla and Tears in Heaven. In 1993, the album became the bestselling live album of all time and Clapton’s best-selling album, selling 26 million copies worldwide.

MC5, ‘Kick out the Jams’

Kick Out The Jams is the debut album by proto-punk band MC5. This album was recorded live at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom over two nights in 1968: October 30, known as Devil’s Night, and October 31, Halloween. Then, Elektra Records released the album in February of 1969. This album had two versions: an edited and unedited version.

Angry lead singer of MC5 Rob Tyner was big on expletives, and so was this album. As a result, a Detroit-based chain called Hudson’s Department Stores wouldn’t stock and sell the album. The band angrily took out a full-page ad in a newspaper and used it to grow their album and audience even more.

Jimi Hendrix, ‘Band of Gypsys’

Originally, Jimi Hendrix played with the group the Jimi Hendrix Experience. But, The Experience broke up in June of 1969. Bur the breakup didn’t stop Hendrix from releasing music. Released in 1970, Band of Gypsys was the first live album without his celebrated trio.

It was recorded at the Fillmore East in New York City on two consecutive nights. Featuring Buddy Miles on the drums and Billy Cox on the bass. The new group needed to develop an identity, and luckily this album helped them with that task and set them up for success going forward.

Keith Jarrett, ‘The Köln Concert’

The Köln Concert is a live album consisting of piano improvisation by Keith Jarrett. The album was recorded at the Opera House in Cologne, Germany, on January 24, 1975. The double-vinyl live album was released in November of the same year.

The most remarkable part about this live album is that it was a one-person show. Jarrett was running on little sleep and felt pain on the night the album was recorded. He also didn’t receive the piano he requested. Yet, despite all of this he created one of the bestselling solo jazz and piano albums in the genre’s history.

Deep Purple, ‘Made in Japan’

English rock band Deep Purple’s live album Made in Japan was recorded during the band’s first tour of Japan in August of 1972. Deep Purple was world-renowned for its stage presence and decided a live album would be a good idea to promote the band.

The budget was $3,000, and when it came to publicity, it worked wonders. The double-live album was critically and commercially successful. In the United States, the hit “Smoke on the Water” was famous throughout the 1970s and was one of the main reasons for the band’s success.