Singer-Songwriter Live Albums
In many ways a singer songwriter is music at its most simple and pure.
One person sings songs he or she has written accompanied by a guitar or piano.
The words are direct, the melodies gentle. You can sink into the music created.
Of course it doesn’t need to stay that simple in the singer songwriter sector. A small band can be added. The guitar can be plugged into the electricity supply. At some stage, the singer songwriter becomes the leader of a band.
The big names in this area are Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and many more.
Live Albums By Singer Songwriters
Ryan Adams Live At Carnegie Hall Super Deluxe 2014
Joan Armatrading Steppin Out
Joan Armatrading Live All The Way From America
Joan Armatrading Live At The Royal Albert Hall 2010
Joan Baez In Concert 1962
Joan Baez In Concert Part 2 1963
Jackson Browne Running On Empty 1977
Jackson Browne Solo Acoustic Vol 1 2005
Jackson Browne Solo Acoustic Vol 2 2008
Jeff Buckley Live At Sin-E 1993
Jeff Buckley Live At L’Olympia 1995
Jeff Buckley Mystery White Boy Live 95-96
Tim Buckley Live At The Folklore Centre NYC March 6th 1967
Tim Buckley Dream Letter Live In London 1968
JJ Cale Live 1990 to 1996
Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison 1969
Johnny Cash At San Quentin 1969
Leonard Cohen Live Songs 1970 1972
Leonard Cohen Live In London 2008
Leonard Cohen Live in Dublin 2013
Ry Cooder Showtime 1976
Ry Cooder & Corridos Famosos Live in San Francisco 2011
Elvis Costello Live At The Nashville Rooms 1977
Elvis Costello Live At The El Mocambo 1978
Elvis Costello Live At The Hollywood High 1978
Elvis Costello Heatwave Festival 1980
Jim Croce Live The Final Tour 1973
John Denver An Evening With John Denver 1974
John Denver The Wildlife Concert 1995
Neil Diamond Hot August Night 1972
Ani DiFranco Living in Clip 1996
Ian Dury Live At Rockpalast 1978
Bob Dylan Live in New York Gaslight Cafe 1961
Bob Dylan In Concert Brandeis University 1963
Bob Dylan Live 1964 Concert At Philharmonic Hall
Bob Dylan Live 1966 The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert
Bob Dylan Before The Flood 1974
Bob Dylan Live 1975 The Rolling Thunder Revue
Bob Dylan Hard Rain 1976
Bob Dylan At Budokan 1978
Bob Dylan Real Live 1984
Steve Earle Live At The BBC 1988
Steve Earle Shut Up And Die Like An Aviator 1990
Gallagher & Lyle BBC Live In Concert 1973 to 1978
Andrew Gold The Late Show Live 1978
John Grant and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Live in Concert 2014
Roy Harper Flashes From The Archives Of Oblivion 1974
Roy Harper Live In Concert At Metropolis Studios 2011
John Hiatt Paper Thin 1989
John Hiatt Live in Chicago 1990
John Hiatt Live at the Hiatt 1993
John Hiatt Comes Alive At Budokan 1994
Robyn Hitchcock I Often Dream of Trains in New York 2008
Bruce Hornsby Here Come The Noise Makers 1998 to 1999
Janis Ian Live Working Without A Net 1990 to 2003
Joe Jackson Live At The BBC 1979 to 1983
Joe Jackson Live At Rockpalast 1980 1983
Joe Jackson Live 1980 to 1986
Joe Jackson Summer in the City Live in New York 1999
Joe Jackson Two Rainy Nights Live in Seattle & Portland 2001
Joe Jackson Band Afterlife 2003
Billy Joel Songs In The Attic 1980
Elton John 17-11-70
Elton John Here And There 1974
Elton John One Night Only The Greatest Hits 2000
Carole King The Carnegie Hall Concert 1971
Carole King & James Taylor Live At The Troubadour 2007
k d lang Live by Request 2000
John Lennon Live In New York City 1972
Nils Lofgren Back It Up 1975
Nils Lofgren Live Sausalito 1975
Nils Lofgren Live At The Tower Theatre Philadelphia 1976
Nils Lofgren Live On The Test 1976 to 1979
Nils Lofgren Night After Night 1977
Nils Lofgren Acoustic Live 1997
Nils Lofgren Band Live 2002
Aimee Mann Live At St Ann’s Warehouse 2004
John Martyn Live At Leeds Deluxe 1975
John Martyn BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert 1986
John Martyn Live 1990
John Martyn Classics Live 1990
Ian McNabb Live At Life 1999
Melanie On Air BBC Live in Concert 1969 to 1989
John Mellencamp Performs Trouble No More Live at Town Hall 2003
Joni Mitchell Through Yellow Curtains 1966 to 1968
Joni Mitchell Miles Of Aisles 1974
Joni Mitchell Shadows And Light 1979
Joni Mitchell A Woman In The East 1983
Van Morrison It’s Too Late To Stop Now 1973
Van Morrison at the Winterland Feb 2, 1974
Van Morrison Live At The Grand Opera House Belfast 1983
Van Morrison A Night in San Francisco 1993
Van Morrison Live at Austin City Limits Festival 2006
