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

Blue Oyster Cult On Your Feet Or On Your Knees 1974

On Your Feet Or On Your Knees is the first live album by Blue Oyster Cult, recorded at various concerts in 1974 promoting the Secret Treaties studio album.It was released in 1975.

Blue Oyster Cult’s speciality is melodic, guitar-based hard rock with sci-fi and occult or evil themes. The titles are often worse than the songs and may mislead you.

I’m wary of groups that lean towards the occult like Black Sabbath but BOC had some good tunes that kept bringing me back.To help you to decide if the songs are appropriate for you, I’ve linked to the lyrics

Blue Oyster Cult On Your Feet Or On Your Knees Review

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Kiss Alive 1975

Kiss Alive is one of the most famous and successful live albums ever. It was recorded and released in 1975 and captured the rawness of Kiss live in concert.

Kiss were a notorious live act with the theatrics and the costumes adding to the atmosphere created by their powerful, driving, forceful music.

Unfortunately this sound wasn’t properly captured on the first three studio albums – Kiss, Hotter Than Hell and Dressed to Kill.

It was on Kiss Alive!

Kiss Alive

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Be Bop Deluxe Live In The Air Age 1977

Live In The Air Age is the first live album by seventies art rock band Be Bop Deluxe led by the great guitarist Bill Nelson. It was released in 1977.

Some say that Be Bop Deluxe are progressive rock. I don’t agree and include them in my art rock category along with David Bowie, Roxy Music and King Crimson.

Be Bop Deluxe are one of my favourite groups that captured my imagination as a 15 year old that no one else at school knew about. That changed a little bit when Ships In The Night was a minor hit.

Although this was recorded on the Modern Music tour, there aren’t any songs played from that album. It’s a shame. I saw them and it was a very good gig.

Be Bop Deluxe Live In The Air Age

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Van Morrison It’s Too Late To Stop Now 1973

It’s Too Late To Stop Now is the first live album by Van Morrison.

It was recorded in 1973 and it catches him paying his dues to his influences.

It collects the best of the tracks from concerts at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and at The Rainbow in London between May and July 1973.

It’s difficult to categorise an album like this – is it rock, soul or blues? It even has a jazzy feel to it.

This amalgamation of styles is what makes Van Morrison such a special artist and he had a golden period in the late 1960s and early 1970s when he made some of the greatest music ever recorded. Astral Weeks, Moondance and St Dominic’s Preview are amongst my most favourite studio albums and I believe that each is essential.

Which is the best? Well that keeps on changing depending on my mood but St Dominic’s Preview fits neatly between the others in style.

In 2008, a bonus track was added – a live version of Brown Eyed Girl.

Van Morrison It’s Too Late to Stop Now 1973

Van Morrison It's Too Late to Stop Now 1973

My Rating – 28/30

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Jess Roden Live At The BBC 1976

Live At The BBC is a live album of the Jess Roden Band live in concert in December 1976 from The Hippodrome, London with four extra live in the studio recordings from 1975. These were broadcast on the John Peel show and that’s where I first heard Jess Roden.

In fact it might be the only place I’ve heard this great singer on the radio.

I was thrilled when I found this album was released on CD in 1996 and I think it could be the best live album ever.

A bold statement but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played this CD. It’s a perfect mix of rock, soul, blues and funk. I adore it.

I used to have a previous live album by Jess Roden called Blowin’ which I loved as an LP.

Jess Roden Live At The BBC

Jess Roden Live At The BBC

My Rating – 29/30

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Graham Parker Live In San Francisco 1979

Graham Parker Live In San Francisco 1979 captures Parker live in concert with his great band The Rumour on the Squeezing Out The Sparks tour.

Graham Parker should have been huge with his high energy, caustic R&B inspired songs. Even though it was the time of punk rock, few acts could match the intensity he built up in concert.

Graham Parker & The Rumour really were “the best kept secret in the West” as he sings in Mercury Poisoning as he rants against his previous record company.

I believe this album was only released in 2010. I bought it as soon as I saw it.

Graham Parker Live In San Francisco 1979 – Overall Rating 29/30

Graham Parker Live In San Francisco 1979

My Overall Rating – 28 out of 30 – an excellent live album that should not be overlooked.

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Yes Yessongs 1972

Yessongs was the first live album by progressive rock group Yes in 1972 and it was a triple promoting the  Fragile and Close To The Edge studio albums. It is now a double CD.

This album challenges the idea that progressive rock live albums aren’t exciting. I’ve even wondered myself whether some groups are better in the studio than live but Yes show they are terrific.

Yes Yessongs

Yes Yessongs

My Rating – 28 out of 30 (10 + 9 + 9)

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Neil Young Live Rust 1978

Live Rust is a live album by Neil Young recorded in 1978 and some of the songs were used in the film Rust Never Sleeps.

I get confused with how Live Rust fits in with the Rust Never Sleeps album which was also partially recorded live at San Francisco’s Cow’s Palace and later had the audience noise removed.

Live Rust starts with an acoustic set and climaxes with an all-out electric rave. That worked particularly well on a double LP where you could choose which version of Neil Young you wanted.

Controversially the album was squeezed on to a single CD by editing out about 90 seconds of guitar from Cortez The Killer. This horrifies purists but I don’t think it is noticeable when you listen to it.

Neil Young Live Rust

Neil Young Live Rust

My rating – 28 out of 30 (9 +10 +9)

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Eric Clapton Just One Night 1979

Just One Night is a live album by Eric Clapton recorded at the Budokan Theatre, Tokyo, December 1979 when he was promoting the Backless album.

Claton had got into a groove in the late seventies with his easy listening blues albums like No Reason To Cry, Slowhand and Backless but he could still get excited when playing live.

Eric Clapton Just One Night Overall Review Rating – 26/30
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