Category: 1970s Live Albums

Live Albums From The 1970s

The 1970s were very much the decade of live albums and anybody who was of any significance had to rush out a live album.

The recording and release of Frampton Comes Alive and Live Bullets gave the careers of Peter Frampton and Bob Seger a major push.

Some classic 1970s live albums were released as very short summaries of a concert (The Who Live At Leeds) and have subsequently been reissued with the entire performance.

Others remain largely unloved by the artists and record companies.

Other seventies live albums fuelled the fire that rock had got too big for its own boots – triple live albums like Yessongs and Welcome Back My Friends and over the top performances like Rick Wakeman’s Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. When ELP toured with a live orchestra to promote the Works album, it nearly broke them.

The 1970s provide the very heart of the Best Live Albums Blog and it coincided with my time as a teenager discovering a passion for music that has stayed strong ever since. Ha my Mum thought I’d grow out of this “noisy nonsense”. No chance!

Live Albums From The 1970s By Year

1970 live albums
1971 live albums
1972 live albums
1973 live albums
1974 live albums
1975 live albums
1976 live albums
1977 live albums
1978 live albums
1979 live albums

Live Albums From The 1970s By Major Genre

1970s AOR
1970s Art Rock
1970s Blues
1970s Blues Rock
1970s Classic Rock
1970s Country
1970s Country Rock
1970s Folk
1970s Hard Rock & Heavy Metal
1970s Jazz
1970s Prog
1970s Punk
1970s Singer Songwriters
1970s Soul

Classic Live Albums From The 1970s

Over 850 live albums from the 1970s have been featured so far and that’s too many to feature on this page but here are the highlights which will link you into more albums by the artist or music genre:

