# "Live" recordings that made the charts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670 "2008-11-07T17:52:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/1 "2008-11-07T17:52:55Z")
This morning, while driving to work, I heard “Fingertips (Pt. 2)” by “Little” Stevie Wonder on the radio, which was recorded in front of an audience. Wikipedia says it was the first “live” recording to reach #1. It got me wondering- what other “live” songs have made the charts? The only one I can think of right now is “We Are The World”. Dopers? ETA- What am I thinking? “We Are The World” wasn’t recorded live! ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/2 "2008-11-07T18:00:45Z")
“I want you to want me” reached #7: [Cheap Trick at Budokan - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_Budokan_(Cheap_Trick_album)) “Summertime blues” reached #27:[Live at Leeds - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_At_Leeds) ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/3 "2008-11-07T18:08:20Z")
Sadly, the first one that came to mind for me was [My Ding-a-Ling](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Ding-A-Ling) by Chuck Berry: > [@](#): > > the version which topped the charts was recorded live during the Lanchester Arts Festival at the Locarno ballroom in Coventry, England, on 3 February 1972 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/4 "2008-11-07T18:10:32Z")
**Peter Frampton** ’s _Baby, I Love Your Way_, _Do You Feel Like We Do_, and \*Show Me The Way \*(from _Frampton Comes Alive_) reached #s 12, 10 and 6, respectively, in the US singles chart. ---
**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/5 "2008-11-07T18:12:56Z")
“Baby, I Love Your Way” and “Show Me the Way,” both from Frampton Comes Alive! Also, “I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick. Weren’t songs from “Let It Be”–like “One After 909”–recorded from the rooftop session The Beatles had? ETA: I was beaten to the Peter Framton one, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/6 "2008-11-07T18:13:12Z")
Several songs from Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged show made the charts: “About a Girl”, “The Man Who Sold the World” and “All Apologies” Similarly, Eric Clapton’s Unplugged album produced new hit versions (or not, depending on your taste) of “Tears in Heaven” and “Layla”. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/7 "2008-11-07T18:15:22Z")
What do you mean by “made the charts”? Live recordings get on the charts all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/8 "2008-11-07T18:17:31Z")
Kinks - Lola ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/9 "2008-11-07T18:25:30Z")
\*Stay \*-- Jackson Browne ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/10 "2008-11-07T18:34:45Z")
“Conquistador,” Procol Harum ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/11 "2008-11-07T18:49:43Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > What do you mean by “made the charts”? Live recordings get on the charts all the time. Yeah, you’re right- I guess I didn’t realize how many live songs have been hits! OK, how about restricting it to Top 10 hits? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/12 "2008-11-07T19:20:34Z")
Billy Joel’s _She’s Got a Way_. Leastways, when I hear it on the radio, I always hear applause at the end. In light of the new restriction that it has to have been top 10, I offer the caveat that it peaked at #23 in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/13 "2008-11-07T19:25:39Z")
Johnny Cash – “A Boy Named Sue” – #2 ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/14 "2008-11-07T19:43:37Z")
Then there are “live” in-studio recordings with an audience, like Gary “U.S.” Bonds’ _A Quarter to Three._ ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/15 "2008-11-07T19:45:35Z")
Elton John - “Benny & the Jets” ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/16 "2008-11-07T19:51:08Z")
> [@Art\_Rock](#): > > Kinks - Lola Was Lola recorded live? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/17 "2008-11-07T20:03:28Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Elton John - “Benny & the Jets” Nope. Not a live recording. “Bennie and the Jets” was recorded in the studio. The whistles and applause came from some of Elton’s live concerts, but their placement in the song is studio effects. > **[Bennie and the Jets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennie_and_the_Jets)** > > "Bennie and the Jets" (also titled "Benny & the Jets") is a song written by British musician Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. The song first appeared on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album in 1973. "Bennie and the Jets" has been one of John's most popular songs and was performed during his appearance at Live Aid. > The track was a massive hit in the United States and Canada, released in 1974 as an A-side using the spelling "Bennie". In most territories the track was ... > [@](#): > > After recording the song in the studio, John and the band worried that it was too plain and unoriginal. According to guitarist Davey Johnstone, “‘Bennie and the Jets’ was one of the oddest songs we ever recorded. We just sat back and said, ‘This is really odd’.” Gus Dudgeon, who produced Goodbye Yellow Brick Road as well as most of John’s albums up to that point, added the “live from Playhouse Theatre” sound to the track. Dudgeon added applause and audience sounds from John’s previous concerts, plus whistles. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/18 "2008-11-07T20:09:07Z")
The live version of McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” made it to #10 in the US in 1977 ([wiki cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maybe_I%27m_Amazed)). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/19 "2008-11-07T20:25:04Z")
Johnny Rivers had a string of live hits (from Wiki with chart positions added): > [@](#): > > In 1964, Elmer Valentine gave Rivers a one-year contract to open his new club, Whisky a Go Go, on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. The Whisky a Go Go opened three days before The Beatles released “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and the British Invasion knocked almost every American artist off the top of the charts. But Rivers was so popular, producer Lou Adler decided to issue Johnny Rivers Live At The Whiskey A Go Go. The live album reached #12 on the charts and the single “Memphis” (a Chuck Berry cover) reached #2. Rivers made the successful transition from nightclub entertainer to chart-busting pop singer and had created the Go Go sound, part of a scene which included Go-Go dancers. > > Into 1965, Rivers continued to record mostly live, Go Go style records including “Maybellene” #12 (another Berry cover), which he followed “Mountain of Love” #9, “Midnight Special” #20, “Seventh Son” #7 (written by Willie Dixon) and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” #26(written by Pete Seeger), all of which were hits. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670/20 "2008-11-07T20:26:19Z")
I was going to say “Memphis” by Johnny Rivers went to #2 in 1964, but according to [allmusic](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:hjfqxzr0ld0e): > [@](#): > > Although the hit version was touted as a “live” track, it was recorded in the studio with the help and atmosphere of a group of high school girls from area Uni and Hollywood High. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-recordings-that-made-the-charts/471670.md?page=2)