Van Morrison Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl 2008
Randy Newman Live 1970
Randy Newman Live In London 2008
Laura Nyro Spread Your Wings and Fly Live at the Fillmore East May 30 1971
Laura Nyro Seasons Of Light 1976
Laura Nyro Live at Carnegie Hall The Classic 1976 Radio Broadcast
Laura Nyro Laura Live at the Bottom Line 1988
Graham Parker The Bootleg Box
Graham Parker Live At Marble Arch 1976
Graham Parker Not If It Pleases Me 1976 1977
Graham Parker Official Bootleg Box 1976 to 2012
Graham Parker Live On The Test 1977 1978
Graham Parker BBC Live In Concert 1977-1991
Graham Parker The Parkerilla 1978
Graham Parker Live At Rockpalast 1978 1980
Graham Parker Live In San Francisco 1979
Graham Parker Live In America 1979
Graham Parker Live Sparks 1979
Graham Parker King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents 1983
Graham Parker Live Alone In America 1988
Graham Parker Live One The Official Vandelay Tapes 1988
Graham Parker Live Alone Discovering Japan
Graham Parker Live From New York 1995
Graham Parker The Last Rock n Roll Tour 1996
Graham Parker 103 Degrees In June 2005
Tom Petty The Live Anthology 1976 to 2007
Tom Petty The New York Shuffle 1977
Tom Petty Pack Up the Plantation Live 1978 to 1985
Tom Petty Live To Air 1986
Tom Petty In The Coliseum 1987
Tom Petty Dean E Smith Activity Center University Of Carolina Sept 13 1989
Tom Petty Southern Accents In The Sunshine State 1993
Tom Petty Live In Chicago 2003
Shawn Phillips At The BBC 1971 to 1974
Dory Previn Live At Carnegie Hall 1973
Lou Reed Rock N Roll Animal 1973
Lou Reed Live Extended Versions 1973
Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson It’s Your World 1976
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson Live At The Bottom Line Aug 20, 1977
Gil Scott-Heron Live At The Town And Country 1988
Gil Scott-Heron Tour De Force Live 1994
Bob Seger Live Bullet 1976
Bob Seger Nine Tonight 1980
Simon And Garfunkel Live from New York City 1967
Simon And Garfunkel Live 1969
Simon And Garfunkel The Concert in Central Park 1981
Paul Simon In Concert Live Rhymin’ 1973/74
Paul Simon’s Concert in the Park 1991
Paul Simon Live In New York City 2011
Bruce Springsteen Live At The Main Point Bryn Mawr 1975
Bruce Springsteen Hammersmith Odeon London 75
Bruce Springsteen Tower Theater Pennsylvania 1975
Bruce Springsteen Live 1975 – 85
Bruce Springsteen 1978/08/09 Cleveland Ohio
Bruce Springsteen The Fox Theatre Atlanta 1978
Bruce Springsteen Agora Ballroom 1978
Bruce Springsteen Winterland Night 1978
Bruce Springsteen Live At The Capitol Theater, Passiac NJ 1978
Bruce Springsteen Nassau Coliseum Uniondale New York 1980
Bruce Springsteen Brendan Byrne Arena New Jersey 1984
Bruce Springsteen Los Angeles April 23 1988
Bruce Springsteen Live In New York City 2000
Bruce Springsteen Live In Barcelona 2002
Bruce Springsteen Apollo Theater New York, NY 2012
Bruce Springsteen High Hopes Tour 2014
Bruce Springsteen AAMI Park Melbourne 2014 (Born In The USA Special)
Martin Stephenson & The Dainties Live At Town & Country 1990
Martin Stephenson And The Dainties Live In The 21st Century
Al Stewart Time Passages Live 1978
Al Stewart Live Indian Summer 1981
Al Stewart Rhymes in Rooms 1992
Al Stewart Uncorked 2009
John Stewart Complete Phoenix Concerts 1974
John Stewart Front Row Music 2000
Sting All This Time 2001
James Taylor Live 1992
Richard Thompson Live At The BBC 1973 to 2009
Richard & Linda Thompson In Concert November 1975
Richard Thompson Small Town Romance 1982
Richard Thompson More Guitar 1988
Richard Thompson Two Letter Words 1994
Richard Thompson Semi Detached Mock Tudor 1999
Richard Thompson Live from Austin, TX 2001
Richard Thompson Live Warrior 2007
Townes Van Zandt Live At The Old Quarter 1973
Rufus Wainwright Live from the Artists Den 2012
Tom Waits Nighthawks At The Diner 1975
Tom Waits Nighthawks on the Radio 1976
Tom Waits Big Time 1987
Tom Waits Glitter And Doom Live 2008
Lucinda Williams Live At The Fillmore 2003
Neil Young Sugar Mountain Live at Canterbury House 1968
Neil Young Live At The Cellar Door 1970
Neil Young Live At The Fillmore East 1970
Neil Young Live At Massey Hall 1971
Neil Young Time Fades Away 1973
Neil Young Live Rust 1978
Neil Young A Treasure 1984 1985
Neil Young & Crazy Horse Weld 1991
Neil Young Unplugged 1993
Neil Young Year of the Horse 1996
Warren Zevon Stand In The Fire 1980
I have a readers poll to help you find the Best Live Albums by Singer Songwriters.
