I’ve tried to distinguish between blues and blues rock.
Wikipedia defines blues as:
“Blues is a genre and musical form that originated in African-American communities in the ‘Deep South’ of the United States around the end of the 19th century. The genre is a fusion of traditional African music and European folk music spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads.
The blues form, ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll, is characterized by the call-and-response pattern and specific chord progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues is the most common.”
In contrast, blues rock as it developed in the 1960s and 1970s emphasises more instrumental improvisations and a stronger beat but inevitably there is a crossover between the two genres.
To help understand the development, I’ve a post on the history of the blues through the birth, deaths and careers of the major blues artists.
Blues Live Albums Of The 1970s
Luther Allison Where Have You Been Live in Montreux 1976-1994
Luther Allison Live in Paris 1979
Luther Allison Power Wire Blues 1979
Luther Allison South Side Safari Live 1979
Luther Allison Sweet Home Chicago Charly Blues Masterworks Vol 37 1979
Albert Collins Deep Freeze 1969 1973
Albert Collins Funky Blues Live 1973
Albert Collins & Barrelhouse Live 1978
Robben Ford Discovering The Blues 1972
Buddy Guy Live At The Checkerboard Lounge 1979
Buddy Guy and Junior Wells Live In Montreux 1974
John Lee Hooker Live At The Café Au Go-Go 1966 & 1972
Howlin’ Wolf Killing Floor Live 1964 1973
Howlin’ Wolf Live & Cookin’ At Alice’s Revisited 1972
Howlin’ Wolf Evil Live at Joe’s Place 1973
Albert King Live In The 70’s 1971 to 1978
Albert King Live at the Fabulous Forum 1972
Albert King Blues At Sunset Live At Wattstax And Montreux 1972 1973
Albert King Blues At Sunrise 1973
Albert King Purple Carriage St Charles Il 02-02-74
Albert King Blues From The Road 1975
Albert King Live Charly Blues Masterworks 18 1977
Albert King Talkin’ Blues 1978
BB King Live In Cook County Jail 1970
BB King Live In Japan 1971
BB King King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents BB King Live! 1978
BB King Live At The BBC 1978 to 1998
BB King Now Appearing At Ole Miss 1979
BB King & Bobby Bland Together For The First Time Live 1974
Bobby Bland and BB King Together Again Live 1976
Freddie King Live At The Electric Ballroom 1974
Freddie King The Blues Live!
Freddie King Live In Europe 1975
Little Milton Grits Ain’t Groceries 1972
John Mayall Jazz Blues Fusion 1971
John Mayall Ten Years Are Gone 1972
Van Morrison It’s Too Late To Stop Now 1973
Muddy Waters Live At Mister Kellys 1971
Muddy Waters Mojo The Live Collection 1971 1976
Muddy Waters Blues Band Ft BB King Live at Ebbets Field 1973
Muddy Waters Muddy Mississippi Waters Live 1977 1978
Muddy Waters Breakin It Up Breakin It Down 1977 with Johnny Winter and James Cotton
Bonnie Raitt & Lowell George Ultrasonic Studios 1972
Bonnie Raitt Under The Falling Sky 1972 1973
Bonnie Raitt Angel From Montgomery Radio Broadcast 1976
Bonnie Raitt Same Old Song 1979
Otis Rush Double Trouble Live Cambridge 1973
Otis Rush So Many Roads Live in Concert 1975
Otis Rush All Your Love I Miss Loving Live at The Wise Fools Pub Chicago 1976
Son Seals Live & Burning 1978
Otis Spann Last Call Live at The Boston Tea Party 1970
Taj Mahal The Real Thing 1971
Taj Mahal Main Point Bryn Mawr Pa 14th March 1972
Eddie Taylor Long Way From Home 1977
Hound Dog Taylor Beware Of The Dog 1974
Big Mama Thornton Jail 1975
You can get these albums from Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk
What Are The All Time Best Live Blues Albums?
I don’t have a readers poll to find the best blues live albums of the decade but I do have an all-time poll which will help to guide you.
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Blues Live Albums By Decade – 1960s – 1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s – 2010s
Blues Rock By Decade – 1960s – 1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s – 2010s
Power Wire Blues is a live album by Luther Allison.
It is Part 2 of the Peoria concert recorded in Peoria, Illinois, on April 18–19, 1979 and has been reissued as Sweet Home Chicago, Charly Blues Masterworks Vol 37. Part 1 was released as South Side Safari. Continue reading Luther Allison Power Wire Blues 1979
Long Way From Home is a live album by Eddie Taylor.
It was recorded in Japan in December, 1977.
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South Side Safari is a live album by Luther Allison.
It was recorded at the Other Side, Peoria Heights in Illinois on April 18 and 19, 1979. The album was originally released as a vinyl album called Gonna Be A Live One In Here Tonight! in 1979.
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Live At The BBC is a collection of live recordings featuring BB King made by the BBC between 1978 and 1998.
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Last Cal:l Live At The Boston Tea Party is a live album by Otis Spann.
It was recorded at The Boston Teaparty on April 2nd, 1970.
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Blues At Sunset: Live At Wattstax And Montreux is a live album by Albert King.
It was recorded
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Mojo: The Live Collection is a live compilation by Muddy Waters.
According to Discogs, the sources of the tracks are:
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Deep Freeze is a live recording by Albert Collins.
It combines performances at the Fillmore West in San Francisco in 1969, and at the El Mocambo Club in Toronto, Canada in 1973
Main Point Bryn Mawr Pa 14th March 1972 is a live recording by Taj Mahal.
It was originally broadcast on the radio and catches the blues man performing on his own. It has been released on the Echoes and TAJ labels.
Albert Collins & Barrelhouse Live catches the bluesman performing live in concert at “Het Wapen Van Heemskerk” in Alkmaar, Holland on December 28, 1978 with a local band rather than his regular band.
It was first released in 1979.
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