On December 6, 1977, Jackson Browne released Running on Empty, a risky, creative, ground-breaking live record that was a concept album at its heart.

Whereas most live albums are a collection of pre-released hits and deep cuts recorded in concert, none of the songs from the 10-track album had been heard before. They were all new.

On top of that, the songs were about life of a musician on the road. The 29-year-old singer songwriter recorded these new tunes on stage, in his tour bus, and two of the songs were recorded in his room at the Holiday Inn in Edwardsville, Illinois.

How was it received?

It went gold in '77, platinum in '78, eventually going 7x platinum. It also earned him two Grammy nominations including Album of the Year.

The title track got him a nomination for Best Male Vocal Performance which he lost to Barry Manilow's wild "Copacabana (At the Copa)."

The record's chances for Album of the Year were even slimmer. Nominees that year were The Rolling Stones who had come out with Some Girls, Barry's Even Now which had four hit singles, The Grease soundtrack, and the record that won it all - the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever.

Jackson didn't stand a chance. And when you see that list you might wonder, how did it even get placed among those classic albums? The title track, sure, but really it was because of the nine-minute two-for-one "The Load Out" and "Stay."

The sentimental narrative begins focused on the road crews who often go unnoticed and unheralded. It dips into the sounds of the arenas after the crowd has gone home and the ways to stay entertained on the tour bus.

It's delivered in a somber way that is then relieved by the sweet coda "Stay."

And while it's hard to top Manilow's tale of Lola, Tony, and Rico at the Copa, Jackson's lyrics on "Load Out," was as close to poetry as you'd have heard on FM radio in '77:

But when that last guitar's been packed away
You know that I still wanna play
So just make sure you got it all set to go
Before you come for my piano

You might ask, how does a live record, even a unique one like this, even get nominated for Album of the Year?

Truth of the matter is by the time Jackson had made Running on Empty, two other live albums had earned Grammy nods for the top prize of an entire record.

In 1962, Judy Garland won for Judy at Carnegie Hall at the 4th Grammy Awards.

And in 1971, George Harrison & Friends were nominated for The Concert for Bangladesh.

It took over 20 years later for a live record to be nominated again for Album of the year. Eric Clapton took home the award for his Unplugged album in '94 and the next year Tony Bennett won it all for his unplugged record.

Jackson performs tonight in Chicago for Mavis Staples' 85th birthday. Get your tickets on his website.