Loading ...Because there are so many very good live albums by singer-songwriters, I have created a second division poll which may have more of your favourites. Albums can be promoted if they get enough votes.
Loading ...You can get these albums from Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk.
Live In London is the recording of the Leonard Cohen concert at the 02 Arena in July 2008 and finds Cohen in fine form.
Paul’s Rating – 29/30 – one of the best live albums ever released
Average Amazon Customer Rating – %%AVERAGERATING%% Stars From %%REVIEWCOUNT%% Reviews
Please vote in my readers poll to find out what popular opinion believes to be the best singer-songwriter live albums.
Putting together these readers polls by music genre has forced me to confront various grey areas where one type of music merges into another.
My first thought is that a singer-songwriter is a man or woman with an acoustic guitar who performs songs he or she has written themselves.
You can then start adding a small backing group, especially if the emphasis is still on acoustic instruments.
Some singer songwriters use electric guitars and turn up the volume and start rocking.
At some stage you need to confront the issue of how a singer songwriter with a backing band differs from a band with one main singer songwriter who isn’t billed separately. For example John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival is the lead vocalist, lead guitarist and primary songwriter. I don’t think many would expect to see CCR in this poll. It’s a similar case with Paul McCartney and Wings.
There are therefore singer songwriter live albums by artists like Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band and Bob Dylan & The Band that I believe belong more in classic rock than in this poll e.g. Live 1975/85 and Before The Flood.
Neil Young has released a number of excellent live albums. The acoustic Massey Hall obviously qualifies, Live Rust squeezes in but Weld is much more suitable to the best hard rock category.
I want to hear what you think about the albums I’ve selected and excluded. You could convince me that I’m wrong.
Further down the page, you’ll find a poll to vote for your favourites. In fact, there is a second division poll as well of less well known albums that also deserve your attention. Continue reading Best Singer Songwriter Live Albums
I have a weakness for Joni Mitchell.
She’s part of my Sunday morning playlist when I want something mellow to listen to.
It’s therefore no surprise that I like Joni Mitchell’s live albums, Miles of Aisles & Shadow & Light and both were recorded in the greatest decade for music, the 70s.
This album comes from the Court & Spark album in March and August 1974 and captures her at her commercial peak.
Acoustic Live is an interesting and charming album from Nils Lofgren in 1997 as he follow on in the Unplugged tradition that became popular in the 1990s.
It was actually recorded at The Barns Of Wolftrap, Vienna in Virginia on January 18th, 1997.
Average Amazon Customer Rating – %%AVERAGERATING%% Stars From %%REVIEWCOUNT%% Reviews
The Heatwave Festival is a live recording of Elvis Costello and the Attractions from August 23rd, 1980 from the Heatwave Festival in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada available through Wolfgang’s Vault.
There are a number of live concert recordings from the This Year’s Model tour in 1978 but this one catches Elvis Costello promoting the Get Happy album.
The Nils Lofgren Band Live album was recorded in 2002 and released in 2003 and catches Nils focusing on his recent past and his time with Grin.
He nearly made it into the big time in the mid 70s but he’s carried on recording good music as well as supporting Bruce Springsteen as a member of the E Street Band.
Average Amazon Customer Rating – %%AVERAGERATING%% Stars
Live At The El Mocambo is a live album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions recorded on March 6th, 1978 at The El Mocambo in Toronto, Canada.
The recording was originally released as part of the 2 1/2 Years box set but came out on its own in 2009.
Average Amazon Customer Rating – %%AVERAGERATING%% Stars
Night After Night is a live album by Nils Lofgren promoting his I Came To Dance album, recorded in London, Glasgow and Los Angeles.
The radio broadcast Hanging Tough also comes from this tour but features fewer songs.
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Live at The Nashville Rooms is a recording of a live concert by Elvis Costello from August 7, 1977.
This is sold as a bonus on the Deluxe Edition of Elvis Costello’s first album My Aim Is True.
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Continue reading Elvis Costello Live At The Nashville Rooms 1977 (With My Aim Is True Deluxe)
Live At The Tower Theatre Philadelphia is a live recording of the Nils Lofgren concert on September 6th, 1976 available through WolfsgangsVault.com.
Back It Up captured Lofgren promoting his first self-titled solo album, this 1976 gig is promoting Cry Tough.