AC/DC If You Want Blood You’ve Got It 1978
Luther Allison Where Have You Been Live in Montreux 1976-1994
The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East 1971
The Band Rock Of Ages 1971
The Band The Last Waltz 1976
Be Bop Deluxe Live In The Air Age 1977
Beck Bogert & Appice Live In Japan 1973
Jeff Beck With The Jan Hammer Group Live
Blue Oyster Cult On Your Feet Or On Your Knees 1974
Blue Oyster Cult Some Enchanted Evening 1978
Tommy Bolin Best Of Tommy Bolin Live 1972 to 1976
David Bowie Live Santa Monica 72
David Bowie David Live 1974
David Bowie Live Nassau Coliseum ’76
David Bowie Stage 1978
James Brown Love Peace Power 1971
Jack Bruce Spirit Live at the BBC 1971 – 1978
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Live 1970
Buzzcocks Entertaining Friends 1979
The Byrds Live At Royal Albert Hall 1971
Captain Beefheart Live At My Father’s Place 1978
Cheap Trick At Budokan 1978
Chicago Live in Japan 1972
Eric Clapton’s Rainbow Concert 1973
Eric Clapton Just One Night 1979
The Clash Live From Here To Eternity
Climax Blues Band FM Live 1973
Joe Cocker Mad Dogs & Englishmen Live 1970
Elvis Costello Live At The Hollywood High 1978
Crosby Stills Nash & Young 4 Way Street 1970
Crosby Stills Nash & Young CSNY 1974
Miles Davis Live-Evil 1970
Deep Purple Made In Japan 1972
Deep Purple Live In Paris 1975
Derek And The Dominos Live At The Fillmore 1970
Neil Diamond Hot August Night 1972
Dire Straits Live At The BBC 1978
The Doors Absolutely Live 1970
Dr Feelgood Stupidity 1975
Ian Dury Live At Rockpalast 1978
Bob Dylan Before The Flood 1974
Bob Dylan Live 1975 The Rolling Thunder Revue
801 801 Live 1976
Emerson Lake & Palmer Pictures At An Exhibition 1971
Emerson Lake & Palmer Welcome Back My Friends 1974
Fleetwood Mac Boston 1970
Peter Frampton Frampton Comes Alive 1975
Aretha Franklin Aretha Live At Fillmore West 1971
Free Live 1970
Rory Gallagher Live In Europe 1972
Rory Gallagher Irish Tour 74
Genesis Live 1973
Genesis Seconds Out 1977
Grand Funk Railroad Live The 1971 Tour
Grateful Dead Ladies And Gentlemen The Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead Europe 72
Grateful Dead To Terrapin Hartford ’77
The Groundhogs Live At Leeds ’71
George Harrison Concert for Bangladesh 1971
Donny Hathaway Live 1971
Hawkwind Space Ritual Alive 1972
Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsys Live At The Fillmore East 1970
Jimi Hendrix Freedom Atlanta Pop Festival
Jimi Hendrix Live at Berkeley 1970
Humble Pie Performance Rockin The Fillmore 1971
J Geils Band Full House 1972
J Geils Band Blow Your Face Out 1975
The Jam At The BBC 1977 to 1982
The Jam Fire & Skill The Jam Live 1977 to 1982
James Gang Live In Concert 1971
Jethro Tull Bursting Out 1978
Elton John Here And There 1974
Judas Priest Unleashed In The East 1979
Kansas Two For The Show 1978
BB King Live In Japan 1971
Kiss Alive 1975
Kool & The Gang Live at P.J.s 1971
Fela Kuti Live With Ginger Baker 1971
Led Zeppelin How The West Was Won 1972
Led Zeppelin The Song Remains The Same 1973
Little Feat Waiting For Columbus 1977
Loggins & Messina On Stage
Lynyrd Skynyrd One More From The Road 1976
Magna Carta Live At The Royal Albert Hall 1971
Bob Marley Live 1975
Bob Marley Babylon By Bus 1978
John Martyn Live At Leeds Deluxe 1975
Dave Mason Certified Live 1976
John Mayall Jazz Blues Fusion 1971
Curtis Mayfield Curtis Live 1971
Frankie Miller Live At Rockpalast 1976 1979 1982
Steve Miller Live 1973 – 1976
Joni Mitchell Miles Of Aisles 1974
Van Morrison It’s Too Late To Stop Now 1973
Muddy Waters Muddy Mississippi Waters Live 1977 1978
Nektar Live in New York 1974
Ted Nugent Double Live Gonzo 1976 & 1977
Laura Nyro Seasons Of Light 1976
Mike Oldfield Exposed 1979
Graham Parker The Parkerilla 1978
Graham Parker Live In San Francisco 1979
Parliament Funkadelic Live 1976-1993
Tom Petty The New York Shuffle 1977
PFM Cook 1974
Poco Deliverin’ 1970
Poco The Last Roundup 1977
Teddy Pendergrass Live Coast To Coast 1978 1979
Queen Live At The Rainbow 1974
Queen A Night At The Odeon 1975
Queen Live Killers 1979
Rainbow On Stage 1976
Bonnie Raitt The Lost Broadcast Philadelphia 1972
The Ramones It’s Alive 1977
Lou Reed Rock N Roll Animal 1973
Lou Reed Thinking Of Another Place 1976
Lou Reed Live Take No Prisoners 1978
Jess Roden Live At The BBC 1977
Diana Ross And The Supremes Farewell 1970
Roxy Music Viva 1973 to 1975
Leon Russell Leon Live 1972
Rush All The World’s A Stage 1976
Otis Rush All Your Love I Miss Loving Live at The Wise Fools Pub Chicago 1976
The Rolling Stones The Brussels Affair 1973
Scorpions Tokyo Tapes 1978
Bob Seger Live Bullet 1976
Sex Pistols Live at Winterland 1978
Paul Simon In Concert Live Rhymin’ 1973/74
Siouxsie & The Banshees At The BBC 1977 to 2001
Patti Smith Dreaming Of The Prophet 1975
Son Seals Live & Burning 1978
Bruce Springsteen Hammersmith Odeon London 75
Bruce Springsteen Live 1975 – 85
Bruce Springsteen 1978/08/09 Cleveland Ohio (official release available from Springsteen’s own website)
Status Quo Live 1976
Steely Dan Ellis Auditorium Memphis April 30th 1974
Rod Stewart & The Faces Coast To Coast 1973
Supertramp Live In Paris 79
Taj Mahal The Real Thing 1971
Talking Heads The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads
Tangerine Dream Ricochet 1975
Johnnie Taylor Live at the Summit Club 1972
Ten Years After Recorded Live 1973
Thin Lizzy Live And Dangerous 1977
Peter Tosh Live & Dangerous Boston 1976
Traffic On The Road 1973
Robin Trower At The BBC 1973-1975
The Tubes What Do You Want From Live 1977
Ike And Tina Turner What You Hear Is What You Get 1971
UFO Strangers In The Night 1978
Tom Waits Nighthawks At The Diner 1975
Joe Walsh You Can’t Argue With A Sick Mind 1975
The Who Live At Leeds 1970
Wings Over America 1976
Edgar Winter’s White Trash Roadwork
Johnny Winter Captured Live! 1975
Wishbone Ash Live Dates 1973
Bill Withers Live At Carnegie Hall 1972
Stevie Wonder Live At The Talk Of The Town 1970
Stomu Yamashta, Steve Winwood etc Go Live From Paris 1976
Yes Yessongs 1972
Yes Progeny Highlights From Seventy-Two
Neil Young Live At Massey Hall 1971
Neil Young Live Rust 1978
Frank Zappa & The Mothers Roxy & Elsewhere 1973 1974
Frank Zappa You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 2 – The Helsinki Concert 1974
Frank Zappa Zappa In New York
Frank Zappa Philly 76
Frank Zappa Sheik Yerbouti 1977 1978

I’ve missed out plenty of great albums, trimming the list down.

