Detroit has been home to some of the most iconic recordings — and we’re not just talking about Motown, Eminem, or Bob Seger. If you dig a little deeper you might be surprised to find that these unsuspecting records were also recorded in Detroit.

 

The Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Freaky Styley” Well, maybe you knew this already, that the Red Hot Chili Peppers made the pilgrimage to Michigan to record with their hero George Clinton. The album was recorded at United Sound Studios in Detroit.
The Doors – Live In Detroit The Doors recorded this double live album on May 8, 1970 at Cobo Arena. It includes a nearly 20-minute version of “Light My Fire,” deep cuts like “Dead Cats, Dead Rats,” and a nearly 18-minute version of The End to end the show.
Def Leppard – And The Will Be A Next Time – Live From Detroit We know you drove your ’85 Camaro to Pine Knob for this show on July 15, 2016. It’s got all the monster cock rock jams and ballads like “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” “Rock On,” and “Love Bites”!
Yes – “Yesshows” Not all the live recordings on “Yesshows” are from Detroit, but most of them were. Sides 2, 3, and 4, were recorded at Cobo Hall. Does it seem strange that the consummate prog band should choose to immortalize their performances in the city with the hardest-rocking reputation? Maybe Detroiters had more depth than we thought!
Hank Williams Jr – Live At Cobo Hall Detroit Recorded at Cobo Hall in 1969, Williams played hits like “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and, of course “Detroit City.”
The Amboy Dukes – “Survival of the Fittest Live” Yes, this is a problematic album. It features Ted “Better Dead than Red” Nugent, along with the band that made him famous, the Amboy Dukes, and was recorded live at the Eastown Theater on July 31 and Aug. 1, 1970.
Lydia Lunch – “Oral Fixation” Who would have imagined it, but it turns out that Lydia Lunch did spoken word in a basement space at the Detroit Institute of Arts back in 1988. The recording of this performance was later released as the Oral Fixation EP. From the sounds of it, she had a small but receptive audience.
The J. Geils Band – “Live Full House” It should come as no surprise that a live album by the J. Geils band is recorded in Detroit, as the band had a huge following in Detroit and put out three live albums recorded here. But you might not have expected that trend to date back all the way to 1972. Another surprise is the venue, listed as the Cinderella Ballroom, which closed in 1975.
Peter Frampton – Live In Detroit Recorded July 17, 1999 at The Pine Knob Music Theater. Yeah, he played “Show Me The Way.” Yeah, he played “Baby I Love Your Way.”
The Tragically Hip – “Live Between Us” The album was recorded on November 23, 1996, at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, during the band’s North American tour in support of Trouble at the Henhouse.[2]
George Carlin – “Take-Offs and Put-Ons” You may not at first recognize that this, the second album and first solo album by American comedian George Carlin is, um, an album by George Carlin. It’s from back in the mid-1960s, when the funnyman still cultivated a square personality, favorite short hair and skinny ties. And you could sense his rapport with the fairly square audience at Detroit’s Roostertail restaurant on Nov. 25-27, 1966. The recording was nominated for a 1967 Grammy award.
Byron MacGregor & the Detroit Symphony Orchestra – “The Americans” The Americans – Byron MacGregor & the Detroit Symphony Orchestra In 1973, to many it appeared that America was on the ropes: Given the quagmire of Vietnam, an energy crisis brought on by an OPEC embargo, and the shrinking prestige of the Nixon administration, decried abroad and hammered by protesters and peace advocates at home, things looked ripe for change. But leave it to a Canadian to come to the rescue of the American status quo. Canadian commentator Gordon Sinclair released a pungent audio essay on why America, in her darkest hour, needed a world to rally behind her. So popular was this commentary that CKLW host Byron MacGregor picked it up, read it out, backed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In the United States, it outperformed Sinclair’s recording, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of Feb. 9, 1974. It was recorded at Westbound Studios in Detroit, released on Westbound Records, the same studio that brought you Funkadelic.
Johnnie Ray – “Whiskey and Gin” As Dexy’s Midnight Runners sang, “Poor old Johnnie Ray!” The wild singer began as a novelty actor playing black show bars backed by such bandleaders as Maurice King. Called the “King of Wails” and the “Nabob of Sob” for his maudlin stage antics, which included falling onto the stage floor. This early track was recorded at United Sound. Why does nobody associate Ray with Detroit? He was busted here twice by the vice squad for soliciting sex from men. After the second trial ended, Ray reportedly never set foot in Detroit again.
Gallery – “It’s So Nice To Be With You” Give this good-time, soft-rock hit a spin and see if it reminds you of anything Detroit. The sunny lyrics, the soulful pedal-steel, the aw-shucks delivery of vocalist Jim Gold all sound like they’re inspired by other regions. But it’s a purely Detroit disc, with Dennis Coffey on the boards and allegedly all recorded at GM Studios in East Detroit.
King Crimson – Live In Detroit, MI A double LP recorded on November 13, 1971 at the Eastown Theater.

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