Curated list by MO’HIT

Fav Live Albums

These are just a few of my favourite live albums. Closing your eyes and listening to these albums on some headphone will transport you straight into a private concert.

L ADING

Curated list by MO’HITFav Live AlbumsThese are just a few of my favourite live albums. Closing your eyes and listening to these albums on some headphone will transport you straight into a private concert.2 likes

Body Heat

James Brown

This is such an unbelievable album. The energy in the room is so electric, you can hear it through the record. No spoilers but you’ll hear PLENTY of stars in the room getting shouted out.

Comment by MO’HIT

Live At The Jazz Cafe, London: The Complete Show

D'Angelo

This album was originally released to take advantage of D’Angelo’s popularity and the success of his debut, Brown Sugar, since his sophomore release wasn’t ready yet. Listening to the crowd in this recording, it’s like you can hear that they knew this was a historic evening with a once-in-a-generation artist.

Comment by MO’HIT

Live At The Forum Los Angeles - April 25, 1970

Jimi Hendrix

Probably one of the more popular bootleg albums around. This set was never professionally recorded, but there was a common practice amongst bootleggers at the time to pay the engineers at the venue to let them attach a recorder to the board. This is one of those recordings with a flyer used as the cover. Not as “clean” sounding as an official recording, but I kinda prefer it as it is. The recording is just as raw as the performance.

Comment by MO’HIT

Broadcasting Live

Michael Jackson

The first five songs on the A side arefrom Michael Jackson’s performance at the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show on January 31, 1993. The final track on the A side is from Bill Clinton's Presidential Gala on January 19, 1993. Michael dedicates his performance of “Gone Too Soon” to the memory of Ryan White, a teenager who became a poster child for HIV/AIDs a few years prior.

Comment by MO’HIT

Change, Change, Change (Live At The Roxy)

Les McCann

What I like most about this album is that it allows you to hear Les McCann in a way you never really have before. I don’t just mean how he opens up when performing live — I mean that this album has a slightly more rock-tinge to it than Les’ typical soulful-sometimes-funky-jazz. I’m not sure what the reasoning for this more rock-influenced sound is, but I appreciate that this album offers a different perspective.

Comment by MO’HIT

Steppin' Out

Joan Armatrading

I enjoy this album because of Joan’s voice and performance, but I wish it was longer. This album has a DVD that was released 25 years later, which has a far more thorough tracklisting. This album was never planned to be released. Joan Armatrading was in a dispute with A&M at the time and holding off on turning in her next studio album. She agreed to record and release an album from her ongoing tour while continuing to negotiate with the label.

Comment by MO’HIT

Uptown Rulers! (Live On The Queen Mary)

The Meters

This is a FUN album, which makes sense when you learn that it was recorded during an album release party for the album “Venus and Mars” by Wings. Linda and Paul McCartney hosted the party on board the Queen Mary ship in 1975, and invited The Meters to perform. A lot of people consider this album to capture “the best” of a Meters performance. I never got to witness them live, but I can only imagine the energy of their shows by listening to this.

Comment by MO’HIT

The Köln Concert

Keith Jarrett

This is a well-known album, and I could be mistaken but I don’t think the full story behind this album is as well-known. Long story short, Keith wanted this performance recorded to show what happens when a concert promoter fails to provide a properly tuned piano. The result is this emotionally-driven improvisation album, that’s gone on to be the best selling piano solo album of all time.

Comment by MO’HIT

The Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra At Pleyel; Paris, France

Dizzy Gillespie And His Orchestra

Not only is the music amazing, but the sound on this record is impeccable. Salle Pleyel is a historic venue with some of the best acoustics in the world.

Comment by MO’HIT

At The Blue Note

Sarah Vaughan