Finding Your Way Around The Best Live Albums Website

Live albums by the decades – 1950s – 1960s – 1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s – 2010s

Taste Live At The Isle Of Wight 1970

Taste Live At the Isle Of Wight was recorded at the big festival on the island in 1970 and showcases Rory Gallagher’s guitar playing.

Rory Gallagher has been one of the main inspirations behind this Best Live Albums blog because I think his Irish Tour 74 album is terrific.

I was listening to the CD and thought that more people need to know about this fantastic live music.

Taste is an earlier 3 piece band with Rory Gallagher on guitar and lead vocals, Richard “Charlie” McCracken on bass and John Wilson on drums.

Taste Live At the Isle Of Wight Overall Review Rating – 20/30

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Bruce Springsteen Hammersmith Odeon London 75

Hammersmith Odeon 75 captures the first visit by Bruce Springsteen to the UK in 1975 after Born To Run was released.

The retrospective Live 1975 – 85 is a very comprehensive collection of Springsteen live but fans were critical because it was a live performance compilation.

Hammersmith Odeon is how long-standing fans really want to hear Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play live – a complete concert that captures the excitement and passion of a Springsteen gig.

Bruce Springsteen Hammersmith Odeon 75 Overall Rating – 29/30

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Led Zeppelin The Song Remains The Same 1973

The Song Remains The Same was the first Led Zeppelin live album issued from 1973 concerts at the Madison Square Garden, New York which promoted the House Of The Holy studio album.

It was released in 1976 as the soundtrack to the concert film of the same name.

Led Zeppelin are known for their great live performances and they’ve become one of the most heavily bootlegged artists in the world.

It was re-issued in 2007 with a much better sound and with extra songs included. This makes it much more comparable with the other big Zeppelin live album, How The West Was Won.

Led Zeppelin The Song Remains The Same

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Bruce Springsteen Live 1975 – 85

Live 1975 – 85 was Bruce Springsteen‘s response to the demands for a live album.

He’s been one of the most bootlegged artists since the mid 70s and with Live 1975 – 85, he tried to produce an epic drawn from many different concerts recorded.

This album was released to follow up on the immense success of the Born In The USA album which made Springsteen a much bigger international star.

I was thrilled when it first came out as he had such a great reputation as a live performer but all it’s done is prove that there’s much more that could appear.

Bruce Springsteen Live 1975 – 85 Overall Rating – 26/30
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Deep Purple Made In Europe 1975

Made In Europe is a souvenir of the 1975 tour Deep Purple made with Ritchie Blackmore to promote their Stormbringer album.

Shortly afterwards Blackmore left the group and Tommy Bolin joined.

Although there are only two personnel changes (vocalist Ian Glover and Roger Glover out, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes in), this is a very different band than the one that recorded Made In Japan.

Deep Purple Made In Europe Overall rating – 21/30

Deep Purple Made In Europe 1975
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David Bowie Stage 1978

David Bowie Stage is a live album of the 1978 tour promoting Low and Heroes from his Berlin phase with Brian Eno.

It was his second live album after the disappointing reception to David Live from 1974’s Diamond Dogs tour.

I’ve bought Stage twice – first as a double LP when it first came out and then much later as a CD when I really wanted at least one David Bowie live album in my collection. It seemed to an obvious album to buy because I struggle to like his Berlin studio albums.

David Bowie Stage Overall Rating – 22/30

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The Rolling Stones Brussels Affair 1973

Brussels Affair is an official, authorised version of a famous Rolling Stones bootleg from the 1973 Goats Head Soup tour.

It’s brilliant.

Fans of the Stones have wanted this release for years as it catches the mark 2 version of the band with Mick Taylor rather than Brian Jones in their full glory

If you like Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out, you’ll love The Brussels Affair.

The Rolling Stones Brussels Affair Overall Rating – 29/30

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David Bowie David Live 1974

David Live by David Bowie was recorded on the Diamond Dogs tour in 1974 and marks the transition between the sci-fi glam rock of Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane and the plastic soul of Young Americans.

I think it’s much better than its reputation.

David Bowie David Live Overall Rating – 26/30

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Genesis Seconds Out 1977

One of my favourite progressive rock live albums is Seconds Out by Genesis. It was recorded in 1976 and 1977 in Paris on the tours for A Trick Of The Tail and Wind and Wuthering.

I must admit to an element of bias in favour of this rather than Genesis Live.

I was first introduced to Genesis through a review of A Trick Of The Tail in a weekly music paper called Sounds and bought both Wind and Wuthering and Seconds Out as soon as I saw them. I also saw Genesis live in Stafford in 1976 or 1977.

This means I never had any trouble with the move from Peter Gabriel to Phil Collins as the lead singer and have a mixed opinion of the Gabriel era Genesis.

For some reason the Trespass and Nursery Cryme studio albums have made little impact with me and I believe The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is both overblown, over-complicated and over-rated.

Genesis Seconds Out Overall Rating – 28/30

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