What was the first live album?
Music is an art form that is best shared live and in the flesh. You could spend months constructing the highest-quality hi-fi system possible, but the records you play on it rarely stand up to the experience of hearing music performed in a live setting. But what are you meant to do if your favourite artists are no longer touring? The much-maligned format of live albums often gives a stunning insight into the stagecraft and performance style of artists performing at their peak, preserving their concerts for future audiences to enjoy.
For audiences, there is a sense of spontaneity and organic creation captured in live performances and albums that is often lost within an artist’s studio work. As such, legendary live records such as The Who’s Live at Leeds or James Brown’s Live At The Apollo mark notable highlights within a musician’s discography, but where did it all begin? The answer to that question largely depends on your own personal definition of what constitutes being called a ‘live album’.
On some level, any recording made before the invention of the Ampex 8-track recorder in 1957 could technically be considered a ‘live’ recording. Prior to that essential advancement in production technology, virtually all music was recorded live to tape, with minimal – if any – interference or mixing in the studio. Multitrack recording did not become commonplace within the industry until around the mid-1960s, so you could correctly identify many earlier albums as being live albums of sorts, but that feels like a bit of a cop-out.
After all, the popular definition of a live album is, in essence, a concert recording. With only a few exceptions, live albums tend to feature background noise from the audience and the occasional slip-up from the band onstage; it is part of their charm. In that sense, the very first live album dates back all the way to 1938, when the captivating world of jazz was on the cusp of enjoying widespread popularity among the music mainstream.
Recorded live at Carnegie Hall in New York on January 18th, 1938, the album saw bandleader Benny Goodman cement his legendary reputation by becoming the first jazz artist to headline the iconic venue. Given the performance’s historical importance, some bright spark recorded the concert, later releasing it in 1950 as the double album The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert.
A landmark moment both for jazz and for live albums on the whole, the concert saw Goodman performing at his very peak, performing a smorgasbord of his most iconic swing jazz tracks, along with an awe-inspiringly talented host of musicians, including the likes of Gene Krupa, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie. The double album gives an insight into the sound of these legendary artists. It holds historical significance both in terms of the story of jazz music and of American culture during the 20th century.
Jazz would continue to foster groundbreaking live albums in the decades that followed, with notable examples coming from the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong. Even in the modern age, jazz artists continue to use the live album format as a means to express the spontaneous, improvisational, and adaptable nature of their work. No two jazz concerts are the same, so committing one to a release feels like a logical decision.
Of course, as recording technology has improved tenfold since the days of Benny Goodman, live albums are now more prevalent than ever. Just as The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert gives modern audiences a chance to hear now-deceased artists like Goodman, Ellington, and Krupa at, arguably, the pinnacle of their careers, modern live albums will provide an insight into the trends and sound of our times for future audiences.
So, what was the first live rock and roll album?
Aside from jazz, rock music is perhaps the most prevalent genre when it comes to live albums. Beginning in the 1960s, virtually every notable rock outfit released a handful of live concert recordings and although a few of them were created as simple cash-grabs by record executives, many more managed to capture the energy of rock during its most prolific era. Live at Leeds by The Who is a vitally important example of a live rock album, but it is far from being the first.
Back in 1961, New Jersey one-hit-wonders Joey Dee and the Starliters made history as the first rock outfit to popularise the concert recording, releasing the album Doin’ the Twist at the Peppermint Lounge in 1961. That album, featuring their defining track ‘Peppermint Twist’ predicted the later rise of rock live albums, which was capitalised on by the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, and, of course, The Who.
